Meet Our Team
Crystal E.
Hailing from University of Chicago, Crystal has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Human Development and a Master of Arts in Teaching. She's applied these credentials for years in the education sector, from a public classroom setting to public and private Montessori schools.
Cassidy G.
Cassidy specifically designs services to build students’ candidacy for both private school and university admissions. Whether addressing extracurricular enhancement, academic improvement, or essential skills development, programs under her purview emphasize strategic profile- and narrative-building.
Gala R.
Featuring stints with Walt Disney and Sesame Street, Gala's applied her education in Communications and Cinema Studies to deep engagement with younger students. Based in the United Arab Emirates, Gala's served as an international educator and department head at several private American schools, teaching students, implementing new educational policies, and developing school curricula. Gala draws on her colorful history and over decade of experience to engage and educate students with any interest or background.
Will K.
With a diverse educational and professional background across the US, UK, and Australia, Will draws from his global experience managing teams to empower students. Will was the Chief Commercial Officer at Year13, where he helped build Australia's largest career advice platform for school leavers. Will also was General Manager at CauseForce, where he led the business to raise $130M for cancer research.
His mission is identifying individual passions and strengths to achieve high-impact outcomes and change the world. Whether sneaker businesses or Ivy summer programs, Will's students take their work to new levels building dreams.
Emily T.
Emily has experience in data analysis, policy work, and curriculum design. She co-founded the award-winning education social enterprise BookMyHappiness.
As an educator, Emily believes in student-led learning and empowering students to build lives according to their values. She takes a warm, personalized approach to supporting students in their self-development journeys.
Christian K.
With over 5 years experience, Christian systematically guides students to success by pinpointing strengths and weaknesses to make the most of each student’s potential. Outside of Crimson, he is also the founder of Auckland Schools Legal Mooting, an organisation that has revolutionised the way that students can think about legal careers in Auckland, New Zealand.
Christian is dedicated to helping his students find their best university fit, particularly by utilising his extensive expertise in the UK, US, and Australian university landscapes. He finds nothing more satisfying than seeing students achieve their dreams through his work in understanding and inspiring their potential.
Lucia G.
With a background in dance, education, and political leadership, Lucia uses empathy to empower self-directed learning and values-based choices. She has mentored extensively through initiatives at Bowdoin and organizations like The Greer Meister Group (NYC), and worked as a legislative aide for U.S. President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
As a professional artist, Lucia has premiered numerous works. Her diverse leadership skills and artistic perspective help provide insight to students. Lucia is passionate about cultivating strengths and empowering students to thrive through scaffolding their success.
Runwa N.
Runwa guides diverse extracurricular projects as a premier Crimson ECL advisor, drawing on research skills developed through NGO work addressing education. With experience monitoring local initiatives, she discovered her passion for empowering communities through education.
Beyond academics, Runwa co-founded an environmental podcast for the MENA region highlighting grassroots solutions. She remains active in the arts through vocal performance and theater. Runwa brings warmth and compassion to motivate self-improvement and challenge through building skills and knowledge.
Meet our tutors and mentors
In addition to our Strategists, the Rise team includes 90+ tutors and mentors who deliver 1:1 tutoring for Rise students and instruction on Crimson's extracurricular courses designed for 11-14 year-olds.
Entrepreneurs, athletes, published authors, and much more, these tutors are top performers in their fields and serve as inspirations as well as subject coaches for our Rise students!
Michael
Michael graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Philosophy and Government.
As a high schooler, Michael was involved in student government as his class president and school-wide vice-president. He was also the senior editor of his literary magazine, vice president of his school's chapter of the National Honor Society, a member of Key Club and Drama Club, and a varsity football and track athlete.
With Rise, Michael instructs our 1:1 courses for Entrepreneurship and Speech and Debate.
Audrey
A scholar and musician from the USA, Audrey has studied music, East Asian studies, politics, and communication.
After winning a Watson Fellowship, Audrey launched a yearlong, self-designed project surveying musical manifestations of multiculturalism in China, Indonesia, and Turkey, continuing with a fully funded PhD program in ethnomusicology at Harvard.
Audrey instructs Crimson Rise students through 1:1 Speech & Debate, Social Entrepreneurship, and Foundation ECL courses.
Chibudom
Chibudom is pursuing a BSc in Computer Science at University of Warwick, having earned an English Baccalaureate for GCSE and achieved 10 A*s and 2 As. She also took the International Baccalaureate during sixth form, building a wealth of subject-specific knowledge she now tutors students in.
Chibudom instructs Crimson Rise students via English, Spanish, Math, General Science, and Physics tutoring as well as the 1:1 Coding course.
Talvin
Talvin is a Molecular Biology student at UCL, Vice President of Projects at Consulting Society, and a member of the Entrepreneurs and Free Hype societies. Talvin placed in the top 3rd percentile for his Coding A-level.
With a broad interest in STEM and academic interests in Artificial Intelligence, disease, and immune response, he inspires students to find passion in their studies.
Talvin instructs Crimson Rise students through Biology and Chemistry tutoring as well as the 1:1 Coding course.
Taylor
Taylor is a seasoned Crimson ECL Mentor. She studied Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, earning a certificate in History and Practice of Diplomacy, serving the equestrian and sailing teams, and acting as a News Writer for the Daily Princetonian.
In high school, Taylor was a theatre performer, varsity golf co-captain, and founding officer of her school's chapter of Junior Civitan International.
Taylor instructs Crimson Rise students via the 1:1 Entrepreneurship and Foundation ECL courses.
Quinton
Quinton dove headfirst into NYU CAS’s core computer science courses and NYU Steinhardt's "Teaching of Computer Science" course.
Before deciding to teach full time, he worked as a Software Developer at QTUltrasound, a medical device company in the SF Bay Area. Quinton is also the creator of Nostlan, an app that has thousands of active users and 330 stars on Github.
Quinton instructs Crimson Rise students via the 1:1 Coding course.
Eric
Eric is studying at Columbia University, double majoring in Economics and Political Science with interests in Venture Capital and Public Policy. He is a Committee Director for Columbia Model United Nations and an Assistant Scoutmaster in Boy Scouts of America; Eric also helps blind people run road races and is an avid rock climber, hiker, and backcountry skier.
Eric instructs Crimson Rise students via 1:1 Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, Speech & Debate, and Foundation ECL courses.
Eva
Eva graduated from Princeton’s Department of Molecular Biology summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa and first in the course.
Currently a medical student in Cambridge’s Graduate Medicine course, Eva has served as a healthcare volunteer, a peer academic advisor, and an undergraduate course assistant. She has delved into neuroscience, mathematics, and public policy and supports Rise students as an ECL Foundation Mentor, preparing them to build leadership projects in high school.
Claire
Claire is an undergraduate at Princeton University. When she’s not studying policy in the School of Public and International Affairs, she spends her time acting and producing student theatre on campus and editing news articles for The Daily Princetonian.
Claire was involved with debate and political advocacy in high school and presently works for an affordable housing non-profit.Claire instructs Rise students as an English & Social Studies tutor as well as through several 1:1 Rise courses.
