About Us

Our Team

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Executive Leadership

Matthew Pietrafetta

Founder & CEO
Matthew Pietrafetta founded Academic Approach in 2001 and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer.…
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Brad Kessler

Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel
Bradley Kessler serves as Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel. In this role, Bradley participates…
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Amanda Aisen

Chief Education Officer
Amanda Aisen has worked with Academic Approach since 2010. After serving as an Instructor and…
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Erica Porter Walton

Vice President of Finance
Erica Porter Walton currently serves as the Vice President of Finance. In this role, Erica leads accounting and reporting efforts for the organization.
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One-on-One Tutoring

Carla Pedersen

Regional Director
Carla Pedersen currently serves as the Regional Director of One-on-One Tutoring. In this role, she…
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Andrew Ferguson

Director of Client Services
Andrew Ferguson currently serves as the Director of Client Services as well as an ACT…
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Denise Alagna

Director
Denise Alagna currently serves as an Associate Director of One-on-One Tutoring...
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Ben Hendren

Director
Ben Hendren currently serves as an Associate Director of One-on-One tutoring. Ben joined the Academic…
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Max Spitz

Associate Director

Nora Rossbach

Associate Director

Amanda Bressler

Associate Director
Amanda currently serves as an Associate Director of One-on-One tutoring. Amanda joined the Academic Approach team in 2020 as a tutor and classroom instructor for the ACT and SAT.
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Ali Foley

Associate Director
Ali currently serves as an Associate Director of One-on-One Tutoring. In this role, she oversees individual one-on-one programs, helping students and families set up programs and ensuring that those programs are executed.
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Kyle Benjamin

Associate Director

Allison Sherry

Associate Director
Allison earned her Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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School Programs

Anna Brandes

Director of Professional Learning
Anna Brandes is currently the Director of Professional Development on the School Programs team at…
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Meagan Moore

Director of School Programs Operations
Meagan Moore currently serves as the Manager of School Programs. In this role, Meagan works…
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Katy Steele

Director of School Programs Classroom Learning
Katy joined the team at Academic Approach in 2016 and currently serves as the Director of Classroom Learning.
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Cassidy Griffin

Instructional Lead Teacher

Joseph Monahan

Instructor

Department of Education

TJ Sassorossi

Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Math / Science
TJ Sassorossi currently serves as the Director of Curriculum and Assessment. In this position, TJ…
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Hayley Notter

Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Verbal
Hayley Notter joined Academic Approach in 2015 as a Curriculum Developer Team Lead and currently…
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Jaycie Ryrholm

Director of Research and Development
Jaycie Ryrholm joined Academic Approach in 2011. As the Director of Research and Development…
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Jeremy Palmer

Director of Instructional Management
Jeremy Palmer currently serves as a Director of Instructional Management. Since joining the team…
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Katie Hammen

Director of Instructional Management
Katie Hammen currently serves as the Director of Instructional Management. In this role…
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Technology & Human Resources

Eric McConville

Lead Software Developer

Sean Wesslund

Director of Talent Success
Sean Wesslund serves as Academic Approach’s Recruitment Manager. In this role, Sean oversees the organization’s…
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James Kriegsmann

Data / Curriculum Developer & Architect
James Kriegsmann is currently the Director of Data Management. In this role, he primarily ensures…
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Ivan Heemskerk

Senior Software Developer
Ivan Heemskerk currently works as a Software Engineer for Academic Approach and is based in…

Gabrielle Omatick

Talent Success Specialist

Operations

Brian McAuliffe

Director of Operations
Brian McAuliffe currently serves as a Software Developer. In this role, Brian develops new features…
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Thomas DeFrancisco

Director of Assessments
Tommy is the Assessment Manager at Academic Approach and a musician, an actor, and an amateur astronomer.
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Finance

Areeba Gadar

Senior Accountant

Jasmine Rahman

Finance Accounting Coordinator

We are

Innovators

We understand that all great things start with a groundbreaking idea/strategy and are followed with diligent and collaborative execution and insight.

Explorers

We relentlessly pursue the knowledge needed to shape and influence student and school performance.

Problem-Solvers

We are dedicated to finding concrete and actionable solutions to the education challenges facing students. We embrace difficulties with optimism and teamwork.

Organizers

We prioritize all our activities around what’s best for students and schools and organize our activities to turn great ideas into reality.

Builders

We are committed to the success of the mission. We believe nothing should be done without purpose and a focus on the future.

Collaborators

We collaborate with schools to understand the unique needs of their students so that we may tailor a customized solution to drive their student achievement.