NewSchools Venture Fund

John Scianimanico is Associate Partner, GenAI Math Tutoring at NewSchools Venture Fund, where he manages a portfolio focused on advancing math education through investments in generative artificial intelligence. His background spans K-12 education, state government, national politics, military affairs, and philanthropy, including work launching strategic initiatives and advising government and university leaders. He also serves as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserves and as an Adjunct Professor at New York University's Wagner School.

Kody Melancon is an Associate Partner for Innovative Schools at NewSchools Venture Fund, with 10 years of experience as a data analyst, classroom teacher, program evaluator, and director. In a prior role, he led the redesign of a career pipeline program focused on identifying and placing men and women of color into teaching positions in New York City public schools.

Pete Fishman is Senior Partner, Teaching Reimagined, at NewSchools Venture Fund, where he identifies and supports early-stage innovators focused on changing how educators work and involving caregivers and community experts in students' education. He previously co-founded Deans for Impact, a national nonprofit focused on teacher preparation, and has advised foundations, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and higher education institutions on leadership, culture, and organizational strategy.

Vanessa Monterosa is a member of the Board of Directors at Uprooted Academy, with a career spanning research, K-12 leadership, and edtech investing. At NewSchools Venture Fund, she designed an Equity Advisory Board that involved K-12 practitioners in the investment of nearly $10M, and she previously led a 40-member task force at the nation's second-largest school district that shaped policy affecting 14,000 educators. She co-authored Deepening Digital Citizenship with ISTE, and her work on digital equity and edtech has been featured by outlets including Common Sense Media, Edutopia, EdSurge, and Latinos for Education.

Cameron White is a Senior Partner at NewSchools leading a team that invests in K-8 reading and math learning solutions, with over a decade of experience across educational equity, student learning, and technology. He was on the founding team of co.lab, began his career at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, holds an M.A. from Columbia's Teachers College and a B.A. in Architecture from Princeton, and teaches trauma-sensitive yoga.

Emmalyn Tan is a Senior Partner for Teaching Reimagined at NewSchools Venture Fund, where she identifies and supports early-stage innovators working to change how educators work and to involve caregivers and community experts in supporting students. She co-founded Deans for Impact, a national nonprofit focused on the preparation of future teachers. Tan has also advised foundations, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and higher education institutions on leadership, culture, and organizational strategy.

Pallavi Abraham is an Associate Partner at NewSchools who works on impact measurement and education strategy. With a background in science, she develops data-informed systems and measurement frameworks to help organizations strengthen education and workforce outcomes. Her work over the past decade has focused on applying systems-based approaches to align capital, strategy, and community insight in social impact initiatives.

Patrick Pichette is a Senior Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, where he leads the Learning Solutions investment team focused on early-stage K–8 math and literacy edtech, including AI-powered tools intended to serve students with limited access to educational opportunity. Over more than 15 years at NewSchools, he has supported over 100 early-stage ventures through philanthropic capital and strategic guidance. Before NewSchools, he was on the founding team of the game-based learning accelerator co.lab and worked at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, DC; he holds an M.A. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.A. in Architecture from Princeton.

Deborah M. McGriff is the co-founder and CEO of Mysten Labs, a company focused on building infrastructure for web3. She previously worked in technical leadership and engineering roles, and received recognition from the ACM for her contributions to computer science.

Works in marketing at Triple Point.

John Doerr joined Kleiner Perkins in 1980 after selling chips at Intel and went on to back Google, Amazon, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems. He brought Andy Grove's OKR goal-setting system to Google and turned it into the management bestseller Measure What Matters. Now the firm's chairman, he devotes much of his time to climate technology and funded Stanford's school of sustainability.

Brook Byers has worked as a venture capital investor since 1972, spending his career at Kleiner Perkins, where he is a founder. In 1984 he created the first life sciences practice group in the venture capital profession, steering the firm into healthcare and biotechnology. He has helped build more than 60 technology-based companies and served as founding president or chairman of four biotech companies incubated in Kleiner Perkins' offices that went public with an aggregate market value exceeding $8 billion. His current board work spans companies including Arsenal Bio, Octave Bio, Newsela and Verana Health, and he was a founder of TechNet.

Cody Jones is Senior Manager, Systems and Knowledge Management at NewSchools Venture Fund, with over ten years of prior experience at the Achievement Network and Management Leadership for Tomorrow in areas including data infrastructure, analytics strategy, operations, performance management, and organizational strategy. Jones completed an MPA at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service in 2019 and participated in Cohort 11 of the Strategic Data Project Fellowship at Harvard's Center for Education Policy Research. Outside of work, Jones co-leads the Salt Lake Area Queer Climbers and chairs the board of Project Rainbow Utah, an organization focused on LGBTQ+ inclusion across Utah.

Heather McManus is a Strategic Advisor at the T1D Fund. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Head of the Cancer Immunology and Cellular Therapy Thematic Research Center at Bristol Myers Squibb. Her background spans over 30 years in biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals, with work in cell therapies, oncology, immuno-oncology, cancer immunology, autoimmunity, and inflammation, including drug development, corporate alliances, and investor relations.

Jessica Henry is Chief Learning Officer at NewSchools Venture Fund. She has more than 21 years of experience in education management and organizational leadership, with a background in school management, instructional design, people development, and human resources including sourcing and hiring.

Michelle Sanches is Manager, Innovative Schools at NewSchools, where her work focuses on public education across schools, nonprofits, and philanthropy, particularly in intermediary roles connecting funding to impact. Her experience includes program design, partnership development, and strategic execution in partnership with educators, community leaders, and funders.

Ryan Aurori is Manager, Office of the CEO at NewSchools. Over nearly a decade of work spanning multiple sectors, Aurori has led large-scale studies on poverty and child development, developed programs to support underrepresented researchers, and managed education-focused investments. As Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, Aurori designs participatory funding processes and leads cross-functional collaboration.

Stefanie Pleiss serves as a member of the Board of Directors at Uprooted Academy and works across roles as an edtech investor, researcher, and K-12 leader. At NewSchools Venture Fund, she designed an Equity Advisory Board that involved K-12 practitioners in decisions related to nearly $10 million in investments, and she previously led a 40-member task force at the nation's second-largest school district that shaped policy affecting 14,000 educators. She co-authored Deepening Digital Citizenship with ISTE, and her work on digital equity and edtech has been featured by Common Sense Media, Edutopia, EdSurge, Latinos for Education, and ISTE.

Chief Executive Officer of NewSchools, who authored an essay for Stanford Social Innovation Review examining the purpose of public education in a diverse democracy.

Leads the development (fundraising) team at NewSchools, working to direct funding toward education innovators and underserved communities. Previously led fundraising at 826 National and the individual giving team at Teach For America-Bay Area, with about 20 years in nonprofit development. Holds an M.A. from Boston University and a B.A. from Dickinson College.