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About Elevate K-12

At Elevate K-12, our goal is to enable high-quality, live teaching for every learner in the United States, so they receive the education they need to identify and pursue their unique passions in life. Amid crisis-level teacher shortages, we are expanding access to live education in classrooms across the country, so no student is without a teacher, no matter where they live or what their circumstance.

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Meet the Founder & CEO


Shaily Baranwal

Shaily is the Founder and CEO of Elevate K-12, a live teaching company that is revolutionizing K-12 education. Before Elevate K-12, Shaily founded two other companies, including a chain of preschools for low-income students in rural India, and is a former classroom teacher herself. She has degrees in Industrial Engineering, Early Childhood Education, and an MBA from the University of Michigan where she was awarded the Dean’s Entrepreneurial Scholarship. Shaily serves on the boards of the University of Michigan Zell Lurie Institute and the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Leadership Team

Our team is passionate about building a new, innovative category in education!

Edgar Ho

Chief Financial Officer

Edgar leads Finance and Accounting at Elevate K-12. Prior to joining the team, Edgar served as CFO at GoodEggs, Everlane, and Adidas Greater China and was a Principal at BCG.

Piyush Lumba

Chief Operating & Technology Officer

Piyush leads Technology & Operations at Elevate. His background includes 20+ years in executive leadership roles at Microsoft, Amazon & CommerceIQ.

Melissa McCabe

Chief Sales Officer

Melissa leads the Sales function at Elevate K-12, partnering with districts to bring remarkable LIVE teaching into classrooms. Her previous experience includes leadership roles at Blackboard, PowerSchool and IBM.

Lindsay Donikian

SVP of Teacher Growth

Lindsay leads the teams responsible for attracting, retaining and developing Elevate’s teachers. Her background includes Marketing leadership roles at Amazon & Wayfair.

Molly Messenger

Chief of Staff & SVP of Strategy Operations

Molly leads strategy operations at Elevate. Her background includes experience at SoFi, as well as several EdTech companies including Udemy, ClassroomConnect, and GlobalEnglish.

Ryan Byrnes

VP of People

Ryan leads the People function at Elevate. His previous experience includes roles at Czarnowski, Guaranteed Rate and PeopleFoundry.

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We 💚 Educators as Elevaters!

Meet a few members of the Elevate K-12 team whose backgrounds as educators ensure that our products and services deliver exceptional learning experiences!

Carolyn Lanctot

Senior Director of Teacher Success

“My experience as a former teacher, school administrator, and network leader means I bring a lens of best practices and innovation to my work so every student’s learning experience can be magical and engaging – even if their teacher isn’t physically in the room!”

Annie Kim

Director of Product

“My experience as an educator in the public school system allows me to infuse a profound level of empathy into the products I help build, ensuring we address the needs of all students, teachers, and school leaders within the school ecosystem.”

Michele Charles

Strategic Partnerships Director

“As a former classroom teacher, I have the pedagogical background to effectively discuss what it takes to create high-quality, engaging learning experience with district and school leaders and share how the Elevate K-12 program embodies these components.”

Allison Pollock

Academic Solutions Engineer

“I spent 11 years as a school leader and special education teacher and I’m excited that Elevate K-12 gives me the opportunity to expand my impact and support students across the country.”

Kim Kays

Senior Director of Academic Products

“I’m excited to leverage my background in education, including as an elementary school teacher and Principal, to bring Elevate K-12’s innovative solutions to schools.”