# Ernest Aguayo > K-12 Science Educator, Project Coordinator Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/ernestaguayo Seasoned professional with background in developing and managing children's media and K-12 educational experiences while in roles at NASA, Yahoo, Netflix, and the Exploratorium. Agile in environments with ever-changing priorities, requirements, and parameters. Versatile when mastering new skills in new roles. ## Work Experience ### Project Coordinator (2020-2025) + Project Manager (Present) @ Exploratorium Jan 2020 – Present Oversee scheduling and logistics for professional development workshops for educators from around the world. Point of contact for event registration, on-site visits, and communication with internal and external stakeholders. Manage budget, payroll, and attendance-tracking for Tinkering Afterschool program at Boys & Girls Clubs via our grant from the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families. Process invoices and reimbursements for staff and partners as well as manage credit-card reconciliations for all Tinkering projects. Assist with contract administration, budget preparation, and re-classifying of expenses and revenue. ### Docent/Educator (“Explainer”) @ Exploratorium Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 Supported, inspired, and empowered visitors as they experienced inquiry-based learning about science, art, and the world around them. Engaged guests and answered their questions about exhibits or the museum in general. Greeted and oriented school groups visiting on field trips. Conducted demonstrations in physics, human perception, philosophy and ethics, biology, botany, and weather phenomena. Helped oversee all areas open to the public and identified and reported broken exhibits. ### Tinkering Studio/After Dark/Explorables Facilitator (Volunteer) @ Exploratorium Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 Periodically: Help facilitate or brainstorm hands-on activities for museum visitors of all ages to discover science/engineering principles or express themselves via constructivist, maker-driven experiences. ### Chair, K-12 STEAM Initiative (Volunteer) @ MIT Club of Northern California Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 Organized STEAM-related events for Bay-Area families to discover and learn science and engineering together to get kids excited about creative problem-solving and pursuing the high-tech careers of the future. ### Docent (Volunteer) @ The Tech Museum of Innovation Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 Periodically: Helped museum visitors understand and engage with exhibits, answering their questions about space exploration, seismology, the human body, robotics, and computer cryptography. Accumulated 100+ hours of service. ### Teacher/Tutor (Volunteer) @ Braly Elementary School Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 Weekly: Taught a third grade class of 26 how to code in Scratch, tutored struggling fifth grade students in math, and lead customized, extra-curricular math challenges for advanced students. ### Enhanced Content Media Editor; Kids/Teen/Family Metadata Analyst @ Netflix Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 Determined metadata, tagging, and regional ratings to optimize movies and TV series to preferences and maturity of members, improving the user experience and keeping kids safe from harmful content. Triaged and investigated Production UI/UX issues reported by customers and Netflix employees. Quickly identified and implemented scalable resolutions independently and with Engineering, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and retention. Curated visually-engaging and enticing imagery and video to showcase Netflix Originals, Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, and other high-profile movies and shows for millions of subscribers to discover new content, to understand why it was relevant, and to want to start streaming it. Implemented back-end support for numerous, concurrent A/B testing cells to rollout and gauge user acceptance of potential enhancements to the Netflix service. Iteratively worked with engineering and product teams to adjust these experiences to maximize user adoption and satisfaction. Tracked upcoming launches of Day-After-Broadcast programming across multiple regions and time zones and ensured pre-production set-up was flawless, often with little lead time or on weekends. Capitalized on decades-worth of knowledge about movies, TV shows, animation, comics, and pop culture when developing relevant (and spoiler-free) “binge-worthy” streaming experiences for both novice and seasoned fans. Helped create the most visually-engaging and enticing pre- and post-play sessions for users to consume their favorite content without interruption on mobile, desktop, smart TV, and gaming consoles. ### Teacher (Volunteer) @ Braly Elementary School Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 Twice-a-Week: Taught 5th graders how to code in Scratch. ### Visual Design Producer + Photo Editor/Curator, Mobile and Publisher Products @ Yahoo Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 Researched, approved, and edited photos for the critically-acclaimed Yahoo Weather, Yahoo Sports, and Yahoo News Digest apps. Also curated photos on Flickr and recruited and interviewed new photo editors to grow the Yahoo Mobile team in the US and the UK. ### Teacher @ Home Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 Homeschooled a range of subjects to my Kindergarten-aged child through traditional and alternative curriculum. Our approach also included: child-led discovery and play via multimedia and hands-on projects and experiments, field trips and playdates with other homeschoolers, and a foundation in tri-lingual (English, Spanish, Tagalog) speaking and reading comprehension. ### Photo Editor, Yahoo Front Page @ Yahoo! Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 Selected, cropped, and toned photos sourced from various image agencies (AP, Reuters, Getty, WireImage, Corbis, and Thinkstock) to give visual impact and context to stories at the top-center of the Yahoo Front Page, seen by millions every day. Worked under tight deadlines, especially during breaking news and high-profile events such as the U.S. Presidential Election. Part of team that helped drive over 2 billion page views across desktop and mobile devices during the 2012 London Olympic Games. ### Buyer @ BorrowLenses Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 Planned and executed buying strategy to procure new Nikon, Canon, Sony, Leica, and Pentax gear to be rented by amateur and professional photographers and filmmakers nationwide. Maintained relationships with a range of vendors and private sellers to find the latest and hardest-to-find equipment to give customers the best gear selection and availability at all times. Planned logistics with Inventory and Shipping teams daily or as needed to make sure gear was available and scheduled to arrive on-time. ### Photo Editor, Yahoo Front Page @ Yahoo! Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 Chose and toned images for stories in the "Today" module at the top-center of the Yahoo! Front Page, one of the most-viewed sites on the Internet. ### Director of Events + Show Notes Writer @ This Week in Photo Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 Planned, coordinated, and ran live events such as photowalks and lectures tied to This Week in Photo (TWiP), one of the Internet's most popular photography-related podcasts. Also performed pre- and post-show topic research and wrote Show Notes blog posts for TWiP's weekly podcast. ### Photo Editor and Producer, Yahoo Front Page @ Yahoo! Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 Packaged and edited compelling images, headlines, and tease copy for stories in the "Today" module at top-center of the Yahoo! Front Page. ### Receiving Manager @ BorrowLenses Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 Tested and maintained extensive inventory of professional Nikon and Canon photography equipment rented nationwide. Worked closely with Shipping team to ensure customers' orders were sent out on-time and in top-working condition. Made gear recommendations to photographers of all skill levels in-person and over the phone. Researched and edited product specifications and descriptions used on website. ### World Traveler @ Team Aguayo Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 Traveled the world with my wife, spending 8 months living in New Zealand, Australia, China, India, Turkey, France, the UK, the Philippines, Argentina, and Peru. Learned from others' points of view and ways of life; saw firsthand the similarities and differences among some of the world's cultures. ### Senior Producer and Editor, Yahooligans! @ Yahoo! Jan 2004 – Jan 2006 Acquired, managed, and programmed entertainment content on Yahoo's web portal for children ages 7-12, reaching 5.5 million unique users each month. Coordinated with team of editors, designers, and engineers to publish age-appropriate gaming, music, movie, and other content to maintain timeliness and relevancy, resulting in as much as a 50% increase in traffic year-over-year. ### Product Manager, Premium Services Infrastructure @ Yahoo! Jan 2002 – Jan 2004 Drove product development to support ordering, billing, and provisioning of Yahoo! properties such as Mail, LAUNCH Music Artist Clubs, Finance, Sports, Domains, Travel, and Yahoo! Plus. Worked closely with Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Customer Care, and QA teams to scope, test, and deliver features for SBC Yahoo! Dial/DSL. ### Operations Release Manager and System Administrator @ NBC Internet Jan 2000 – Jan 2001 Ensured 24x7 uptime of web portal by analyzing, resolving, and preventing site operational problems. Collaborated with teams company-wide to manage weekly exports of new content. Implemented and supported server architecture for live TV and online promotional tie-ins that increased NBC’s Saturday night ratings week-after-week. ### Content Harvesting Engineer @ Flyswat Jan 1999 – Jan 2000 Programmed Perl crawlers to harvest content from a broad range of websites to diversify destinations offered to users of Flyswat, an Internet search service. Initiated and led detailed integrity review of database resulting in 25% reduction in false positive search results, significantly improving end-user experience. Implemented redesign of content acquisition system to improve daily operations and identified new areas for growth, such as e-commerce focus for holiday shopping season. NBC Internet acquired Flyswat in May 2000. ### Director of Educational Initiatives @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jan 1998 – Jan 1999 Developed undergraduate curricula for students to design and implement real-world engineering systems. Integrated industry-posed design challenges and created support for student-initiated design competitions. ## Education ### Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### Master of Education in Learning and Teaching Harvard Graduate School of Education ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/aguayo --- Source: https://flows.cv/ernestaguayo JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/ernestaguayo/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13