The Mastery Coding team is chock-full of talented creators and visionaries!
Meet our team of writers, artists, developers, and teachers:
Introducing…
Andres Ramirez-Gaston, Education Success Specialist
What He Creates for Mastery Coding: Andres creates curricula for Mastery Coding’s Game-and-Learn Camps and Esports Clubs.
Specialty:
Video games and video game-based education. He’s also proficient in coding and game development.
Hobbies: Andres loves playing music. He plays the guitar, the ukulele, and the piano. He also loves video gaming and watching movies.
Fun Fact: Andres is ambidextrous. He can use both his left and right hand to write, play guitar, and more!
What Inspired Him to Develop Curricula?
“The honest joy you can see when students enjoy a class and learn from it, that’s what inspires me create curricula. I want to make more students feel like that —learning should be fun!”
— Andres Ramirez-Gaston
Peter Polygalov, Director of Media & Marketing
What He Creates for Mastery Coding:
Peter oversees the creation, iteration, and outreach of our media and marketing department’s content, assets, ads, campaigns, and videos. As the webmaster, he also manages, develops, and authors content on this website! He’s also contributed to our curricula, overseeing and participating in the creation of course materials.
Specialties:
Peter is proficient at brand management, digital marketing, advertising strategy and ad campaign management. His specialty is in cinematography, video editing, visual effects, and audio engineering! He’s also skilled at both graphic design and website design.
Hobbies: Peter loves to travel, go to concerts, and meander through art museums. He’s also into drone cinematography, learning new languages, video games, culinary arts, kickboxing, and volunteering!
Fun Fact: Peter has been to over one hundred weddings!
What Inspired Him to Join Mastery Coding?
“I’ve always loved video games and table top RPG’s. I wanted to be able to create fantastical worlds myself, but the only approach I saw at that time was taking computer science and math to become a programmer or game developer —and I didn’t enjoy math.
When I joined Mastery Coding, I started to see that there are other things that go into a game or any tech product, that aren’t code based! Even if I wasn’t going to code the games, I could still be a huge part in the process. I hope to enable students to channel their goals and passions into amazing opportunities each and every day.”
— Peter Polygalov
Olivia L. Dobbs, Content Marketing Director & Writer
What She Creates for Mastery Coding:
Olivia has developed and authored curricula, including SocietyCraft, CSE, SEL, and EngineeringCraft. She has also written and presented much of the multidisciplinary STEM content in our courses! More recently, Olivia has been developing marketing materials and strategy. She writes our newsletter, develops data-led SEO strategy, writes social media copy, and manages and authors MC’s blog.
Specialty:
Writing, data analysis, SEO, research, and STEM education. She is also proficient in biology, with an emphasis in behavioral science, sustainability and conservation, and ecology.
Hobbies: Hiking, volunteering for field research and cleanups, learning about nature, writing, birding, sword fighting, and playing video games.
Fun Fact: Olivia is a published scientist! You can check out her article at the Wiley Online Library.
Her Take on Coding Education:
“No matter what you’re passionate about, learning how to code is paramount.
I didn’t think I would need to know to code when I chose biology as a major; I quickly discovered that it is a necessary tool for modern data analysis! As our world continues to develop digitally, coding knowledge will only become more critical to every field.”
— Olivia L. Dobbs
Jobana Westbay, Curriculum Developer
What She Creates for Mastery Coding:
Jobana works on everything from sales pamphlets and marketing flyers to graphics for our commercial site and our curriculum. She presents Mastery Coding’s information so that it’s both visually appealing and informative!
Specialty: Jobana is proficient at graphic design, illustration, 3D modeling, and web development.
Hobbies: Jobana loves photography, drawing, creating motion graphics, and being outdoors.
Fun Fact: Jobana got her Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She’s planning to get a Master’s degree in architecture!
Her Take on Coding Education:
“Code education, especially before college, is important because it helps create opportunities for students. It can lead to not only high paying, but also rewarding jobs in the future. It’s also a great way to empower students to create things on their own.
I love creating things and seeing the results of my effort in a tangible form, and coding gets you that satisfaction without much financial investment.”
— Jobana Westbay
Juan Erazo, VP of Product
What He Creates for Mastery Coding:
Juan created the first version of our Mastery Coding Classroom platform, and he contributes to the development of the UCI, WDF, GDF, VRC, and other courses by outlining, authoring, and voicing the lessons!
Specialty: When Juan joined Mastery Coding, he was a coder! Since then, he’s gained proficiency in writing, speaking, design, organization, and leadership.
Hobbies: Juan loves playing competitive games, learning new skills, and challenging himself. As a self-proclaimed autodidactic, he is constantly picking up new skills! Most recently, he’s gotten quite good at 3D modeling, animation, and design.
Fun Fact: When Juan was younger, he wanted to be a performer. He acted in school plays and even was a professional magician!
What Inspired Him to Code?
“I believe that reading and writing code in the modern day is akin to having a superpower.
Understanding how modern tech devices work, how they communicate with each other using numbers, and how they communicate with humans using audio, colored lights, and actuators changes the way we see the world.
Knowing these principles empowers anyone with time and motivation to craft solutions to their problems and inconveniences. And those solutions can be easily shared with anyone who knows where to look.”
— Juan F. Erazo
Rich Conti, Esports Director & Curriculum Director
What He Creates for Mastery Coding
Rich creates curricula for students, whether it be coding curriculum that helps students build games and attain certification or gaming curriculum to teach players how to build healthy habits and take their passion to the next level!
Specialty: Rich specializes in game design, especially level and system design. He’s also incredibly skilled at many different esports!
Hobbies: Rich loves camping, playing chess and video games, and petting his cats.
Fun Fact: Rich has been playing Hearthstone since it was in open beta in 2014. To this day, he still often hits Legend rank!
What Inspired Him to Create Curricula?
“I enjoy the opportunity to teach students important future skills through mediums that they are most passionate about: computers and gaming.
While I took computer classes in high school, it was definitely nothing as amazing as this. I love being able to create curriculum that I wish I had!”
— Rich Conti
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