Q+A: A CEO’s Case for Betting on SMASH Scholars

Can you introduce yourself and share how you were first connected to SMASH?

My name is Christie Pang. I am the co-founder and CEO of Lirvana Labs. We were founded in 2022 with the mission to level the playing field for all learners, whether they come from a native English background or whether they come from the general population or learners that have needs that are different from the general population. We worked with Kapor Capital. They were our earliest pre-seed and seed investors. I was introduced to the SMASH program because we have this mission. I was told, would you love to hire SMASH scholars. We were a startup. We needed to be agile. We needed creative folks with hustle. And I said yes, I would love to hire SMASH scholars. She described them as first generation ceiling breakers, gaps that have been closed, and just breaking through barriers left and right. That is what we would love to hire. And it is actually those qualities that are incredibly difficult to find in Silicon Valley. And I found them in almost every SMASH scholar that I came across.

What stood out to you in your first experiences working with SMASH scholars?

They are just the best people to work with. I think they are really inspired by the global reach and also the reach into their own communities that they identify with. That is why they are just so great. It was always a painful experience for me to try to narrow down the 30 scholars that I interview myself personally to the five or six that we can take in each year. But every year, whoever we take in, they were doing exponentially more than what we asked them to do. That experience just matches the DNA of what Lirvana Labs does.

What has it been like working with SMASH interns and alumni over time?

We have had so many since 2022, and every single one of them, I could not let go. In fact, I have had a few of them that have been with us for three years plus now. It is a perfect match for us.

Can you share an example of how a SMASH scholar contributed to your work?

The first one that jumps to mind is Leo Daniels. Leo came in because we had a product that we were working on with Stanford. It is a critical thinking simulator for kids aged three to eight. Leo said, I have got a lot of stories to tell, and if you need a content creator for stories that can turn into playgrounds for students to exercise their social emotional muscle, that is exactly me. We put him in charge of a team of five other SMASH and College Track scholars to co-create stories about handling emotions, teamwork and leadership, sustainability, financial literacy, mental and physical well-being, and growth mindset. He created our YouTube channel for hosting all of that content. He drove it to a thousand subscribers within the first year. We hit 4.4 million views and it was all Leo. So the person that we hired originally thinking he was going to write ten stories for us became our digital marketing manager now.

What has Bryan’s experience been like at Lirvana Labs?

Brian Ayala is in our front end engineering team. He was interviewed by almost every single person in our company before we hired him because we have not hired an engineer that is in charge of releases and product builds that is not a full time employee to date. Everyone just said it does not feel like he is a college student. How he carries himself, how he is able to take a deep breath and answer with such poise. It comes across as he is probably 35 and has been in the industry for like five to ten years. He started out of his own initiative not just sending me an invoice to pay him, but sending me decisions that he made, highs and lows, asks in a succinct update every time. He is very good at succinctly answering executive questions. He manages really well all stakeholders. It is beyond just the work ethic. The talent is just a no brainer for SMASH scholars, but the social emotional maturity, the work readiness is what really stands out.

What makes SMASH scholars different from other candidates in the tech workforce pipeline?

They are very much humble and ready to engage at the executive level. If you believe that a human being’s growth velocity is the number one indicator, then SMASH scholars have proven that. If this human being has come this far, that potential for that human being to continue progressing is really great. So it is not growth mindset, it is growth velocity that has been proven in SMASH scholars.

How do SMASH scholars contribute to the work your company is doing in AI in education?

When they see their own communities benefit from products that they designed and built, it comes full circle. It convinces the educators, the schools, the teachers that are using the product that this is right for their kids because their own kid built it. We care a lot about outcomes. We do not introduce technology to the classroom unless there is a defined problem. We try to measure whether we have moved the needle to solve the problem. Having SMASH scholars go on site to gather user insight, to do impact reporting with teachers, to do surveys with teachers, that is really critical.

What advice would you give to students pursuing tech careers today?

Do not second guess your lack of the traditional. Lean into that. There is not a single traditional tech job out there anymore because of AI. There is not a single coding job that has not been impacted by AI. We see a shift in the kinds of humans that we need to be at the driver’s seat creating these AI systems. If the system architect did not come from a place of humanity, those systems will be really bad for our future. It starts with who is building it. So I would say SMASH scholars, it is your time. You need to be coming in and defining those systems.

What would you say to other employers considering investing in programs like SMASH?

You have to start with the top. I said I am not going to be able to convince anybody else unless I do it myself and prove that it is worthwhile. I personally led that feature because I did not want to miss out on watching young people fly. You will love seeing it. You will be very inspired. If you believe in looking at the evidence, looking at the velocity of this human being and how fast they have broken through to determine human potential, then you should support programs like SMASH.

What inspired you to start Lirvana Labs?

Lirvana Labs was founded by me and my older brother. We share a mom that made a huge difference in our lives and the lives of countless other children. She would go to community centers and bring in children that are asylum seekers, first generation, or single moms’ kids. She would ask me and my brother to tutor them. We grew up with the notion that the only barrier to human potential being realized is if anybody paid attention. It is whether or not you gave them some degree of time. That is human potential.

What role does mentorship and community play in student success?

It is not about whether it is the mother. It is about whether or not you have someone or something that is telling you those messages of hope. If you can imagine it, it is doing it for you. We want our future generations to always say I do not know yet. That is why we are called Yeti. We celebrate the word yet. As long as there is someone or something that is speaking that truth to each human, latch on to them.

As SMASH celebrates 25 years, what does this milestone represent to you?

I have only witnessed about the last three to five years of change making that you have made possible for young people that have been working at my company. I am so excited to see the next 25 years of SMASH scholars shape the tech revolution.

For 25 years, SMASH has been building pathways into STEM careers and strengthening the STEM workforce pipeline through long-term investment in students. As Christie Pang’s experience shows, that investment leads to real outcomes in the workforce. Learn more or support: smash.org/25thanniversary