Meet Our Team
We are writers, educators, and builders passionate about helping you navigate the admissions process without fear.
Kelsey Wang
Founder & Essay Consultant
Kelsey Wang is an essay consultant at Essay Cafe with a B.S. in Data Science and a minor in Creative Writing from Stanford University. She approaches essay editing from both a data perspective (applying successful patterns from hundreds of essays read) and a creative perspective (making each individual student stand out) and has personally helped students get into top schools like Princeton, Yale, Brown, UCLA, Duke, Stanford, Columbia and many more.
Over several years of helping students apply to their dream colleges, she's developed the Espresso/Smoothie strategy that utilizes advanced themes for each student to optimize their memorability and uniqueness to admissions officers. She has worked with all different types of students, from science fair winners to aspiring journalists to non-profit founders, and she takes particular pride in helping "well-rounded" students combine their interests and find a way to stand out.
When she's not editing essays, you'll probably find her wandering her local Trader Joe's or playing a racket sport.
Seyi Osundeko
Essay Consultant
Seyi Osundeko is an essay consultant at Essay Cafe with a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a PhD candidate in the English department at Stanford University. She has experience editing essays at a high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate level. She also has a passion for teaching, and has taught students from 16-60 in various courses. "You helped me understand this!" is her favorite compliment, and she excels at breaking down complex ideas and communicating effectively.
From college to academic fellowships to dental school, Seyi specializes in application materials. Her approach to editing is shaped by a desire to help students find the gems in their experiences and show them off through high-quality prose and in-depth storytelling. She focuses on helping students move from documenting experiences to telling compelling stories of how those experiences shaped them.
When she is not editing essays (or otherwise avoiding her dissertation) Seyi can often be found singing show tunes and writing short stories.
Katie Livingston
Essay Consultant
Katie Livingston is currently an English PhD candidate at Stanford University. With a focus on American literature from 1840-1940, Katie researches class mobility in the novel, women's literature, and local color/regionalist fiction.
Katie did her undergrad at Wesleyan University, where she graduated with high honors in English. She has been teaching both creative and critical writing for the past seven years both in a tutoring and classroom setting. She believes in focusing on the process and practice of writing and helping students use writing as a tool for self-discovery and expression. Her own writing has been recognized in awards and fellowships and published in literary journals, and fiction anthologies.
When she isn't immersed in writing or teaching, Katie enjoys exploring the outdoors as a backpacker, hiker, and climber. She also finds joy in baking cakes, indulging in campy horror films, and spending time with her cat, Loaf.
Elaine Fan
Essay Consultant
Elaine Fan received her B.A. in Cognitive Science and Computer Science and a minor in Consumer Psychology from UPenn. She is now pursuing her master's in AI. Inspired by the interdisciplinary nature of cognitive science, she enjoys bridging principles of computing, psychology, and marketing in her editing approach, helping well-rounded students discuss their passions through an unexpected lens — in her own undergrad applications, she discussed dance as a universal language and compared jazz compositions to the lyricism of literature.
She focuses on bringing students' personalities and accomplishments to life through anecdotes of concrete challenges, actions, and results. With her background as an editor-in-chief of her school newspaper and a short story writer, she has developed a keen eye for flow in both structure and prose.
In her free time, she'll either be taking dance classes with friends, reading sci-fi novels (with her pet cat), or working on digital art in the wee hours of the night
Sasha Starovoitov
Essay Consultant
Sasha Starovoitov is a writer, translator, and PhD student in the English department at Stanford University. She holds a B.A. in English, with honors, and a minor in Russian literature from Columbia University, where she was also the editor-in-chief of The Columbia Review.
Sasha has extensive experience as an essay and fiction editor and has been tutoring students in reading and writing for the past five years. She loves working on projects at any stage, from restructuring a “messy” first draft (she deeply believes that first drafts should be messy!) to close-editing a final submission for grammar and sentence clarity. Her editing style generally approaches each piece by looking at the unity between narrative, formal structure, and individual voice.
