About

Dr. Arun Ramanathan brings exceptional leadership and deep passion for educational equity to PowerMyLearning’s mission of transforming mathematics education through rapidly evolving AI technology. Under his guidance, PowerMyLearning has achieved technical innovations in mathematical discourse analysis previously deemed impossible by leading universities.

Leading Educational Innovation

Prior to PowerMyLearning, Dr. Ramanathan served as CEO of Pivot Learning and CORE Learning, a national nonprofit partnering with K-12 schools nationwide to improve teaching and learning in reading. During his tenure, he dramatically expanded the organization’s reach and impact while raising tens of millions in philanthropic support.

Policy and Systems Leadership

Dr. Ramanathan previously served as Executive Director of Education Trust-West, the leading education policy and advocacy organization focused on closing achievement gaps for low-income students and students of color. He also served as Chief Student Services Officer in San Diego Unified School District, overseeing budgets exceeding $350 million across special education, mental health, nursing, and counseling services.

Thought Leadership

A respected voice in education, Dr. Ramanathan has published extensively on education topics. He regularly provides keynote speeches and serves on expert panels at education conferences nationwide.

Background

As an immigrant to the U.S. and former English Learner, Dr. Ramanathan brings personal understanding to PowerMyLearning’s equity mission. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, M.Ed. from Boston College, and doctorate in Administration, Policy, and Social Planning from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Nadya leads PowerMyLearning’s strategic partnerships and external relations, deepening the organization’s impact in mathematics education and advancing mathematical discourse across the sector.

Federal Leadership and Policy Experience

From 2011-2017, Nadya served as a senior member of the Obama Administration’s education team, leading the U.S. Department of Education’s innovation division and overseeing a $1 billion annual grantmaking portfolio across 1,200 education nonprofits, institutions of higher education, districts, and states. She has been a frequent keynoter and panelist on pressing education policy and implementation issues. 

Nonprofit Innovation

Previously, Nadya served as Chief Impact Officer for UnboundEd, where she managed the organization’s merger with Pivot/CORE Learning to create one of the largest national professional learning organizations. Nadya also served as an executive in a leading education philanthropy, seeding and supporting innovation across the country. Throughout her career, she has been a leading voice on connecting research to practice, a core element of PowerMyLearning’s approach.

Education & Leadership

Nadya earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UC Berkeley in international development and urban planning, respectively, and an MBA from UCLA. She currently serves on the boards of multiple education nonprofits.

Emily leads the vision and strategy for PowerMyLearning’s K-5 math products, ensuring they are grounded in the Foundations of Numeracy framework and designed to elevate student voice and build teacher capacity.

Mathematics Education Expertise

As a former high school mathematics teacher and instructional coach, Emily brings deep understanding of effective math instruction to PowerMyLearning’s product development. Her classroom experience directly informs how the organization’s AI tools support teacher decision-making and student understanding.

Professional Development Leadership

Before focusing on product strategy, Emily led professional development for teachers and leaders in school districts across the country. She has coached math educators on student engagement, data-driven instruction, and effective planning, bringing deep classroom and instructional expertise to her current work in product development.

Education

Emily holds a master’s in secondary mathematics education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from New York University.

Christina leads PowerMyLearning’s development strategy and oversees operations, securing the funding necessary to advance mathematical discourse analysis innovation and expand access to equity-focused math education tools.

Fundraising Leadership

Christina has successfully secured philanthropic and government funding to support PowerMyLearning’s mission, building relationships with foundations, government partners, and individual donors who share the organization’s commitment to educational equity.

Nonprofit Management Experience

Prior to PowerMyLearning, Christina spent five years at New York Cares as Foundation and Government Relations Officer and Education Program Manager, and previously served as Programs and Development Manager at the Philadelphia Children’s Foundation.

Education

Christina holds a B.A. in Sociology from Fordham University.

Miguel leads PowerMyLearning’s technology innovation, driving the development of innovative AI capabilities that analyze mathematical discourse and provide actionable insights to educators while ensuring robust security and privacy protections.

