About Us

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job.  Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Jessica has an undergraduate degree in finance, spent four years teaching math at a Brooklyn public high school, loves scouring the internet for interesting things to learn, and has a real soft spot for spreadsheets: It's as though this position at NGPF was created just for her. A graduate of Bank Street College of Education, she considers learning personal finance to be a matter of social justice and views the work perpetually through that lens. Having spent the previous six years as a school leader, Jessica misses the daily interaction with teachers but is glad she no longer has to monitor hallways.

After graduating with an education degree and spending 7 years in an elementary classroom, Laura made the switch to the non-profit world and loves interacting with students, educators and business professionals across the country.   She is passionate about all students having access to high quality education and views personal finance education as one way to ‘level the playing field’. When Laura is not locating or creating high quality educational resources, you can find her mountain biking or searching for the best ramen in town!

Sonia has always been passionate about instruction and improving students' learning experiences. She's come a long way since her days as a first grader, when she would "teach" music and read to her very attentive stuffed animals after school. Since then, she has helped students as a K-12 tutor, worked in several EdTech startups in the Bay Area, and completed her Ed.M in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her favorite part about working with students is helping them understand a concept they are struggling with and witnessing that "Aha!" moment. This energy is what drives her to create compelling personal finance content that engages students and makes them financially capable. When she isn't crafting multiple-choice questions or speaking with teachers, Sonia loves to spend her time singing, being outdoors, and adventuring with family and friends!

Christian comes to NGPF from the world of classroom instruction, where he was a teacher for three years at a public middle school in El Sobrante, California. After leaving the classroom, he joined math tutoring company, Zeal Learning, to help grow their educator-facing sales and marketing efforts. He's no stranger to making a dollar stretch - while living in the Bay Area on his teacher salary he paid down over $40k in student loans in the span of 3 years. He's thrilled to share those lessons with teachers and students around the U.S.

Rita has gained a lot of experience wearing many hats from working in various industries (web design, commercial real estate, mobile electronic accessories). She enjoys the challenge of organizing chaos and simplifying complex problems. Some of Rita's hobbies include travel, baking, photography, volleyball, and fitting square pegs into round holes.

Born and raised by Dominican, immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Yanely is a proud product of NYC public schools. She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 2007 before going on to receive her bachelor's degree at Brown University in 2011. As a Teach For America corps member, Yanely taught third and fourth grade in Canarsie, Brooklyn. She received her master's degree from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2013. She spends her spare time making YouTube videos about personal finance on her channel, MissBeHelpful. Yanely also loves to dance, sew, paint, listen to podcasts, and babysit her soon-to-be 7 nieces and nephews!

Greg comes to us from a big Canadian family full of passionate educators: the joy of teaching and learning has always been an important part of his experience. He saw first hand the need for personal finance education after having his students research careers and create a budget in his computers class. His students would not stop telling him how important this project was, even years later. Greg brings his unique experience designing and managing online learning communities for Columbia University, Connected Camps, and others to the Next Gen team. He is excited to connect with great teachers and support them in their challenging and rewarding work. Greg is a proud jack of all trades - outside of work he likes to play soccer and hockey, make music, read old books, and explore the great outdoors.

After graduating with a statistics major at UC Davis, Abby set off to Massachusetts to teach algebra 1 and geometry and enjoyed working with the curious and creative minds of high school students. She is passionate about helping students recognize and develop their strengths and leadership skills. She was instrumental in taking the high school cheer team to regional competitions, as well as elevating school spirit and pride through creating unity amongst the study body and educators. Back in the Bay Area, Abby is excited to work with other educators to build and share content to enhance the teaching experience in applied math and finance.

Kareem is an experienced teacher, leader, and educational advocate. After being a high school teacher in New York City, Kareem spent 6 years with a non-profit organization as the Assistant Director of Special Education Instruction aimed at training teachers and school administrators across the country on how to enhance their classroom instruction, extend community outreach, and innovate learning in K-12 classrooms. Kareem is committed to designing and delivering high-quality training and professional development to education professionals as a means to improve all classrooms and communities nationwide. Also, Kareem is a lifelong learner, personal finance enthusiast, and frequently travels to immerse in other cultures.

Dan had worked for over thirty years in the financial services industry before making a career transition to teach in a New York City High School. Soon after arriving in the classroom, he developed and taught a Personal Finance class. While he enjoyed teaching the class, Dan discovered a passion for financial education after seeing how much the students loved the material and applied it in so many innovative ways - both inside and outside of the classroom. Dan’s vision is for every high school student in the country to receive a high quality financial education. He brings this passion to the NGPF team and our partners in the classroom to help make Mission: 2030 a reality. He loves to travel and explore with his wife and two children whether it’s a cross country New York to Seattle road trip with his son or adventures with his daughter to places like India, Namibia, and Mozambique.

Ren is currently studying at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. He plays rugby for his college and enjoys living on the East Coast. Thanks to going through the NGPF curriculum multiple times, he is able to be financially aware while at college (read more about what he learned here) . He is also the editor of the NGPF podcast and makes sure it is accessible to teachers on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play Music. 

Sid is currently a studying at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the former treasurer of the Palo Alto Youth Council and leader of the Youth Friendly Business Initiative. He enjoys playing lacrosse in his free time. His dad is a money manager, gifting Sid with an early love for investing and personal finance. Sid uses his attention to detail and organizational skills to help NGPF with product launches.