OURteam
We are led, backed, and advised by leaders in education and technology, including:
CARLY SHULER
COFOUNDER & CEO
Through her passion for reading and education, Carly has built a career around her expertise in children’s media and education, working with Sesame Workshop, Spin Master Toys, and The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. She obtained her Master’s degree in Technology, Innovation and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she specifically studied how technology and media can be properly utilized to educate children. Carly also spent five years building research and reports for Sesame Workshop, showing the effectiveness of digital media in educating children, ultimately leading to her idea for Hoot Reading, a platform built to help children across North America learn to love reading.
MAYA KOTECHA
COFOUNDER & COO
In her role, Maya is responsible for the overall business operations, ensuring Hoot Reading is ready to scale and manage their growth. She brings over 15 years of experience in marketing, corporate strategy, and business development, holding various senior executive positions at 24-7 Intouch, a leading global outsourcer. Starting as one of the first employees, Maya built and led key marketing and sales roles across the business, helping the company expand from 50 to over 12,000 employees, across 15 global locations. She has two young children and became passionate about and heavily engaged in literacy through her personal journey dealing with her child’s reading struggles. Maya holds a BBA (Hons) from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
ALYSSA PITURA
SENIOR MANAGER OF MARKETING
In her role as Senior Manager of Marketing, Alyssa is responsible for overseeing branding, communications, sales, events, content creation, web asset management, and lead generation. She brings over seven years of experience in marketing, events services, brand strategy, and customer experience, with past marketing roles at 24-7 Intouch, Social Herd, and Execs In The Know.
Alyssa has a passion for life-long learning and education, and in her spare time enjoys travelling, yoga, coaching volleyball, and of course, reading.Â
Alyssa has a B.Sc (Hons) in Communications and English from Valley City State University.
KRISTA FORTE
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Krista has spent over 15 years in customer service and retail management roles during her career in Winnipeg, MB. She graduated with Honours from Hotel and Restaurant Administration at Red River College and is currently pursuing her certificate in Operations Management through the part-time program at RRC. Krista is a mother of two middle school-aged children and understands the impact that reading has on learning as her children navigate learning their core subjects in French Immersion. She is an avid animal lover and is a core volunteer with a local dog rescue group. Â
Rachel hill
OPERATIONS ASSISTANT
Rachel graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a B.Sc (Honours) in 2017, where she was also a student athlete. She will be assisting with operations and business development at Hoot. Rachel has a background in retail, customer service, personal training, coaching, and tutoring. Rachel lives in Winnipeg and enjoys working out, trying out new restaurants, and reading.
TICO BALlagas
ADVISOR | TECHNOLOGY
Over 20 years in research and software development. Hewlett Packard. Previous Co-founder and CTO of Kindoma, Nokia Stanford Engineering.
dr. michael levine
ADVISOR | RESEARCH
Research Advisor. Chief Knowledge Officer, Sesame Workshop. Advocating for kids for over 30 years.
DR.MARILYN (JAGER) ADAMS
ADVISOR | LITERACY
Literacy Advisor. Professor, Brown University. Key member in developing K-3 Language Arts US Common Core, The National Reading Panel.