Team

Emily studied computer science and psychology in college, worked in a robotics lab, started (but definitely didn’t finish) a PhD in developmental psychology, and then spent a decade as a software engineer and engineering manager. She’s excited to be supporting folks at RC in pursuing transformative technical experiences. Outside of work, she loves singing, sci-fi/fantasy novels, and all manner of word games. Emily is an RC alum from the Winter 2, 2024 batch.

Finn studied history and English in college. After graduation, he worked as a middle school substitute teacher and then a paralegal. Now they help manage RC’s Brooklyn hub. Outside of work, Finn is beginning their first season as a bird monitor in the Rockaways, loves to walk the city, and unwinds playing games at home.

Laura studied history in college and subsequently spent time as a graduate student and instructor. After some time she decided that academia was not for her, but still loves reading and learning about American history. In her spare time she enjoys reading, cooking, and (more recently) exploring the city.

As a life-long unschooler, Nick was lucky to have lots of freedom to direct his own education growing up. He fell in love with programming by fumbling around with BASIC on an Apple IIe and making silly adventure games in HyperCard. Nick wears many hats at RC, and even gets to occasionally program. Nick's primary hobbies outside of work are New York (its history, architecture, food, transportation, and everything else about the city) and learning Mandarin.

Rachel studied journalism and creative writing in college and spent the next few years working in the fashion industry. She handles admissions and the retreat, and generally makes sure everything at the Recurse Center runs smoothly. Rachel is a life-long New Yorker and moonlights as a comic book writer.

Sonali studied Interaction Design in college and worked in advertising for years before taking on the challenge of designing experiences at the Recurse Center. She now aims to create a Bauhaus for programmers. She’s pragmatic and is excited by programming as a tool to implement great ideas.

Sydney spent several years working for a talent acquisition and advisory firm. Before that, Sydney worked in the medical devices sector, taught English in South Korea, and studied Anthropology. She plays violin, and was a dancer for several years in a professional folk dance company in Minneapolis. She enjoys biking, boxing, photography, and knitting. She also loves dumplings of all kinds.

Dave co-founded RC and worked here full-time until late March 2023. He remains a dear friend and on RC's board of directors. Read more about Dave's decision to leave.

Dave has been programming since he was a kid, but it wasn’t until years after starting RC that he began to feel good at it. At RC, he writes software (in Ruby and JavaScript), prose, and works on making RC the best place to become a great programmer. In his spare time, Dave is an amateur pianist.