About Us

Nic is a serial social entrepreneur specialized in EdTech. Before his involvement in education, he founded three tech start-ups that were later acquired (CESART, CESCOM, I5). He owns mobile advertising patents, has written industry books, and has provided consulting services worldwide. In 2009, Nic started his education journey by founding the Mobilys Foundation, a charity financed by Google, banks, and the Government. The Foundation’s mission is to prevent students from dropping out of school by using social media to connect teachers, parents, and the community to support these students.

The Mobilys program is active in 160 schools. Since 2016, it has been paired with the ChallengeU program, and Nic has focused his dropout recovery program in partnership with public schools to build a better future for all communities.

With over 20 years of experience as a Superintendent Leadership Team member, Mark is well-versed in the school board perspective and the interdependency between instructional and organizational support departments. Mark also possesses a strong understanding of the relationship between finance and personnel operations. His expertise includes securing, training, and retaining the highest caliber of employees for schools.

Joël is a talented, experienced programmer and manager who has worked on several large, complex tech projects. He contacted ChallengeU in 2019 to get involved in the company because he wanted to make a difference in the lives of youth. He is now the CTO of ChallengeU, and he is building (along with his team) the best student dropout recovery technology.

For nearly 10 years, Nadia was Director of Operations for Xerox, and Director of Finance at Trac-World Freight Services. After many years of employment with similar types of companies, Nadia wanted to contribute to society; she wanted to be a changemaker working for a business that helps others. In 2016, she decided to join the ChallengeU team to look after the company's finances.

Previously a musical artist manager, Martin has always been involved with young people who have atypical backgrounds. After spending more than ten years in the world of music, he wanted to get more involved with vulnerable young people. He has worked in several departments of ChallengeU, and is now the Director of Student Admissions.

Marie-Pier was a school dropout herself in her early years, so she knows firsthand the difficulties that these young people experience in their daily lives. After having worked in several departments within ChallengeU, she became the Student Experience Analyst. Her role is to do research on each of the communities and states where we implement our program in order to adapt our products to the reality of the local school dropouts.

Elizabeth serves as our Project Manager and has over 26 years of experience in education. She has been involved in education and many successful projects around the United States that serve vulnerable youth communities.

From counseling in NYC to teaching in Honduras, Bria has enjoyed the many experiences that have allowed her to walk alongside youth in various capacities.  Her passions of youth development, education and community engagement led her to ChallengeU because of their belief in providing youth with a second chance to change their story.  Now the Lead Graduation Coach in Richmond, she recruits potential participants from all across the city in the efforts to support them before and after graduation.

LaFon has more than 30 years in the education field and serves as our trusted Administrative Assistant/HR Coordinator. She has worked in Human Resources at many schools and has developed thoughtful skills by interacting with diverse individuals. As such, she is deeply engaged in the dropout cause.