The Experience Lab at Penn team is focused on supporting bright students of all backgrounds during their most pivotal moments.
About Penn LPS
Lifelong Learning at Penn
The College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS) offers ambitious students—from veterans and international scholars to high school students and working professionals—opportunities to develop the skills they need to thrive in a changing global society. Wherever you are in life or in the world, the power of Penn is open to you.
A shared Passion for Education
The Team
Matt Meltzer
Co-Director
In May 2003, Matt graduated summa cum laude from Penn with a double major, and no job. After traveling throughout South America for four months, Matt found work teaching english to corporate executives and interned at a local newspaper in Buenos Aires. His experience abroad changed Matt’s career trajectory, and his life. Later that year, Matt started law school at Northwestern University as a fluent Spanish-speaker and went on to develop a niche litigation practice representing Latin American companies as a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. In 2013, still thinking back to his global experience after college, Matt founded Sage Corps, a global entrepreneurship program that sends top college students abroad to intern with startups. His work with Sage Corps and his friendship with Victor led them to co-create Experience Lab to mesh the best parts of learning and global experience. When he isn’t working with students and global startups, Matt spends his time chasing his three kids with his incredibly patient and loving wife.
Matt Meltzer
Co-Director
Victor Saad
Co-Director
In 2012, after five years of working with middle school and high school students, Victor became curious about pursuing an MBA. But the options and costs didn’t quite fit. So he designed his own “Master’s” by embarking upon 12 projects in 12 months. He called his educational endeavor the Leap Year Project and his experiences culminated when he staged his graduation at a local TEDx and published a book of stories about people learning through risk. He later launched Experience Institute, an organization that helps college students and career professionals learn & grow through short-term, real-world experiences. Victor’s work has led him into collaborations with Stanford, Google, Leo Burnett, and a friendship with Matt Meltzer of Sage Corps – which led to the start of Experience Lab. In 2015, Victor was inducted into Forbes30Under30 for his work in education, and in 2017 joined the team at Stanford’s School of Engineering as a Lecturer in Design, helping students reimagine their learning through experience.
Victor Saad
Co-Director
Aaron Wilson-Ahlstrom
Curriculum Director
As Curriculum Director, Aaron provides leadership and coordination for all of Experience Lab’s educational programming. Previously, Aaron supported the development of Henry Ford Learning Institute’s K-12 core curriculum and related professional development programs for teachers, partners, and educational communities. Prior to joining HFLI in 2007, Aaron was a founding advisor/teacher at University Preparatory High School in Detroit, a charter school in the Big Picture network. Aaron earned a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Michigan’s Residential College in 1995 and an MA in Education and his secondary Teacher Certification from the University of Michigan in 2000. He also leads all programming efforts for Experience Institute.
Aaron Wilson-Ahlstrom
Curriculum Director
Rita M. McGlone
Executive Director, Professional and Organizational Development
Rita is the Executive Director of Professional and Organizational Development at the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), University of Pennsylvania. As part of the School’s division of liberal and professional studies, she is responsible for generating new business opportunities, employer engagement, and extending the reach of Penn’s educational assets to broader audiences. Rita provides strategic direction to the division through her role on the senior team, and is adept at leveraging the skills and research of faculty in the design of innovative programs that enhance professional and organizational growth. She has been at Penn for 24 years, holding a variety of senior leadership positions. She spent 16 years as a senior director for Wharton Executive Education where she served on the executive committee, oversaw multiple business units, spearheaded corporate ventures for social impact, consulted with global organizations, and designed customized educational solutions to complex organizational issues.
Rita McGlone
Executive Director, Professional and Organizational Development, University of Pennsylvania
Deborah Harrold
Senior Lecturer, Political Science and Liberal and Professional Studies
Deborah Harrold works with Professional and Organizational Development (POD) to explore new projects for Penn and the College of Liberal and Professional Studies and to extend our programs to new students and employers. She is involved with Penn LPS Online’s new degree program, the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS), and is developing new courses in global studies for the online platform. In addition to her work with POD and LPS, she teaches in the Political Science Department at Penn and in Wharton’s Lauder program.
