Our Stories
Welcome!
We are thrilled to be helping you achieve better early learning for your students.
The idea for Learning Genie came to us a couple years ago when we were struggling as working parents with our daughter in daycare.
Pick-up time at daycare was always chaotic and rushed, so we never felt like we knew what had been going on all day. We started to assume teachers didn’t care and worried about our child was not getting enough attention and learning we expected her to get.
So, we decided to observe class one day, and what we saw changed everything. The teachers gave so much attention and care to our daughter and all of her classmates that it brought tears to our eyes. We had no idea that our 18-month-old knew how to paint! Our hearts were reassured and filled with happiness.
This is when we realized that there had been a missing link between teacher and parent communication. Parents were under-informed, teachers were under-appreciated and students were missing out on opportunities to bring learning home and expand on their growth.
Learning Genie is changing that.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. We appreciate everything that you do!
Cheers,
Gene and Lala
Co-Founders of Learning Genie
We are veteran technologists, former teachers, data scientists, and lots of passionate true believers that innovation in technology will result in the revolutionary personalized learning for young children.
We are always looking for like-minded and passionate talents to join Learning Genie Team. If you are interested to learn more, please send your inquiry to hr@learning-genie.com.
Our Team
Corporate Advisers
The Learning Genie team is an enthusiastic group of hard-working professionals whose .
Benefits
We worry about the details so you can focus on what matters in life.
- Our comprehensive benefits package allows you to pay less out of pocket, as it should be.
- We offer PTO that makes sense, so you can go on that vacation you always dreamed of, and take time for whatever life may throw your way.
- Don’t think we’ll ever forget your birthday. Birthdays are something we go above and beyond to celebrate, because who doesn’t want to feel special on their birthday?
How About This Wicked Cool Popup Modal?
Dr. Lisa Kaufman
CEO and Co-founder
Lisa Kaufman is the Founder and Principal of LK Consulting.
She has more than 20 years of professional, research and program development experience in the early learning space. She most recently served as the Founding Executive Director for Educare California at Silicon Valley (Educare) the first Educare site in California and 21 st in the national Educare Learning Network.
Prior to joining Educare, Lisa was the Founding Director of the Learning Services Department for the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE). The department included direct services (Head Start and State Preschool) as well as technical assistance and professional development supports, including the Inclusion Collaborative, the California Preschool Instructional Network and the Local Child Care Planning Council (LPC). In this role, Lisa spearheaded several broad-scale initiatives, including ECSV, the birth through third grade Santa Clara County Early Learning Master Plan, and statewide and local strategic planning and pilot efforts for transitional kindergarten.
Lisa’s work in the Bay Area started at San Francisco Unified School District, where she served as the Chief of Early Childhood Education and led city-wide PK-3 strategic planning efforts and the oversaw the largest early learning system in San Francisco. She previously led Early Advantage, a collaborative effort of the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the Los Angeles County Education Foundation that served over 30,000 children, families and early childhood and elementary educators annually.
Lisa received her Ph.D. and A.M. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Dr. Gene Shi
Dr. Gene Shi
CEO and Co-founder
PhD in Engineering and MBA
Gene brings together a great team of passionate talents to pursue his dream and passion to place customer experience as the highest priority. For Learning Genie, Gene craves a perfect convergence of humanity, creativeness and technology.
Fun Fact: Despite his PhD and MBA, Gene touts that his best skill sets are black diamond snowboarding and casual ocean scuba diving.
Rob Hamto
Rob Hamto
Customer Success
PhD in Engineering and MBA
Gene brings together a great team of passionate talents to pursue his dream and passion to place customer experience as the highest priority. For Learning Genie, Gene craves a perfect convergence of humanity, creativeness and technology.
Fun Fact: Despite his PhD and MBA, Gene touts that his best skill sets are black diamond snowboarding and casual ocean scuba diving.
Janese Mills
Janese Mills
Customer Success
PhD in Engineering and MBA
Gene brings together a great team of passionate talents to pursue his dream and passion to place customer experience as the highest priority. For Learning Genie, Gene craves a perfect convergence of humanity, creativeness and technology.
Fun Fact: Despite his PhD and MBA, Gene touts that his best skill sets are black diamond snowboarding and casual ocean scuba diving.
