Hilight helps schools and districts highlight the amazing work their teachers and staff are doing every day. With peer recognition, rewards, and culture data, Hilight transforms staff culture, boosts educator morale, well-being, and sense of belonging, and inspires a more collaborative staff community.
Claire Smith
Co-founder & CEO, hilight
Claire Smith
Co-founder & CEO, hilight
Claire is an educator and entrepreneur based in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has over seven years of experience in the education field, with three as an education researcher specializing in Title I funding, and four as a 7th grade math teacher just outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. Claire first began working with her co-founder to build Hilight as a teacher when she recognized an urgent need to better support teacher well-being and teacher morale to, in turn, better support the students at her school. Claire earned her B.A. in Global Studies & Religion from Middlebury College and her M.S. in Education, Digital Learning & Leadership from Johns Hopkins University.
Krissy Taft
Co-founder & CTO, hilight
Krissy Taft
Co-founder & CTO, hilight
Krissy is a software engineer based in Boston, Massachusetts. She has 8 years of experience as a full stack software engineer, previously working at two SaaS companies in healthcare. She loves writing code that has a positive impact on people, which is why she loved working for a healthcare company and why she is so passionate about using her skills to build Hilight for educators. Krissy and Claire were roommates at Middlebury College where Krissy received her B.A. in Physics.