A Venezuelan-American from the Bronx, NY, Manny spent over two decades preparing for the founding of ELEMENT without realizing it. His academic path ran through the University of Rochester (mathematics, physics, psychology) and the CUNY Graduate Center for graduate studies in Mathematical Logic. He's taught everything from struggling middle schoolers to college students, and designed test-prep programs for Columbia University, while nurturing a deep interest in the science of understanding.

When academia felt too constraining, Manny pivoted to writing, producing, & directing science media. He created original science shows like Proof of Concept and Suppressed Science and collaborated with some of the world’s top science communicators on projects viewed by millions. His constant goal: Making complex ideas accessible & fostering genuine understanding.

The Birth of ELEMENT: With the rise of large language models, everything clicked. Here was technology capable of Socratic dialogue at scale. The mathematician in him saw elegant multi-agent systems; The educator in him recognized conversation as more revealing than tests; The storyteller knew how to make complex assessment feel intuitive. ELEMENT emerged from this synthesis.