Elly-Thao Steinhoff
Elly-Thao Steinhoff
Executive Assistant / Office Admin
PhD in Engineering and MBA
Gene brings together a great team of passionate talents to pursue his dream and passion to place customer experience as the highest priority. For Learning Genie, Gene craves a perfect convergence of humanity, creativeness and technology.
Fun Fact: Despite his PhD and MBA, Gene touts that his best skill sets are black diamond snowboarding and casual ocean scuba diving.
Coding Genies
Coding Genies
Developers
We also have a group of hard-working geeks who we like to call our Coding Genies. If it weren’t for them, the Learning Genie product would not exist! Our Coding Genies are the engineers, developers and programmers (AKA geniuses) behind the app itself. They built the program from scratch and calmly deal with the many frantic calls and emails from the rest of the team to make changes along the way. Basically, these nerds are the heartbeat of our company!
Dr. Kristen Burmester
Dr. Kristen Burmester
Chief Scientist/Director of Research
Dr. Kristen Burmester is a distinguished leader in the field of early childhood measurement and assessment. While at the University of California, Berkeley she co-developed the Desired Results early childhood assessment suite of tools and policies mandated in California and Illinois. Her rigorous methods played a major role in ensuring that the observational measurement program met the highest standards of reliability, validity and cultural-sensitivity for the assessment of growth of children 0-8 years of age. She also designed the Framework for the Development of Equitable Measures, which is a process for developing assessments that ensures all children have the opportunity to demonstrate development through knowledge, skills or behaviors. She is the current President of the California Educational Research Association, an Instructor at Sonoma State University, and creator of a multi-generational early childhood program model being piloted in Oakland, CA.
Fun fact: Kristen turns fixer-uppers into beautiful homes. Once the house is ready, she can be found in the garden making sure the outdoor space is beautiful too!
Lala Zhang
Lala Zhang
Co-founder/Operations & Security Compliance
M.S. in Engineering
Originally a working mom in engineering, Lala made the transition to entrepreneur because of her love for children, teachers and the Early Childhood Education community. Her goal as co-founder is to engage the lovely customers, families, educators and her highly productive team to bring value, joy and fulfillment to all of them.
When it comes to customers, Lala always says, “Your happiness is my happiness!”
Fun Fact: She’s an outdoor explorer! Whether it’s skiing, tennis, scuba diving, surfing or golfing—she’s happy as long as she’s doing it with friends and family.
Heather McCook
Heather McCook
Education Program Manager
Master of Arts in Teaching
Multiple Subject Teaching Credential (With Supplemental Authorization in Music)
Bachelor of Arts in Literary Journalism
Heather is Learning Genie’s Program Manager. Heather handles a majority of our Certified Training Workshops and is the go to person in the office for any questions regarding how to you use the app. Heather has taught throughout California and the Chicago area, in both general education as well as specialized English Language Development instruction. Her strongest passions for teaching are building a classroom community, and making learning accessible so that all children can succeed. She loves being behind the scenes in education to make an impact on thousands of children and teachers with Learning Genie! During her time off, Heather loves traveling, singing, yoga, art, podcasts, reading, and baking.
Alonso Amador
Alonso Amador
Customer Success Manager
Alonso is our Customer Success Manager, which makes sense because one of his biggest passions is helping people. Alonso is simply put, a people person. He is a former winner of the office “Best Person to be Stuck in an Elevator with” and that is evident in his stellar customer service. He is committed to treating Learning Genie users as family. Alonso is one of the longest tenured Learning Genie employees and he cherishes the bridge we create between school and home. In his free time, you might see him dancing. He has been performing Ballet Folkorico for 14 years.
Maria Molina
Maria Molina
Customer Success
Maria joined Learning Genie as one of our Customer Service Specialists and she strives to provide the most positive experience to all our users. Maria lives in the moment and cherishes every second of it. Which is good to know because if you have any questions regarding Learning Genie, you know you will have her undivided attention. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with cat named Pikachu, working out and trying new foods. Maria is also a part time student a MiraCosta College and is a big fan of anime.
Tori Bleher
Tori Bleher
Partnership Manager
Tori graduated from Azusa Pacific with a B.S. in International Business and a minor in Theatre Arts. She is excited to be a part of the Learning Genie team and help enrich children’s education! She is passionate about early children’s development and has been involved in young children’s ministry for many years. As a San Diego native, she loves checking out the latest local breweries and coffee shops, as well as getting outside for hikes and beach trips and catching the next live theatre production.
