Jason, President and Co-Founder of Metis, aspires to improve everyone's data science skill set.
For almost 20 years, Jason has worked in education. From founding a nonprofit organization in New Orleans to working at companies such as McKinsey & Company, Scholastic, Kaplan, and now Metis (a part of Kaplan), he has sought opportunities to build businesses and work with exceptional teams on creating transformative learning experiences and products.He spends most his time at Metis (1) ensuring the quality of the student experience and outcome; (2) developing the roadmap and building the team to grow the business; and (3) engaging with data scientists around the country with whom Metis can collaborate.He has been married for 12 years and has two kids. In his spare time, he enjoys kickboxing, participating in obstacle courses, and blogging about billiards movies and television shows.
Debbie, Chief Data Scientist at Metis, uses her "physics glasses" to solve challenging real-world problems and promote critical thinking.
Deborah Berebichez is a physicist, data scientist and TV host. She has expertise in scientific research and advanced analysis and she has helped automate decision-making and uncover patterns in large amounts of data. Her passion lies in merging critical thinking skills with practical coding skills. She specializes in drawing connections between the approaches used in data science and the challenges organizations face. Deborah has a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford and completed two postdoctoral fellowships at Columbia University's Applied Math and Physics Department and at NYU's Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences. She is a frequent mentor of young women in STEM. Her work in science education and outreach has been recognized by the Discovery Channel, WSJ, Oprah, Dr. Oz, TED, DLD, WIRED, Ciudad de las Ideas and others.
Julia, a Metis data science instructor, loves using data to study and explore phenomena.
Julia comes to Metis after working at JetBlue as a quantitative engineer. While at JetBlue, she used quantitative analysis and machine learning methods to provide continuous assessment of the aircraft fleet. Julia began her career as a structures engineer, where she designed repairs for damaged aircraft. In 2011, she transferred into a quantitative role at JetBlue and began her M.A. in Applied Math at Hunter College, where she focused on visualizations of various numerical methods including collocation and finite element methods. She discovered a deep appreciation for the combination of mathematics and visualizations and found data science to be a natural extension. Julia has also worked as an Expert in Residence for a company that provides data science training. She continues to collaborate on various projects including the development of stock trading algorithms. During certain seasons of her career, she has also worked on creative side projects such as Lia Lintern, her own fashion label.
Vinny, a Metis data science instructor, views data as a facet of perception.
Vinny comes to Metis after leading a team of Data Scientists at High 5 Games. Prior to that he taught Machine Learning at General Assembly and built tools for Animators and Effects Artists at Blue Sky Studios (the company that made Ice Age, Rio and The Peanuts Movie). He has a Masters in Computational Engineering and another in Creative Writing. He enjoys the nexus of mathematics, computer programming, human perception and arts. Over the past three years, Vinny has been knee-deep in large distributed data -- aggregating, building recommendation systems, measuring popularity and predicting Lifetime Value. In that time, he also finished a first draft of his novel. An avid programmer, Vinny has won various programming contests including the Regional ACM Collegiate Programming Contest. He has taught at the University of Miami and has given talks and presentations at various colleges and conferences.
Paul, a Metis data science instructor, enjoys tackling open-ended problems a little outside of his comfort zone.
Paul comes to data science as a physics convert. He studied physics and mathematics at MIT before taking a job with a government intelligence contractor. There he entered the realm of data science doing groundbreaking work with large scale text analytics via a technology called Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). In this context, LSI allowed analysts to tease out deep yet subtle relationships between entities, concepts, etc. from hundreds of millions of raw text documents. After receiving a Master's in Machine Learning, he pursued a more mainstream data science role and spent the last few years leading a team building models on user and advertising data for over nearly a billion users with Hadoop and AWS. During this time, he also taught night courses for professionals aspiring to be data scientists. Paul is a huge sports fan, and also loves travel and learning most anything new.
Michael, a senior data scientist, enjoys using data to create new things and solve previously "unsolvable" problems.
Michael comes to Metis from General Electric where he worked to establish their data science strategy and capabilities for field services and to build solutions supporting Global operations, risk, engineering, sales, and marketing. He also taught data science and machine learning for General Assembly. Prior to GE, Michael spent several years as a data scientist working on problems in credit modeling at Kabbage and corporate travel and procurement at TRX. Michael holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a Master's degree in Computational Science and Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology where he also spent 3 years working on machine learning research problems related to computational biology and bioinformatics. Additionally, Michael spent 12 years in the United States Marine Corps where he held various leadership roles within aviation, logistics, and training units. In his spare time, he enjoys running, traveling, and reading.
