Executive Director
A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Desa spent 10 years as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserve. She later earned an M.B.A. from Florida International University and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Economic Law. Prior to coming to Zip Code, she was the Assistant General Counsel of Intellectual Property at InterDigital, Inc., where she served as the senior transactions counsel for research and development, technology innovation and government contracts.
Director of Education
For 30 years, Kris worked at numerous successful startups, including Sun Microsystems, NeXT, and Netscape, centering his technical expertise around networked computing of all kinds. Kris' coding interest, dormant for many years of management focus, was re-kindled about 10 years ago when he returned to his roots as a computer scientist (Purdue, '84), writing web apps and mobile apps. He has been working on the idea of digital assets since about 1996.
Director of Corporate Partnerships
Lossie began her career on Wall Street at JPMorgan Investment Bank where she worked for 8 years as an Internal Global Consultant assisting in the launch of their Foreign Exchange business in Korea and helping to initialize an Asset Management joint venture in Tokyo. Before joining the Zip Code team, she was a Special Assistant to the Mayor for the City of Wilmington, focusing on Employment Initiatives through coordination and development of a robust employment infrastructure in partnership with the business community to promote job placement, job creation, and employment skills training opportunities for residents.
Lead Technical Instructor
With over 15 years in web and software development, Dolio first gained interest in programming while building a physical therapy device with web connectivity at MIT, where he received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Since then, Dolio has developed software for telecommunications, online learning applications, and e-commerce for various industries and institutions, as well as serving as an instructor and mentor to students of all ages.
Technical Instructor
Mikaila is a Full-Stack Developer and alumnus of Zip Code Wilmington. After completing coding boot camp, Mikaila was a Software Developer at Comcast. While volunteering at Delaware State University's App Academy, he discovered his passion for teaching. He later decided to combine his love for computer science and his passion for education.
Technical Instructor
Tyrell's expertise lies in front-end development and creating course curriculum. He previously worked for Comcast as a Software Developer before deciding to come back and teach for Zip Code Wilmington.
Office Manager
Nancy received her B.S. in Business Education and a Master’s Degree in Management. Prior to Zip Code, she worked in various administrative roles at a community college for the past 13 years, and before that she worked as Admissions Office Manager at a private school in New Jersey.
Director of Admissions & Professional Development
Dan comes to Zip Code after working in higher education for over 15 years. Along with his extensive background in working with students, he has performed & taught improvisation for over a decade. He is incredibly excited to work with applicants throughout their admissions process, while also managing and co-facilitating Zip Code's professional development program.
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Coordinator, Social Media and Events
Danielle earned her B.A in Mass Communications from Delaware State University. After graduating, she spent time as a Marketing Director with a Chick-fil-A Franchise and worked in Guest Relations with the Atlanta Braves. Before joining the Zip Code Wilmington Team, she was recruited to be the Manager of Client/Partner Success at a technology start-up, where she focused on content creation, onboarding clients, and various administrative tasks.
Co-Founder and President
Ben duPont, is a venture capitalist, co-founder and Managing Partner at Chartline Capital Partners. Chartline Capital Partners has 26 portfolio companies.
Co-Founder
Porter is a partner at Brown Advisory, a leading independent investment management firm with approximately $100 billion in assets.
Board Member
Teri is the Chief Operating Officer at Provivi, Inc., a groundbreaking science-based company creating scalable, safer insect control technology that will improve the quality of life for all humans and our world. She is also a Director with the American Chemical Society, former President of the Delaware State Board of Education, and has been inducted into the Delaware Women's Hall of Fame.
Board Member
Gary is a Technology Executive at TD Bank currently leading the Canadian Consumer Investments technology organization. He previously served as SVP, Card Issuer Services for Fiserv; and, former Managing Director, CTO at Chase Consumer Lending.
Board Member
Calderin is a principal at PreCode Labs LLC, a Silicon Valley technology incubator that helps identify and create companies in the cyber security space.
Board Member
Hill is Senior Innovation Manager at Vanguard, providing budgetary, compliance and reporting oversight for Vanguard Fintech Ventures, which invests in startups.
Co-Founder, Emeritus
Jim is CEO of Epic Research and Co-Founder and former President of Juniper Bank, now Barclaycard.