Meet Our Coaches
Lin Thomas
Lin Rajan Thomas is the author of the multicultural children's novel, Every Sparrow was Made to Fly. She is a published author with Chicken Soup for the Soul series, a NY Times Best Selling series published in over 32 languages and 100 countries. She is also a published author with Project Management.com run by PMI (Project Management Institute). She has served as the Editor, Secretary and Youth Liaison for KAGW, a non-profit based in the DC Metro area. Lin's expertise in Public Speaking came from her active association with Junior Chamber International (Jaycees).
Her Training experience includes being the Primary Coach for a team that won 1st place at Regional and State Odyssey of the Mind Tournaments and competed at Worlds. She was also a Core Values Robotics coach and a Math coach. Her passion for coaching has been driven by experiences as a mom of her three wonderful children. Lin has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a Diploma in Writing for Children from Institute of Children’s writers. Read more about Lin at www.linthomas.com
Geena Abraham
Geena is a Lead Trainer at Yay Learner. Geena has always had a passion for teaching; her first experience was working as a Technology faculty at her college. From then on she has taken several teaching opportunities. She is a Certified Professional Workshop Facilitator on Public Speaking and also a member of Toastmasters club. She holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology and has been working on cutting-edge leading IT technologies as a Software Engineer for the past 13+ years. . She is also an artist, an avid traveler and loves spending time with her family.
Her motivation for coaching at Yay Learner is to help kids unleash their creativity. She believes this one stop shop for kids is a blessing for parents who can get a relief from their chauffeur duties. She also believes her inspiration and biggest teachers are her two wonderful children who have helped her become a great listener. She looks forward to sharing the joy of learning with other kids.
AUXILIARY TRAINER
Sharon Elizabeth Thomas
Sharon has a Liberal Arts and Management certificate and a Bachelors in Neuroscience from Indiana University. She is an IU Prestige Scholarship holder. She was also the Raas Royalty Liaison and Hoosier Raas Manager at the University. She is currently an MBA candidate at Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland.
Sharon has a passion for working with children and has worked as a Pediatric Clinical Research coordinator in Florida and at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. She connects immediately with children and has a wide range of experiences to share with them. She was raised in Chicago but has made the DC metro area her new home. She currently works at an IT firm in the Tyson’s Corner. She enjoys spending free time at the local libraries and watching movies.
Melissa Thomas
Melissa is the Virginia State Parliamentarian of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and a Youth Ambassador for the Capital Region of national organization Young Women in Biology. She is a TedX speaker and has won several awards in Public Speaking at state and regional levels as part of Technology Student Assocation. She is the creator of the app TeenSync. Her awards include:
- TSA VA State 2022 - Prepared Presentation -1st Place, May 2022
- TSA VA State Fall Events 2023 - Prepared Presentation -2nd Place, Nov 2022
- FBLA VA State- Intro to Public Speaking, 2022 -2nd Place, Apr 2021
- FBLA VA State- Business Ethics, 2023 -2nd Place, Apr 2023
- TSA VA State Fall Events 2023 -Essays on Technology -3rd Place, Nov 2022
- FBLA Business Achievement Awards, Jun 2022; Received all 4 Business Achievement Awards through the National FBLA organization: -Contributor, Leader, Advocate, and Capstone Award
- WACFL Regional Policy Debate Competition - 3rd Place in speaker awards, Nov 2020