ABOUT
Brainstrong was founded by Dr. Derek Lester to improve the lives of students of all ages. At Brainstrong, our mastery-based approach prepares students at all grade levels for academic success. We create a supportive and encouraging environment that help students excel in their current grade while preparing them for college and life beyond.
Derek Lester, Ph.D.
Founder
Dr. Derek Lester earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and has 20+ years of instructional experience. He served as a professor for six years before starting Brainstrong, LLC.
He created the Brainstrong system during his time as a university professor to help master's and doctoral students learn and present advanced information. He saw the impressive progress students made under a mastery-based instructional approached and saw the benefits this system will have for students of all ages.
Dr. Lester is an expert in human learning, student engagement, instructional strategies, and academic research writing instruction. After decades of instruction at all levels of formal education, he found his passion to help of all ages students learn better. The goal for Brainstrong is to prepare students for not only success in school today but also in college and their professional life and career.
Dr. Lester’s professional accomplishments include:
Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, from University of Nevada, Las Vegas
M.A. in Education
B.A. in Elementary Education
Professor of Higher Education
20+ years teaching experience – K-12 and University Level
10+ years teaching academic writing
Published author in peer-reviewed journals
Cited expert of student engagement
Presented original educational research at regional, national, and international conferences
Vivian Pan
Marketing Team
Vivian is currently studying Marketing & Information Systems at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business. She is passionate about marketing and enjoys unleashing creativity in her work. What brought her to work with Brainstrong is her interest in her baby cousin's education. She's excited to bring a truly high quality educational support tool to the attention of more people.
Ali Raphael
Tutor
Ali is a 27 year old tutor in Fall City, WA serving students all over the West side. She graduated in 2017 from The University of Washington with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
She spent summers during college working in math summer camps with Seattle MESA, through the UW, where she tutored children in math that were in danger of falling behind. While in college, she took classes on climate science and advanced physics. Her love and fascination for math led her to an eventual degree in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Power Systems and Sustainable Energy. When family matters took a turn for the chaotic in 2021, she quit her consulting job to be a full time caretaker for her dad.
Ali now gets to tutor for Brainstrong to bring her love for math to as many kids as possible! Her tutoring style brings together humor, patience, joy, and ridiculous T-shirts
Tiffany Lu
Marketing Team
Tiffany was born and raised in Irvine, CA and is currently a senior at the University of Washington. She is studying Informatics with a concentration in human computer interaction as she hopes to go into field of UX/UI design.
She is one of the marketing interns at Brainstrong and is looking forward to contributing her ideas to the wonderful team.
Neha Ramanath
Supply Chain Manager
Neha is a student at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. She is focusing on Marketing and Supply Chain, with a minor in Data Science.
Neha is serving as Brainstrong's Supply Chain Manager to help fulfill Brainstrong's mission to help youth learn. She is very excited about the impact Brainstrong will have in the education system.
Emeritus Staff and Interns
Our staff and interns who helped build Brainstrong.
Ashley Freedman
Director of Product Development
Ashley was born and raised in Redmond, WA. She currently attends Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. There she is studying as a Pre-Med student with a major in Biomedical Sciences, a concentration in Microbiology and Infectious Disease, and a minor in Business Administration.
After interning with Brainstrong, Ashley joined the team as Director of Product Development. She is very excited about all the projects that are in the works and soon to be incorporated into the Brainstrong model.