Andrew is passionate about helping people make rational decisions and building cool data products.
Andrew comes to us from LinkedIn, where he worked as a data scientist, on projects ranging from executive dashboarding, education, inferring profiles and skills standardization. He is passionate about helping people make rational decisions and building cool data products. Prior to that he worked on fraud modelling at IMVU (the lean startup) and studied applied physics at Cornell. Andrew grew up on a sheep farm in North Idaho. He loves snowboarding, traveling, scotch and reading about all kinds of nerdy topics.
Brian is passionate about using data science to improve healthcare and enrich people's lives.
Brian comes to Metis from PCCI where he led a team of data scientists building real-time predictive models for clinical decision support. Before that he was Chief Mathematician at Guardian Analytics, where he pioneered the development of fraud detection algorithms based on Bayesian behavioral modeling. He has an A.B. from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Brown, and has held teaching and research positions at the University of Washington, UC-Berkeley, and the American University in Cairo. He enjoys biking, swimming, traveling, and poker.
David has a penchant for solving novel problems with machine learning and revels in sharing knowledge with others.
David comes to Metis from HAVI, a world-renowned supply chain and logistics company. He developed the machine learning back-end for their SaaS product and provided training in Python, algorithms, and Apache Spark. Prior to that, David worked at a research lab for the Department of Defense where he led multiple facets of a big data cybersecurity project. David holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, having specialized in optimization methods. His industry experience spans defense, education, healthcare, insurance, logistics, marketing, and supply chain.
Jonathan Balaban is a consultant, data scientist, and entrepreneur with ten years of private, public, and philanthropic experience.
As a data scientist, he has worked at McKinsey and Booz Allen Hamilton, and he has taught data science at General Assembly. He has led teams to design bespoke data science solutions that have driven revolutionary changes in client operations. Jonathan - sometimes successfully - leverages data science solutions in his personal life: on friends, racing, and training.
Sehreen envisions a workforce where people's passions and talents are optimally aligned with business needs.
Sehreen started her career as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State where she worked in D.C., France, Nepal, and the UAE on education and entrepreneurship programs. She worked on the team that created the first ever set of digital diplomacy tools and was recognized by the White House for her work. She transitioned into edtech in 2012 when she joined Noodle.com as head of business development. Since then, she founded EdTechWomen which expanded into 13 chapters in one year and was awarded SXSWedu's first Change Maker award. She pursued a B.A. in Development Studies at Brown University and an Ed.M in Education Policy at Harvard University because of her passion for human development and closing the skills gap. In her spare time, she plays basketball and avidly avoids cooking.
Amy is dedicated to creating meaningful relationships with students as they navigate through the Admissions process and beyond.
With over eight years in higher education, Amy is passionate about developing an engaging and effective Admissions process, while using data to gain insights and drive decision-making. She is lauded for her ability to work cross-functionally and her focus on customer service. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring New York City and spending time with her two dogs.
Josh is a career education professional who is passionate about creating meaningful relationships with students and helping them take the next best step in their education and career.
Josh started his career in education by spending nearly 4 years in South Korea as a teacher. After returning from South Korea, Josh launched an online school teaching ESL to business professionals around the world. He also enrolled in and completed a M.Ed. from the University of Cincinnati. Most recently, Josh worked at Hack Reactor as an admissions and program manager, developing innovative programs that would help students prepare to apply and creating sincere relationships with students to help them take their skills to the next level.
Megan is committed to helping people find careers they love.
Megan comes to Metis with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Pepperdine University and 6+ years of full lifecycle technical recruiting experience. She has successfully coached hundreds of people through their job search including: creating a personalized career strategy, identifying open job opportunities, providing introductions, preparing candidates for interviews, and navigating them through the salary negotiation process. Megan is passionate about helping people identify the right career choices and jobs they love.
Jennifer enjoys creating individualized career plans designed to breakdown the job search process and distinguish you from your competition.
Jennifer comes to Metis with close to 8 years of experience in career development. Her tenure at TheLadders included managing a team of sourcers dedicated to connecting talent with employers. With a double certification in Career Coaching and Resume Writing coupled with a keen sense of the recruitment process, Jennifer is eager to share her experience and knowledge on how to successful gain employment. Jennifer has her BA in English and Language Arts. During her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, and dancing with her husband and new baby boy.
Andrew is passionate about connecting people to their dream job.
Andrew is passionate about helping students see what's possible for themselves, by providing them with personalized career support that helps them achieve their specific goals. A lifelong Bay Area resident, Andrew graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Political Science. Andrew combines his experience as a Career Coach with previous roles where he helped tech companies expand their business and hire employees who best fit their needs. As the Career Advisor in San Francisco, Andrew helps students prepare for the workforce by helping them identify what they really want out of a career, developing a workable plan, and providing support at every step along the way. Outside of work Andrew enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with his pug.
