Ivy West Senior Management

Ivy West Senior Management

Lawrence Appell
President
Lawrence (Larry) Appell joined Ivy West in March, 2007 as President. His career spans almost 35 years of working in the fields of education and training where he has taught millions of students the skills and knowledge they need to improve their lives. Prior to joining Ivy West, Mr. Appell served as Division Vice President of La Petite Academy where he operated 170 pre-schools in 13 states. Previously he was President of the International Division of Futurekids Inc., the world’s largest provider of technology education for children from 2000-2003. From 1995-2000 he was the President of Westlake Management Co, LLC, a boutique investment capital and business incubator. From 1983-1995 Mr. Appell held various senior management positions with The H.J. Heinz Company in their Weight Watchers division and The Quaker Oats Company in their Pritikin division. Mr. Appell was a management consultant from 1974-1983. Mr. Appell has a B.A. in Psychology from the City University of New York and a M.S. in Counselor Education from St. John’s University (NY).

Stephanie Workman
Director of Program Operations
Stephanie Workman joined Ivy West in 2008 to oversee the delivery of all Ivy West programs and to ensure that students and their families have the highest possible level of satisfaction with their test prep experience. Ms. Workman comes to Ivy West with over 15 years of customer service management experience, working for such companies as La Petite Academy where she was responsible for the performance of 13 preschools and Starbucks Coffee Company where she held various training and management positions of increasing responsibility in ten years with the company. Earlier in her career she taught English as a Second Language in Como, Italy and was a student teacher in the San Diego Unified School District. Ms. Workman has a B.A. in Literature from the University of California, San Diego.

Ben Neely
Director of Corporate Development
Ben Neely joined Ivy West in 2004 as an Ivy West tutor and a Program Advisor in Northern California. Since then, his contributions to Ivy West have expanded to the Educational Partnerships department, where he served as a representative for Ivy West in the Northern California counselor community, and later as Ivy West’s Marketing Director. In his current role as Director of Corporate Development, Mr. Neely works to develop, refine, and evaluate Ivy West’s product offerings and their related technology systems. Prior to joining Ivy West, he worked as a high school mathematics instructor in Oakland, where he also developed and implemented a college admissions test preparation coursework for the school’s junior class. Mr. Neely has worked as a test prep coach since 1999, and has scored a perfect 2400 on an actual administration of the SAT. He has a B.A. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jennifer Mathews PHR
Director of Human Resources
Ms. Mathews works directly with a talented team of Recruiters and Trainers to oversee the tutor hiring and training practice and serves the organization as a Human Resource business partner. She brings an HR generalist competency and veteran institutional knowledge to her current role at Ivy West. Jennifer joined the Recruiting and Training team at Ivy West in 2005 after previously serving as a Program Advisor since 2002 and a verbal SAT Tutor since 2000. Previous to Ivy West, she was a corporate trainer for Robert Mondavi and Wolfgang Puck Food Co. Ms. Mathews has a B.A. in English and Music from the University of California and is a certified Professional in Human Resources.

Bill Tetz
Director of Educational Partnerships
Bill Tetz joined Ivy West in 2005 as the Director of Educational Partnerships. He develops and maintains relationships with counselors and other school administrative staff to help students get into the colleges and universities that are the "right fit." Prior to joining the Ivy West team, Mr. Tetz worked for over 20 years in International Education. He most recently spent 9 years working as the Director of Marketing and Operations for GEOS North American Language Schools. Mr. Tetz also worked 11 years at the University of South Carolina as the Associate Director of the English Program for Internationals working with scholars from high profile agencies like the Institute for International Education (IIE), Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and the African American Institute (AAI), arming them with the necessary language and study skills to complete their graduate work. Mr. Tetz has been professionally involved in NAFSA: an Association of International Educators for 20 years presenting papers, coordinating workshops and serving as the Southeast Regional Chair for a period of time. Mr. Tetz has a B.S. in Social Work from the University of Vermont and an M.S. in Counselor Education from Western Michigan University.