KEY PEOPLE
ALEENA TAUFIQ
Founder & CEO
Aleena is the Founder of Geared Up and also currently a Data Scientist at Verizon. Aleena founded Geared Up in 2016 while studying at Southern Methodist University. She came up with the idea after discovering her passion for engineering after doing a project to reinvent the Slurpee experience.
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Aleena, herself, attended grade school in a low-income school district, and she noticed a gap in the opportunities available to students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, so she started Geared Up. Since its initial launch, Geared Up has spread to 9 schools and reached over 200 students!
ROB JOHNSTON
Director & Treasurer
Rob currently serves as a Director of Geared Up. He also currently works as the Corporate Vice President of Strategy and Planning at New York Life Insurance Company.
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Rob has been involved with Geared Up since its first session in 2017 and has been an avid volunteer for the program since then! Rob is very passionate about spreading STEM education to unprivileged areas and hopes to grow the program in the years to come.
JOHN EVERETT
Director & Secretary
John currently serves as a Director of Geared Up. John also currently works at New York Life Insurance Company as a Corporate Vice President in the Project Management Organization.
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John has also been involved with Geared Up since 2017 and has a passion for inspiring students to follow their dreams. John hopes to be able to provide equal opportunities for all students.