About Us

Our Team

Meet the Wayfinder Team

Our expert team of administrators, teachers, designers, and curricula experts are passionate about bringing belonging, purpose, and meaning to students and educators across the world.

Wayfinder team clapping

Wayfinder Core Team

Patrick Cook-Deegan

Founder & CEO

Claudia Biçen

Co-Founder

Brandy Arnold

Chief Customer Officer

Phil Holcombe

VP of Design

Matthew Winn

Chief of Staff

Jeremy B. Lupoli, Ph.D.

VP of Engineering

Erin Daugherty

VP of Content

Morgan Joseph

Head of Marketing

Rob McCreary

Head of Account Management

Tristan Love

Director of Learning + Engagement

Zachary Baquet

Partner Success Manager

Alie Kelley

Director of School Success

Casey Pettit, LICSW

Sr. Director of Sales and Strategy

Disney Williams

Program Lead, Tribal Schools

Charlie Runyan

Program Lead, Rural Schools

Quinae Jackson

Director of Training & Learning

Angela Bennett

Product Support Manager

Sahil Singh Gill

Technical Support Associate

Joseph Bonifacio

Director of Quality Assurance

Edith Gutierrez-Hawbaker

Creative Director

Emily Beiga

Senior Digital Marketing Manager

Ana Villarreal

Senior Designer

Erica Talamo

Director of School Partnerships

Diana Curtaz

District Partner Success Manager

Tygue Luecke

Content Writer + Editor

Zareen Rahman

Senior Financial Analyst

Ryan Vitter

Senior Engineer

David Sanders

Engineer

Julie Johnston

Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships

Sarah Starr

Account Manager

Mark Williams

Curriculum + Training Designer

Quintin Adam

Senior Engineer

Samantha Garabedian

Digital Marketing Associate

Jacqueline Dene

Business Development Representative

Olive Bronson

Account Executive

Emily Goyert

Account Executive

Bobbi Anderson

Outreach Coordinator

Wayfinder Guides

Skylar Bantley

San Francisco, CA

Ishani Parekh

London, England

Alexx Temeña

Chicago, IL

Aran Levasseur

San Anselmo, CA

Eli Marienthal

Nevada City, CA

Hye Jung Kim

Honolulu, HI

Kate Weiler

London, England

Ifeyinwa (Ify) Anako

New York, NY

Caroline Bonner

Santiago, Chile

Kelsea Combs

Brighton, MI

Mariana Garza

Nairobi, Kenya

Stephen Holcomb

Irving, TX

Jenelle Peterson

Waipahu, HI

Tamara Wells

Phoenix, AZ

Alexis Newman

Sanford, FL

Dashielle Vawter

Dallas, TX

Research & Design

Dr. Susie Wise

Founder

Stanford's K12 Lab + Adjunct Professor Stanford d.school

Vicki Zakrzewski

Education Director

UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center

Kendall Cotton Bronk, Ph.D

Director

Claremont Adolescent Moral Development Lab

Heather Malin, Ph.D

Director

Stanford Center on Adolescence

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D.

Honorary Principal Fellow

The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Wellbeing Science

Murat Ozturk

Data Scientist

Rutgers University

International and Domestic Joint Partnerships

Dr. Miki K. Tomita

Hawai’i

CEO, Education Incubator

Will Hanley

Australia

Innovation Advisor, Independent Schools of Victoria

Raiki Machida

Japan

CEO, ImaginEx

Wayfinder Advisors

Dr. Bill Damon

Director

Stanford Center on Adolescence + Author, Path to Purpose

Mike Marriner

Founder

RoadTrip Nation + Ashoka Fellow

Sandy Husk

ASCD Interim CEO

Former AVID CEO and District Superintendent

Dr. Aneel Chima

Director

Division of Health and Human Performance, Stanford

Emily Esfahani Smith

Author

The Power of Meaning + NY Times Contributor

Aaron Sokol

Senior Growth Advisor

Former Growth and Sales Leader at Clever and Handshake

Don Shalvey

CEO of San Joaquin A+

Ashanti Branch

Founder

Ever Forward Club + Featured, The Mask You Live In

Molly Efrusy

President

Efrusy Family Foundation

Alline Akintore

Principal

Oregon Venture Fund

Eric Wilson

Senior Fellow, COVID-19 and the Future of Education

Bo Shao

Chairman & Co-Founder

Evolve Ventures

William Deresiewicz

Author

Excellent Sheep + Educational Speaker

Dr. Diann Kitamura

Superintendent, Santa Rosa City Schools

Santa Rosa, CA

Laura McBain

K12 Lab Director, Stanford d.school + Former Director of External Relations, High Tech High

San Francisco, CA

Alan Harlam

Founding Director, Brown Social Innovation Initiative

Providence, RI

Nat Manning

Senior Advisor

Whitehouse Innovation Fellow

Chris McKenna

Education Program Officer

Mindful.org + Former Program Director, Mindful Schools

Sarah Pazur, Ph.D

Director of School Leadership, CS Partners & President of FlexTech Education

Dearborn, MI

Sean McClung

Head of School Success, XQ Institute + Former Principal at Oakland Unified and Envision Schools

Bob Lenz

Executive Director

Buck Institute + Founder, Envision Schools

Gina Condon

President & Co-Founder, Construct

Jennifer Carolan

Co-Founder and General Partner

Reach Capital

Dr. John Gasko

Wayfinder Senior Fellow, Chief Well-Being + SEL Officer, Uplift Education

Dallas, TX

Laura Thompson

Product Lead, GoogleX + Trustee, Wayland Academy

San Francisco, CA

Daniel Keever

Formerly of Virginia Beach City Public Schools

Virginia Beach, VA

Chi Kim

CASEL Board Member + Former CA Superintendent

Boston, MA

Lee Hark

Head of School, GreenHill School + former Assistant HOS Durham Academy

Dallas, TX

Pamela Davis

Makerspace Facilitator, Richland 2 School District

Columbia, South Carolina

Randle Charles

Haudenosaunee Member (Iroquois Confederacy)

Artist, Indian American Institute of Art

Jocelyn Swisher

Former Executive Director

Peninsula Bridge