Meet the Team
St. Louis
Elaine Queathem
CEO, Co-Founder
Elaine has been involved with technology her entire life, but when working for a small software technology company in 2009, she became acutely aware of the shortage of qualified programming resources which were essential for a small company to grow and thrive. Now, several years later, she is in a position to begin to help people develop those important and sought after skills. That’s why she founded Savvy Coders.
Alex Pearson
VP Learning, Co-Founder
Alex is one of the co-founders of Savvy Coders and the primary author of the course curriculum. It’s Alex’s mission to help others grow as developers through formal instruction, personal mentorship, and contributions to the software development community. He currently works as a Software Engineer at Bauer Xcel Media, where he focuses on products that help users visualize data interact with products they love. You can read more on his blog, or take a look at some of his open source contributions on GitHub.
Zoey Snyder
Social Media Specialist
Zoey is a proud 2018 graduate of Savvy Coders. Excited by Savvy Coders’ mission, she came on as a T.A. soon after taking the class, before becoming a full-time employee in December. Zoey manages the various social media pages on behalf of Savvy Coders, as well as maintaining the website. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, music, comics, and historical folklore.
Meagan Barbeau
Manager Marketing/Operations
Meagan Barbeau is a St. Louis native who graduated from Saint Louis University in May of 2017 with a major in Communication and a focus in Advertising, as well as a minor in Visual Communication. In her spare time, she enjoys sketching and digital art, growing her encyclopedic knowledge of the Muppets, and restoring old and black and white photos. Meagan joined Savvy Coders in August of 2016 as an intern, and has been working diligently in the company ever since. Handling marketing and graphic design duties, as well as lending a hand wherever possible, Meagan loves to see Savvy Coders and its students grow.
Dezerae Abelon
Director of Operations
Dezerae Abelon has spent much of her life living abroad in Europe and enjoys the excitement and challenges that travel and new experiences bring.
With a strong background in international business operations and a Masters in Organizational Change, she brings to the table a yearning desire to inject change for the better and bring the opportunity of Savvy Coders to those who want to make a difference. She is a recent coding graduate and uses her experience as encouragement to others who want to join the field.
Nashville
Heather Thacker
Heather is a full stack developer in Nashville. She frequently attends local meet-ups, and enjoys data analytics, software architecture, and CSS. A Tennessee native with a liberal arts education, Heather was a professional baker for five years before attending a part-time bootcamp. Her love of developing an end product and analytical problem solving are the foundation of her career. When not coding, Heather practices yoga and hikes with her dog.
Chattanooga
John Cotton
Class Instructor, Chattanooga
John is a full stack developer living in Chattanooga. He is passionate about open source and mobile. In addition to developing software and teaching others, he programs electronic music, produces documentary films, and spends the rest of his time outdoors. John has endless creativity, which he combines with a passion for teaching others about coding to create a dynamic and fun learning experience. A little known, fun fact about John; he won an Emmy Award for his work on From The Streets to The Stage: The Journey of Fredrick Davis, a PBS documentary.
website: johncotton.us github: thejohncotton
