Mario “Joey” Filichia

Posted by NHSAF 2

Northland High School Alumni Foundation

Alumni Spotlight December, 2017

Spotlight Questions – Mario “Joey” Filichia, Class of 1990

  1. Who was your favorite teacher, class, friend and hang out?
  • Teacher – Coach Chuck Deyo.
  • My favorite class – Chemistry and Geometry. (Why yes, I use Geometry and Math every day. Why do you ask?)
  • Friends – Koboi Simpson, Chris Clark, Michelle Shevlin, Dr. Myron Raney, Jason Wright, Saman Shirvani, Ray Conrad, Scott Pritchard, Joey Milner
  • Hangouts –  Donato’s Pizza, Wrestling Room

 

  1. Tell about your most memorable moment at Northland High School.

Every year the Northland Wrestling Team had a wrestling “preview” of short matches. My senior year, I finally got to wrestle “at home” and be part of the varsity team. During my first of two matches several friends started chanting “Mario! Mario! Mario” throughout the match after my first “near fall.” Yes, I won…and “Mar-mania” was born.

 

  1. What was your motivation after graduation?

There are those folks in my life, including fellow students, who told me I wasn’t smart enough; I was stupid; I was going to fail; all the things people try to do when tearing you down. This even included my family members. At first, this got to me and I drifted around. Then I met my wife, and someone believed in me. All it took was one person to show me I could believe in myself. I’d been interested in computers, data and programming for many years. I actually learned to program when I was 12. I didn’t have a computer so I would sneak into the computer labs at Ohio State. After moving to Colorado, I found a job in tech support. The programming I learned came back when I was challenged to develop the company wide intranet after a year. I believed in myself so much at that point I made my boss a bet. If I couldn’t deliver what I promised, he could fire me with no repercussions. I didn’t lose that job and have become more than I ever expected I would be. All because one person believed in me.

 

  1. How did your Northland experience help in your life/job?

Some teachers (Joe Higginbotham, Chuck Deyo, Carolyn Flesch, Oakley Addis, Elaine Boltz) believed in me, and encouraged me to do my best. Sadly, it wasn’t until about 10 years after graduation that I realized what they were trying to teach me, how much they tried to help, and how much they actually cared. At that point, I went back to visit Columbus and told each one of them thank you. Those teachers helped me to drive myself to become more that I ever thought I would.

 

  1. As a founding member of Bright View Analytics, tell us about this software company’s applications to the market place. And, how it is helping others.

Unfortunately, BrightView ran out of funding earlier this year. The basis of BrightView Analytics is the application of data science and analytics to a simple question: how do we find out the best way to help K-12 students learn? Is there something special a teacher does that helps a student learn? Is there a something extra like music or arts that helps to improve the students’ academic performance? What books does the student get from the library? BrightView took a student’s entire experience into account, rather than just test scores alone. Taking the entire set of data points surrounding the student, we applied machine learning and statistical models to identify how to help students succeed and graduate. The majority of my career has been built on “giving back,” which was a driving factor in creating BrightView.

Growing up, lots of people tried to help me even if I didn’t know it at the time. Best way to thank them? Help others and pay back. I have worked for a company that manages Organ Donation Data, The U.S. Olympic Committee had me build the fan site for the 2006 Torino Olympics. I spent 5 years as the director of research and development for Denver Public Schools. I was a data scientist for the Veterans Administration. I’ve built custom applications for various non-profit organizations. I’ve taught about databases and computer programming. I’ve mentored many folks. Helping people, even if it’s indirect, is one of the most rewarding things you can do.