About Us

Our Vision & Mission

The Subject journey began in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-standing issues within existing educational systems.

Access to education, and consequently the opportunity an education unlocks, is often limited by location or socioeconomic status, learners are restricted by one-size-fits-all courses, and educators and administrators lack the tools needed to make informed decisions. There is a glaring need to address these issues in a way that creates a more equitable distribution of opportunity for everyone.

We envision a future where anyone has access to any opportunity - we’re making this happen by delivering a frictionless educational platform which empowers learners, educators, and administrators.

Our Team

We’re a team of educators and builders who share a passion to help more people get access to the education needed to unlock opportunities.

Co-founders, Felix Ruano and Michael Vilardo, have been empowered with passion, scrappiness, and the drive to leverage education to create a better life. Felix vaulted himself from the second largest public school system in the country, LAUSD, to Harvard and McKinsey, while being a founding board member education leader at the Asia Society. Michael was raised in the small Chicago suburb of Cary, IL, and matriculated as the town’s first Ivy League graduate finishing his degree at UPenn followed by his MBA at UCLA Anderson with previous operating experience at Uber and Nike.