AI and Technology Innovation

With over 25 years of experience spanning media, financial services, and education, Miguel brings robust expertise in transformative technologies and AI implementation. Before PowerMyLearning, he served as President and CTO at Bitbug, developing AI-based solutions.

Cybersecurity Leadership

Miguel previously served as Global CISO at major financial firms including Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC Partners, and Newmark, overseeing cybersecurity programs across 50 countries. He also held executive roles at Dow Jones and News Corp, protecting high-profile brands including The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch.

Education Technology Experience

At Amplify, Miguel led large-scale K-12 technology projects, including NYCDOE’s ARIS system and the Gates Foundation’s inBloom initiative, providing essential experience in educational AI implementation and data privacy.

Community Commitment

Miguel is dedicated to mentorship and education, teaching technology to high school students and training U.S. Marine Corps members in cybersecurity. He serves on advisory boards for multiple technology companies.

Dr. Michelle Pyo leads the successful implementation of PowerMyLearning’s programs and products that transform math instruction and strengthen educators’ capacity to boost student achievement. She brings deep expertise in mathematics education along with proven leadership in school and district partnerships, educator development, and instructional equity.

Program Strategy & Implementation

Dr. Pyo sets the strategic direction of program implementation, ensuring schools and districts receive high-quality support that drives lasting instructional change, with a particular focus on leveraging PowerMyLearning’s K–5 math tools to improve student learning. She oversees professional learning for coaches and partners, drawing on her experience as an instructional leader to help educators foster mathematical discourse, student-centered problem solving, and strong math identities.

School Leadership Experience

Prior to PowerMyLearning, Dr. Pyo served as Assistant Principal and Interim Principal of a Los Angeles middle school where she led initiatives to bolster academic and social-emotional outcomes. Her experience includes leading special education, instructional coaching, and secondary mathematics teaching— work that continues to ground her commitment to equity and access in math.

Education

Dr. Pyo earned a Doctorate in Education from USC, where she focused on teacher preparation and the impact of mathematics instructional leadership on teacher practice and student outcomes. She also holds a Master’s in Secondary Mathematics Education from UCLA and a Bachelor’s in Cognitive Neuroscience from UC Berkeley.

Brandon provides teachers with coaching on PowerMyLearning’s Framework grounded in research around equity, family engagement, social-emotional learning, and culturally responsive education across the country.

Prior to joining PowerMyLearning, Brandon was a high school and middle school English Language Arts teacher in Indiana. His research in multicultural, young adult literature and arts and literacy education has led to national and international conference presentations as well as multiple academic publications.

Brandon earned his B.A. in Secondary English Education from Ball State University, and he has a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University.

Edwan has served multiple roles at PowerMyLearning since joining in 2010, including Customer Service Representitive, Warehouse and Delivery Specialist, and Logistics Coordinator.

Edwan has volunteered at Amigos de Bolsa Chica, preparing and planting native plants at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. He’s also volunteered for Operation Safe Homecoming, providing support for unhoused veterans to find housing, treatment, and other services.

Edwan holds an associate’s degree in Psychology from Cerritos College.

Elisabeth built PowerMyLearning from a nascent non-profit in 1999 into a national leader in the K-12 education space. She now serves as Founder in Residence.

Recognized as an expert in her field, Elisabeth is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow and a life-long Ashoka fellow. She has given a TEDx talk and high-level briefings at the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Federal Communications Commission, and she has served as an advisor to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the NYC Department of Education.

Elisabeth has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio and has published Op-Eds in media outlets such as Education Week and the Huffington Post. In 2001, she was honored by Crain’s New York Business as one of 40 New Yorkers under 40 shaping the city.

From 1996-97, Elisabeth served as a White House Fellow in the Office of the Vice President, where her experience as the principal architect of a government-wide education technology program led her to launch PowerMyLearning a year later.

Elisabeth was a high school teacher for two years while a Peace Corps volunteer and later worked for the World Bank on appropriate technology in Africa. She also worked at the Vera Institute of Justice and helped the Open Society Institute start the After-School Corporation.