When she's not editing, Sasha is usually working on creative writing of her own or searching for a pool or ocean to swim in.
Connie McNair
Essay Consultant
Connie McNair is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Haverford College who teaches in the Writing Program. Her interdisciplinary writing seminars explore race and gender in film and literature and she teaches with the aim of helping students critically read the world around them. She engages writing as a process of thinking; through drafting (and revising, and drafting, and revising), we come to better understand what we think and who we are. She earned her BA in Italian Studies from Stanford University and her MA and PhD from Brown University in Comparative Literature.
When she's not editing, Connie enjoys practicing tarot and guitar, and watching reality TV.
Madeline Curtis
Essay Consultant
Madeline Curtis holds a BA in English from Stanford University and an MFA in Fiction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has extensive experience as a writing tutor, college English teacher, and editor. She has worked with students from preschool through college and loves helping students hone their voices as writers. A believer in the transformative power of storytelling, her goal as a teacher is to enable her students to build skills to share their perspectives through writing.
Madeline's fiction and comics have appeared in various literary journals. She is currently working on her first novel. When she isn't writing, she's probably taking her dog to the beach.
Katerina Pavlidis
Essay Consultant
Katerina Pavlidis is an editor and writer who has been supporting students in their journey to college and graduate school since 2017. She graduated summa cum laude from Vassar College with a B.A. in English before completing a Master's degree in World Literatures with distinction at the University of Oxford. She served as Head Consultant of the Vassar College Writing Center and has published poetry and critical essays in journals in the US and UK.
Katerina approaches writing as an iterative, social process. She is passionate about helping students express their vision and find their writing voice in order to take next steps that are true to their interests.
Apart from reading and writing, she enjoys cooking for her family and taking very, very long walks.
Gail Gallaher
Essay Consultant
Gail Gallaher is an essay consultant at Essay Cafe with a B.A. in Biology from Pomona College and an M.A. in Education from Stanford University. With rich experience in classroom teaching and working with high school students, Gail believes every student has many stories worth telling. She is dedicated to helping students bring their narratives to life with clarity, depth, and authenticity.
Gail's approach to essay editing centers on understanding each student's unique journey and weaving their experiences into compelling stories that make their applications stand out. Whether brainstorming ideas, refining drafts, or polishing final submissions, she works with all kinds of students to showcase their best selves.
A lifelong learner and community builder, Gail enjoys reading, cheering for Angel City FC, exploring nature, and connecting with others through shared interests.
Angela Black
Essay Consultant
Angela Black is a founding editor of Notch, a transatlantic literary and arts journal, where she collaborates with writers, artists, and philosophers throughout the editing and development process. Angela also works as a freelance writing coach, helping Silicon Valley professionals refine their voice and ideas, from the initial brainstorming phase to final copy-editing. Additionally, she tutors SAT Reading, Writing, and Math. She is passionate about fostering confidence in her students, helping them articulate their unique voice and harness their intellectual strengths.
Angela holds a B.A. with Honors in Comparative Literature and French from Stanford University and an M.A. in History, Literature, and Philosophy from Columbia University, in partnership with the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. In her off-hours, Angela relishes crisp autumn air and reads beneath the trees.
Laura Zado
Essay Consultant
Laura Zado brings a wealth of experience to guiding high school students through their college application essays. With a Bachelor's in English from Dartmouth College and a Master's in Education from Stanford, Laura's academic background is complemented by years of hands-on experience. Laura has spent over a decade working with high schoolers: as a high school English teacher, vice principal overseeing college applications, and high school principal. She has helped hundreds of students craft compelling essays through her active listening skills and ability to uncover and articulate each student's unique story.
Beyond her professional life, she's a loving mother, outdoor enthusiast, and self-proclaimed chocolate connoisseur.
Amy S.
Essay Consultant
Amy studied computer science and history at Stanford University, where she also served as executive editor of a campus political magazine. She's been a CTO of a social media startup, a podcast host, and a software engineer. She loves helping students reflect on their personal stories and drawing out what makes them unique as individuals, and has helped them gain admission to Princeton, Penn, Caltech, and more.
