Excelsior Learning
ABOUT US
OUR TEAM
Meet the Executive Board!
Isabella Jia
Co-Founder
Isabella is a rising senior at Stuyvesant High School. She is a motivated and diligent student, not afraid to challenge herself with multiple AP courses and honors math classes in Geometry, Algebra II, and PreCalculus. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, catching waves at the beach, and reading books on her morning commute. She is also passionate about volunteering as she has been tutoring at Manhattan Ace as an English tutor and is a reading team leader. Additionally, she is interested in journalism and is an editor for the News Department of the Spectator, her school’s newspaper. When she is not editing or writing articles, you can find her leading The Indicator, her school’s yearbook, as the Editor-In-Chief or managing the Business Department of StuyPulse 694, her school’s largest robotics team, as the Business President. As an avid participant in whichever community she finds herself in, Isabella finds joy in helping others and is always looking for ways to give back!
Kaitlyn Cheng
Co-Founder
Kaitlyn is a rising senior at Townsend Harris High School. She is an ambitious and hardworking student who dedicates her time to various AP classes including AP Research, AP English Language, AP Psychology, and other honor classes. With her creative and artistic nature, she is the Art-Social Media Liaison Editor of her school’s newspaper, The Classic, and Treasurer for her school’s Apparel Design Club. She also has experience working and leading in various communities as an English tutor and Writing Teaching Assistant at Manhattan Ace, Graphic Design Advisor of the Global Youth Economics Forum (GYEF) NY Chapter, and Secretary of the Chinese Culture Club. In addition to meeting new people in volunteer experiences, Kaitlyn is an Instructor at JEI Learning Center, where she strives to provide meaningful learning experiences to younger students. She is delighted to contribute to and aims to bring impactful learning experiences to others.
Liz Kim
Chief of Staff
Liz is a rising senior at Brooklyn Technical High School. They are an energetic and attentive student who perseveres through everything they do from volunteer work, to AP classes, and more! Passionate about political science and history, they are part of the Law and Society major at Brooklyn Tech, while taking several courses like AP US Government, AP United States History, Criminal Law, and Legal Ethics. They also volunteer at the Minkwon Center for Community Action, which serves low-income immigrant communities to achieve economic and social justice. During their free time, Liz likes to penpal new friends from all over the world and collect cute stationery. They are very passionate about this program and happy to contribute to the learning of new students.
Derek Dong
Chief of Staff
Derek is a rising senior at The Bronx High School of Science. He is a very organized and responsible student who continuously challenges himself with various AP courses in different subjects, and is excited to take three science courses for his senior year which are AP Psychology, Intro to Neuroscience and Animal behavior. Aside from his academics, he is the co-secretary for the Psych and Neuro Club and the Boys Varsity Volleyball Liaison at his school. In his free time, he enjoys playing volleyball with his friends, taking pictures for his Instagram photography account as a way to document his life, and volunteering at Key Club events to give back to his community. He is thrilled to work with other NYC public high schoolers in assisting middle school students with SHSAT prep this summer.