Tiffany is a certified coach who specializes in career exploration and career transition.
Tiffany comes to Metis with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism, a Master of Arts in Psychology, and an Associate Certified Coach credential from the International Coach Federation. She has spent 14 years as a video editor before becoming a software trainer that traveled across the United States and Australia, and 5 years developing workshops focused on job search and career exploration. In addition to studying how we can be our best selves, Tiffany is excited to help others navigate transitions in projects, roles, and employment so that they can live and work with passion and purpose.
Laura likes using technology for solving problems (and everything, really).
Laura, a DevBootcamp graduate, comes to Metis with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from ITESM and experience in a wide set of industries, from tech to the energy sector. She spends her time at Metis building products, fussing over the website, and trying to make people’s lives better with tech. She is very passionate about diversity and inclusion; she founded and co-directed the Women Who Code chapter of Boston for 2+ years, and has recently co-founded, the first Queer in Data Science group in NYC. Laura greatly enjoys science fiction and hopes to one day reach the Singularity and finally accomplish her dream of becoming a cyborg.
Leah started her career first managing a children's enrichment center and then in the finance world, before joining Kaplan Test Prep in 2012 and transitioning full-time to Metis in 2014. After overseeing the NY location as Program Manager and additionally Metis' other locations and Program Managers, she moved into her Director role in March of 2017. She also acts as Designated School Official for our M-1 visa assistance and School Director for NY BPSS. Leah graduated with a degree in Art History and Spanish and in her spare time she enjoys any craft-based project, traveling, hiking and Jeopardy.
Heather thrives in using her skills and expertise in building amazing cultures and experiences for the people she has the pleasure of working with.
Heather previously had the opportunity to work for Bigcommerce cultivating both the Austin and San Francisco offices. Heather has a Bachelor of Arts in Aerospace Administration and Operations from Oklahoma State University where she merged her passion for aviation with business. When she is not at work you can find her taking a stroll on the beach or hiking in the bay with her Golden Retriever and English Bulldog.
Jane is a data-driven marketer committed to growing the Metis student and graduate community.
Jane's passion lies in working with talented teams to implement measurable, integrated marketing plans that make a positive impact on businesses she believes in. She comes to Metis from the digital marketing agency Blue Fountain Media, where she worked as a Marketing Director to create and execute on strategies that addressed clients' brand and business goals. Prior to that she worked as a Senior Marketing Project Manager at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, an online school that certifies health coaches. This was her first exposure to the power of non-traditional education, and she saw its life-changing capacity first-hand. Jane is a graduate of Wake Forest University down south, but is a New Yorker who loves staying active and finding ways to get her hands dirty.
Siobhan uses her art and business background to come up with creative and innovative marketing solutions.
Siobhan has been marketing higher education for the past four years. She has a diverse background including design, event planning, photography and business. She holds a BA in Graphic Design and Multimedia Arts, and an MBA with a dual concentration in Marketing and Management. Siobhan is goal-driven and excited to use her design skills, coupled with her business background, to market non-traditional higher education. In her spare time, she enjoys all outdoor adventures with her two rescue pups, sarcasm and growing peppers for homemade hot sauce.
Nathan is passionate about non-traditional education, taking tools learned in the classroom and implementing them in real world experiences.
Nathan previously worked for Kaplan International as their Regional Activities Manager and Student Services Coordinator helping international students achieve their English language goals. Before Kaplan, Nathan worked for a language events company and built bilingual communities through events for over five years in both Spain and Argentina. In his spare time Nathan enjoys traveling, attending cultural events, reading and being outside when Chicago's weather permits it.
Ashley is a passionate Career Advisor who enjoys helping job seekers realize their full professional potentials and assisting them with finding their dream careers.
Ashley has 5 years of experience as an employment professional. She started her career as a technical recruiter, and most recently worked at DeVry University as a Career Advisor supporting the technical programs. Working in both a recruiting and advising capacity has given her a strong understanding of the recruitment process and what employers seek in a quality candidate, especially in the technical industry. Ashley is excited to be a founding member of the Chicago Metis team. She can't wait to get started working with students and graduates to assist them with identifying what they want out of a career and helping them find the career they are looking for. Outside of work Ashley enjoys staying active through rec sports and running, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.
Zach loves looking for kernels of truth hidden within data and using that knowledge to bring understanding into novel situations.