Deborah is a political scientist with interests in comparative studies, the Middle East and North Africa, cultures of economics, and issues of gender and women. She holds a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. She has presented published on aspects of economics, culture and politics in Algeria: on informal markets, women’s political space, economic discourse, and interest articulation.
Deborah Harrold
Senior Lecturer, Political Science and Liberal and Professional Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Brian Bar
Business Development Program Lead
Brian is the founder and CEO of Victory Lap, a Chicago-based company that provides industry-leading sales training to individuals and companies, and helps companies connect with SDR/BDR talent. Brian honed his skills in sales training at Groupon, where he created and ran the Sales Onboarding Department. In addition to running Victory Lap and serving as an instructor in Business Development and Sales for Experience Lab, Brian is also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with VentureSCALE.
Brian Bar
Business Development Program Lead
Tyler Fowler
Digital Marketing & Storytelling Program Lead
Across advertising productions and influencer marketing initiatives, Tyler has managed +400 content creation campaigns for brands ranging from startups making their first sale, to Fortune 50 companies trying to keep an edge on their competition. As a stand up comedian and content creator Tyler has executive produced film and audio productions and Co-founded Team Us Comedy, a performance and training group that helps teams be more creative and collaborative.
Tyler Fowler
Digital Marketing & Storytelling Program Lead
Strategic Data & AI Program Lead
Juan Martín holds a degree in Business Administration, with a Master's degree in Strategic and Technological Management from Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA), and a Master's Degree in Strategic and Technological Management from the Escuela de Organización Internacial in Spain. He has specialized in International Business Consultancy at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven, Holland, holds several specializations in Big Data in ITBA, in Product Management, Agile Methodologies and Cloud Engineering also in ITBA.
Currently, he is Global Programme Manager for Santander Europe Region as well as Head of Artificial Intelligence and Technology for SAI (Amsterdam, Holland). In addition, he is one of the co-Founders of Fictionary (a mobile game), and of Fon.ai, an organization that provides Artificial Intelligence and Analytics solutions for national and international public and private organizations.
Juan Martín Maglione
Strategic Data & AI Program Lead
Megan Bartelt
Field Experiences and Industry Partners
Megan was born and raised in the Chicago ‘burbs, but eventually figured out that the world was a little bigger than having Portillo’s for lunch all the time. During her undergrad & grad career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she jumped on as many planes as possible to head all over the world. Now she’s settled back in Chicago (still eating Portillo’s) and is dedicated to helping students navigate their professional journeys through work and travel. In her free time, Megan can be found by the beach or practicing Spanish.
Megan Bartelt
Field Experiences & Industry Partners
Aana Leech
Digital Marketing Instructor
Aana is VP of Marketing & Customer Experience at Popular Pays, an all-in-one influencer marketing and creator management software for brands and agencies. Aana brings her experience in content development, account management, and business strategy to her multi-faceted role, helping Popular Pays develop and implement new offerings for customers, and ensuring great customer experience along the way. Ask her about her 3 years as a teacher in New Orleans with Teach for America, or playing on national championship volleyball teams while in college at Duke.
Aana Leech
Digital Marketing Instructor
Faith Anderson
Digital Marketing Instructor
Faith is a Chicago-based digital marketing specialist, entrepreneur, and startup strategist. In 2015, she founded DBC Brand and began managing managing the online presences of emerging performers through content development and web design. She then transitioned to full-time digital marketing work for grammy-nominated artists and local Chicago mid-sized businesses. She deepened her digital marketing/digital strategy skills through projects with startup accelerator Workbox Company, the National Hellenic Museum, and Chicago’s leading real estate development firm, Farpoint Development LLC.