Fabiola Gomez
Fabiola Gomez
Customer Success
Fabiola graduated from MCC with an A.A in Liberal Arts and an emphasis in Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is currently pursuing a B.A in both Sociology and Criminal Justice. She has extensive experience in customer service and would love to become a social worker and work with children in the future. In her free time, she likes to go to the gym and unwind with a glass of wine while watching movies.
Hanna Hercules
Hanna Hercules
Customer Success
Hanna is a member of Learning Genie’s outstanding Customer Success Team. As a Customer Support Representative, her day to day duty typically involves providing a quick solution to any problems our users might come across. Hanna truly enjoys bringing joy to our users. During her spare time, Hanna likes crafts and surrounding herself with good company.
Monica Castaneda
Monica Castaneda
Partnership Manager
Monica is Learning Genie’s office MVP. Monica is our Office Manager and Executive Assistant who’s job role is anything and everything. She oversees the employee experience which includes recruiting, human resources and keeping the office running. Monica likes to spend her free time either studying, listening to J.Cole or reading a book. Monica’s tie to education is through her daughter Sophia.
Aviva Berkowitz
Aviva Berkowitz
Account Manager/Training
B.S. Public and Community Health, Ithaca College
Aviva loves being a member of the Learning Genie team because she knows how the app’s great features promote healthy children’s growth by connecting educators to parents. Aviva loves traveling to different countries and exploring the outdoors. Her keen interest in languages has motivated her to master basic phrases in over five languages. Aviva has over 10 years of experience tutoring and teaching in elementary summer school programs. Her favorite part about teaching is watching students have their “ah ha” moment. Aviva loves being a member of the Learning Genie team because she knows how the app’s great features promote healthy children’s growth by connecting educators to parents.
Fun Fact: The name, “Aviva” is a palindrome and means “spring time” in Hebrew.
Danae Powell
Danae Powell
Human Resources and Talent Acquisition Specialist
Danae graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Criminology Law & Society. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resource Management. She joined the team as our first Human Resources and Talent Acquisition Specialist and is working on recruiting quality talent and creating a positive and fun work environment. On her free time she enjoys hiking, traveling, going to the beach and exploring new brunch places!
Erika Quintanilla
Erika Quintanilla
Partnership Manager
University of California Santa Barbara B.A in Sociology
Erika is Learning Genie’s Partnership Development Specialist. Erika has always had a passion for helping children and joined the team because she feels this is where she has an opportunity to make a difference in more children’s lives. As an undergrad student at the University of California Santa Barbara, she worked in the Children’s Center. After graduating, she started her career in a before and after school program with kids. While the students were on summer break, Erika noticed she was drawn to the Sales department and discovered that this was where she wanted to continue her career. Her hobbies consists of going to spinning classes, playing soccer, attending football games and spending time with her family, specifically her nephew.
Fun Fact: She LOVES SHOES
Karina Tapia
Karina Tapia
Customer Success
Beyond Blessed to be a part of an amazing TEAM! “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do” .In my free time I love spending time with husband Daniel and daughter Novalee, we love taking random adventures and capturing our memories. I love pizza with extra cheese !
Becca Dwyer
Becca Dwyer
Marketing Specialist/Graphic Designer
“B.A. in Graphic Design + Minor in Marketing from California State University, Northridge
Becca is Learning Genie’s Marketing Specialist and Graphic Designer. After graduating from CSUN, she moved to Oceanside to start her career and be closer to her family. Becca’s connection to education stems from her mother, who has been an educator for over 25 years. She is excited to learn alongside her peers and help facilitate the company’s continued growth and success. In her free time she enjoys reading, traveling, painting, and exploring local breweries.
Cristian Santos
Cristian Santos
Partnership Manager
Cristian is a Partnership Manager with Learning Genie and he strives to provide the most positive experience to all our users. His six year background in the telecommunication industry makes him a leader in this new technology driven generation. He has a five year old daughter named Sophia and deeply understands the importance of early education. In his free time he enjoys exploring and taking photos of random things, spending time with friends and family, and reading new books.
Zach Myers
Zach Myers
Partnership Manager
Zach is part of Learning Genie’s outgoing partnership team. Zach was a scholar at his college which led him to pursue a career in education. Zach has a passion for mentoring and teaching the youth as his first job consisted of him coaching club soccer. He was born in Orange County, but he now calls San Diego home. Zach loves playing sports and just being outdoors in general. Zach’s passions consist of golfing and surfing, so if you are looking for the best courses or swells, Zach is your dude.
