Meet the people behind VentureKids.

Layla believes children learn best when they are given the space, tools, and confidence to figure things out for themselves. Rather than rushing to provide the right answer, she focuses on creating an environment where children can explore, work through challenges, and experience the satisfaction of discovering something on their own.

Layla holds a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education and is an AMI 3–12 certified Montessori teacher. She brings more than ten years of experience in early childhood education and school leadership, with a career spanning China, Washington, and California. She has taught children from toddlers through adolescence across primary, elementary, middle, and high school programs. She has also trained teachers, developed curriculum, and helped open a new school from licensing through its first classroom.

That experience has given Layla a deep understanding of how much a child's environment shapes the way they learn. In Montessori, independence isn't something that is simply taught. It is built into the environment. Children are given hands-on materials, meaningful challenges, and time to work at their own pace, gradually moving from what they can see and touch toward more abstract ideas.

At VentureKids, Layla brings that approach to Montessori Math. Instead of treating math as something children memorize or practice on worksheets, she uses hands-on materials, games, puzzles, and real-world problems to help children understand the logic behind numbers. The goal isn't simply to get the right answer, but to understand why it works and have the confidence to keep going when the answer isn't obvious.

What drew Layla to VentureKids was the opportunity to bring Montessori into a broader environment. Here, math is not isolated from the rest of a child's experience. The problem-solving and independence developed through Montessori can carry into the rest of their week, whether they're building a robot, developing a business idea, creating something in art, or figuring out how to improve when something doesn't work.

As Co-Director, Layla also helps shape the broader program, working with teachers and curriculum to make sure each discipline at VentureKids is thoughtfully designed around how children learn.

For Layla, the goal is to help children become confident learners who are comfortable asking questions, working through challenges, and finding their own way forward.

Zev is a storyteller, critical thinker, and designer who brings experience in entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and youth education to VentureKids.

A UC Davis Design graduate, Zev has worked across startups, advertising, social media, merchandise, and brand development. He worked at the UC Davis Student Startup Center, helping student entrepreneurs develop and communicate their ideas, and has worked with an online concessions startup, creating digital marketing campaigns and social content. His creative work has also included developing animated advertisements that were shown on movie theater screens nationally and building visual identities and merchandise for hospitality businesses.

Zev also brings hands-on experience teaching entrepreneurship and business to children through his work at Kidizens. There, he worked directly with students as they explored entrepreneurship, city planning, budgeting, and problem-solving through hands-on projects. Working with students of different ages, personalities, and learning styles gave him experience helping kids turn big ideas into projects they could understand, build, and take ownership of.

At VentureKids, Zev helps students take an idea from the first spark of inspiration to something they can actually build and share. Through project-based learning, students develop products, identify who they're building for, create a brand, think through pricing and business models, and learn how to present and market their ideas. Projects also connect with VentureKids' other disciplines, giving students opportunities to bring creativity, technology, and communication together as they build.

More than anything, Zev wants students to leave knowing how to look at a problem, think critically, develop an idea, and figure out what to do next. They don't have to have everything figured out before they start. They can learn by trying, adjusting, and building along the way.

Tim Stone is a working artist and educator who brings a deep background in drawing, painting, design, and art education to VentureKids.

Tim earned his BFA and MFA in Painting from Wichita State University and has taught art for more than a decade, working with students through Mark Arts, Wichita State University, and Bethany College. His teaching experience includes drawing, painting, life drawing, and basic design, giving him a strong foundation in both the technical and creative sides of making art.

Outside the classroom, Tim maintains an active studio practice. His work combines materials including acrylic, oil, oil stick, spray paint, and oil pastel, often layering different techniques and approaches to create unexpected results. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the country, reflecting a practice built around experimentation, observation, and finding new ways to communicate an idea.

At VentureKids, Tim brings that same openness to the Art & Performance program. Children are encouraged to explore different ways of making and expressing ideas, whether they are drawing, painting, developing a character, creating a story, designing something for a performance, or preparing work to share with an audience. The goal is not for every child to make the same thing. It is to give them the tools and creative space to discover what they want to make.

That process teaches children to make decisions for themselves. They learn to look closely, experiment with different approaches, figure out what is working, and change course when it isn't. Just as importantly, they begin to understand that creative work does not always have one correct answer.

This fits naturally into the larger VentureKids environment. A child might use art to give a business idea a visual identity, turn a story into a comic or performance, or bring creativity into a robotics project. Art becomes another way to explore an idea, communicate it, and make something tangible.

For Tim, teaching art is ultimately about giving children the skills and freedom to explore what they see, what they imagine, and what they want to say, while helping them develop the confidence to keep creating and see where an idea can take them.

Jordana Meltzer is a theater teacher and performer who brings a love of play, character, and performance to VentureKids. She has spent the past ten years teaching theater in schools and theater programs in Boston and the Bay Area.

Her classes bring together acting, singing, movement, and games, giving children different ways to explore a character, build a scene, and express themselves. Rather than focusing only on the finished performance, Jordana creates space for children to experiment, work together, and become more comfortable taking creative risks.

At VentureKids, Jordana brings theater to the Art & Performance program as a way for children to explore imagination, perspective, and self-expression. They might step into a character with a different point of view, build a scene with classmates, or use movement and voice to communicate an idea.

Theater also gives children a chance to see beyond their own perspective. Playing a character means asking how someone else might think, feel, or respond, while working with other performers teaches them to listen, adapt, and build something together.

Jordana continues to perform in plays and musicals outside of teaching. She is also an avid reader, and her curiosity about the people and worlds inside stories naturally informs the way she approaches her work with students.

For Jordana, the goal is not to turn every child into a performer. It is to give them a place to play, experiment, and find the confidence to step into something unfamiliar.