Before founding Skillcrush over ten years ago, Adda ran a web design and development company that built sites for media clients such as The New York Times, ProPublica, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network and MTV. She has been named one of the "20 Women to Watch in Media'' by the Columbia Journalism Review, one of the "30 Most Important Women in Tech" by Business Insider, and has been featured on the BBC, PBS, Fast Company, and Mashable. And she was appointed by former Mayor Bill DeBlasio to the New York City Workforce Development board. Adda is a graduate of Yale University and calls NYC home. When not growing or teaching at Skillcrush, she enjoys exploring her home borough of Queens and hanging out with her husband and two sons.

Queens, NY I LinkedIn

Emily has led the product strategy and development at Skillcrush since day one. For over ten years, she’s been engaged in the work of delivering our “Tech is for Everyone” philosophy to every student who enters our virtual doors. Emily began her career as a Software Engineer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, gaining unparalleled experience developing business process applications that assist biomedical research, ensuring inclusivity across sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, and gender identity. But what’s truly impressive? Her ability to wrangle two very spirited children, tackle never-ending home improvements, and while finding time for her favorite pastime, knitting & sewing!

Duxbury, MA I LinkedIn

Ann is an empathetic teacher and mentor; her compassionate advocacy for learners is backed by 10+ years developing and teaching classes in HTML, CSS, Git, JavaScript, React, Python, WordPress (and more!) plus 200+ Skillcrush student Q&A sessions. Beyond Skillcrush, Ann has spent several years as a mentor at Ladies Learning Code, helping women and youth in Canada become passionate about technology. Offline, Ann is a caretaker, parent of four, and guardian of furry and scaly beasts alike. In between school visits and showcasing her bearded dragon, Ann enjoys a good cup of coffee, video games, and breaking into spontaneous song.

Pincourt, Quebec, Canada I LinkedIn

Bethany is a Skillcrush alum and design mastermind. A Brown Scholar at Georgetown College, Bethany graduated with a Bachelor's of Art in Digital Media. Prior to Skillcrush, she spent twelve years doing design work at companies such as Color Me Mine, Manneristic Studios, and Whimsicurl Creations. Currently as our Design Teacher’s Assistant, she encourages students to build creative, user-friendly designs that they can proudly add to their portfolio. After work you’ll find Bethany spreading inspiration through sidewalk chalk art, or keeping her problem-solving skills sharp by playing board games with family and friends.

Edgewood, KY I LinkedIn

Lisa is a Development Instructor at Skillcrush. They combine firsthand experience as a Skillcrush alum and a Bachelor’s in Teaching to help students learn and practice the many programming languages along a coding journey from HTML and CSS through React, Python and more. Lisa is also a small business owner of LS Codes which creates custom websites for individuals, small businesses, and nonprofits. Apart from work, Lisa enjoys doomscrolling Thoughts of Dog, and tinkering with custom ice cream recipes in the kitchen.

Tiff is the ultimate “unstuck” coach. Possessing over twenty years of coaching experience, she helps prepare students for the known, and unknown. As a Career Coach, she has worked for companies such as InsideTrack, MakerSquare, and BetterUp, and has supported students at institutions such as DeVry University, Capella University, Arizona State University, and Redlands School or Business. Tiff has supported clients in securing highly desirable positions at Salesforce, Linkedin, Facebook, Apple, Cisco, and Uber. Beyond helping students achieve career success, Tiff enjoys the outdoors with her wife either hiking or biking.

Boulder, CO I LinkedIn

Bedilia is a DEI-focused Certified Technical Recruiter who has coached job seekers for over five years. Driven by a passion for promoting women’s participation and leadership in the workforce, Bedilia served as the Co-Chair of the East Bay Women In Business Roundtable, and was a mentor at Career Contessa, Goodwall, and the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline. Her catalyzing and intentional coaching has helped students land jobs at Spotify, Etsy, Amazon, and Google (and more). Apart from work, Bedilia revels in discovering new artists on Youtube, laughing out loud at comedy clubs, and exploring coffee shops in her Brooklyn neighborhood.

Brooklyn, NY I LinkedIn

Tauri’s “break into tech” story began at Skillcrush… and continues to this day! Now as an Enrollment Counselor, she shares the inside scoop on what it’s like to go through the official Break Into Tech program. Prior to her career change, Tauri spent ten years as a Front Desk Administrative Assistant and credits her organizational experience as key to helping Skillcrushers get and stay on track. Motivated by a life-long passion to advance diversity, inclusion and accessibility and understand the systems that shape our communities, Tauri attained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at University of California, San Diego. As a queer Latina, Tauri uses her knowledge in front-end development, political science, and admissions to help bridge the opportunity gap for Latinas, LGBTQ+ students who want to enter the tech industry. Out of office, Tauri is a homemaking enthusiast and an avid blogger, sharing both her tech and health journey on CodeNewbie.

San Diego, CA I LinkedIn

Kayla Ford is, quite literally, a smooth operator. A certified ScrumMaster, Kayla has spent 10+ years troubleshooting, testing, and refining applications for companies, ensuring that products adhere to rigorous quality standards. Prior to Skillcrush, Kayla spent four years as an Agile Software Tester at RW3 Technologies writing test plans and test cases to ensure proper usability, performance, and compatibility across browsers. As the Senior QA Lead at Skillcrush, and one of our longest team members, Kayla ensures that our customers receive the best possible experience. After hours, you’ll find her outdoors geocaching with her kids or playing a nice round of disc golf. Whether catching bugs in a program or avoiding them while going outdoors, Kayla approaches every obstacle with unbreakable patience.

Denver, CO I LinkedIn

Lizu’s passion for art and design can be traced back to her homebase of Romania, where she has spent significant time working on curated monthly magazines for the City Hall of Sibiu and graphic design for Cluj-Napoca National Theatre. Lizu’s original artwork has also been featured and sold at the Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca. At Skillcrush, Lizu leads Product Design and has shepharded the visual brand from our earliest days. When not crafting kick-ass design for Skillcrush, Lizu enjoys paragliding, creating Pinterest boards, and spending time with her daughters exploring her hometown Clopotiva Village, Romania.