Marisa Bernstein - Director of Marketing

A native of Southern California, Marisa Peck sees no reason to leave its friendly climate and beautiful scenery. She attended the University of California-San Diego, majoring in Sociology. There she developed an affinity for marketing while interning at a local sports marketing agency. Returning to Los Angeles after graduation, she came to work for Veritas Prep as a marketing coordinator, overseeing the company’s affiliate partnerships, promotional events, and public relations activities.

Ashley Craft - Customer Experience Manager

A lifelong Southern California resident, Ashley has been spreading client happiness around the Los Angeles area for as long as she can remember. Before joining Veritas Prep, she managed the Ralph Lauren shop at Bloomingdale’s, turning even the most finicky shoppers into huge advocates for both brands. Clients love Ashley for the calm, confident way in which she takes care of all their needs. When she isn’t turning Veritas Prep clients into happy zealots, Ashley loves hiking, reading, and going to the beach. Just be careful - although she’s a certified massage therapist, she also trains in Krav Maga, a form of martial arts that makes her as dangerous as she is helpful. Just be nice to Ashley’s dog Arya, and everything should be just fine.

Jenna Cortis - Operations Associate

Hailing from the greater metro-Detroit area, Jenna double majored in French and Communications at The University of Michigan- Ann Arbor. (Go Blue!!) After her graduation in 2011, she moved to Chicago to work as a full-time emotional support mentor at Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men, and she’s proud to say that all 27 of her mentees went on to enroll in college. She was accepted into Teach for America for the 2012 corps, and received a surprising placement in Las Vegas as a Middle School English Teacher! At Veritas Prep Jenna helps keep all parts of our admissions consulting team running smoothly. While not working, you can find her walking her adorable Pekingese, Malone, or on stage doing stand-up. She is funny as Fuqua.

Shay Davis - Director of Operations

Originally from Central California, Shay has a passion for traveling that has led her all over North America, Europe, and Costa Rica. She even spent time living in France, serving as an au pair for a family in Bordeaux. When Shay isn’t making Veritas Prep instructors happy with her calm demeanor and attention to detail, she teaches future ESL educators and works on her Bikram Yoga habit. She earned her B.A. in English from Cal State Fresno and her M.Ed. from Pepperdine University. Finally, you should know that Shay has friends in high places... George Washington is a distant relative of hers!

Brian Galvin - Vice President of Academics

One of the world’s few owners of both a 99th percentile GMAT Score and an NBA championship ring, Brian would gladly help Charles Barkley (but not Karl Malone) achieve either. Since receiving a Masters in Education from the University of Michigan he has studied the GMAT fulltime since 2006 as the Director of Academic Programs for Veritas Prep. Combining his professional achievements with his personal hobbies as an Ironman and standup comedian, Brian might very well be the foremost expert on the GMAT in the world. Judge for yourself by following his always-educational and oft-entertaining GMAT Tip of the Week on our blog!

Sage Hirsch – Customer Experience Associate

Originally from Bergen County New Jersey, Sage moved to sunny California to complete her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies at Chapman University. Always up for an adventure, she spent the spring of her junior year studying abroad “Semester at Sea” and traveling throughout Southeast Asia/Africa while living on a cruise ship. Sage has a passion for traveling, but more importantly a passion for connecting with individuals cross-culturally. She has been working in customer experience since the age of 14 and is committed to making customers happy at the end of the day. On her off time Sage enjoys practicing meditation, kickboxing, and art. Sage also loves live music, the ocean, and of course dogs. On the weekends, she can be found somewhere on Sawtelle street enjoying a delicious bowl of ramen.

Joanna Graham - Director of Academics

A Missouri native, Joanna relocated to Washington, DC, to attend Georgetown University and never looked back. She’s now (virtually) taking her talents to Malibu, bringing nearly 15 years of experience in the standardized testing and test preparation space to her work on instructor recruitment and training and curriculum development. When not living and breathing standardized tests, she’s heavily involved in military and veterans affairs. She serves on the Board of Director for Team Red White and Blue, a veterans service organization that integrates veterans in their communities through physical and social activities. She also works with the Pat Tillman Foundation and Dog Tag Bakery, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Hoya Hoop Club at her alma mater. She loves baseball, running (she recently completed her first 100 miler!), red wine & consuming as many donuts as humanly possible!

