Meet the Team
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 Senior Software Engineer/Application Team Lead at Volley Labs.
Dezerae Abelon
Director of Operations
DEZERAE 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.
Laurie Wilson
Mentor and Corporate Sales
LAURIE has always had a passion for Information Technology. Starting early in her career, she worked for MasterCard International and was responsible for their Email Help Desk and Training function.
Along the way, she was recruited to go to Monsanto and discovered that changing her career path just a bit, by becoming a Recruiter, she could work in both the IT and the business arenas. She understood the intersections of both and how she could incorporate these interests into her daily work life.
Over the years, she has built a great reputation in the St. Louis area as a Recruiter, Account Executive, and Leader. Her resume and interview preparation are quality-oriented and she works hard to ensure that everyone is as prepared as they can be for the interview, which makes her a great fit for mentoring Savvy Coder students!
Ashley Hunter
Social Media Manager
ASHLEY is a bilingual “Jill of many Trades” that wears many hats. She likes web development, UI/UX, and interacting with people on social media. Being a business owner, she found out how much of a niche she had for social media marketing which landed her where she is now. When she isn’t working, she’s at home spending time with her husband, dog Invidia and tending to her plants & vegetable garden. She can be reached at [email protected]
Martin Carriel
Instructor – St. Louis
MARTIN is an Aspiring software engineer utilizing web development software, Python, and database management software (SQL and NoSQL) to produce clear and creative applications. He graduated SavvyCoders in 2019 and has become a big asset in revamping the curriculum. In his free time, he likes to read plays and books. He also likes listening to experimental music and has 2 dogs.
Brandon Bunch
Instructor – St. Louis
BRANDON is a Full-Stack Software Engineer working for InSequence Inc, creating a software procurement tool to be used by government agencies. When he isn’t working, he enjoys traveling, games, playing with his dog and binge watching entire series of shows in a weekend.
Matt Thomas
Instructor – St. Louis
MATT is an experienced solutions minded Senior Software Engineer currently employed at NEC Energy Solutions that creates and enhances cloud based software platforms that meets the needs of the business owner and customers. He is dedicated to mentoring students & junior developers in development and career skills. He routinely presents talks and assists in organizing local Meetups. In his personal time, he likes to work on and build automotive, web and IoT projects.
Bradley Harper
TA – St. Louis
BRADLEY’S previous profession was an automotive electrics technician/diagnostician.
Now, he works as a front end web developer using angular 7^ framework.
My other passion is performance cars, scooters, mini-bikes, go-karts,
and everything else with wheels and an engine! He also got a new dog recently so he is really busy!
Vanessa K.
TA – St. Louis
VANESSA is an aspiring Front-End Developer. As a huge fan of color theory, she especially enjoys helping students with the UI of their projects. She graduated from SavvyCoders in 2019 and is currently studying QA Testing. Vanessa enjoys a good video game but can also be found watching anime with her cat or learning foreign languages. Her secret skill is perfectly applying screen protectors.
Jennifer McCormack
TA – St. Louis
JENNIFER decided that it was time for a career change. She began coding in 2019 and is a recent graduate of SavvyCoders. She is currently working on some volunteer coding projects. She likes to paint and write in her spare time. She also does commissions in art from time to time and has written an entire chapstick poetry manuscript!
John Cotton
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
Eric Keiser
Instructor – Chattanooga
Here’s what you need to know about me. I’m a web developer and designer; I live and breathe tech and am constantly honing my skills to solve bigger and better problems.
Michael Bryant
Instructor – Chattanooga
Experienced Freelance Web Developer with a demonstrated history of working in the computer software industry. Skilled in Negotiation, Github, Customer Service, Engineering, and Strategic Planning. Strong engineering professional attended college at Chattanooga State Community College.
Vivek Khattri
Instructor & Agile Coach
Vivek is passionate about sharing his knowledge, expertise, and experience that he’s gained from working in 7+ multinational companies and multiple startups. Working as a Scrum Master & Agile Coach, he has gained valuable insight into how to be an effective facilitator and coach. In addition, he has spent 100’s of hours in agile boot camps; teaching and coaching agile to aspiring Scrum Masters and Product Owners.
