Dr. Tanya LaMar

Hi! I'm Tanya LaMar, co-founder and CEO of Struggly. Before that, I was a high school math teacher at Augustus F. Hawkins High School in South Central Los Angeles, and my experience in that classroom still shapes how I think about math education today.

For most of my life, I didn't think of myself as a "math person." I got through math by memorizing steps rather than really understanding what was happening. That changed in college, when I had a professor that emphasized math as reasoning, making connections, and understanding how ideas fit together. Learning math that way was empowering. It transformed not only how I understood math, but how I saw myself as a learner. I want every student to have the chance to experience that same sense of possibility.

I went on to earn my Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at Stanford, where I studied under Dr. Jo Boaler, taught future math teachers, and contributed to youcubed's research and curriculum work.

I helped build Struggly to bring together what I've learned as a student, classroom teacher, teacher educator, and researcher. I believe students deserve rich mathematical experiences that spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and give them the confidence to explore, make connections, and struggle productively. That belief shapes everything we make.