PANO Team

| Full-time consultant in Taiwan | Graduated from top universities in US | Average teaching experience of more than five years |

Caderyn Owen-Jones

| Yale University |
Born in South Africa but raised in London, Caderyn successfully navigated both the UCAS and Common Application systems before deciding to study at Yale University, where he double-majored in Classics and Archaeology. While pursuing his degree, he was involved in many mentoring and language exchange projects, and worked concurrently in curriculum design and consulting. Caderyn has conducted research across the world, including Turkey, Europe, China and the U.S. As a teacher, Caderyn has worked with hundreds of students, and has also been heavily involved in personal mentoring and essay editing.

Chase Tai

| Harvard University,UC Berkeley |
With an undergraduate degree in Economics from UC Berkeley, Chase worked in data analytics, asset management, and sports broadcasting before transitioning to education consulting. He also has a strong passion for education and he completed his Master’s in International Education Policy at Harvard Graduate School of Education before joining PANO. As a former curriculum developer and internal coordinator of multiple educational programs, Chase has worked with government officials and community leaders in several different urban and rural settings. He has worked as a counselor in China and the U.S. and helped with hundreds of students on test prep and specialized subjects. Besides teaching AP and IB subjects, he is also an experienced instructor in math, economics, English, and standardized tests such as SAT, ACT, SAT II, and TOEFL.

Brittany Smith

| Yale University |
Brittany graduated from Yale University. She got a perfect score on APUSH and AP Language respectively. Brittany had a strong passion for creative writing. As a senior at Yale University, she worked as an editor for the Yale Daily News, the “Oldest College Daily.” After graduation, she worked as an independent editor and proofreader for the human editing division of the prestigious digital education company, Grammarly. Brittany has a diverse background, she has worked in the U.S., China, and Korea, and she taught intermediate and advanced English classes and American History and Culture classes to students at Lingnan College of Sun Yat-sen University. Additionally, she worked as a tutor, helping students with the SAT Critical Reading and Writing section and the following AP courses: AP United States History, AP English Language and Composition, and AP English Literature and Composition. This includes help with the academic essays of AP courses. Moreover, since graduation, she has helped scores of students work on application essays for Tufts, Emory, Stanford, Columbia, Notre Dame, and the UC System.

Cindy Mei

| Northwestern University |
Cindy was raised in Chicago. She studied journalism and art history at Northwestern University. As a first-generation college student, Cindy navigated the college application process herself and learned a great deal about how to effectively produce a well-rounded college application. During college, she studied abroad in Beijing, Shanghai, and Florence. Last year, Cindy was awarded a Fulbright grant to teach English in Taiwan. She designed and taught her own curriculum to junior high school students in Chiayi County. Cindy believes that a good education is the most important tool a child can have.

Ian Chen

| New York University |
Raised around the world from China to Indonesia and Switzerland, Ian has a strong passion for global issues and sharing knowledge. He studied history at New York University with a focus on military, imperial, and East-West comparative subjects, graduating with high honors. Before joining PANO, he also worked as a recruiter and tutor for IB History and English in addition to essay coaching. He now takes great pleasure in helping students hone their ideas and sharpen their writing to put forth their best selves to their dream schools.

Cory Brown

| Cornell University |
Cory was born and raised in Michigan, and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Engineering Physics. There, he competed as a varsity rower and conducted biomechanics research. Cory pursued a PhD in Dynamical Systems and Computational Science at UC Santa Barbara, where he developed a passion for mathematics, self-studied advanced topics, taught courses like Engineering Vibrations, and authored five research publications with over 180 citations. After his PhD, he transitioned to software development and participated in a healthcare startup accelerator, aiming to launch a mental health tech startup. Guided by Albert Schweitzer's belief that "happiness is the key to success", Cory has successfully helped students (including his younger brother, who gained admission to Harvard for mathematics) align their passions with their goals, fostering joy and academic excellence.

Chris Wang

| UCLA |
Growing up in Canada, Chris developed a deep fascination for the sciences early on. His academic journey is marked by perfect scores on SAT subject tests and AP exams, alongside demonstrated leadership and technical skills, as evidenced by his founding of his high school’s VEX Robotics department. In its inaugural year, Chris’s team swept the awards at the regional competition. Building on his academic and extracurricular successes, Chris graduated from UCLA with a B.Sc. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. During his tenure at UCLA, he first-authored several notable research papers on EFIRM, a groundbreaking saliva-based cancer detection technology, which have since been featured in Springer textbooks. This significant body of work also led to his acceptance into Harvard Medical School.

Throughout his academic career, Chris demonstrated outstanding capability and commitment, serving as both a teaching and research assistant. Following unforeseen circumstances, Chris returned to Taiwan, where he ventured into various entrepreneurial fields. Nonetheless, his passion for academia remains strong, and he dedicates his spare time to sharing his expertise with students at Pano Education. Chris currently teaches AP Biology, AP Psychology, and SAT English, guiding students toward achieving their own academic aspirations.

