Alex Selkirk has been embedded at Uncommon Schools for over a decade, helping them realize the vision of real-time data-driven education.

Before that, he spent 15 years in Silicon Valley and Seattle, at startups and Microsoft learning how to balance the push for scale with maintaining standards and meeting needs. This set him up well to ignore the startup mantra of “Move Fast, Break Things” when building systems for teachers and students.

He left Microsoft and spent several years spec'ing out the Common Data Project (a governed entity that facilitates accountable data sharing), which is one direction the internet could have gone, but didn’t. He then spent several years wandering the desert of EdTech looking for an organization that appreciated how hard it is to deliver data-driven education in a meaningful way.

He holds a BA in Political Science from Yale where he also did a lot of engineering, mostly in the form of building things that needed to withstand the Laws of Physics, before ending up in software, which mostly needs to withstand the Laws of Murphy.

Chana is a full-stack Software Developer. With a background that includes studies in biology and art, and a successful career switch after a web development bootcamp, she brings a unique, user-centric perspective to the team. Chana is passionate about detailed work and assembling complex components into intuitive tools—a skill sharpened by hobbies like collage and stained glass. Her focus at Ponder is creating intuitive, accessible interfaces, ensuring the applications schools use to manage and interact with their data are built for clarity and maximum impact.

Egor is a Data & AI Engineer who started his career working as a private math and computer science tutor during his adolescence. He discovered that explaining complex concepts to students was just as rewarding as building systems to process them. Before joining Ponder, he contributed to various open-source projects and worked across data engineering and AI implementations. At Ponder, he gets to combine his passions: advancing computer science through practical data solutions and improving education outcomes; two missions he's been committed to from the start. He still believes the best way to understand something is to try to teach it, whether to a student or a machine learning model.

Erendirani has been an educator for over 10 years in urban centers like LA, the Bay Area, and Brooklyn, as well as throughout California's Central Valley and Central Coast. They earned a BA in Chicana/o Studies and Education at UCLA and their MA in Teaching with a specialty in Spanish Critical Bilingual Education. Erendirani believes in the power and duty of education to empower students and families, and that purpose-centered drive has brought them to Ponder where they are excited to join the team as a Curriculum Specialist, supporting teachers with meeting the unique learning needs of the students they serve.

Gaby is a Product Manager with a background in project management and data analysis in the education and technology sectors. She holds a BA in American Studies and Education from Occidental College. After working in classrooms across the U.S. and abroad, Gaby joined Ponder in 2023. She remains deeply committed to advancing educational equity and closing the achievement gap by delivering innovative, high-impact solutions through her role as Product Manager.

Katie Parlante joined Ponder Labs in 2025. She holds a BS and MS in Computer Science from Stanford University, where she also taught introductory Computer Science. After graduation she worked for a series of Silicon Valley startups, one of which was acquired by Netscape. She worked for Mitch Kapor at Open Source Applications Foundation, which was chronicled in the book Dreaming in Code. Her most recent project was running a team of data engineers and data scientists at Mozilla, supporting the Firefox browser and other initiatives. Katie joined Ponder because it brings together her interests in responsible use of data, open source, and positive educational outcomes.

Owen leads school system improvement, primarily in the U.S. and England, where he is based. He is dedicated to improving long-term opportunities for all students through the strategic development of people, systems, and data. Prior to relocating, Owen spent over a decade in New York City as a teacher, founding principal, and superintendent, where he applied his mathematics and computer science background to data-driven instruction and leadership. Owen holds a degree in mathematics from Lewis & Clark College, teaching  from Pace University, and photography from The Burren College of Art.

Tony builds instructional solutions for Ponder Labs, most recently focused on tooling to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of teachers' student work analysis. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Washington.