Paymon Rouhanifard is the co-founder of Propel and current Chair of the Board of Directors. He currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of Timely, an education technology company that helps schools build better master schedules through AI optimization.

Paymon has spent nearly 20 years working in education. He started his career as a 6th grade teacher in New York City and served in a number of roles across the New York City Department of Education, Newark Public Schools, and the Camden City School District where he was the superintendent.

As superintendent in Camden, he helped lead improvements in student outcomes, reductions in out-of-school suspensions, stronger family engagement, and critical capital investments in school facilities.

Prior to that, Paymon worked as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs and a private equity associate at AEA Investors.

He serves as an appointed member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and a guest lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School. Paymon holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.