Jerry Lu

| Cornell University |
Born in Taiwan but raised in New York City, the melting pot of the United States, Jerry attended a specialized high school and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Economics. During college, Jerry worked as a mentor in the Weill Cornell Youth Scholar Program, helping socially and economically underprivileged high school students apply to top U.S. colleges. He has successfully guided students into schools such as Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and the University of Michigan. With a penchant for experiencing different cultures and learning new languages, Jerry went on to teach English in six public elementary and middle schools in South Korea. Jerry is dedicated to helping others become the best versions of themselves and at PANO, he remains committed to his mission of empowering students to reach their full potential, whether it be through personal development or constructing compelling and self-differentiating college essays.

Ivory Lee

| NYU Abu Dhabi |
Growing up between Canada and Taiwan, Ivory graduated valedictorian at Taipei European School with an IB score, placing her in the top 1% globally. She captained and participated in many varsity sports teams (basketball, volleyball, football) and represented her school in competitions in Taiwan and abroad. She also dedicated time to MUN, volunteering, and studying languages. Ivory secured a full scholarship to New York University Abu Dhabi. There, she graduated magna cum laude and as a NYU Honors Scholar with double majors in Interactive Media and Political Science. Her adventurous spirit led her to study abroad in London, Berlin, and Washington D.C., and even to conduct research in Uganda. Having successfully navigated the application processes and secured scholarships in the US, UK, and wider Europe, Ivory has helped many students achieve their academic dreams over the last few years.

Jeff Peng

| Johns Hopkins University、UC Berkeley |
Jeff grew up in a bilingual environment in Taiwan. During college, Jeff was a study consultant for freshmen, teaching them how to adjust to college-level school work as well as study more efficiently. Jeff not only successfully helped students establish effective study routines, but also found the experience of assisting others through sharing his own experiences gratifying. Jeff has a diverse background: he majored in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and minored in Entrepreneurship and Management at Johns Hopkins University; he then went on to obtain his Master of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from The University of California, Berkeley. His past work experiences include working as a data analyst in the US and as a management associate in publicly traded companies in Taiwan. Jeff received outstanding scores in standardized tests when he was applying to college and can teach classes such as SAT, ACT, and TOEFL. Passionate about working with students in ways that enhance their learning, Jeff hopes to make applying to colleges a rewarding process for them.

Jasper Lai

| University of Chicago |
Jasper was born and raised in Orange County, California. His parents emigrated from Taiwan with little educational background, so he grew up in a working class household with limited resources and attended an average public high school. Under these conditions, Jasper was able to graduate near the top of his class as a National Merit Finalist, QuestBridge Finalist, and AP Scholar with Distinction. He self-studied the ACT and received a 35/36 while also devoting 4 years of volunteer work to his local hospital. Additionally, he became the head copy editor of his school’s journalism program after 4 years and is a lifelong musician, utilizing his passion to organize and host a charity concert that raised over 4000USD for disaster relief in Haiti. At UChicago, Jasper began as an Economics major and worked as a research assistant at the Booth School of Business before switching to an interdisciplinary major in Cultural Studies, combining his interests in East Asian history, art, and literature. Since graduating, he has worked in the education industry with a devotion to helping international students pursue their ambitions through American universities.

| Columbia University |
Kyra grew up in a multicultural educational environment. After completing her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and Special Education, she moved to New York City to work as a school teacher and earned her Master’s degree in International Educational Development from Columbia University. During her graduate studies, she actively participated in curriculum development and co-founded a tutoring program during the pandemic.

Upon returning to Taiwan, Kyra taught at two international schools, offering courses such as Nutrition Science, Social Relations, and Project Studies. She has gained a profound understanding of Taiwan’s educational systems and students’ learning characteristics.

Kyra excels at guiding students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Combining her expertise in educational consulting, she provides comprehensive academic and career planning advice for students. She is dedicated to working closely with students and their parents to help them unlock their potential and achieve personal goals and academic success.

Kawkrai Maksrivorawan

| UCLA |
Born in Bangkok, Kawkrai immigrated to the United States at the age of seven. He cultivated a profound interest in cultural exploration while growing up in the vibrant and multicultural Los Angeles. This led him to pursue his studies in Geography at UCLA, where he not only broadened his global perspective, but also refined his leadership acumen by serving as the academic chair of an academic organization at UCLA.

After graduating, Kawkrai relocated to New York City, where he undertook various professional roles.
Leveraging his own experiences with the college admissions process, Kawkrai has found immense fulfillment from mentoring students, assisting them with their essays and ultimately guiding them toward acceptance at their dream institutions.

Pippen Wu

| Cornell University |
Pippen graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Computer Science and minors in Film and Game Design.
He brings over seven years of experience tutoring in Computer Science, standardized tests, and other subjects. Additionally, he has worked as a software engineer at a Web3 startup.

During his time at Cornell, Pippen served as the Head Teaching Assistant for the Introduction to Computing course, where he mentored hundreds of students. He has a proven track record of success, with 85% reaching their target schools, and 90% achieving perfect 5/5 scores on AP exams. His guidance has helped many students achieve their dream school admissions.

