Al Mendez
Executive Assistant
Al Mendez brings a practical and thoughtful approach to his role as Executive Assistant at Hypothesis. With a background that combines technical support and teaching, he offers both technical savvy and clear communication to our team. A fan of computer hardware and gaming, Al finds joy in the details and strategy behind technology. His love for endurance sports mirrors the perseverance he brings to work each day, while his interest in puzzles and math showcases his analytical skills. In our mission to create a more collaborative web, Al's support is quietly indispensable, ensuring that every day at Hypothesis runs smoothly.
Alejandro Celaya
Senior Frontend Developer
With more than 12 years of experience in software engineering, I'm joining Hypothesis as a frontend developer. Previously I worked for almost five years at adidas, and before that, I was involved in everything tech-related at a couple of startups. For me, the key for every engineering team's success is "people". Technology is just our tool to solve problems. I'm also an open source enthusiast, maintaining a couple of projects of my own, and contributing to other projects as much as I can.
Anas Daniyal
Business Development Representative
Anas is a passionate and results-driven Business Development Representative with more than three years of experience and a knack for both inbound and outbound sales strategies and performance marketing. With a strong background in email marketing, lead generation, and demand generation, Anas leverages his expertise to drive impactful campaigns and nurture high-quality leads. Having earned the Top Sales Development Voice badge on LinkedIn, Anas is recognized for his credibility, networking prowess, and value-driven content.
Anas excels in building robust sales pipelines and implementing effective strategies, converting leads into loyal customers and driving revenue growth. His focus on engaging target audiences through strategic campaigns ensures optimal conversions and sustained business growth.
Beyond his professional achievements, Anas is deeply committed to giving back to the community. He regularly engages in welfare activities, helping needy people by providing food and participating in community-building events like cricket and table tennis matches. Anas is also known for his love of singing, often bringing joy to others through his musical talents.
With a dedication to both his professional and personal endeavors, Anas continues to make a significant impact in the business development landscape while fostering positive change in his community.
Bernie Cotter
Account Executive
Bernie joined Hypothesis in August 2024. He joins the organization with over 5 years in the educational technology industry. He studied Biomedical Marketing at Quinnipiac University. After graduating, he joined Labster, a market leader in science education courseware. He started as a Business Development Representative and became a Regional Director of Educational Partnerships. His primary goal was to partner with colleges and universities to assist in improving engagement, retention, and pass rates in STEM courses. In addition to his work, Bernie is passionate about surfing, fitness, and fishing. He spends most of his time in either Boston or Maine.
Cara Jarrett
Marketing Director
Cara is a highly accomplished Marketing Director with over 12 years of experience in driving business growth, enhancing brand visibility, and delivering results across various industries. With expertise in digital marketing, brand strategy, product positioning, and campaign management she has worked with leading organizations including the Hyatt Corporation and Harvard Business School. She has a deep understanding of the latest industry trends and emerging technologies and is skilled at integrating new platforms and channels into existing marketing programs. When not in the office, you can find Cara at Orangetheory classes or going on adventures with her rescue dog around Boston, MA.
Dan Whaley
Founder/Chairman
Dan is a coder and entrepreneur that created the first online travel reservation company on the web (ITN/GetThere) in 1995. He wrote much of the software, launched the business and guided the long term technical and product vision. GetThere went public in 1999 and was sold to Sabre in 2000 with nearly 600 employees while processing approximately 50% of travel transacted online. Dan currently serves as a director of Sauce Labs, the leading open source functional testing company and Getaround, a peer-to-peer car sharing company. He is a Shuttleworth Fellow.
Private: Dan Whaley
Chairman
Dan is a coder and entrepreneur that created the first online travel reservation company on the web (ITN/GetThere) in 1995. He wrote much of the software, launched the business and guided the long term technical and product vision. GetThere went public in 1999 and was sold to Sabre in 2000 with nearly 600 employees while processing approximately 50% of travel transacted online. Dan currently serves as a director of Sauce Labs, the leading open source functional testing company and Getaround, a peer-to-peer car sharing company. He is a Shuttleworth Fellow.
Geoff Okins
Director, Business Operations
Geoff is a contracts administrator with a background in construction contract management, real estate transactions, and civil litigation. He is excited about working for a mission-driven organization like Hypothesis. Geoff has a J.D. from American University as well as a B.S. in Finance from Florida State University. When not working, Geoff is either playing with his dog-daughter, Brooklyn the Beagle, or running the streets of Manhattan to train for his next marathon.
Gilda Iuspa
CRM Administrator
Gilda's experience comes mainly from the tech world, having worked for Oracle, HP, and Dell in Argentina. She has been working on various CRMs for 10 years and is passionate about organizing data in order to tell a story. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and playing with her four-legged kids.
Gina Turnage
Senior Account Executive
Gina has 17 years sales and marketing plus 4 years human resources work experience in the higher education space as well as cross-industry experience. She is a results oriented, enthusiastic, self-motivated, organized leader and team-player with excellent communication skills and drive. One of her favorite quotes is “Gratification comes from seeing your team and the organization flourish.” Outside of work, you can find her volunteering at her church food pantry, working out, reading, playing Words with Friends and baking. Find
Gina on LinkedIn .