Matthew Honig - Academic Advisor

A Los Angeles native, Matthew earned his BA in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His fondest memory from college was hosting the radio show “White Chocolate,” a weekly hour of high-energy funk and hip-hop music. After spending four years braving the Midwestern tundra, he returned home to Southern California and moved in with two of his closest friends from high school. On an average weekend, Matthew enjoys sinking his teeth into a juicy cheeseburger (medium rare, extra aioli on the side) and catching a flick at the Arclight Cinemas.

Curtis Jah - Software Engineer

Born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Los Angeles, Curtis is passionate about building sustainable and scalable applications. He loves to learn new technologies, making things efficient, and using knowledge to help others. Recently, he has developed a strong interest in utilizing big data to improve humanity. While away from work, Curtis loves to stay active by playing sports and hiking. He enjoys watching the NFL, NBA, MLB, and tennis. He also has appreciation for competitive e-sports as he is a true gamer at heart. He’s a crafty one so it may behoove you to keep him away from your poker table.

Blin Kazazi - Director of Technology

Blin was born in Kosovo, lived in Belgium and moved to the Bay Area at the age of 16 as a high school exchange student. As a young nomad, Blin lived in 4 different countries and went to 4 different high schools before finally settling in Thousand Oaks, CA, to attend California Lutheran University. He says he has designed his first “website” at the age of 9. Blin is an avid soccer fan, bicyclist, paragliding pilot and researcher who brings diversity to the Veritas Prep team. The love of what he does is what made him stand out in the pool of applicants for his job position.

Anthony Koon - Academic Advisor

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Anthony decided to try the east coast for a few years, graduating from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. After realizing he couldn’t handle another cold winter, the native Angeleno returned to his roots. When he’s not watching the Yankees, Lakers, Kings (or joining the Los Angeles Rams bandwagon), you can find Anthony doing his best impression of Happy Gilmore out on the golf course. Off the course, Anthony is a connoisseur of steaks, and has been known to never turn down a good porterhouse.

Danielle Leslie - Academic Advisor

Born and raised in the sunshine of Southern California, Danielle attended CSU Long Beach majoring in Sociology. After graduation, she took her skills back home to the heart of wine country, where she used her sociological perspective and life-long passion for education to teach the art of the wine making (and tasting!) process. With a recent move to LA, Danielle has found her home with the Veritas Prep team. In her spare time, you can find Danielle hiking, reading, and finding new, fabulous places to eat.

Cecile Matthews - Director of MBA Admissions Consulting

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Cecile is formerly an Assistant Director of Admissions at Berkeley-Haas, where she spent more than two years evaluating thousands of business school applicants. Before she joined the world of MBA admissions, Cecile did student recruitment at the college level, marketing for Major League Baseball, and analyst roles at a biotech venture creation firm and an investment bank. She received her MBA from UCLA Anderson and bachelor’s degree in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University. Outside of work, Cecile enjoys seeing the world, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family.

Michele Patrick - Controller

True to form, Veritas Prep Controller Michele Patrick used her hometown of St. Louis as a Gateway to the West, taking advantage of the opportunity at Saint Louis University’s MBA program to transfer to Loyola Marymount to complete her education (with Summa Cum Laude honors) and relocate to sunny Southern California. Michele soaked up all the sun that her path to Los Angeles would offer, studying in Madrid, cheerleading for the St. Louis Rams of the NFL, appearing in a few Hollywood movies, and working for multiple media and fitness companies with “Hollywood” and “LA” in their brand names.

Now firmly entrenched as a Los Angeles resident, Michele maintains an active and varied lifestyle, managing accounting and HR responsibilities for Veritas Prep, teaching spinning and pilates classes, and managing a handful of entrepreneurial ventures.

