Founder David Bossart
Dave, as everyone calls him, has been the outspoken leader of this company since its inception in 2005. He has worked as a private tutor for over twenty years now, and his passion for life and human potential infuses everything he does.
E.Q. Tutors is the culmination of everything Dave has worked for these past twenty plus years. As the name suggests, this company is founded on the principle that emotional intelligence is the foundation that empowers us to pursue our most ambitious dreams with grace and perseverance. You can read more about emotional intelligence and its role in our company here.
If you would like to speak directly with Dave about your situation, please schedule a call here.
Below Dave relates his story of how he began working as a tutor and turned his desire to help people into a successful business.
BORN AND RAISED LOCALLY
I am proud to say that I grew up in San Francisco. I graduated from Town School, Marin Academy,
and UC Berkeley, where I completed a double major in History and Physical Science.
GETTING STARTED
I began tutoring in college as a way to make some extra money. Many parents are looking for a tutor to support their child in math and science, so my background in math, chemistry, and physics was especially useful and led to greater opportunity to work as a tutor. The pay was higher than for other jobs I could get at the time, but more important than that, the job was appealing and exciting because each student was different and I had the freedom to innovate when finding the best ways to explain things.
I later taught in a school for developmentally disabled students in Berkeley, which was a defining experience for me; I realized that my strongest desire was to work with young people, helping them make better decisions and pursue their potential. With autistic youths, the goals were very different from those of the students I tutored, but the underlying dynamic was universal: be an honest advocate for self-empowerment through patience, consistency, and improved focus.
BUILDING A BUSINESS
I eventually decided to pursue tutoring full time and left my job at the Via Center. My tutoring students and their parents had great things to say about me, and by referrals I soon found myself working seven days a week. I loved it, but knew that schedule wasn’t sustainable – so in 2005, I started a tutoring business to get some relief. I called the company Aristotle Associates, in honor of the Greek icon of learning and philosophy, who was himself a tutor. I conscientiously trained each employee, so that I could preserve my reputation for caring about each student and going the extra mile to provide the support they need. I had a lot to learn about running a business, but I was on my way.
REBRANDING MY FIRM
In 2019, nearly fifteen years after my company’s start, I decided to change the name of my business. I wanted to draw attention to our process for working with students, a blend of structure and self-awareness, which goes beyond the content of standardized tests and academic classes. The specific activities into which students invest their time change the way they learn, allowing them to build self-confidence and increase productivity. I call this approach The System, and that became the new name for my company.
I also committed to the highest possible standards for the tutors who work with our clients. I searched for the individuals who are not only completely qualified to explain the most difficult concepts within their subjects, but also personable and compassionate people. It was a tremendous challenge, but I am happy to say that I have succeeded. Read through their bios, below, and see for yourself: I have an incredible staff. And I personally trained each employee, so that they would benefit from my vast experience in this industry.
The System has truly set a new standard for the industry.
REBRANDING AGAIN
Since 2021, I have been building a math curriculum platform to solve the math learning loss crisis in the United States. The platform has grown alongside my tutoring business, but in 2024 it was time to formally separate the two pursuits. As such, I have rebranded my tutoring business, calling it E.Q. Tutors. The platform remains with The System, which I like as the name for an adaptive and dynamic learning platform.
I renamed my tutoring business E.Q. Tutors to emphasize my focus on emotional intelligence. We have developed our own emotional intelligence to help students understand theirs. I want to push the limits of what tutoring can be, and developing a culture that prioritizes our emotional well being seems the best way to achieve that.
METICULOUS AND CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT
I continuously examine my company down to the smallest detail – always looking to refine our processes, to find the most talented tutors to be my employees, and ultimately to craft the best experience for my clients. I have more than twenty years of experience, and it shows: our current services are outstanding. We empower students to achieve more in less time, as they cultivate a deeper understanding of the material and better study habits, week after week. Students begin to set more ambitious goals and reach them, and that carries over into the rest of their lives.
I am grateful to be the leader of this company. I awake each day with a sense of hope and excitement for the opportunity to provide young people with the tools and resources that truly empower them. This is my passion, and nothing could fulfill me more.
Meet the Team: Experts Who Prepare for Each Student
These are the outstanding individuals who create the magic with students. Read through the bios below. There isn’t a weak member on the team – each one is a rock star: master of their subjects, friendly and engaging, and available to help your child right now.
To ensure that students get the most out of each session, we ask students to send the problems and topics ahead of their appointment, a simple step that ensures that our tutors hit the ground running from the first moment. And we don’t bill for any of the time that a tutor spends preparing. With other individuals or companies, students need to wait while a tutor refreshes on a topic or the particulars of how to solve a problem. That can be demoralizing and frustrating, and you’ll never have that problem with us.
Students are frequently amazed to see just how much they can get done in a single appointment.
VANESSA NAVARRO
Vanessa recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics. In her first semester, she found that the tutoring center at UC Berkeley was instrumental in her success in rigorous math classes. The support and guidance she received inspired her to give back, and she began tutoring fellow undergrads in various math topics ranging from pre-calculus to multivariable calculus. She is now a first-year Master’s student at UC Berkeley, studying Data Science. In her spare time, Vanessa loves cooking, baking, crocheting, and spending quality time with friends.
LYDIA MILLHON
Lydia Millhon is a PhD student in Hispanic Languages and Literatures at UC Berkeley. She completed her M.A. in Latin American Studies from the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University and received her B.A. with Honors in Spanish at Wake Forest University. With experiences mainly in Spanish speaking instruction and research, Lydia is working towards fluency in Portuguese. Her research interests include the intersections of visual arts and literature across Hispanic and Lusophone spheres like Cuba and Brazil. Her pedagogical background ranges from conversational Spanish with undergrads to working with students in immersive abroad programs, language instruction, and cultural analysis. Lydia aims to create holistic and personalized steps for students to achieve their goals and foster linguistic and intercultural exchanges.
KINSEY LONG
Kinsey Long is a Biophysics PhD student at UC Berkeley, where she also earned a B.S in Chemical Biology. Kinsey has over 7 years of experience as a tutor for high school students in math, chemistry, and computer science. She has developed and taught college-level courses in biochemistry, bioinformatics, data science and quantum mechanics. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, board games and traveling.
ALAN SHIELDS
Alan is a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his BA in Computer Science with a focus on Game Design & Development in 2015. He has over 10 years of tutoring Computer Science and Application Development, and 2 years experience as a teaching assistant. He currently works full time for an intelligence company building technology to defend against black hat hackers, and cyber criminals. When not saving the internet from crime, he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, playing ice hockey, and outdoor building projects.