Our Team
The Edstutia team has grown and matured as Edstutia has evolved. What sets this group apart is the steadfast commitment to the business and a truly supportive, collaborative demeanor across the board. It is a true dream team combining exceptional leaders with decades of experience in corporate learning, coaching, teaching, curriculum development, and client services with a breadth of creatives (writing, video production, content creation, social media and more).
Christine Janssen, PhD
Founder & CEO
Dr. Christine Janssen is the visionary behind Edstutia’s mission. She is a creator, builder, and disruptor – and is unreservedly passionate about the future of education and learning. The combination of her background, experience, credentials, and relentless energy make her the ideal person to disrupt the status quo of higher education and corporate training.After decades of being a student herself followed by 12 years of working as a professor in academia, Dr. Janssen realized how massive gaps and outdated systems are short-changing students – and employers! – today. Years of research on the disconnect amongst academic institutions, students, employees and employers led to designing and building Edstutia, a contemporary learning platform that addresses the skills gap head on.
Dr. Janssen earned a BS in Marketing from the University of South Florida, a Global MBA in Communications and Information Systems (CIS) and Finance with a specialization in e-Business from Fordham University, and a PhD in Business Education from New York University, where her dissertation focused on how entrepreneurs learn. Her research interests hone in on the future of education/learning, virtual reality, and the metaverse.
Yogini Joglekar, PhD
Chief Operations Officer
Dr. Yogini Joglekar taught in virtual reality for the first time in January 2021, and was hooked. In her two plus decades of teaching, corporate consulting, and education leadership experience across three continents, she had consistently integrated experiential, inclusive, skills-based lifelong learning as core components. With Edstutia, she excited to work together with a fantastic team to translate these core principles into a unique, VR-enhanced learning program for individuals and enterprise– both from a strategic and operational perspective. Yogini is a Founding Member of Divershefy and has served on advisory boards or committees within edtech startups as well as professional organizations. She enjoys writing across genres and audiences, from academic research papers to popular media articles to film micro-reviews on Twitter @worldcinemasal1.
Mike Perico
Head of Sales
Mike Perico has worked in sales and marketing for over 17 years. Prior to consulting, he was a middle school teacher and soccer coach. He’s very excited to be back in an environment where learning is a top priority. One of his passions is bringing good people together. The people he works with at Edstutia are some of the best! Mike practices servant leadership as well as servant sales. One of his goals is to help make complex subject matter more understandable and believes the only bad questions are the ones not asked. Mike lives in Austin, TX and loves spending time with his wife and 2 kids. When he wants to unwind you can find him learning about personal development, snowboarding, playing soccer or mountain biking. Feel free to ask him anything.
Renu Ramakrishnan, MBA
Head of Client Services and Learning Experiences
Renu Ramakrishnan’s multifaceted career of over two decades and across borders has taken her from marketing well known consumer brands to teaching university courses and facilitating corporate training sessions in the areas of Communication, Leadership and Intercultural Management. She deeply values learning by doing, collaboration, and nurturing relationships, and brings her rich international experience to Edstutia where she works with corporate clients and learners in their unique and enriching learning journeys using Virtual Reality. Currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Renu is a passionate cook and travel enthusiast, never missing an opportunity to try new recipes for anyone willing to join her around the table.
Jose Gonzalez
Content Manager
Jose brings over 20 years of work experience in various roles with companies big and small. He is a copywriter and marketer who looks to create real connections with all content he writes. At Edstutia, he strives to deliver the message of the benefits of using virtual reality for learning & development. He joined Edstutia in 2021 and has helped to shape Edstutia’s voice and message through website and social media content. He is also part of the team shaping the new Edstutia website experience in 2023. His passion for writing, marketing, and learning make him a vital member of the Edstutia team. When he’s not writing, he’s enjoying music, hiking, or watching movies with his family in Los Angeles, California.
Divya Susan Varkey
Head of Corporate Relations, Europe
Divya Susan Varkey is a trainer, coach, and lecturer in Cross-Cultural Communication and Management. She has received wide acclaim for designing and delivering highly effective programs for companies like Boeing, Bayer, Nike, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Mercedes Benz, Tata Steel, Swissnex, and the like for their multicultural teams and C-suite executives. As Head of Corporate Relations, Europe, Divya works with corporates to co-create Learning and Development strategies using Virtual Reality and the Edstutia platform. She lives in The Hague with her half-Spanish, half-Indian family and their in-house zoo of dog, cat, guinea pigs, chicken and a fish. When she is not working in front of a screen, she is busy getting her hands dirty in the family olive fields in Spain.
Xavier LeBlanc
Media Specialist
Xavier LeBlanc has worked extensively within the media and entertainment industry for more than 10 years. He has directed music videos for Grammy nominated artists such as Skip Marley, and the Bob Marley estate. And as a broadcast television professional, he has produced broadcast news and entertainment programming on several networks. With Edstutia, Xavier incorporates his passion and love of creating content to help visually communicate Edstutia’s mission and ideas. When he is not busy creating, he enjoys pursuing his lifelong journey of fitness and nutrition.Michele Oberly
Business Development – Corporate
Michele started out in L&D in the financial securities industry, and has continued to design and implement learning experiences in professional and education spaces with an emphasis on measuring learning outcomes. In her Business Development role at Edstutia, Michele helps clients understand the potential of virtual reality for a variety of use cases: immersive soft-skills training, executive coaching, onboarding, and teambuilding.
Madisyn Villamil
Content Coordinator
Madisyn is a content writer and social media enthusiast from St. Louis, MO. She brings her passion for learning and marketing to Edstutia by creating content for Edstutia’s blog and social media channels. When she’s not busy crafting the perfect caption, Madisyn enjoys baking, visiting family in Colombia, and spoiling her three cats.
Morgan Cartularo
Customer Relationship Management
Morgan is a recent graduate from the University of Miami and a marketing enthusiast. At Edstutia she focuses on email marketing and analytics. She is passionate about promoting the value of virtual reality in the workplace and educating people on Edstutia’s values. When she’s not working on HubSpot, she enjoys going to OrangeTheory, concerts and reading.
Advisory Board
The Edstutia Advisory Board is composed of hand-selected subject matter experts and leaders in their respective fields to ensure we deliver what the workforce demands. Our members represent a wide variety of industries and come to the table with diverse perspectives about the future of work, learning, and technology.
Consulting
Christopher Chu
Accenture Strategy Managing Director
Virtual Reality
Lyron Bentovim
The Glimpse Group CEO
Operations
Patrick Halligan
Getlabs Director of Operations - East
Predictive Analytics
Chason Hecht
Retensa Retention Strategies CEO
Cyber Security
Linda Kuppersmith
CMIT Chief Technology Advisor & President
Corporate Learning
Sylvain Newton
Newton Consulting Founder
Cloud Computing
Vincent Ponzo
AWS Startup Business Development
Health Tech
Debra Stroff
Quartet Health Chief People Officer
Education
Donna Murdoch, PhD
Columbia University Professor, Teachers College