Meet our team: a cross-discipline group of designers, developers, and researchers.

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My Nguyen · Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

My Nguyen has an M.S. in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College. She is a returned Peace Corps volunteer and hopes to continue making a difference in people's lives.

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Matthew Easterday · Founder And Chief Product Officer

Matt co-founded and oversees product development at ForgeWorks. His research on educational technology for project-based learning has received over 3 million dollars in support from the National Science Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Mozilla Foundation. He is an assistant professor in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University and received his PhD in 2010 from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Liz Gerber · Founder And Strategist

As the Breed Junior Chair of Design at Northwestern University, Faculty Founder of Design for America, and OpEd Fellow, Gerber writes about human computer interaction, design, and innovation. Her current research focuses on understanding the work of social innovators in online and offline communities. This work brings a unique perspective of contemporary practices such as crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, brainstorming, and prototyping, and provides a strong foundation for designing engaging social environments that promote innovation and leadership.

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Daniel Rees Lewis · Founder And Chief Research And Development Officer

Dan leads the design and execution of research that refines and informs functional development. He has PhD from Northwestern University in Learning Sciences and his research with Professors Easterday and Gerber led to the creation of Loft.

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David Watts · Chief Operations Officer (Coo)

David was Senior Vice President of Strategy & Development at HSBC, the 6th largest bank in the world. He has over 30 years experience in corporate strategy, corporate structure, new business development, change management, project management and M&A. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Brantley Harris · Chief Technology Officer (Cto)

Brantley is a Chicago-based software developer and creative technologist with a long history of product development for startups and small companies from inception to deployment. Brantley also does work for the data company Uptake started by Brad Keywell.

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Andy Rench · Ux/Design Lead

Andy's primary focus is handling the UI design and branding of the Loft project. Before working with the Loft team, Andy designed experiences for national and global companies such as Office Depot, Microsoft and Bayer Aspirin working at agencies such as BBDO, Razorfish, and Wunderman.