Our Team

Meet the team behind the pK-12 group at MIT Open Learning.

Claudia Urrea

Senior Associate Director, pK-12
Dr. Claudia Urrea is the Senior Associate Director for pK-12 at the MIT Open Learning. During the last ten years, she has worked in different initiatives such as the Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education, the MIT Online Education Policy Initiative, and the MIT Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL).

Dr. Claudia Urrea is the Senior Associate Director for pK-12 at the MIT Open Learning. During the last ten years, she has worked in different initiatives such as the Institute-wide Task Force on the Future of MIT Education, the MIT Online Education Policy Initiative, and the MIT Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL). In addition, Dr. Urrea founded the MIT STEAM camp, which brings MIT’s learning approach to middle school students and teachers in international locations, and co-founded Full STEAM Ahead, a virtual archive and program that combines hands-on exploration, project design, and skill building in STEAM subjects. She is currently leading the creation of a STEAM laboratory school in Belize in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. For the past 25 years, Dr. Urrea has helped multiple governments and non-govern¬ment agencies to empower and support schools and communities of learners to evolve from traditional teaching methods into progressive learning environments.

Emily Glass

Senior Learning Designer, pK-12
Emily Glass is a formally trained architect who works on innovative educational initiatives at the intersection of design, creativity, and technology. Prior to joining pK-12 at MIT Open Learning, Emily was the Director of NuVuX, the external partnerships wing of the studio-based middle and high school NuVu Studio.

In this role, she oversaw a team of educators working to build maker-spaces and hands-on learning programs for students at k-12 schools around the world. Before shifting to education, Emily worked for several years in residential and corporate architecture firms. Emily holds a B.A. in Architecture from Columbia University and an M.Arch from Rice University.

Joe Diaz

Educator & Grant Administrator, pK-12
Joe Diaz is an MIT graduate and advocate for hands-on, project-based learning and develops STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) programs and curricula for K-12 students. He leads Full STEAM Ahead for pk-12.

An alumnus of MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program, he has spent time both inside and outside of the classroom, developing programs for kids who do not always have access to quality education. For the past six years, he has worked with MIT Open Learning to bring this educational approach to students and teachers in locations including the US, Hong Kong, China, Greece, Spain, Morocco, and Belize.

Ada Ren-Mitchell

Learning Programs Designer, pK-12
Ada Ren-Mitchell loves playful learning. She is passionate about computational thinking, engineering, and making. Since 2010, she has been juggling multi-modal gesture research, STEM education research, and web & graphic design.

She enjoys complex information systems, and tries to make sense of it all through coding data visualizations, graphic design, and prudent science communication. In her spare time, she practices lifelong learning through many personal hobbies and interests.

She enjoys designing professional development for informal STEM education, promoting equitable access for diverse populations. Her work focuses on bringing together learners of all ages, to share and inspire each other through our expertises, passions, and projects.

Mely Wu

Business Development, pK-12
Mely Wu is a Associate Business Development Manager for pK-12 at the Office of Open Learning. She started at MIT Open Learning in 2019 as a Financial Analyst for J-WEL (Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab) after two years of working at a hedge fund in Boston.

Mely joined the MIT Bootcamps team in 2021 and served as the Associate Program Manager. She has been a mentor for MIT freshmen through the Office of Minority Education and won the MAP Mentor of the Year award in 2020. Outside of MIT, she is an avid traveler and a freelance SAG-AFTRA eligible actress. Mely graduated Summa Cum Laude from Tufts University with a B.A. in Economics and spent her junior year abroad at the University of Oxford studying Economics & Management.

Jessica Rondon

Administrator, pK-12
Jessica works closely with diverse stakeholders at MIT in supporting different programs, events and projects both online and in-person. She joined MIT in 2018 after working years with an educational tour company that helped students travel throughout the world.

Jessica is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and holds a degree in Anthropology. She is an active hiker and runner and enjoys hanging out with her cat Oliver and dog Jack.

Mariah Rawding

Marketing & Communications, pK-12
Mariah has been a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ at MIT, supporting innovative education since 2018. A maker at heart, you can find her building websites, writing news stories, or helping organizing immersive in-person experiences at any given time. Mariah loves to collaborate and take on new challenges in education.

Before joining PK-12, she spent six years working with MIT Bootcamps. She graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Economics and jokes that she “minored in just about everything.” Outside of work, you’ll find her sewing, knitting, or tackling the NYT crossword.

Steve Nelson

Project Manager, pK-12
Steve is passionate about education and learning, having spent the last few years working to improve workplace learning in the corporate world, he is now focused on helping find research solutions to solve education issues from pK-12 to higher education to workplace learning.

Steve works with research partners on the campus of MIT to facilitate transformational learning objectives and create educational best practices.