JILL OF ALL TRADES
I’ve had a diversity of roles spanning program management, operations, business development, customer success, monitoring and evaluation, research, and people and systems leadership across multiple industries and countries. I credit this wide breadth of experiences for fostering my diverse skill set, creative approach to problem solving, and ability to work well cross-functionally and with diverse partners.
AI In EDUCATION
Over the past decade, I've focused on bringing AI into education in ways that genuinely serve students and institutions.
I started in 2015 at Mainstay (formerly AdmitHub) as the company's first hire, helping build one of the earliest AI chatbots to support students to and through college — eventually reaching over one million students across 70+ U.S. campuses. More recently, at Kira Learning, I worked with partners in Tennessee and Singapore to bring an AI-powered K-12 computer science platform to thousands of students. Today at Stellic, I have turned my implementation skills inward, developing our company's AI strategy in a FERPA-regulated environment — building the policies and governance frameworks that let our teams adopt AI responsibly without compromising student data.
BUILDING THINGS FROM ZERO
I'm drawn to the early, undefined stages of an organization, where the work is as much about building the structure as doing the job itself. As Mainstay's first hire, I wore nearly every hat — product design, research, partnerships, marketing — helping to turn two co-founders' vision into a working product with an evidence-based approach to product development. Today at Stellic, I'm building the people, technology, and operational infrastructure for a fast-growing team from the ground up.
Below is a sampling of some of my experiences. For further details feel free to reach out at hello at cristinaherndon dot com.
Building and Evaluating Georgia State University’s AI Chatbot
I led the design and implementation of Mainstay’s groundbreaking SMS-based chatbot at Georgia State University and its impact evaluation. Pounce the bot helped reduce summer melt by 20% in its first year, and the study results were widely publicized, including on NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast.
Implementing Latin America’s Largest Scholarship Program
As part of a small team, overhauled Laspau’s long-standing scholarship management services for the implementation of the PhD portion of Brazil’s scholarship program, Ciência sem Fronteiras. Reviewed and selected 600 scholarship grantees over two years, provided an extensive admissions coaching service to over 100 U.S. universities, and negotiated comprehensive financial aid packages to cover students’ full tuition, room, and board totaling over $7 million each year.
Evaluating Innovative Science Education in Peru
At IPA, oversaw the impact evaluation of a new teaching methodology for third-grade science in 106 urban and rural public elementary schools in the Lima region of Peru, coordinating with researchers, Peru’s Ministry of Education, the Inter-American Development Bank, LEGO Education, and local schools.