Our Team
With backgrounds as educators, school administrators, business executives, and nonprofit leaders, our team has extensive experience in school leadership, learner-centered design, organization management, communication and more. We provide a unique match of experiences and passions that drive our work.
Who We Are
Team
Tom Vander Ark
CEO + Partner
Caroline Vander Ark
President
Rebecca Midles
Vice President of Learning Design
Nate McClennen
Vice President of Strategy + Innovation
Karen Vander Ark
CFO + Partner
Shawnee Caruthers
Director of Educator Engagement
Jessica Slusser
Senior Director of Impact
Jean Liu
Director of Strategy
Erik Day
Senior Manager of Learning Design
Mason Pashia
Creative Manager
Taylor Missal
Operations Manager
Ashley Ranan
Digital Content Coordinator

Deion Jordan
Educator in Residence

Allison Brumley
Operations Associate
Advisory Board
The Getting Smart Advisory Board is a group of respected partners, friends, colleagues and activists who are focused on ensuring equity and inclusion as it relates to learning design, learning science and educational leadership. This indispensable group of advisors helps us to keep the most important parts of the work at the center of what we do.

Byron Sanders
Big Thought

Corey Scholes
Kauffman Foundation

Edgar Palacios
Latinx Education Collaborative

Eric Tucker
Brooklyn LAB Charter School

Karla Phillips-Krivickas
KnowledgeWorks & Think Inclusion

Kelly Niccolls
Cheney Public Schools

Marion Smith Jr.
St. Louis Public Schools

Qiana Patterson
Tamaa Capital

Susan Enfield
Highline School District