Our Team

Ryan Tierney

CEO | Owner

Ryan Tierney has been an international educator for over 20 years. He has taught in a variety of environments from teaching children through adults. He has taught management and leadership to corporate executives and worked as a software trainer in Silicon Valley.

Ryan is an Erickson certified coach and is passionate about supporting a coaching culture in children’s education. Ryan is deeply appreciative of all the amazing staff and teachers that bring innovative and motivational lessons to students attending Little Mountain.

Ryan has a B.A. from UBC, a TESOL teaching certificate and two post-graduate diplomas in Information Technology and Asian Studies. Ryan also has an MBA.

He is a passionate sailor. In 2016 he crewed in two international yacht races winning the Swiftsure and placing 3rd in the Vancouver Island 360 (a 2 week sailing race around the entirety of Vancouver Island)

Kay Han

Operations Manager

Kay majored in English Literature in Seoul and had dynamic experiences living and working in New York. Kay’s natural affection toward people lead her to build up her career with a fun-loving teaching approach for a variety of student age groups. Many years of relationships with parents and students supported Kay to start Little Mountain Homeschool in Seoul in partnership with LMLA in Vancouver.

Since LMLA’s foundation in 2004 Kay has been in charge of guiding LMLA summer campers from Korea and managing them through every summer for over a decade. Kay had precious experiences sharing in children’s learning and communicating with parents. She has fantastic memories with children and building long term trusting relationships with their parents.

As an Operations Manager at Little Mountain Learning Academy Kay has been pursuing working toward making LMLA an ever more affectionate and friendly place for all- LMLA students, parents and teachers.

Kang Bi

Admissions Director

Kang graduated from Beijing JiaoTong University with a Master’s in Logistics management, department of economics and a certificate in teaching Chinese as a second language from Beijing Language and Culture University.

Kang spent 4 years teaching Chinese in the department of Chinese studies, Kangwon National University, South Korea before moving to Vancouver with her husband, who is a PH.D student in UBC, and her two daughters.

As Little Mountain Learning Academy’s Admissions Director, Kang is dedicated to giving warm and professional counselling services to all of our students and their parents – helping them to achieve their goals.

Gareth Randall

Academic Director

Gareth grew up in the diverse city of London, England where he taught for over 5 years after completing his degree in History. He has worked with a wide range of young people, both in the United Kingdom and in Vancouver, the city he now calls home. Prior to relocating to Canada, he was an elementary school teacher and a member of the senior leadership team as head of maths of his school in London.

Gareth has been an educator for over ten years. Here in Vancouver, he has utilized his TESOL qualification as a lead teacher at Little Mountain. He has found great satisfaction in seeing his students succeed and meet their wide-ranging goals.

His passion lies in facilitating a lifelong love of learning and enabling children to become the best they can be. And he believes that his role is to guide students towards becoming independent, informed and able to share their knowledge and ideas with the world with confidence.

Vika Frary

Curriculum Manager

Vika spent her childhood in tropical Fiji and not-so-tropical Scotland, and also lived in England and Japan before immigrating to Canada. Her experiences living overseas and learning other languages gives her insight into the cultural and linguistic realities faced by her students.

After graduating from the University of York in the UK, she spent 14 years in the Tokyo area teaching all ages from toddlers to seniors. Vika is a big believer in active learning, and she strives to create an atmosphere full of energy and positivity in her classroom. She specializes in teaching beginners and younger students, where her bubbly personality is especially effective.

Her extraordinary experience in teaching enables Vika to become a curriculum developer now.  Her curriculums are useful tools for English learners to break through the barriers in their studies.

Sandra Tsang

Academic Coordinator

Sandra Tsang was born and raised in Canada. Her interest in human behaviour led her to the University of British Columbia, where she earned her B.A. in Sociology and Psychology.

Having studied human behaviour and interaction, she understands the important role language plays in understanding a new social and cultural environment. Sandra has dedicatedly volunteered her time to teach new learners of English due to her firm belief that language and culture are strongly connected.

Sandra has worked with many students in the past, including those with diverse abilities and needs. She also has experience in teaching and facilitating conversational English with International students. For Sandra, the best part about teaching is sparking curiosity in students and helping them achieve their personal goals.

Emmanuel Thillaiampalam

Teacher

English, being his first language, Emmanuel discovered literature to be an accessible vehicle for learning about various people and places. Comparative literature has, and continues to be, a useful tool in his teaching arsenal.

While studying at the University of British Columbia, Emmanuel worked as a community support provider for teenagers and adults with learning and developmental disabilities. This experience has given him insight into various learning styles, and he is always willing to learn new techniques in order to make literature and language more accessible to a wider range of learners. After completing a B.A. in English Literature, Emmanuel taught ESL to elementary, middle, and high school students in Japan.

