We believe that all colleges should provide all students with a direct path to a great career.
To that end, Podium partners with colleges and universities to deliver online programs that provide soft-skilled students the with the in-demand hard-skills that lead to great employment outcomes.
Our Culture & Values
- Student outcomes are our north star
- In life and work, run with purpose
- Curiosity is a pre-req for innovation
- The future is built with dirty hands
- Shiny objects are for the birds
Our Team
Brooks Morgan
Co-Founder & CEO
Brooks specializes in building companies that improve life trajectories. Prior to Podium, Brooks was Chief Revenue Officer of The Princeton Review, the acquirers of his company GetAccepted. Prior to starting GetAccepted, Brooks held roles as COO of Uversity and Venture Partner at Learn Capital.
Alex Ricken
Co-Founder & CPO
For ten years, Alex has focused on one thing: changing lives through access to education. At Arizona State University, he led the Global Freshman Academy, which gave open access to ASU undergraduate courses for credit. He transformed this program to Earned Admission, which further increased access to education by providing a new pathway into ASU for those who could prove it today. Living at the intersection of design, technology and learning science, Alex brings years of experience creating cutting-edge digital education products that truly push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Chris Parrish
President, University Partnerships
Chris is a perennial optimist driven by the ability to alter the future of higher education. He enjoys building partnerships, teams and products that thrive in challenging environments. After stints in investment banking and consulting, Chris began his career in higher education as one of the first dozen employees at 2U where he rose to become the Senior Vice President of University Partnerships. He has designed and launched data analytics programs with dozens of universities including UC Berkeley, Rice and Pepperdine.
Robert Alvarez
Head of Data Science and Curriculum Chair, Analytics Programs
Robert loves to break deep technical concepts down to be as simple as possible. Before joining Podium, he was an Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. At Intel, he tackled problems in data center optimization, market sizing and forecasting, and improved data-driven decision making in a top 5 global supply chain. At Tamr, he used machine learning to improve organizational outcomes for some of the largest corporations in the world. He is currently an Artificial Intelligence advisor at NASA’s Frontier Development Lab. In his spare time, he is a rum judge, avid traveler, and eater of all things coconut.
Lauren Bauml
VP of Partnership Success
A mission-driven and tenured leader, Lauren Bauml is committed to our two greatest societal equalizers, education and professional opportunity. In her most recent leadership roles with Flatiron School and Skills Fund, Lauren equipped thousands of adult learners with a technical skills fluency to amplify long-term professional opportunity. Lauren previously served as a defense acquisition policy and strategic marketing manager at Airbus, with a career spanning from Washington, D.C., to Munich, Paris, London, and Ottawa.
Landon Cotham
Program Advisor
Landon loves helping people learn. Before joining Podium, he spent three years as an English teacher in Spain, followed by four years as a student advisor for study abroad programs. With these invaluable experiences in education, Landon works every day to positively influence the lives of students. In his free time, you will find him making music or watching/playing/talking about soccer.
Lauren Crider
Data Analytics Instructor
Lauren is a mathematician and Ph.D. candidate in the theoretical mathematics program at Arizona State University, where she also received her B.S. and M.A. degrees. In teaching at Arizona State, Lauren discovered that her favorite part of mathematics is teaching and working with students of all levels and from all backgrounds. She’s a passionate champion for women and girls, as well as other underrepresented minorities in mathematics and truly believes everyone can learn to enjoy mathematics.
Isaac Gomez
VP of Technology
Isaac finds joy in discovering and building simple solutions to complex problems. Joining Podium Education with over 15 years of edtech experience, Isaac continues to improve outcomes for students through technology. Prior to Podium Education, as Chief Software Architect for Glynlyon, Isaac led the transformation from a monolith to microservices in the cloud. In his spare time Isaac enjoys reading and writing.
Lara Kattan
Data Science Instructor
Lara has taught a full-time data science bootcamp with a focus in Python. Before that she built risk models as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. Prior to settling into the practical world of consulting, Lara received a master’s from the University of Chicago, where she had the privilege of thinking about tough problems at the edge of econometrics. When not math-ing, she’s probably doing yoga or drinking coffee.
Moyo Oyelola
Creative Director
Moyo is a modern day renaissance man at the intersection of art and technology.
Shaina Pollak
Director of Operations
Shaina strives for perfection and improvement in all things in life. She has never had an A- and at Podium she ensures all of Podium systems and processes are always A+. Prior to Podium, Shaina was the Director of Enrollment Operations at The Princeton Review, where she built systems for serving hundreds of thousands of students. Outside the office Shaina loves to hiking, dogs, travel, and live music.
Marshall Puls
Director of Program Advising
Marshall has always had a passion for helping students succeed and take the next step. Using his experience as an elementary school teacher and then Enrollment Manager at The Princeton Review, he ensures that every student we work with feels supported throughout their journey with Podium. Outside of the office, Marshall spends his time riding his motorcycle and staying active.
Mike Yi
Curriculum Developer
Mike has a multidisciplinary background, covering mathematics, statistics, physics, cognitive science, machine learning, and data analysis. He is always eager to learn new and interesting things, and to put his knowledge together to solve problems and puzzles. In his free time, Mike is interested in games of all kinds, from analog tabletop games to digital video games.
Aled Owens
Head of Partnerships
Aled has spent 15 years helping universities grow and innovate their approach to student recruitment and curriculum development. He is passionate about developing ways for institutions to improve student access to new content, skills and employment opportunities through technology. Originally from Wales, Aled was previously a Vice President at QS; establishing their presence in North America and leading key strategic initiatives on behalf of US and Canadian business schools around the world.
Where We Work
Austin
Phoenix