Zach has spent the last eight years collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data from particle accelerators all over the United States, putting to use his PhD in nuclear physics. He's helped pioneer statistical analysis, simulation, and data collection techniques to make measurements from hundreds of terabytes of physics data. During these efforts, Zach has worked with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Kentucky Accelerator Lab, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. His passion is combining technical and programming skills with the educational chops he developed as a professor in order to create an intuitive, hands-on learning experience. In his free time, Zach plays numerous instruments, climbs rocks, and eats green chiles.
Krishna comes to Metis from the advertising world having worked in a series of startups enabling online and television advertising.
As chief scientist at Simulmedia, Krishna led a team of data scientists that used big data to improve targeting, measurement and advance the state of programmatic buying in television advertising. Krishna has a Masters in Physics and another in Computer Science and is excited about bringing his startup, data science and big data experiences to the classroom.
Taylan is an industrial engineer, mathematician and a data scientist with a passion for teaching and using data to solve real world problems.
Taylan comes to Metis from Versium Analytics, where he led the data science team, involved in various projects such as fraud detection, churn prediction and building an automated self-service predictive analytics/machine learning platform. He has a Ph.D. in Algebraic Geometry from the Mathematics department at the University of Southern California. He has also worked and co-authored scientific papers on problems related to oceanography and biology. He enjoys learning, math puzzles, video games and watching football.
Seth loves using math to turn organizations' data into money - and teaching others how to do the same.
Seth joined Metis from Trunk Club, where he built their lead scoring models and contributed to their recommender systems. He transitioned into Data Science from management consulting by taking courses on Coursera and Udacity; this experience made him passionate about alternative education experiences such as MOOCs and bootcamps, which led him first to teach data science part time for General Assembly and ultimately led him to join Metis. He has Mathematics and Economics degrees from The University of Chicago, and outside of work he likes to spend time reading, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and enjoying Chicago’s art, comedy, and theater scenes.
Roberto is a scientist with a strong background in data analysis and image/signal processing.
Roberto comes to Metis from Sensoria Inc., where he led the signal processing team. He has worked in applications in the healthcare, internet of things, and business intelligence markets. He received a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, and has co-authored several scientific publications, book chapters, and patents. He enjoys hiking and soccer.
Lee likes to describe himself as an "educational technology community architect.
He builds inclusive, engaging communities that create cutting-edge educational programming and technology for the betterment of the world. Previously, Lee served as evangelist for Galvanize, cultivating their technology learning communities primarily by creating courses in coding and data science designed for fellow aspiring learners. Lee remains active in the Startup Weekend community as a global facilitator and community leader and serves on the Startup Week Seattle organizing community. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of California, Irvine.
Alice, a Metis data science instructor, enjoys making complex things easy to understand.
Alice comes to Metis from Cars.com, where she started as the company's first data scientist, supporting multiple functions from Marketing to Technology. During that time, she also co-founded a data science education startup, Best Fit Analytics Workshop, teaching weekend courses to professionals at 1871 in Chicago. Prior to becoming a data scientist, she worked at Redfin as an analyst and at Accenture as a consultant. She has her M.S. in Analytics and B.S. in Electrical Engineering, both from Northwestern University. She blogs about analytics and pop culture on A Dash of Data. Her blog post, "How Text Messages Change From Dating to Marriage" made it onto the front page of Reddit, gaining over half a million views in the first week. She is passionate about teaching and mentoring, and loves using data to tell fun and compelling stories.
Joe loves tackling unusual problems with the tools of data science and has a passion for effectively communicating quantitative ideas.
As both a math enthusiast and a former competitive debater, Joe was drawn to data science by its place at the intersection of statistics, computing, and communication. He has worked on projects ranging from quantifying and comparing story plots to building a Bayesian model of human rights abuse rates that accounts for informational bias. Before transitioning into data science, he worked in various data analytics roles, most recently as an Equity Research associate on Credit Suisse's portfolio strategy team. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Columbia University, and is also a Metis alumnus. He currently coaches NYU's parliamentary debate team, and in his free time he enjoys playing piano, reading, and playing board games.
Sophie loves extracting representations and understanding from data and pushing data science to be a more positive and inclusive discipline.
Sophie Searcy comes to Metis from Elektra, a wearable startup that is replacing haptics with electricity. At Elektra she was cofounder and CTO, designing everything from the electronics to the framework for analyzing data. Before that she worked in the CoDaS lab at Rutgers where she combined cognitive science and theoretical computer science to build models of how people and machines teach and learn. She holds masters degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Psychology. She is passionate about teaching, both in theory and in practice, and about making sure that data science is primarily a tool that is used to improve people's lives.