Hayley Paul - Marketing Manager

Originally from the Bay Area, Hayley moved to the Southern California area to attend Loyola Marymount University. Armed with the dream of becoming the next Elle Woods, she pursued a degree in political science and held several internships at various law firms before realizing that although she loved her major, attorney life was not all it was cracked up to be. Despite having more than half her college career under her belt, she flipped a complete 180 and developed a new passion for marketing and event planning that intensified through her student job at LMU, internships in the area and involvement in her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. A few months after graduation (and a couple celebratory trips to Vegas later) Hayley joined the Veritas Prep team and hasn’t looked back. When not working, you can usually find Hayley at her favorite place (the beach), in the kitchen baking something chocolatey and unhealthy, or out for a run in the California sun.

Hitasha Shah - Operations Manager

Hitasha is a true SoCal native and recent UCLA graduate (Go Bruins!). She discovered her passion for education during her second year of college as a statistics tutor. Since then, she’s been involved in various educational organizations and partnerships that work with underserved and underrepresented communities. Majoring in Political Science and minoring in Philosophy, she understands the importance of being a critical thinker and an active global citizen. When she’s not managing Veritas Prep locations and logistics, Hitasha is trying new foods, reading, getting her yoga on, or binge watching any noteworthy TV series. She also loves spending time with her dogs, family and friends (in that order). Fun fact: English is just one of four languages she speaks!

Scott Shrum - Chief Operating Officer

Born and raised in New Jersey, Scott earned his BS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and pursued a career in technology marketing. Later, while at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Scott met Omari Bouknight from Harvard Business School, and the two of them wrote Your MBA Game Plan. This book is now in its third edition, and continues to be one of the most popular books on getting into business school. While researching Your MBA Game Plan they came in contact with Chad and Markus, and the four stayed in close touch. Years later, after a career as a brand manager in the consumer goods industry, Scott joined the team to run Veritas Prep’s marketing efforts, and now he oversees most of the company’s operations. Outside of work, Scott can be found rooting for the Yankees and working on his improv comedy skills.

Alex Trenchard-Smith - Web Developer

Born in Australia, but a Los Angeleno to the core, Alex is passionate about his job. With degrees in Business Management and Computer Science, Alex brings his love of technology to the task of keeping the Veritas learning experience up to its elite standards. When he’s not working with web-pages and databases, Alex writes and records rock and folk songs, does acting for fun, and listens to countless audio-books. He’s also a serious movie and music geek, and co-captain of a champion pub-trivia team. Alex enjoys exploring the diverse cuisine of Los Angeles, and is enthusiastic about Korean barbecue, burritos, and especially Korean barbecue burritos. After all these years in California, Alex is finally learning to surf on the sunny shores of Malibu.

Laura Smith - Admissions Consulting Program Manager

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Laura traveled to Missouri to pursue a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri (Go Tigers!) For four years she worked in the Office of Admission as a Student Recruiter and traveled around the Midwest to speak to high school students and their families about the wonderful world of Mizzou. After graduation, she stuck around St. Louis to work in Admissions Consulting for low-income, first generation students. Her love-affair with Missouri came to an abrupt end after one especially terrible winter (picture her car as a frozen ice sculpture), so she moved back to sunny California in 2011. Since then, she has earned her College Counseling Certificate from UCLA and developed national and international youth engagement programs for various non-profit organizations. When she isn’t managing projects for the Admissions Consulting division at Veritas Prep, you can find her watching sports, wine tasting or playing with her dog!

Farrah Walker - Academic Advisor

Yes, Farrah really was named after a famous blonde model that solved crime on television, so naturally, she aspired to become a teacher. Since trying seven different majors and ultimately graduating from BYU with an English degree, she continues to write and has been published in a collection of essays (so don’t be surprised if her emails are long). Needless to say, Farrah is over the moon about working for an education company and seeing her students excel on their exams. She continues to mentor children through volunteering with reading programs and hospital art programs, and started her own organization to produce and promote benefit events for non-profits. And even though she knows they’re out there, every time she sees dolphins off the Malibu coast, it’s like she’s seeing a unicorn.

Peter Williams - Senior Academic Advisor

A political science/pre-law major from Washington State University, Peter’s political and business philosophies can both be summarized in the phrase “yes we can,” a mantra that he enjoys spreading to apprehensive graduate school applicants worried about their futures. Peter looks forward to talking with you about your goals and helping you formulate a plan to get there. Just don’t tell him that you’re a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Oklahoma City Thunder; this Seattle native has suffered enough.