Faith Anderson
Digital Marketing Instructor
Hayley Darden
Digital Marketing Instructor
Hayley is a leader on the Brand and Content team at Invisible, an outsourcing-automation hybrid that helps companies run their operations more efficiently. She’s worked for more than a decade now to help companies recruit, onboard, and develop the talent of their employees, always with a passion for creating workspaces that support collaboration, creativity, and a connection to people’s passions. In the process, she’s read 20,000+ resumes and hired 200+ people. She loves helping people find what gives them life, and connect that to a meaningful role in the organization. Ask her about comedy, faith, or how she turns pet peeves into business ideas.
Hayley Darden
Digital Marketing Instructor
Allen Wolff
Recruitment Manager
Allen serves as Recruitment Manager for Experience Lab at Penn and Director of China Programs for Sage Corps, introducing global internship abroad opportunities to Chinese university students. Since studying abroad in Shanghai over a decade ago, Allen has worked continuously as a bridge-builder between the world's two largest economies, helping both individuals and corporates find their footing in the U.S. and China, respectively. Allen holds a degree in Political Science from Miami University and is fluent in Mandarin.
Allen Wolff
Recruitment Manager
Cedlia Ogna
Program Manager
Celia grew up in France and after an exchange semester in the US decided to move to Finland to start her career and continue exploring the world. In Finland, she worked for a few tech startups focusing on business development and then on experience, engagement, and well-being in diverse workplaces, overall ensuring the best possible experience in the work community in tech companies.
Celia's passion for introducing students to global experiences started after her time as an exchange student and her career in startups pushed her to want to share about the amazing opportunities startups have to offer to young professionals.
Celia Ogna
Program Manager
Phoebe Sajor
Content Producer
Phoebe is a Southern California based creative with a love for telling stories. A people-person and marketer, she is passionate about bringing a human touch to the content and writing she produces. She helps create and curate content for Ei and Experience Lab’s social platforms, and helps write and run Experience Lab’s blog. Phoebe is also a filmmaker and podcast producer with a background in entertainment and education and recently finished her B.A. in Sociology from UCLA. In her free time, she loves to write, meet new people, eat Vietnamese food, and hang out with her dogs.
Phoebe Sajor
Content Producer
About Experience Lab
Our Beliefs
Experience Lab began as a way to solve a problem we saw with higher education—students need access to launch their careers through experience.
We hold the following core beliefs:
Experience is for everyone
This type of learning is not limited to certain ages, socioeconomic classes, or seasons of time. Experience is for anyone, anywhere. It is the great leveler of society, excluding no one and understood by everyone.
Experience is transformative
One of the most powerful ways to learn is by doing—by placing ourselves in the situations and with the people who are aiming to solve real world challenges.
Experience should be purposeful and intentional
Learning through experience is not accidental, it should be purposeful and intentional, in order to be more productive and meaningful.
Experience necessitates risk
Many of life’s transformative lessons come from being in a new situation—where you don’t know the right answer or there isn’t a right answer. Those are the places where you’ve taken a leap over the unknown and are aiming for a better place. You have to have faith in yourself and the things that moved you to take that leap.
Experience requires reflection
We don’t only learn by doing. Reflection is the fruit of action—it’s what we take away after planting that nourishes us and those around us. Our ability to examine where we’ve been shapes our ability to see where we might go.
Experience enables storytelling
Our actions set the stage for the compelling stories we share with friends, family, peers, and heroes. Those stories define our future relationships, careers, and perspectives on the world and ourselves. If we take the time to craft and tell them well, they lead to our very best places.
Experience is better together
Community multiplies the lessons we learn. With every new set of eyes, our experiences become exponentially more meaningful, both personally and to those around us.
Underlying it All
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
We believe that our community is strongest when all voices are represented. We do not tolerate discrimination or microagressions of any kind. We ensure that our learning and sharing spaces are safe and welcoming at all times. Click here to read our full inclusion statement.
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If you have a question, please feel free to fill out the form below and someone on our team will contact you with further information.
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About Experience Lab at Penn
This program is a collaboration between Experience Lab and The University of Pennsylvania’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies (Penn LPS) to enable college graduates to transition into trending careers through skill-building, networking, and immersive entrepreneurial experiences.
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