Jason Zimba

Jason serves as Amplify’s chief academic officer of STEM. Previously, he co-founded Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping teachers and school leaders implement high-quality, college and career-ready standards. Jason is a Rhodes scholarship recipient and a former professor of physics and mathematics. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, with a double major in mathematics and astrophysics; a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Oxford; and a doctorate in mathematical physics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Valerie Henry Ed.D.

Valerie Henry, Ed.D. has been a math educator since 1986. She taught middle school math for 17 years and has worked as a lecturer at UC Irvine since 2002. After doing her 2004 dissertation research on addition/subtraction fluency in first grade, Valerie created FactsWise, a daily mini-lesson approach that simultaneously develops  fluency,  number sense and algebraic thinking. Thousands of teachers have used Valerie’s  books, classroom videos, screencasts, and online courses for addition/subtraction and multiplication/division to integrate fluency into their daily routines.

Valerie has provided curriculum and math professional development for K-12 teachers throughout her career, working with individual schools, districts, county offices of education, Illustrative Mathematics, the SBAC Digital Library, and the UCI Math Project. She has  an Ed.D. from UCLA/UCI and a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from UC Davis, is credentialed in both Multiple and Single Subject mathematics and received National Board Certification in early adolescent mathematics.

Art Baroody, Ph.D.

Art Baroody is currently a Professor Emeritus of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his Ph.D. in educational and developmental psychology from Cornell University in 1979. His research focuses on early childhood mathematics education—specifically, the development of number counting and arithmetic concepts and skills from two to eight years of age. He is the co-author of the widely used Test of Early Mathematics Ability (3rd edition; published 2003 by Pro-Ed). He is a co-author of the 2013 What Works Clearinghouse Teaching math to young children: A practice guide published by the U.S. Department of Education. A focus of his research, which was supported by two Department of Education grants, is how to foster fluency with the basic arithmetic combinations. Art is currently the Principal Investigator for two National Science Foundation grants to develop an electronic test of early numeracy.

Nicole M. Joseph, Ph.D.

Nicole M. Joseph is an associate professor with tenure of mathematics education in the department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt University. She directs the Joseph Mathematics Education Research Lab (JMEL), and is the founder and director of Black Girls Becoming Summer Research Institute, a two-week residential program at Vanderbilt for rising 7th and 8th grade Black girls focused on a holistic STEAM curriculum.

Lauren Carr

Lauren Carr is a kindergarten and first grade teacher in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a masters in education. She is a guiding teacher with the UCLA Teacher Education Program and a math coach with the UCLA Math Project. She is passionate about social justice and understanding students’ mathematical thinking.

John W. Staley, Ph.D.

John W. Staley has been involved in mathematics education for over 35 years as a secondary mathematics teacher, adjunct professor, district and national leader, author, advisor, and consultant. His life work continues to focus on Changing the Narrative about who is seen as being doers, learners, and teachers of mathematics.

Jennifer Bay-Williams, Ph.D.

Jennifer Bay-Williams is a mathematics education professor at the University of Louisville. She is passionate about ensuring every student develops competence and confidence in mathematics. She has written over 30 books, including two book series on mathematics fluency – Math Fact Fluency and Figuring out Fluency. She is also an author on the iconic Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally and a popular workshop facilitator and presenter, engaging teachers and teacher leaders in supporting real math fluency.

Jody Guarino, Ed.D.

Jody Guarino is a teacher educator with two decades of classroom teaching experience.  In her current role as lecturer at University of California, Irvine School of Education and part of the Teaching, Learning, and Instructional Leadership Collaborative at Orange County Department of Education, she supports student, teacher, and administrator learning and practice.

Myuriel von Aspen

Myuriel is the multiple subject coordinator for the MAT + Credential program at the University of California, Irvine. She has both teaching and coaching experience in elementary schools in Orange County, California, including seven years as a first and fourth grade teacher in a Spanish-English dual immersion school. She has worked in projects with Student Achievement Partners, UnboundED, and Illustrative Mathematics. Myuriel holds a bachelor of science in computer science from the Florida International University, and a master of business administration and master of arts in teaching from the University of California, Irvine. The core belief that drives her work is that all children are capable of learning challenging math. Our role as educators is to remove barriers, provide access and opportunities for children to make sense, engage in meaningful discussions, and develop their identities as competent doers and learners.

Fawn Nguyen

Fawn Nguyen began her work with Amplify in 2022 as a Math Teaching & Learning Specialist. She was a math coach for a K-8 school district for three years, and a middle school teacher for 30 years before that. Nguyen has also received a number of accolades as an educator.