Elisabeth served as a member of the MIT Board of Trustees and is the youngest individual ever to be appointed to the MIT Executive Committee. Elisabeth has earned four degrees from MIT. She also holds a patent for a medical device.

Jillian leads the development of new math content and informs instructional design across PowerMyLearning’s current and future products.

Prior to joining PowerMyLearning, Jillian contributed to the development of High Quality Instructional Materials for several math curriculum and edtech organizations, with a focus on culturally responsive pedagogy and supporting multilingual learners. She most recently served as Senior Curriculum Development Manager for PBLWorks. In addition, she has served as an expert reviewer of culturally responsive performance assessments with Hawai’i Department of Education and consultant with The College Board on updates to AP Computer Science. Jillian began her career as a math and computer science educator, teaching in California and leading summer cryptography courses in Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi.

Jillian holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from University of the Pacific and a mathematics teaching credential from Teacher’s College of San Joaquin.

Kendra provides teachers with the instructional practices in our framework grounded in research around equity, family engagement, social-emotional learning, and culturally responsive teaching.

Before joining PowerMyLearning, Kendra was a Special Education teacher, English Language Development teacher, and tutor in Georgia. In California, Kendra has taught for the Redwood City School District and the Jefferson Elementary School District. Kendra was also recognized as a product ambassador by ClassDojo.

Kendra earned a master’s degree in Education and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia.

Kenneth oversees the implementation of PowerMyLearning’s programming in the Greater Los Angeles region. In his former role, he provided teachers with coaching on PowerMyLearning’s Framework grounded in research around equity, family engagement, social-emotional learning, and culturally responsive education. Prior to joining PowerMyLearning, Kenneth was a high school special education teacher in Watts and Inglewood, California and a Senior Instructional Coach for CollegeSpring. As a teacher and an instructional coach, Kenneth has created and facilitated professional development, coached teachers around instructional best practices, and analyzed student and site-level data. Kenneth earned his B.A. in Communication from Messiah University and an M.Ed in Urban Education with a concentration in Teaching with Technology from Loyola Marymount University.

Maria creates functional requirements to enable software development teams to implement functionality based on the business needs.

Before joining PowerMyLearning, Maria worked as a Business Analyst for a pharmaceutical distributor while volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters, mentoring middle-school students in Columbus, Ohio.

Maria earned an M.B.A. from the Ohio State University and a B.A. in Computer Informational Systems with a minor in Management from Southern Arkansas University. She also holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.

Monica supports PowerMyLearning’s fundraising work nationally and in New York. Previously, she served as the Development Officer at a Boston-based organization that helps educators understand and support their immigrant students. Monica also served on the Foundation and Corporate Relations team at the Library Foundation of Los Angeles where she fundraised for the L.A. Public Library’s children and teen programs.  

Monica earned her J.D. from the University of Oregon, School of Law, and her dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Criminology and Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine.

Noelle leads the development and execution of PowerMyLearning’s marketing and communications strategy, shaping the organization’s voice and amplifying its impact through digital campaigns, public relations, and social media. She has spearheaded multi-channel initiatives that have elevated the organization’s profile nationally, strengthened thought leadership, and generated measurable engagement from school and district leaders.

Previously, Noelle served as Media Relations Coordinator for ICSC, an international trade association, where she developed communications to advocate on behalf of 70,000+ members. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Scranton.

Brian advances PowerMyLearning’s research and insights by synthesizing learnings from the organization’s products to inform continuous improvement and innovation. His background spans school, district, and state-level roles in public education, combining expertise in math pedagogy, digital learning, and AI implementation in K–12 settings. Before joining PowerMyLearning, Brian served as a classroom teacher, district administrator, and digital learning specialist at the Oregon Department of Education. He has also contributed to edtech product development, state math standards revisions, and national conversations on artificial intelligence in education.

Brian holds a master’s in educational policy from the University of Illinois and a B.S. in elementary education from Cal Poly State University.