Peggy Shih

| UC Berkeley |
Peggy spent her childhood growing up in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With limited information and resources, Peggy applied to UC Berkeley, UCLA, UPenn, Cornell on her own and successfully got admitted. In addition, Peggy is also passionate about art and design; beyond applying to art schools herself, she included an art portfolio with animation, sketch, and digital design pieces as part of her application. At last, she went on to study at The University of California, Berkeley (Go Bears!), where she graduated with a double major in Linguistics and French, as well as minors in Japanese and Applied Language Studies in 2016. In high school, Peggy also had an outstanding academic performance, which she got a perfect score on SAT and also got perfect scores on 16 AP subjects.

Andy Zhang

| Yale University |
Andy grew up in Maryland in the United States where he attended one of the most competitive math science programs in the country. During his time there, he was varsity volleyball captain, took 12 AP exams, and received a full score on the SAT. Outside of school, he accumulated 600 hours of community service and spent three summers doing stem cell research, culminating in getting semi-finalist in the nation’s top science competitions: Siemens’s and Intel’s science talent search. Eventually he would go on to study at Yale University where he began as a biology major. However, later he would transfer to and graduate as an Applied Mathematics major. Throughout his educational career, Andy has always felt blessed to have received guidance on the correct path to college admissions and benefitted greatly from the resources he had available to him. Not only did his high school send 20% of its program to the Ivy League every year, but his own brother also attended Yale. Since graduating from Yale, Andy has been dedicated to helping others reach the same success as him.

Will Chu

| Emory University |
With an undergrad degree in Finance and Management Consulting from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, Will has worked as a private equity analyst, English tutor, career coach. Finding a newfound passion in teaching and helping others, Will transitioned to the path of education consulting, thanks to his time as a tutor/career coach. Will has helped multiple students in improving their English skills and proficiency while assisting others with their college applications and work presentations.

Vera Ko

| UIUC |
Vera was born in Taiwan, and grew up in France, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Philippines, Australia, and the United States. At International School Manila, she successfully completed the IB Program and tested for AP US History, AP Calculus, AP Economics exams. During her time here, she was Varsity Swim Team Captain, President of the Chinese Cultural Club, Secretary of the Environmental Council, Lead Piccoloist for Band, and Pianist for Jazz Band while being a part of the French Honor Society and the Varsity Badminton Team. Vera went on to study at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in Economics with a minor in Communications and decided to move to Silicon Valley for graduate school where she attended University of San Francisco for her MBA.
During her many years of being a management consultant, Vera mentored freshly graduated students and was invigorated by it; after returning to Taiwan, she has continued to guide students to excel in their academic lives and career planning.

Timmy Lin

| Northeastern University、UCLA College Counseling Certificate |
Although born Taiwanese, Timmy grew up in Hong Kong and eventually graduated from Northeastern University in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Psychology. He has worked for Marriott Hotels, Steam Valve, Farglory Human Resources and also as a long time mentor for international students in Boston. With experience working in various fields in Boston, Taipei and Hong Kong, he has helped countless students apply for various summer programs and Universities around the world in search of their passion.

Ray Chen

| Columbia University & Emory University |
Ray was born in the United States and grew up in Taiwan. He graduated from Emory University with a major in Psychology and completed his Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, where he served as a teaching assistant and co-authored a published paper on the human-nature relationship and climate change. He also designed an award-winning independent study exploring the impact of age on attitudes toward climate change. Currently, Ray is pursuing a PhD in Psychology and continues his research in ecological psychology while conducting peer reviews for academic journals.
Since joining PANO, Ray has focused on teaching SAT, AP Psychology, and English. With bilingual proficiency in English and Mandarin, Ray builds strong connections with students from diverse backgrounds and is committed to helping them achieve academic success and broaden their global perspectives.

Joseph Embleton-Smith

| University of Southampton |
After studying an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Southampton, Joe went on to attain his CELTA qualification from the Oxford Studies Centre. He has been working as an English teacher for many years both in the UK and here in Taiwan. During his career, Joe has had experience leading classes over the full spectrum of abilities, from beginner to advanced. He also has extensive experience in teaching specialised exam classes, specifically for the IELTS/TOEFL exam for more than ten years.

Daniel Courteau

| State University of New York |
Daniel graduated from SUNY Buffalo, where he was a graduate of the Honors College, earning a B.A. in Economics and International Studies with a minor in Spanish. He received a Fulbright grant and completed an M.S. in Agricultural Economics at National Taiwan University in 2023.
He is passionate about sharing knowledge in economics, agriculture, and education. Daniel brings a wealth of teaching experience. He has worked as an assistant teacher in high school STEAM classrooms and an English-Spanish bilingual school in the U.S., and he has formal TEFL (Teaching of English as a Foreign Language) training and teaching experience in Indonesia and Taiwan. At PANO, he teaches SAT, SSAT, ISEE, TOEFL, IELTS, and IB Spanish. He also teaches AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics at PANO for international schools, where he has developed a comprehensive set of lesson plans and teaching materials.