Blue Engine Staff

Nick Ehrmann, CEO & Founder

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Education: BA History/American Studies, Northwestern University
PhD Sociology, Princeton University

Nick has served as CEO & Founder of Blue Engine since 2009. Ehrmann began his career in education as a Teach for America corps member in Washington D.C., joining forces with local philanthropists in 2002 to launch the nonprofit “I Have a Dream”—Project 312. The partnership secured over $1M in commitments for a ten year, comprehensive youth development program for his fourth-grade students, many of whom are struggling to make it in the world of higher education. In 2003 he began graduate work at Princeton University as a William G. Bowen fellow and completed his PhD in sociology in 2010. His dissertation—Yellow Brick Road—explored the negative effects of academic underperformance on the transition from high school to college. Nick was selected as a finalist for the Washington D.C. First-Year Teacher of the Year award and the national Teach For America Sue Lehmann Award and was named an Echoing Green Fellow in 2010 and a Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow in 2011. He currently lives in New York City and can be reached at nick@blueengine.org.

Chester Ocampo, Math Program Director

Hometown: Wayne, NJ
Education: BS Chemistry/BA Math, New York University
MS Education, City College of New York

Chester is Blue Engine’s inaugural Site Director and brings with him experience in curriculum design and supporting new teacher development. His work in education began as a math teacher through the New York City Teaching Fellows program where he focused on integrating science and technology to enhance math instruction. During his time in the classroom, he earned a master’s degree in education from City College of New York and in 2007, joined Teach For America as a Program Director. Chester joined Blue Engine in Spring of 2010 as the Site Director at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS), where he led the implementation of Blue Engine’s on-site training, Fellowship support, and professional development. This year, he is the Math Program Director for all three of Blue Engine’s partner schools, supporting BETAs in Integrated Algebra and Geometry classrooms. Chester’s extensive knowledge of the New York City education landscape has been key in shaping Blue Engine’s overall program operations. He can be reached at chester@blueengine.org.

Nicholas Chan, Program Engineer

Hometown: Orinda, CA
Education: BS Product Design, Stanford University

Nicholas came to Blue Engine in January of 2010 with youth development and service corps experience from different parts of the US and Ecuador. He began working with youth as a resident assistant through Upward Bound, a program for high school students on their way to becoming the first in their families to attend college. After graduating with a degree in product design from Stanford University, he worked as an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer in East Palo Alto where his main project was working with community partners to design and execute a youth leadership program. He continued working for AmeriCorps as a middle school classroom assistant with the inaugural City Year Louisiana corps. Taking his service overseas, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in La Libertad, Ecuador, where he worked with local youth and health workers on sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS awareness and youth leadership. He spent a third year in Quito training and supporting other volunteers. He can be reached at nicholas@blueengine.org

Cristina Landa, Operations Engineer

Hometown: Austin, TX
Education: BA Comparative Literature, Colorado College

Cristina is Blue Engine’s Operations Engineer and comes to the organization with a range of experiences in the field of education. She graduated from Colorado College with a major in Comparative Literature, a minor in Education Studies, and a certificate in Community Engaged Leadership. Her interest in education began after assisting in 6th and 9th grade reading classrooms with students from a low socioeconomic environment. This inspired her to begin volunteering with a mentoring program that matched college students with middle school boys needing extra emotional support and academic tutoring. She spent a year as the organization’s co-director where she implemented a new mentor-training program and reorganized the program’s paperwork. During the fall of her junior year, she studied in Chicago through an urban studies program. Here, her passion for improving urban schools grew as she interned for the Chicago Public Schools Service Learning Department and met with innovative community organizations working with youth in the city. In her final year and a half at Colorado College, Cristina developed and taught the school’s first student-led course for credit on youth empowerment theory and practice. She can be reached at cristina@blueengine.org.

Emily Brenes, Communications Engineer

Hometown: Laguna Niguel, CA
Education: BA English, University of California, Berkeley

During her four years as a student at UC Berkeley, Emily developed a passionate devotion to social issues, particularly those surrounding educational equity. As the budget crisis in California led to substantial cuts in education spending and Berkeley became a center of the debate surrounding these cuts, Emily became deeply invested in the future of public education. Her experience volunteering in Bay Area schools further exposed her to the complex implications of educational inequality and deepened her understanding of the arduous public education landscape. A recent graduate of Berkeley’s English Department, Emily is an avid reader and writer; she completed an Honors Thesis entitled “Playing with Beloved: Traces of Derrida in Toni Morrison” in which she explored language as an expression of inequality within a post-modern context. In the 2010-2011 school year, Emily worked as a BETA in an Integrated Algebra classroom at the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School. She can be reached at emily@blueengine.org

Kristen Pantazes, Recruitment Engineer

Hometown: Landenberg, PA
Education: BA Sociology and Government, The College of William and Mary

Kristen comes to Blue Engine after completing a degree in government and sociology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. While in school, her academic interest in the interplay between social interactions, culture, and governmental structures was paired with her active involvement in a number of different community-based organizations. Kristen’s application to Blue Engine was inspired by her participation in a range of domestic and international service initiatives, including experiences in Williamsburg as well as Camden, Kampala, Uganda, and Monterrey, during which she discovered her passion for expanding educational opportunities for youth. After graduating in May of 2010, Kristen joined Blue Engine as a Fellow and worked in a 9th grade Integrated Algebra classroom at the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School. She can be reached at kristen@blueengine.org.

Charles Warner, Senior Advisor

Hometown: Washington, DC
Education:BFA Theater,Columbia University
MA Journalism, Southern Illinois University

Charlie is an adjunct professor in the graduate Media Management Program at The New School and at NYU’s Stern School of Business. He is also the Goldenson Chair Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Journalism where he taught media management, media economics, media sales, and creativity and created and ran the annual Management Seminar for News Executives and lead annual Community Affairs workshops. Charlie’s book Media Selling, 4th Edition is the most widely used sales textbook in the field. Until he retired in 2002, he was Vice President of AOL’s Interactive Marketing division. Charlie is an active management, marketing, and sales trainer and consultant and has worked with CBS, ABC, ESPN, MTV, Fox, Microsoft’s MSN, Cox Cable, Charles Warner, Senior Advisor
TNS, WPP’s Kantar Video, and many other major media companies. He has also been VP, General Manager, of WNBC-AM (now WFAN) in New York, WMAQ-AM and WKQX-FM in Chicago, and CBS Radio Spot Sales. His maturity and knowledge of and wide experience in management, marketing, strategy, and organizational and personnel development make Charlie a valuable member of the Blue Engine team. He can be reached at charlie@blueengine.org.