About Us
Our mission is to democratize access to literacy and liberal arts education, empowering every individual to develop the skills and confidence needed to thrive, regardless of circumstance.
Meet Our Team
Jane Chen
Founder & CEO
Jane Chen is the Founder and CEO of Letterly. Jane founded Letterly with the goal of democratizing access to the liberal arts. Previously, she spent a decade on Wall Street as an investment banker and hedge fund analyst. Jane is an alumna of Harvard University, where she concentrated in History and was honored as a Blankfein Family Scholar.
Steve Zucknovich
CTO
Stephen Zucknovich is a results-driven Chief Technology Officer with 20+ years of experience in scaling global scalable, secure SaaS platforms, cost optimization, and implementing robust security frameworks like ISO 27001. He has worked in Multex, which successfully went public, Thomson-Reuters (now Refinitiv), Kurtosys (Series D) and Lunchbox (Series B). He holds 4 patents on performance and permission related areas.
Adam Feldman
Director of Business Development
Adam is the Director of Business Development. He has a unique background that led him to the path of social impact work including experience as a math teacher, investment banker at Lehman Brothers, and educational entrepreneur (GoKids). He takes an entrepreneurial approach focusing on collaborating with private companies, community-based organization, and government to work towards win-win solutions.
Ania Alberski
Director of Education
Ania is the Director of Education at Letterly. She worked as an afterschool program organizer in West Philadelphia before serving in the Teach for America corps as a middle school teacher. Ania is a double graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with an M.S.Ed in Education, Culture, & Society and B.A. in English and Cognitive Science.
Sam Benkelman
Director of Operations
Sam is the Director of Operations at Letterly. Before Letterly, Sam worked as a consultant at BCG, focused on strategy and operations in financial institutions. He is a Fulbright fellowship winner and has a degree in linguistics and computer science from Harvard Univeristy.
Eric Ferrone
Director of Sales & Partnerships - Letterly for Partners & Educators
Eric is the Director of Sales & Partnerships at Letterly for Partners & Educators. He started his career as a Classroom Teacher and Dean of Students. Since then, Eric’s focus has been in education technology software where he has partnered with hundreds of organizations across the U.S. on implementing programs that improve learning outcomes.
Sean Leary
Director of Sales & Partnerships - Letterly Academy
Sean is the Director of Sales & Partnerships at Letterly Academy. He has worked in education as an operations manager and business owner, providing direct support to students, families and educators at over 100 private schools across the U.S. Sean is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and served as a special operations officer for 8 years.
Sarah Wang
Customer Success Manager
Sarah is the Customer Success Manager at Letterly. Before joining the team, Sarah spent nearly five years at HSBC, specializing in wealth management and security services. She holds an MBA from Brandeis University, where she focused on Data Analytics and Marketing, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from SUNY Buffalo.
Meet Ernie
Ernie is Letterly’s AI-powered writing coach, offering personalized feedback tailored to each student’s writing and age group. He analyzes strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth, providing targeted insights to refine skills. By tracking progress and collaborating with human coaches and teachers, Ernie has got you covered. He can’t wait to work with you!
Meet Our Coaches
Recruited from the top universities in the U.S., our coaching staff is awesome. Here are some sample profiles of our coaches.
A UPenn Graduate
A double graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a Master’s degree in Education, Culture, & Society and a Bachelor’s degree in English & Cognitive Science. Prior to joining Letterly, she worked as a full-time middle school teacher and afterschool program organizer in West Philadelphia.
A Fulbright Scholar & Yale Graduate
An artist and writer based in Reykjavik, this instructor graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor’s degree in Art cum laude, with a distinction in the major. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a Fulbright scholar, working with writers and artists of all levels.
A Fulbright Scholar & Harvard Graduate
This instructor graduated from Harvard University as a Linguistics concentrator with a secondary in Computer Science. He won a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English grammar abroad. He was also a research assistant for Harvard’s Linguistics Department and Graduate School of Education.
A Dartmouth Graduate
An award-winning writer and adjunct instructor with a Bachelor’s degree in English from Dartmouth College. He is currently completing his MFA in Creative Writing at New York University. His work is featured in several publications and he has many years of experience teaching reading and writing.
A Cornell & UChicago Graduate
This instructor has a Ph.D. and Master’s degree from Cornell University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago. She is a trilingual educator with experience teaching English abroad in Japan and in public New York City schools.
A Cornell & UChicago Graduate
A recent graduate of Harvard University who is beginning her Master’s in English at Cambridge University this coming fall. At Harvard, she served on the board of several publications, including the Undergrad Law Review and the Harvard Advocate.