Matthew Rivera
Matthew Rivera
Customer Success
I am excited to be apart of the Learning Genie family. “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence…” is my favorite career quote I apply here and I’m happy to be expanding my efforts within the company and accomplishing our successes along the way.On my weekends I love to spend time with my family and friends!
Dr. Alfred E. Osborne
Dr. Alfred E. Osborne
Board Director
Senior Associate Dean, Professor
UCLA Anderson School of Business
Alfred E. Osborne, Jr. is Senior Associate Dean of UCLA Anderson. Dr. Osborne is also professor of Global Economics & Management and founder and faculty director of the Harold Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UCLA. He is also an expert in social entrepreneurship who has developed several programs that apply business models to the nonprofit world. For more than 13 years, The Price Center has created and run some innovative management development programs, including four in partnership with health care giant Johnson & Johnson: Head Start – Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows Program
Dr. Lisa Kaufman
Dr. Lisa Kaufman
Education Advisor
Lisa Kaufman is the Founder and Principal of LK Consulting. She has more than 20 years of professional, research and program development experience in the early learning space. She most recently served as the Founding Executive Director for Educare California at Silicon Valley (Educare) the first Educare site in California and 21 st in the national Educare Learning Network. Prior to joining Educare, Lisa was the Founding Director of the Learning Services Department for the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE). The department included direct services (Head Start and State Preschool) as well as technical assistance and professional development supports, including the Inclusion Collaborative, the California Preschool Instructional Network and the Local Child Care Planning Council (LPC). In this role, Lisa spearheaded several broad-scale initiatives, including ECSV, the birth through third grade Santa Clara County Early Learning Master Plan, and statewide and local strategic planning and pilot efforts for transitional kindergarten. Lisa’s work in the Bay Area started at San Francisco Unified School District, where she served as the Chief of Early Childhood Education and led city-wide PK-3 strategic planning efforts and the oversaw the largest early learning system in San Francisco. She previously led Early Advantage, a collaborative effort of the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the Los Angeles County Education Foundation that served over 30,000 children, families and early childhood and elementary educators annually. Lisa received her Ph.D. and A.M. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Dr. Neal Halfon
Dr. Neal Halfon
Education Advisor
Professor, Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, UCLA
Member, Internal Advisory Board Community Engagement and Research Program (CERP)
Neal Halfon, M.D., M.P.H., is director of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities, as well as professor of pediatrics, public health, and public policy at the UCLA Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Public Policy. Dr. Halfon is a member of the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, of the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. He also directs the Maternal and Child Health Bureau funded National Center for Infant and Early Childhood Health Policy.
Kelly Pope
Kelly Pope
Education Advisor
Kelly spent 25 years as a software executive developing interactive media and educational technology products for teachers and students.
Since transitioning into the non-profit sector, Kelly’s focus has been in education, with specific interest on early learning, out of school time, and personalized learning. At SV2, Kelly has participated as a grant round leader and lead partner, and is primarily focused on education and impact investing.
Outside of SV2, Kelly serves on several education focused non-profit boards and advises numerous early ed-tech start-ups.
Wenxiang Ma
Wenxiang Ma
Board Director
Wenxiang Ma is a venture partner of TEEC Angel Fund who specializes in enterprise software. Concurrent to his role at TEEC Angel Fund, Wenxiang serves as executive vice president of Engineering and Operations at Arena Solutions, with responsibilities include product development, QA, engineering operations and customer support. Wenxiang holds his Master degree in Electrical Engineering from Yale University and his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing.
Dr. Guylaine L. Richard
Dr. Guylaine L. Richard
Education Advisor
Presently Dr. Richard works as the Training and Technical Assistance Program Manager of the National Center on Parents, Family and Community Engagement at the Brazelton Touchpoints Center at Children Boston Hospital.
