Team
Kelly Cooper, CEO
Kelly founded 2 Degree Shift in 2004 and designs and develops the technology stack ecosystem. She leads firm strategy and product development across connected product sites, the Airtable-and-Twilio infrastructure that runs the SMS coaching program, and the integration architecture that ties WordPress, HubSpot, and Airtable into a single working system. She has authored or co-authored more than $75M in awarded programs and applied research, including $32M in 2024 alone. Her earlier career includes Vice Chancellor at West Hills Community College District, where she held the roles of CTO and CIO, and CTE faculty and Title III Director at West Valley College.
Curt Cooper, CFO
Curt leads finance, operating discipline, and CFO-to-CFO buyer conversations for 2 Degree Shift. His career spans Vice President of Operations at Sanmina-SCI with $200M P&L responsibility, and nearly a decade in a three-company operating partnership with Victoria Bartz, 2 Degree Shift’s CIO. That work in manufacturing and in mid-market and enterprise cost-reduction advisory maps directly to what 2 Degree Shift now does with AI and IT spend.
Victoria Bartz, CIO
Victoria leads client technical engagement for 2 Degree Shift and brings twenty years of CIO experience plus a recent independent consulting practice. She spent nearly a decade in a three-company operating partnership with Curt Cooper, where she owned enterprise systems architecture, built data centers, and led IT organizations through acquisitions and operational scale-ups. At 2 Degree Shift, Victoria translates between the firm’s applied-research work and the client’s CIO organization.
Dara Ramos, Head of Product Operations
Dara leads product operations across 2 Degree Shift, owning delivery on client engagements, data integrity across the team, and the operating infrastructure behind Cut Token Costs. She serves as data analyst and project manager, responsible for content operations, data pipelines, and the internal systems that let everyone else focus on client-facing work. Dara traces content and client data throughout the tech stack to ensure consistent delivery and accessibility across workflows.
Veronika Focht, Principal Designer
Veronika leads customer-facing design at 2 Degree Shift: brand identity, product surfaces, presentations, publications, and outreach. She serves as Principal Designer for both 2 Degree Shift and Livable Wage Jobs (sister 501(c)(3)), and her work spans co-authorship, book design, graphic design, and technical editing across the firm’s publications. Veronika owns the visual system behind Cut Token Costs from landing page through MMS lesson content and reporting outputs.
Advisory Council
Erin-Leigh Dake
Erin-Leigh is a Bay Area attorney specializing in dispute prevention and resolution, from careful contract drafting through litigation. She has more than fifteen years of experience representing clients in technology, construction, and real estate, with expertise in complex commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution. She has appeared in California’s State and Federal Courts, obtained extraordinary relief from the Court of Appeals, and arbitrated before both JAMS and AAA. Erin-Leigh advises 2 Degree Shift on contract structure, dispute-avoidance practice, and legal risk in AI-related engagements.
Nancy Wages
Nancy is Assistant Director of Nursing and Faculty at Cuesta College, where she teaches HIPAA and healthcare compliance to a next generation of nursing and allied health professionals. She spent thirteen years as a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department at Twin Cities Community Hospital before moving into full-time community college instruction. Nancy leads healthcare-sector workforce training strategy for 2 Degree Shift, with a specific focus on how the firm’s SMS-based training methodology adapts to HIPAA compliance and the safe use of AI tools inside healthcare organizations.
Manuel Jimenez
Manuel is Senior Contracts Manager at a publicly traded space technology company, where he runs AI for the legal team and leads how the contracts function adopts and governs AI tools day to day. Earlier in his career he served in procurement and contract-analyst roles at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, working on complex federal procurement across multiple program areas. Manuel advises 2 Degree Shift on AI adoption including governance, tooling choices, and the practical realities of getting a team to use AI well.
Kristin Clark-Profeta
Kristin is a retired California Community College Chancellor for West Hills Community College District and Lemoore College President. She currently serves as an Educational Consultant with the Community College League of CA and as Data Sharing and AI Lead for the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium. Her earlier board service includes President of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium and a board seat at the West Hills Community College District Foundation. Kristin advises 2 Degree Shift on AI in workforce development, including how community colleges evaluate and adopt AI training tools across CTE and dual-enrollment programs.
Jason Frye
Jason is a nationally recognized federal and state government relations consultant and founder of Terrapin, a hybrid AI and web3 government relations startup. A Minnesota native and Marine Corps veteran, Jason served two combat tours as a Scout following 9/11, then began his Washington career in the U.S. House working on transportation, immigration, trade, defense, and foreign policy. He served as Legislative Director for U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, helped launch the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, ran the emerging-technology policy team at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, and served as Executive Vice President of Capitol Core Group. Jason advises 2 Degree Shift on public-sector engagement and the regulatory environment shaping AI adoption.