Laurah is a two-time Rutgers University alumna with degrees in Information Technology and a Master of Information. She’s passionate about connecting people with technology in meaningful, practical ways. From providing support to clients and learners to helping improve systems, Laurah enjoys making technology useful and approachable for the people who rely on it every day. Born in Kenya and raised in New Jersey, Laurah is also a plant mom to nearly 40 houseplants. Outside of work, she loves cooking, hiking, attending concerts, and volunteering at community gardens.

Joanna brings decades of senior-level HR experience across complex, global organizations. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Global Corporate and Investment Banking at Bank of America, based in New York and Hong Kong. Throughout her career, Joanna has partnered closely with executive leadership and HR teams to drive meaningful, compliant, and inclusive workplace practices. Her expertise spans the full HR lifecycle, including employee relations, talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, compensation strategy, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and HR policy implementation. Joanna is known for her ability to translate real-world HR challenges into clear, actionable solutions that support both employees and organizations. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Joanna is deeply committed to community service. She is actively involved with the Boston College Mentoring Program, the Summit Educational Foundation, the Summit Area YMCA, and the Junior League of Summit, and serves on the boards of both the Overlook Auxiliary and Clearwater Swim Club in Summit.

David has been deeply engrossed in technology for the majority of his life. Coming from a self-taught background in IT, he finds passion in helping others through his knowledge and experience. David loves supporting clients at SHIFT – building strong relationships with them as they are onboarded and beyond while also coordinating projects, curating content, and testing courses to ensure they are up to our standards. As an artist at heart, David enjoys illustrating in his free time. He also has an avid interest in aviation and is in the process of pursuing a private pilot’s license.

Catherine Courtney

With more than two decades of experience building and growing brands through marketing and storytelling, Cathy brings a strategic mindset and creative energy to SHIFT. She is passionate about helping organizations transform their workplace cultures and believes that when people feel valued and connected, companies thrive. Throughout her career, Cathy has championed organizations that make a difference, whether that meant inspiring people to travel the world or building communities that elevate consumer experiences. She loves blending strategy with creativity to bring ideas to life in ways that leave a lasting impact. Outside of work, Cathy is a proud mom of two boys and an active volunteer in her school and temple communities. She is often found organizing fundraising events, leading leadership development seminars, and organizing ways to bring people together to make an impact. In her downtime, you can find her in her creative element—cooking, crafting, decorating, or writing.

Jen Rein

With 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, operations, and client service, Jen rejoined the workforce after a professional hiatus to manage her most important clients yet – twin girls! Jen’s career started in account management at an ad agency, which led to roles in sales management. And now, Jen is thrilled to focus on helping employers SHIFT their workplace cultures. Jen’s volunteer work includes 25 years as a healthcare liaison, helping advanced stage cancer patients navigate healthcare systems. Eight years ago, Jen and her daughters founded Reading Rocks!, a book club focused on girl’s empowerment. During the pandemic, Jen and her daughters founded a micro startup that makes mask holders, donating many of their products to frontline healthcare workers. She considers herself to be a foodie, re-creating recipes she first tries at restaurants. Often referred to as a fruit ninja for her knife skills, she can break down a whole watermelon in under ninety seconds. In her spare time, Jen is passionate about barre classes, Broadway shows, art projects, and raising strong young women.

Robert Calamari

Robert graduated from NJIT in May 2018 with a degree in Information Technology and a minor in Computer Science. By practicing coding in his free time, Robert was able to build his own website to show off his portfolio of work. Robert works at SHIFT as an Implementation Associate, where he thoroughly enjoys assisting clients as they begin their partnership with SHIFT. Robert grew up with two older sisters and now lives with his mom and her husband, as well as at his dad’s. Robert is of both Irish and Italian descent and enjoys playing video games or drawing, painting, or creating websites in his free time.

Dillon Freeman

Dillon loves developing technology solutions. He is dedicated to providing a smooth implementation process for all our clients, and he provides ongoing client support for administrators and learners. His family reunions seat 100 and feed over 250 people. An interesting fact about Dillon is that he can almost dunk a basketball. He is passionate about his work as a lifeguard with a Special Olympics swim team.

Karen Byington

Karen’s primary focus is developing innovative and creative content for both business and client needs.  Karen’s background in History and Political Science and certification in Diversity and Inclusion Leadership lend well to her passion for learning and creating new ideas that will help clients build positive, diverse and inclusive work environments that boost employee morale and productivity. Karen is the mother of three active boys, and she is proud to hold the titles of baseball and hockey mom. She is an avid runner, podcast enthusiast and lover of the beach. She is passionate about her family, friends and making a positive impact on our culture.

Carolyn Wall

Carolyn holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from Stanford University, where her research focused on unconscious biases and shortcomings in social inference that give rise to misunderstanding and conflict. She utilizes her knowledge and experience to inform SHIFT’s innovative approach to HR compliance training. Carolyn grew up in an Italian-American family on Staten Island and loves spending time outdoors, doing any kind of activity with her husband and children. She is passionate about the power of empathy, and she holds a volunteer position as a crisis counselor where she gets to exercise those beliefs.