When she's not editing, she enjoys writing her own personal essays and cultural commentary on Substack, reading novels and history books, and prowling the aisles of Trader Joe's (sometimes with Kelsey).
Angela K.
Essay Consultant
Angela is an essay consultant and story miner at Essay Cafe with a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University. She has extensive experience working with high school students, from designing educational curriculum in partnership with the University of Hong Kong, teaching at her high school alma mater, and leading storytelling workshops across the United States with Stanford Spokes.
She believes everyone has a great story within them: it brings her so much joy to help them find it. Her approach when working with students is a blend of warm, inquisitive, and imaginative, which she has found most effective in mining for stories, a process that turns seemingly ordinary moments into powerful narratives. If you are a high achiever who is unsure if your essay is “unique enough,” Angela is a great partner for you.
Kay Barrett
Essay Consultant
Kay Barrett is a PhD candidate in English with a minor in Art & Art History at Stanford University. She holds two master’s degrees, one from the University of Oxford and another from the University of Edinburgh, and graduated with highest honors as an English major from the University of Virginia.
As a former Jefferson Scholar, Marshall Scholar, and Knight-Hennessy Scholar, Kay has extensive experience with undergraduate, graduate and fellowship applications. She has worked as an essay tutor for over 6 years with her students receiving acceptances into top-ranked institutions, including Columbia, Oxford, Vanderbilt, Stanford, and Wake Forest. Above all, Kay is passionate about helping her tutees hone their writing voices and craft narratives that embody their personal stories. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of writing and the self-confidence that comes with harnessing it. Whether you’re in the brainstorming phase or looking for sentence-level edits, Kay is happy to share her eye for narrative flow and grammatical details.
Outside of tutoring and studying, Kay loves reading sci-fi novels, walking her dog Bucky, and belting out Broadway tunes!
Olivia Matsuoka
Essay Consultant
Olivia Matsuoka is an English PhD student at the University of Oregon, researching race, mediation, and technology through 21st century Asian American speculative fiction. In addition to teaching college-level writing courses, Olivia has worked as a Lead Writing Support Specialist in UO's Center for Teaching Writing, where she received recognition for Excellence in Writing Support. She holds Bachelor's degrees in English and Media Studies from UC Berkeley as well as a Master's in Humanities from the University of Chicago. Her writing and research are also influenced by her professional background in advertising and e-commerce.
Olivia is all about connecting with students, hearing their stories, and finding ways to make those stories shine. She always advocates for viewing writing as a process and enjoys refining ideas from draft to draft. Whether it's brainstorming, developing a game plan, or finalizing those pesky, last-minute details, Olivia loves having the opportunity to journey with students as they discover and express themselves through their writing.
When she's not editing, you'll probably find Olivia reading (for fun!), baking something new, or spending time with her friends and family.
Dorie Lee
Marketing Intern
Dorie Lee is an intern at Essay Cafe, where she manages the Instagram account, creating daily reels that engage and inform our audience while helping to build a strong online presence for Essay Cafe. She currently attends Homestead High School and brings 3 years of graphic design experience and 2 years of content creation expertise to her role.
When she's not creating content for Essay Cafe, she enjoys listening to music, playing volleyball, and shopping with friends.
Ken Chen
Engineering Intern
Ken is an engineering intern at Essay Cafe, where he brings over 5 years of experience building scalable systems at companies like Samsara and Opal. He's a proud 5x engineer (a 10x engineer who works only half the time) who enjoys designing intuitive interfaces and thinking about the humans using our software. A proud graduate of UC Berkeley, his mission is to help more students gain access to the incredible resources provided by higher education.
He approaches essay editing just as he'd approach writing a blurb about himself — which is to say, he wouldn't. In his free time, he likes to dream about a life in Tokyo, Japan and iterate on his proprietary chili oil recipe.