Emmanuel believes that learning is an endless pursuit, taking individuals on intersecting and diverging routes. As a teacher, Emmanuel relishes the opportunity to facilitate the development of innovative ideas to modern concerns.

James Dibb

Teacher

James grew up in Yorkshire, England. After studying language acquisition theories, he soon developed a passion for language learning, and the study of language learners themselves. He completed a BA in English Language, followed by an MA in Psycholinguistics. His main area of research was bilingualism and second language acquisition, and the interaction of two or more languages in the brain. He also holds a Postgraduate Certificate of Education from a UK University.

James first started teaching English language and literature in 2014 in England. Working in a challenging school with students from a variety of cultural backgrounds, he learned the importance of having good relationships with students and building a positive atmosphere in the classroom where all students feel at home. James encourages students with positive reinforcement to become more confident and curious, thus growing as learners. 

A winter sport enthusiast, James enjoys spending free time snowboarding in the mountains around Vancouver or at the hockey rink.

Christina Wiebe

Teacher

Born and raised in Vancouver, Christina has always been among diverse communities and classrooms. Her interest of theatre and engaging with children led her to pursue a dream of working at Walt Disney World in Florida, USA.

After earning a marketing degree from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Christina returned to her passion of working with children, theatrics and communication and completed a certification in Teaching English as a Second Language. She moved to South America and taught English to children as young as three years old to adult.

Christina is thrilled to be back home in Vancouver and teaching at Little Mountain Learning Academy to promote life-long learning through English.

Lital Rosenfeld

Lead Math Teacher

After majoring in Theoretical Physics at the University of Guelph, Lital went into Math and Science Education.

In the mid-2000’s Lital moved to beautiful North Vancouver and started teaching high school Math, Physics and Chemistry, drawing on her own academic background and specializing with the local BC curriculum as well as the Advanced Placement (AP) courses. 

More recently, Lital redesigned and overlooked the implementation of the Math program at a top non-profit society active in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.

With a commitment to excellence in education, extensive background, and valuable experience working with both elementary and high school students, Lital brings a deep understanding of the Math and Science skills required along the elementary and high school learning trajectory, and a commitment to creating positive and empowering learning experiences for all students.

Almira Dela Reyna

Teacher

Almira is from Toronto, Canada. She studied Linguistics at the University of Toronto. She has been working with children and youth for 9 years. In Toronto, she worked in a non-profit organization running after school and summer camp programs for students ages 6-18 years old.

After 6 years of working in one organization, she decided to make a life-changing move to China to teach English. She moved to a city called Hangzhou where she spent about 4 years teaching children and adults. Whilst in China, she taught in numerous public schools and training centres.

Almira started building her career at the early age of 16 and after over a decade and 2 different countries, she now continues to inspire and teach others at Little Mountain!

Anna Riminchan

Teacher

Anna was born in Bulgaria, where she spent her early childhood before immigrating to Canada with her family.

Over the last five years, she has volunteered her time as a mentor for children struggling with mathematics and English in disadvantaged communities. Anna found teaching to be incredibly rewarding and continued to volunteer her time mentoring students and coordinating the program. Anna is currently working towards a Bachelor of Science Degree, majoring in Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia. In the meantime, she is contributing to advancing research in neuroscience, after which, she plans to pursue a degree in medicine. Anna is proud to pass on her knowledge and excite students about education. She hopes to inspire students to grow academically and reach their full potential as learners.

Chantel Duncan

Teacher

Chantel was born in Toronto, Canada. From an early age, she has had a keen interest in languages. She pursued her interest and majored in French studies at York University Glendon Campus. While learning French as a second language, she became aware of the difficulties in second language acquisition from a learner’s perspective. She became enthralled with the English language, and through her tutoring experiences, she realized her passion for teaching.

She is currently completing her B. A in English linguistics and has completed a TESOL certification. By working with teachers from York University English language Institute, she gained insight into various methodologies. Chantel has since worked with many students of varying learning styles for more than a decade. She is committed to making lessons engaging, meaningful, as well as interactive. She believes that every student learns in their own unique way, and she is determined to help all students reach their maximum potential.

Jolly Lei

Administrative Assistant

Jolly Lei, graduated from Trinity Western University with a B.A. in Leadership. She has also completed a Diploma in Business English in Mainland China. Studying abroad enables Jolly to understand the difficulties and struggles that students encounter while they are learning English and adapting to the local culture. Jolly is passionate about helping students at Little Mountain Learning Academy to learn English efficiently by sharing her productive learning background and experience.