Max comes to Excel after having spent 10 years in teaching and education in a variety of schools and roles from a technical secondary school in Rwanda, to a gifted magnet school in Manhattan, and most recently a charter school in St. Paul. Max is originally from Syracuse, NY, but moved to Minnesota for college. He got his BA in social studies education and history from St. Olaf College where his focus was historical memory and European history. After college, Max served in the United States Peace Corps as an education volunteer in Rwanda where he taught English at a school for students studying computer science, facilitated a community finance education initiative, and led a boys and girls leadership camp for the Southern Province. After serving, Max moved to New York City were he completed his MA in teaching at Columbia University with a thesis on teaching empathy. Max then moved back to Minnesota where he worked as a social studies teacher and teacher leader. While he had a fulfilling time as an educator and will miss his students, Max is excited for this new transition and the chance to work in an exciting new field of education!

In his free time, Max enjoys traveling, baking and cooking, kayaking, learning new things through community ed classes, and spending time with his wife Hannah and their terrier Louis. The most exciting place Max and Hannah have traveled together is the island of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania in the Indian Ocean, and they enjoy making pasta carbonara together.