Dr. Richard has held several positions in Head Start and has had the distinct privilege to be recognized as a National Head Start Fellow, where she developed new project initiatives for the Health and Disabilities Branch, as well as representing the Family and Youth Services Bureau in research and health initiatives with other Federal agencies. She brings a wealth of experience as a Head Start Director, Training and Technical Assistance Health Specialist, Start-up Planner, and Head Start Federal Reviewer in the areas of Program Design and Management, Health, Nutrition, Mental Health, Disabilities and Early Head Start. Dr. Richard held consultant roles, namely that of an Early Childhood and Management Consultant for the National Head Start Association (NHSA) where she served as Team Leader for the NHSA Quality Initiative and is a faculty member of NHSA’s Annual Administrators and Mid-Managers Academy. As the President of RichardEtc, LLC, she provided training and consultation to Head Start and other local, regional and national programs in the areas of leadership, organizational development, program quality and staff professional development. She is the author of “Right from the Start: the Sooner, the Better”: a resource guide to quality services delivery to pregnant women and expectant families in Head Start and Early Head Start.
In addition, Dr. Guylaine L. Richard, is a medical graduate from the School of Medicine and Pharmacy in Haiti; a graduate from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Public Health and the John Hopkins University School of Professional Studies in Business and Education. She brings more than 25 years of experience leading successful programs, educating and providing training and technical assistance in the field of public health, administration and education to various national and international agencies serving at-risk populations. Dr. Richard is the founder and chairperson of WISEOP, a non-profit organization dedicated to the attainment of self-sufficiency through education and leadership. She is the President of Richard Etc, LLC, a woman, veteran, minority owned and certified small business enterprise providing training and consultation to local, regional, national and international programs in the areas of leadership, organizational development, program quality and staff professional
Kathy Lincoln
Kathy Lincoln
Education Advisor
EduvativeThinking, Prior Program Director Milpitas Unified School District
A combination of twenty years of business experience cultivated across various settings, and twenty years of technology integration in preschool through middle school has resulted in the creation of an “out-of-box thinker” with a cutting edge attitude about how to support staff development that enables teachers to engage young students in authentic learning experiences.
Kathy Lincoln is a recognized educational leader and educational technology pioneer, who is passionate about creating connections between preschool and third grade. She believes, putting an end to the achievement gap begins by closing the readiness gap.
Kathy imagines a place where preschool through third grade students and teachers engage together in authentic learning environments using hands on strategies that help children construct depth of knowledge, a place where teachers and staff of young learners work together to align curriculum and learning strategies that assure children perform at grade level by the time they leave third grade. She believes that technology and traditional hands on learning must be integrated in ways that support young learners develop skill sets necessary for a successful future of jobs not yet created.
Amy Tran
Amy Tran
Branding Strategist
Ms. Tran has been a veteran Marketing Executive. She obtained MBA from UCLA Anderson Business School. She has been leading the marketing branding campaign for Google Education, Khan’s Academy. She continuously contribute to Learning Genie to provide top notch marketing strategy in the Public School system.
Miao Li
Miao Li
Software Architect
M.S. in Computer Science
Miao is an accomplished computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. He is best known as one of the five co-founders of the social networking website, Facebook.
…Okay, that’s not Miao, that’s Mark Zuckerberg. But Miao’s the engineer in charge of the core of Nokia HERE Map, the mighty and undisruptable big data backend. He is Learning Genie’s chief architect.
Fun Fact: When he’s not coding, Miao is usually working out, because “health is wealth!”
Stephanie Cubillo
Stephanie Cubillo
Educator Success Associate
Hi Everyone! A bit about me, I am very passionate in Counseling and Education. I have been in early childhood education for the last 6 years so it is great that I can now help educators with Learning Genie. In my personal time, I enjoy traveling, outdoor activities, baking, and spending time with friends.
Sally Li
Sally Li
Program Coordinator
B.A. Child Development and Family Studies
B.A. Family Life Education
I feel excited to join the family of Learning Genie. My teaching experience in Pre-K classrooms makes me realize how important the family engagement and child assessment are. In a diverse society, I believe all the children should have equal access to a quality education, so they can expand their outlooks on life. During free time, I like to do meditation and read books at home.
Fun Fact: I have been practicing Chinese folk dance since preschool
Yi-Cheng Hu
Yi-Cheng Hu
Education Consultant
Yi-Cheng has been in the field of Early Childhood Education since 1998. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and a Master’s degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena. Yi-Cheng is currently working as a Early Childhood Education Instructional Specialist at a campus based laboratory school. She works closely with children, their families, and student teachers on a daily basis. She has always wanted to be educator, and she wakes up every morning feeling lucky to be in the field she loves.
In her spare time, Yi-Cheng enjoys traveling, sampling new restaurants, and cooking. She is very excited to be apart of Learning Genie and cannot wait to share her ideas with everyone!
