Team

Team

Melissa Pickering, Founder

Melissa Pickering is a former Walt Disney Imagineer, and most recently managed the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), focused on bringing engineering into K-12 education. Gaining experience in commercializing educational technologies at the CEEO, Melissa spun-out iCreate to address the need of giving students an opportunity to engage in learning with research-informed technologies. In 2011 Melissa was honored by Mass High Tech as a Woman to Watch, an award given to female leaders of the New England technology community. She was also one of the 23 founders selected for the Kauffman Education Venture Program, of which 1000 applicants applied. When she’s not building iCreate, she’s running marathons or hiking in Montana.

Brandon Brisbon, Developer

Brandon joined iCreate in early 2011 to work on the SAM Animation desktop application. Brandon holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech and is wrapping up his Masters through Johns Hopkins University. From c++ and php to the latest web and mobile app platforms, Brandon leverages his knowledge across them all to take SAM Animation and iCreate to the next level from a technical standpoint. His background in working with NSF projects at Virginia Tech’s Engineering Education Department made him a particularly good fit for the iCreate team. When he’s not coding, well, we’ll keep you posted on that one.

Laura Johnson, Online Community Manager

Coming out of Cornell University majoring in Science and Technology Studies with a minor in Education, Laura sought out iCreate in early 2011 as an opportunity to meld her passions of engineering and education. Her previous work experience ranges from the Massachusetts Department of Education in the Science and Technology/Engineering unit to the Middle School Curriculum Development team at the Boston Museum of Science. At iCreate she was able to launch feet-first into the start-up environment, leading the creation of a teacher community to engage in an iterative feedback process for iCreate’s tools. When she’s not leading the iCreate educator community, she’s playing tennis and racquetball.

Tai Rodney, Lead Content iCreator

Tai received her BS in Marine Biology from Hawaii Pacific University and worked in the fisheries field for 10years until she discovered the joys and challenges of teaching. With over 6 years of classroom experience under her belt, Tai continued to pursue her passion for teaching and in 2009 received her MS in Education with an emphasis in Instruction and Curriculum Design from Chapman University California. Leveraging her background in science and her practical experience from the classroom, Tai is developing a series of activity guides to support teachers integrating SAM Animation into their lessons. When she’s not coming up with innovative activity guides, she’s a busy mother with her 9-month old daughter.

Kristi Connors-Taylor, Account Manager

Kristi holds a B.A. in Business Management from Salem State University and has over 10 years of experience in implementing process and overseeing operations within high-growth start-ups. Her experience from account management to administration to bookkeeping to human resources makes her an ideal fit to help iCreate streamline its operations as it continues to grow. When she is not helping iCreate’s infrastructure get to the next level, she is helping a couple of other startups grow.

Rich Trombetta, Operations Manager

Rich brings a wide range of experience to iCreate. He has been a sports producer, an NBC Page (he was on Late Night with David Letterman eating ice cream), worked in various roles for such companies as GE, Fidelity Investments, and Thomson Financial, and has had his own consulting firm since 2004 where he helped start and ultimately sell a high-tech start-up company in 2011. In addition, he has a degree in electrical engineering from UMass-Amherst and is working on a Masters Degree in Computing and Technology in Education at Columbia University. He lives in the Boston, MA area with his wife and two young daughters, both of which have made many, many, many iCreate movies.

Suzanne Brodsky, Content iCreator

Suzanne holds an MA in Childhood Education, grades 1-6 from Adelphi University in Long Island, NY. Having worked as an assistant teacher for a Gifted and Talented private school in Manhattan, she now keeps her writing skills fresh by contributing education articles to the Examiner.com as the Long Island Gifted Education Examiner. In addition to being an educator, she is also a Certified Internet Webmaster Associate. She worked as a graphic artist and a web designer for many years before becoming a teacher. Combining her love of technology with her passion for education, she writes activity guides for use in the classroom at iCreate.