Joyful Math Worldwide · Ellen Kulinsky
We partner with K–12 schools, in-person math learning centers, teachers, and educational organizations to build and grow advanced mathematics programs — from gifted and Olympiad-level tracks to school-wide problem-solving culture — through hands-on teacher training and growth consulting that helps great programs scale and sustain over time.
Instead of telling me what to see, you showed me where to look. You never revealed the answer — you questioned us, pushed us to think harder. You didn’t stuff us with knowledge or tell us to memorize formulas. You explained why things work. Because of you, I’ve learned that “why?” is so much more important than following whatever the teacher says. I honestly think you are one of the best teachers ever.
Kiana
6th Grade Student
Track Record
Built on years of leading some of the world’s most influential math programs — across every K–12 grade level and up to the highest levels of competition mathematics.
Where We’ve Had Impact
United States · Rwanda · Uganda · Tanzania · Malawi · South Africa · Zimbabwe · Botswana · Eswatini — add your country to the list.
Mission
Too many students experience mathematics as something cold, procedural, and rigid. At the same time, many teachers were never given the opportunity to experience mathematics themselves as creative, joyful, collaborative, and truly human.
As a result, even deeply caring educators are often led to teach mathematics in ways that prioritize speed, memorization, and test preparation. But mathematics can be something else entirely.
Mathematics can be playful, creative, and fun. Like trying to beat a difficult level in a video game, humans naturally want to be pushed to their limits — when they believe success is possible. The strongest mathematical cultures see joy and challenge not as opposites, but as qualities that go hand-in-hand.
Programs like Art of Problem Solving and math circles already show what’s possible when joy and challenge work together — but that experience is still out of reach for most classrooms. Our mission is to close that gap: bringing the same caliber of teacher training, mentorship, and hands-on learning to schools all over the world.
We believe that when teachers themselves experience joyful mathematics, they transform not only their classrooms, but entire communities.
What makes a teacher more effective than AI? It isn’t information — it’s human enthusiasm.
Programs
Interactive professional development that helps educators build curious, high-expectation math classrooms where students love to think.
All K–12 grades
Partnering with school leaders to strengthen mathematical culture and build the systems that sustain it over time.
School & system leadership
Deep preparation for national and international math competitions — developing gifted and high-achieving students through rigorous, creative problem solving — available through school programs as well as 1-on-1 and small-group tutoring.
Gifted, advanced & competition students
Hands-on gatherings that spark wonder and bring school communities together around the beauty of mathematics.
All K–12 grades & families
Guidance for educators and organizations starting their own enduring, joyful math community from the ground up.
All K–12 grades
Hands-on growth support for in-person math learning centers and tutoring businesses — parent consultations, instructor training, marketing advisory, and enrollment strategy for owners looking to scale.
Math learning centers, schools, NGOs & ministries
The best learning environment is one where teachers love to teach, and students love to learn.
Impact
Fifty-six joyful teens after a week-long intensive — Southern Africa Rising Stars Math Camp, Pretoria.
What Schools Experience
Voices From the Field
From the Mailbag
Play With Us
Give these a try. You can share them with your friends. No calculators allowed! Think you found the fastest method? Most importantly: do you know why your method works?
Problem 01 · Elegant Arithmetic
You may be thinking — but how are these possible without a calculator? Hint: do you always have to go left to right?
Problem 02 · A Growing Pattern
How many circles would be in the 100th triangle? What if we asked for the circles in triangle n? What is the general strategy?
Problem 03 · Circles in a Square
Four equal circles tangent to one another, fit inside a square. A smaller square sits tangent to all four circles. If the large square has side length 4, what is the area of the small one?
There is always more than one path from point A to point B. Mathematics becomes more meaningful when students explore ideas collaboratively — trading strategies, debating approaches, and discovering their favorite path.
Founder
Ellen Kulinsky is passionate about building vibrant educational communities that foster curiosity, creativity, connection, and joy. She believes education is about far more than knowledge alone — it is about helping students build confidence, develop resilience, think deeply, and experience the excitement of solving hard problems together.
Her love of creative problem solving began as a student reading Art of Problem Solving textbooks, attending the Los Angeles Math Circle, and competing in mathematics contests. She went on to study mathematics at UC Berkeley, where she served as president of the Women in Mathematics organization, helping foster a supportive and inclusive community for aspiring mathematicians.
After graduating, Ellen joined Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), the global leader in advanced math education. She helped launch its first Bay Area campus and went on to lead five in-person AoPS centers — across Irvine, San Diego, Pleasanton, Fremont, and Santa Clara, California — before stepping into organization-wide leadership as Director of the AoPS Virtual Campus — where she oversaw a program serving over 10,000 students — and later as Director of Engagement and Growth. During this time, AoPS programs expanded to reach over one million learners worldwide and served as the primary training ground for every member of the United States International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team.
For nearly a decade, Ellen also taught and led math circles at UCLA, Berkeley, and Stanford, introducing students to advanced mathematical concepts through collaboration, exploration, and joyful problem solving. She helped organize major mathematics competitions and events, including the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad (BAMO) and international Women in STEM panels.
Ellen also works with the African Olympiad Academy, supporting the growth of Olympiad programs, camps, teacher development, and advanced mathematical learning opportunities across Africa — in countries where access to these opportunities is still emerging and exceptional mathematical talent is waiting to be nurtured.
Today, through Joyful Math Worldwide, Ellen brings together everything she has learned to help schools and communities create mathematics cultures that are joyful, rigorous, creative, collaborative, and deeply human.
Get Involved
Donations help fund teacher training, Olympiad coaching, and math camps in communities where these opportunities are still emerging.
Donate →Have an idea, a partnership, or a program you’d like to think through together? Book time on the calendar.
Book Time to Meet →Know a school, teacher, or organization that could benefit? Pass along Ellen’s contact directly.
ellen@joyfulmathworldwide.com
Questions
Contact
Don’t see a time that works? Email ellen@joyfulmathworldwide.com.
Responses within 2 business days.