About Us

Kenneth Dublin — CEO/President

Kenneth Dublin started The Learning Pad with a dream of assisting individuals and businesses in their learning initiatives. His passion for helping people achieve their goals began years ago in school when he was a professional fitness instructor. For the past 13 years Kenneth has worked in the education field. He worked for Dell and the State of Texas developing in-house curricula, training aids, and facilitating training which led him to become a specialist in Technology Enabled Learning and Education Process Design. Kenneth's hobbies include spending quality time camping and boating with his family.

Candy Ramirez — Director of Student Services/Office Manager

Candy moved to Texas from Southern California when she was very young. She has 10+ years experience in the Administrative/Office Managerial field, including multiple industries.

Candy has recently become a Microsoft Office Specialist by passing the MOS certification.

She is a proud mom of four beautiful children; three girls and one boy. She enjoys spending her time with her family as well as playing disc golf, writing poetry, and other outdoor activities like camping, swimming, hiking, etc. She’s a very caring person and LOVES helping people on their journey for a better career.

Dani Fielding — Director of Admissions and External Relations

Dani recently moved to Austin from Amarillo. She has been in the IT Industry since 1982. She has worked with Government Agencies such as BWXT/Pantex, Bell Helicopter and the Department of Energy. She has owned her own training company and has worked in the education field for the past 13 years. She enjoys identifying clients’ needs and directing them to the proper training solutions. Dani and her husband are proud parents of a son who attends Texas Tech Honors College. She enjoys riding her horse “Red” and camping.

Leon Brown — Allied Healthcare

Leon Brown is The Learning Pad Phlebotomy and EKG instructor. Leon has worked in the medical field since 1970. He received phlebotomy training in 1974, and was certified in 1994 through Seton Medical Center and the American Association of Phlebotomy Technicians. Leon is also a lab manager at a research facility where he provides ECG and Phlebotomy training to research staff. Leon enjoys spending time with his son and two dogs. He is an avid gardener and breeds fancy guppies. Leon's favorite pastime is assisting students to attain their health career goals.

Michelle Fisher — Allied Healthcare

Ms. Fisher is the Instructor for The Learning Pads Certified Clinical Medical Assistant program. She has a background in Medical Assisting, Medical Assisting Instruction, Cosmetology, and Property Management. She chose the Medical Field because she has a strong compassion for caring for others. She has worked in Internal Medicine, Urgent Care, Family Practice, and Pediatrics. She has a passion for teaching and assisting others to obtain their goals of working in the Medical Field. She enjoys spending time with her family and daughters. As well as engaging in outdoor activities such as sports, swimming, and working in her garden. She states, "I truly believe that life gives back to you what you give into it - Good or Bad".

Carey Mortensen — Allied Healthcare

I have been in the medical field since 1987 and have loved every aspect of patient care; especially trauma. I have worked as an MA, phlebotomist, respiratory tech., and school nurse. My career as an educator began back in 1998. I started working with juvenile offenders in various settings; teaching subjects like art history, Texas history, and life skills classes. I took my first job in the career school industry back in 2000 and have taught many subjects including pharmacology, medical assisting, medical theory, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, as well as many core subjects. I have written curriculum for medical assisting, pharmacy technician, personal trainer, and medical billing and coding specialist programs. My favorite position has always been that of instructor. Most of my time now is spent reviewing and/or writing curriculum, reviewing textbooks, overseeing student retention, and developing educational support services for students and instructors. My hobbies are reading textbooks, surfing, teaching, writing and spending time with my boys. What I enjoy the most about teaching at Learning Pad, LLC are those “A-HA” moments. It is so fun to see the “light bulb” come on and a student really wrap their head around a piece of information.

John Maya — Allied Healthcare

John has over 15 years of Medical Assisting experience that began with extensive training as a Hospital Corpsman in U.S. Navy. John has experience in family practice, ENT, OB, and most recently, cardiology. For the past four years John has been working as a Triage Coordinator at Cardio Texas (formerly Texas Cardiovascular) where he has eagerly learned and expanded his knowledge of electrocardiograms, holter monitors, and stress testing. His unique skills, solid knowledge base, and continued clinical application make John an excellent tool for students to excel as Electrocardiogram Technicians.

Matt Varner — CISO/IT Instructor

Matt may not own a TV but he’s really into technology. He bought his first computer in the 80's and his knowledge spans Commodore Amigas, Macs, Windows, Linux, and U.S. Navy computers (which he tells “sea” stories about). Discovering online gaming in the early 90's gave Matt experience in everything from building gaming boxes to setting up and troubleshooting networks. His curiosity in how things work, coupled with his broad technical experience with everything from Oracle databases to network scanners, lend to his expertise in the information security field. He holds a computer science and computer information systems degree. His certifications include CompTIA Security+, Network+, A+, Microsoft Certified Professional in multiple OSes, as well as, several vendor certifications. Matt enjoys learning, teaching and creating student exercises based on the belief that hands on experience is the key to learning.