Ian Burden
Lead Site Reliability Engineer
Ian is a highly experienced software engineer with more than 2 decades of experience building open source environments designed to be used at scale. Specializing in the provision and automation of cloud environments, a genuine safe pair of hands when it comes to application delivery. An advocate of all things open source with a passion for Linux, cyber security and distributed computing.
Irene Reyes
Marketing Coordinator
Irene is a driven individual with a contagious positive energy. From a young age, she's been a curious soul and has always been fascinated with exploring different facets of life. From painting and music, to playing sports, learning new languages, designing, and creating intricate dishes in the culinary world, Irene loves trying new things. She is always up for a challenge and enjoys pushing herself outside of her comfort zone. Her diverse background has equipped her with a wide range of skills, including graphic design, WordPress development, social media management, email marketing, marketing analytics, and project management. She is also deeply invested in the future of the web and actively participates in the tech community to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements. In her free time, she loves to go for a run, practice yoga, explore new restaurants, create new recipes and enjoy them with loved ones, or spend time playing with her rescue cats.
Janrae Valencia
Technical Support Specialist
With more than a decade of experience in the customer support industry, Janrae has taken his expertise in the ed-tech scene by joining Hypothesis in 2023. His unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction and his innate problem-solving abilities make him a valuable addition to the team. He believes that the level of customer satisfaction distinguishes between a poor, satisfactory, and outstanding business. Outside work, he enjoys hiking, fatherhood and playing with his beagles.
Jessica George
Customer Success Manager
Jessica joins Hypothesis with over a decade of experience in higher education, most recently as a learning designer for the Colorado Community College System. Jessica is passionate about Universal Design for Learning and critical digital pedagogy and the ways Hypothesis can support these practices.
Jessica holds a PhD in English from Indiana University Bloomington and an MA in Learning Design and Technology from the University of Colorado Denver. Outside of work, she enjoys writing, hiking, and spending time with family and friends. Connect with Jessica on
LinkedIn.
Joe joined Hypothesis in August 2022. He comes to the organization with over 15 years in the education industry, starting in enrollment management and fundraising, and then moving to the vendor side. Working with products and services that provide students around the world with equal opportunities in the education space, Joe discovered his passion for EdTech. He spent the last four and a half years at Labster, a market leader in science education courseware; in his time there, he grew the sales team from four people to over 100, and built go-to-market teams to support US higher ed, K12, and international higher ed. In addition to his work, Joe is passionate about travel, his rescue dogs and his family. A graduate of Suffolk University, Joe lives with his partner and two dogs outside of Boston, MA.
Lisa Gillis
Senior Account Executive
Lisa developed a passion for education while traveling the world as both a student and teacher. For the past 17 years, she has been fortunate enough to work as a sales and marketing professional in the education industry, helping provide institutions with solutions that improve student learning outcomes. She is an optimistic and enthusiastic partner to her clients who is focused on improving their success in the classroom. Lisa holds a Bachelor in Social Science from the University of Ottawa and MBA from the University of Maine. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and volunteering for her son’s hockey team and local community.
Loree Buchan
Head of Revenue Operations
Whether it be in a classroom or a corporate boardroom, Loree has always had a love for teaching and learning. As part of the Hypothesis team, she is excited to tap into all facets of her unique background to combine her entrepreneurial spirit, classroom and online teaching experience, and expertise in leading and coaching sales and technology teams to positively impact the education landscape. When she takes a moment to slow down, Loree can be found working on a new creative masterpiece or baking sweet treats for family and friends.
Marcos Prieto
Lead Developer
Marcos is a backend developer at Hypothesis and has previously held every engineering position — from fullstack and operations to CTO — at startups in the UK, Canada and Spain. An open-software enthusiast since first installing Linux from a bunch of floppy disks, Marcos now enjoys writing APIs and drinking IPAs, occasionally at the same time.
Michael DiRoberts
Associate Product Manager
Michael taught for eight years before leaving the classroom and joining an edtech startup. He’s helped districts build rollout plans, provided training and support, and helped with data and technical tasks. He enjoys playing music and learning more about data.
Robert Knight
Lead Developer
Rob is a front-end developer at Hypothesis. He was previously part of the team that grew Mendeley from early betas to a service used by millions of researchers worldwide. In the process he developed an interest in efforts to make better tools for discussing and sharing science.
Sean Hammond
Lead Developer
Sean is a future Portuguese Water Dog owner and a developer at Hypothesis. He tries to work on open source projects that have a positive impact on the world. He has previously worked as a web developer at Open Knowledge, iOS developer at Click-East, and Java lecturer at The University of Edinburgh. For his PhD he developed a desktop app to help children create stories.
Sonja Visser
Head of Education Sales
Sonja is an accomplished sales leader with considerable experience in several industries. She is passionate about educational sales and providing faculty with exceptional tools that enable their students to excel. Prior to Hypothesis, Sonja led the sales organizations at several educational technology companies. Before working for start-ups, Sonja was the Director of Sales for Cengage Learning, responsible for print and digital revenue growth in the higher education market throughout the Northeast. She managed and coached 70 sales professionals selling educational solutions in the 2 and 4 year college market. Sonja started her career in the cable industry working for a cable operator and networks. At CBS Cable she ran the local ad sales team for CMT and TNN. During her tenure at Lifetime Television, she was the Regional Director of their eastern division distribution team. Sonja holds a BA from the University of Mary Washington with a degree in Political Science and is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society.