Dr. Gerardo Ramirez

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he studied the role of teachers and parents in shaping the math attitudes of their students, as well as reappraisal techniques to help students cope with anxiety during testing situations.

Dr. Ramirez is currently an associate professor at Ball State, where he examines the role of frustration, empathy, and cultural capital in shaping students’ success and persistence.

Dr. Erin Maloney

Dr. Erin Maloney is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa. Her research sits at the intersection of Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Education and focuses on cognitive and emotional factors that relate to academic achievement. She is a world-renowned expert on the study of math anxiety, conducting research in the lab, in homes, and in classrooms with children, parents, and their teachers.

Rosemarie T. Truglio

Dr. Rosemarie T. Truglio is the Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop. Dr. Truglio is responsible for the development of the interdisciplinary curriculum on which Sesame Street is based and oversees content development across platforms (e.g., television, publishing, toys, home video, and theme park activities).  She also oversees the curriculum development for all new show production, including  Bea’s Block, Mecha Builders, Esme & Roy, Helpsters, and Ghostwriter. Dr. Truglio has written numerous articles in child and developmental psychology journals and presented her work at national and international conferences. Her current book is Ready for School! A Parent’s Guide to Playful Learning for Children Ages 2 to 5, published by Running Press (2019).

Heidi Sabnani

Heidi Sabnani is always surprised that she works in math education. She developed math anxiety as a young student and spent much of her school life and early career avoiding math. After teaching English in the United States and Guatemala, and earning her MA in World Literature, she found herself in the uncomfortable position of working in math classrooms as a school improvement consultant. Once she realized that her life was going to involve math, Heidi decided to relearn math in the ways she wished she had learned the first time around. 18 years later she is still learning with and from the students and teachers she has the privilege to serve.

Heidi’s doctoral research at Northeastern University focused on interventions for math anxiety in elementary teachers. She currently works as a consultant, speaker, and author.

Marjorie Schaeffer

Marjorie Schaeffer is an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Saint Mary’s College. She received her Ph.D in developmental psychology from the University of Chicago. Marjorie is interested in the role parents and teachers play in the development of children’s math attitudes and performance. She is specifically interested in the impact of expectations and anxiety and on children’s academic performance. Her work has been published in outlets including Science, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Developmental Science.

Jennifer Carolan

Jennifer Carolan is co-founder and general partner at Reach Capital, a venture capital fund that supports entrepreneurs bringing leading-edge technology to education. She started her career as a classroom teacher in Chicago, where she taught for seven years in traditional district schools. She moved to Silicon Valley in 2000 to attend Stanford University and used her teaching experience to support edtech founders at the NewSchools Venture Fund. She co-created and taught the popular course Innovations In Teaching at Stanford University and co-founded her first fund NewSchools Seed Fund in 2011. She co-founded Reach Capital in 2015. Reach is an education technology fund based in San Francisco. They are currently investing in Reach 4— a $215 million fund focused on education technologies designed to improve access to opportunity.

Kristen Moore

Kristen Moore is a veteran mathematics educator who believes that math class should be about more than just solving for x. Kristen enables students to grow in both their confidence and capabilities in the secondary math classroom, with real, relevant, and rigorous learning experiences. In her classroom, Kristen provides engaging mathematical experiences from projects to problem-based learning (PBL), turning students into problem solvers instead of calculators–and unlocking students’ potential to become problem solvers of the future. Kristen started her own company, called, Moore than Just X, LLC, and the Modern Math Teacher podcast, providing teachers with training and resources that bring authentic learning experiences to the math classroom. Through project-based learning, Kristen helps teachers focus on connecting students and standards, boosting engagement, and bringing life back to the math classroom.