Our Team

In her 10 years at the company, Rachel has been a key driver of content growth and business strategy for our products. After graduating from Westmont College, Rachel worked directly with students as an SAT coach and writing tutor. As someone well-versed with the college search process, she is proud to expand the reach of websites like ours, which equip students to make well-informed decisions about their educational options. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading books and spending quality time with her family, including her two young boys.

As a Rankings Strategist, Madeline is constantly working to enhance our ranking offerings by researching new data sources and focusing on student needs. She is a strong believer that providing students with the right data can be incredibly helpful for the college decision making process. After graduating from Dartmouth with a Bachelor’s in Cognitive Science, Madeline gained experience working in an academic library in the scholarly communication and digital library departments. In her free time, Madeline enjoys hiking, Nordic skiing, and playing flute.

As the engineering lead, Gustav ensures Optimal’s products deliver value to users as quickly and seamlessly as possible. He was drawn to Optimal’s small team and mission of helping others obtain a strong educational foundation. Gustav holds two bachelor’s degrees from University of Washington, one in Computing and Software Systems and another in Applied and Computational Mathematical Sciences. In his free time, he enjoys working with his hands and taking care of his family. Some of his favorite projects include constructing an elevator for his workshop, renovating a barn, and building a covered playground for his sons.

In his seven years with the company, Samuel has supported several teams including accounts, business growth, and marketing. Currently, he works to develop and maintain our internal reports, administrative tools, and email management system. Before Optimal, Samuel spent four years as an English teacher in Japan, allowing him to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of the education space. He holds a B.A. in political science from Transylvania University and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. Outside of work, Samuel enjoys spending time with his spouse and children, tabletop board games, and pen-and-paper role playing games.

As a publishing developer for Optimal, Mario makes sure all of the content we produce goes live on our site for prospective students to access. He also handles any styling changes and content edits on our sites. Mario enjoys being able to work on the front facing side of our sites and derives passion from helping connect students to higher education opportunities and information. He strongly believes that everyone should have the ability to pursue a form of higher education, regardless of economic status or societal biases. Mario holds a Computer Science degree from Western Washington University and in his free time he enjoys ultimate frisbee, playing his ukulele, and cruising through town on his moped.

In his fifteen years at Optimal, Alan has developed strong relationships with Optimal's partners and employees alike. As the Account Lead, he works to support our partner colleges and bootcamps through campaign management and optimization. Alan is a graduate of Montana Tech of the University of Montana, with a BS in Liberal Studies. He was attracted to work in the education industry based on his belief in the virtue of free thought and personal improvement through discussion, dissent, and analysis. In his free time, Alan enjoys philosophical discussions - in his words, an honest and respectful conversation is about the best thing in the world. The meaning of the name Alan, swift and cheerful, is a true fit for Alan's character.