Erica Kangas

Advisor

APR 2026 - PRESENT · 6 months

Connecting early-stage founders and angel investors, with a mission to improve capital access for underrepresented entrepreneurs through curated connections and educational resources. Founders | We help founders connect with angel investors to get crucial mentorship, industry connections, and operational insights. Our flagship Pitch it Plan program provides structured guidance on pitch development and storytelling. Investors | Our AI-powered platform helps angel investors discover founders who align with their goals before anyone else. For those new to angel investing, Scroobious is a space to learn from experienced investors, build confidence, and start forming meaningful connections in the startup world. Advisors + Mentors | We connect advisors with founders that align with their expertise and passions, so they can help where it matters most. On Scroobious, industry experts can offer guidance, join advisory boards, and find opportunities that are meaningful and impactful. It takes a village to raise.

Head of Engineering, Founding Team

NOV 2023 - APR 2026 · 2.5 years

Host Company (Hiring Partner via Scroobious)

APR 2025 - NOV 2025 · 8 months

Hack.Diversity was a nonprofit organization (2016-2025) that partnered with employers in Boston’s innovation economy to not only increase the representation of Black and Latiné/x technologists in the field, but also evolve organizational behaviors and practices to drive the retention and promotion of that talent. Since its inception, 600+ Hack alumni have contributed to 50+ companies across 10+ industries, supported by a dedicated mentor network from innovative companies across the country.

Community Advisory Board

JAN 2021 - JAN 2022 · 1.1 years

Mentor

JAN 2020 - AUG 2025 · 5.7 years

Director of Engineering

JUN 2021 - NOV 2023 · 2.5 years

Engineering leader for a VC-backed, Seed/Series A startup providing financial wellness as a workplace benefit for high profile organizations with diverse and dispersed workforces across the banking/financial, commercial airline, tech, and retail industries. As the leading provider of workplace financial wellbeing, LearnLux seamlessly blends digital financial planning with personalized support from Certified Financial Planner™️ professionals to offer fiduciary guidance that meets every person where they are. LearnLux's award-winning program equips employees with a financial plan to confidently navigate key life events and decisions, no matter where in life you are or how much you make.

VP of Engineering, Founding Team

MAR 2020 - JUN 2021 · 1.3 years

Acquired by ANDMORE, the world's largest operator of gift, home, and apparel markets, Dough was a venture-backed startup empowering our communities to support women+ owned businesses. Founding engineer for Dough's B2B2C marketplace dedicated to transparency, activism, and community that amplified revenue streams for over 1,000 women+ led businesses.

Director of Engineering

JUL 2019 - MAR 2020 · 9 months

Software Engineer

SEP 2017 - MAY 2019 · 1.8 years

Collaborated with engineers, designers, and product/customer success teams to build a competitive intelligence platform that helps businesses track, analyze, and act on everything happening outside their four walls. Main areas of work: Technical: - Full-stack development: design, build, test, review code (Python/Django, JavaScript/React, Sass, AWS). - Worked on complex customer-facing product updates and major new feature releases, internal tools to scale productivity of the customer success team, and backend improvements for data collection and management. Team building: - Reviewed coding exercises, interviewed, and provided feedback on 40+ engineering candidates to triple the engineering team size within two years. Performed outreach to diversify candidate sourcing and advocated for inclusive hiring practices (e.g. job description language, evaluation criteria). - Organized and supported onboarding processes for new engineering hires. - Spearheaded Crayon’s engineering initiative to support the local tech community by hosting the first meeting of the Boston chapter of Women in Machine Learning and Data Science (WiMLDS).

Web Developer

JUN 2015 - SEP 2017 · 2.3 years

Full stack engineer for an education technology startup, providing SAT/ACT test prep and tools. Collaborated with other developers, designers, educators, and marketing/sales/customer support teams to provide students, parents, and teachers with a great learning and customer experience. Main areas of work: Learning Platform: - Designed, built, tested, and deployed software enhancements (Python/Django, Backbone.js, MySQL). - Contributing team member on a major platform overhaul to align with significant changes in the SAT. Mobile: - Built and released company's first iOS mobile app: Testive Grader, an app that scans photographs of practice tests, extracts answers, and scores exams (PhoneGap, Python/Django, PostgreSQL). eCommerce: - Utilized third-party APIs and integrations to handle billing and streamline marketing/sales operations (Chargebee, Pipedrive CRM, HubSpot, Segment.io, Mixpanel). - Ensured proper tracking and reporting for marketing/sales funnel conversion data. - Built new scheduling interface for sales call appointments (JavaScript/React, Redux, webpack) - Primary developer for an application responsible for data integration and central reporting across marketing and sales data systems (Python/Django and PostgreSQL, consuming data from multiple third-party APIs and internal data sources). Other: - Project management - Customer support - For fun: worked on an Amazon Alexa skill

Evaluation Analyst

AUG 2013 - FEB 2015 · 1.6 years

Conducted quantitative and qualitative data analysis, data management, and statistical programming to process data, meet complex business logic requirements, and adapt to evolving data collection activities and analytics (SQL, R, SPSS). Enterprise-wide reporting, presentations, and data visualization on student outcomes, progress toward organizational goals, and program impact. Responsibilities included merging large, complex datasets from a variety of sources, conducting analyses, and distilling findings to effectively communicate program impact and equip a range of stakeholders with data on student and program outcomes. This included collaborations with and audiences from both internal (senior leadership, grant managers, development staff, marketing/communications teams, program design staff) and external stakeholders (school and district partners, funding partners, general public). Attended the Strategic Data Project Institute for Leadership in Analytics, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard University Center for Education Policy and Research (July 2014).

Evaluation Data Coordinator

NOV 2011 - AUG 2013 · 1.8 years

Business Development Associate

AUG 2010 - JUN 2011 · 11 months

Development of data collection systems. Conducted business and marketing research; provided summary reports and input on strategic planning. Grant application research and writing. Social media, publicity, and international tour coordination.

Researcher

OCT 2010 - APR 2011 · 7 months

Data analysis and reporting on over a dozen client projects, including evaluations of non-profit and Australian government programs in education, health and human services, and work force planning. Provided support and analysis for online surveys, paper-based surveys, geographic/mapping data, website analytics, site accessibility, and SEO.

Director of Student Defenders

MAY 2009 - APR 2010 · 1 year

Managed department caseload across 9 staff members; case strategy advisor on 35 academic & judicial cases. Provided guidance and support to individual students and the Council of Graduate Students (the official governing body of MSU graduate and graduate-professional/medical students) in highly sensitive, confidential cases. Analyzed and interpreted Students’ Rights policy; student representative/advocate on the revision and restructuring of the University Judicial and Academic disciplinary procedures and policies in collaboration with university faculty and staff.