Portnoy is a former public school teacher and professor of education having worked in elementary, undergraduate and graduate classrooms. She has also worked with teachers and students in informal settings across New York City including the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Gardens and the New York Hall of Science. She is a member of the World Economic Forum's Expert Network in Media, Entertainment and Information and is a former ASCD Emerging Leader. Portnoy currently works and writes at the intersection of cognition, assessment for learning, and emerging technology and serves as chief learning officer at Killer Snails in Brooklyn, NY.