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Director, Office of Education Technology, U.S. Department of Education Karen Cator is the Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. She has devoted her career to creating the best possible learning environments for this generation of students. Prior to joining the department, Cator directed Apple's leadership and advocacy efforts in education. In this role, she focused on the intersection of education policy and research, emerging technologies, and the reality faced by teachers, students and administrators. Cator joined Apple in 1997 from the public education sector, most recently leading technology planning and implementation in Juneau, Alaska. She also served as Special Assistant for Telecommunications for the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska. Cator holds a Masters in school administration from the University of Oregon and Bachelors in early childhood education from Springfield College. She is the past chair of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and has served on the several boards including the Software & Information Industry Association—Education. |
Additional Speakers | |
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president, EduRabia Malik is a global executive with strategic management and advisory experience and proven success with large multinationals as well as earlier stage technology companies. He is the President of EduRabia and an offshore holding company focusing on business development, global partnerships, and financial investment ventures. His work is strategic and is focused primarily on C-Level interaction and consulting: He is a deal maker that brings disparate parties together. Malik managed Worldwide Sales and Business development for education technology company where he successfully created partner programs around the world. From building product partnerships with LexisNexis, developing Anti-Piracy programs at Adobe Systems, to developing partner distribution programs with iGroup Asia, Muse Global and Turnitin.com, Malik has done it. Malik is a past CODiE Awards Judge and a former panelist for the SIIA. |
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Director, Partnerships and Business Development, Follett Software Company Susan Adelmann is the Director of Partnerships and Business Development for Follett Software Company, a division of Follett Corporation. Follett Software Company is a leading provider of educational resource management solutions used by more than 60,000 K-12 schools. Follett Corporation has been supplying innovative educational tools and services for over 135 years, with a current global business footprint in over 110 countries. Susan develops business strategy and partner opportunities for Follett and is a senior level technologist with 25+ years experience in software solution development and product strategy for enterprise software companies. |
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President, C. Blohm & Associates, Inc. Linda Winter is the founder and president of the Winter Group, a Denver-based marketing communications and research firm. Established in 1978, Winter Group serves companies and organizations marketing to the K-12, higher education and library sectors. Linda received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her graduate degree from the University of Denver. She is a frequent speaker and panelist at national education market conferences. |
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President, Digital Solutions, Capstone Digital Todd Brekhus is an educational business leader devoted to introducing new technologies to educators and administrators. He was recently hired as President of Capstone Digital Solutions. Capstone Publishers is the largest publisher of school library books. Brekhus is responsible for creating the technology strategy for the K-12 market. Previously, he was VP and Chief Marketing Officer at PLATO Learning. Brekhus was responsible for the Software as a Service (SaaS) product strategy, the entire content library of K-College Courses, the integration of acquired product lines, and bringing new products to market- including the first education program delivered on the Sony PSP a handheld gaming platform. Before coming to PLATO via acquisition, Brekhus was President and COO of Learning Elements, he also built one of the largest teacher internet portals for MCI, MarcoPolo - now called Thinkfinity by Verizon. Todd currently serves on the board of the SIIA’s Education Division. |
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Chief Executive Officer, Casabonne Associates, Inc. |
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Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Tutor.com George Cigale has served as Tutor.com's Chairman and CEO since founding the Company in 1998. Mr. Cigale has raised over $30 million in venture capital and secured strategic partnerships with top education and media companies. He has assembled an accomplished management team and Board of Directors. Under Mr. Cigale's leadership, Tutor.com has created the leading on demand homework help and online tutoring services, making professional tutors available to all students the minute they need academic help. Mr. Cigale brings over 20 years of experience in education, software, and Internet industries, in executive positions at The Share Group, Adizes Institute, and The Princeton Review. Mr. Cigale served on the Boards of the Education Industry Association from 2001-2006 and Libraries for the Future from 2007 to 2009. |
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Founding Principal, Arc Capital Development Kevin Custer leads Arc Portfolio companies Virtual Expert Clinics, the developer of AutismPro, and Kinderstreet, which provides management software for the childcare market. He took Brainium Technologies public through a reverse-takeover of Canada's seventh-fastest growing public company. At Infonautics, he led the creation of Electric Library, an Internet-based subscription service that grossed over $20 million in its first 30 months. The products of his companies have been installed in about 60 percent of the K-12 schools in the United States, with more than 10 million online users each week. Kevin has chaired both the e-business and the Education Division of SIIA. |
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Vice President, K-12 sales, Livescribe Inc. Holly De Leon has spent more than 30 years working for educational causes that advocate for underserved children and populations. Prior to joining the Livescribe team, Holly co–founded Senior Work Solutions in Austin, Texas, to address changing demographic trends in the U.S. labor market linked to an unprecedented number of baby-boomers retiring within a short time frame. Previously, Holly held several president and vice president positions, developing sales and marketing strategies that supported the rapid growth of large, multi–million dollar companies including Retention Education, Inc., American Reading Company and Capitol City Consulting. These positions followed a five–year tenure with LeapFrog SchoolHouse, where she served as the vice president of sales and a founding member of the company's educational division, driving sales from $300,000 in 1999 to a projected $80,000,000 in 2005. Holly began her career as a speech and language pathologist for the Fort Worth Independent School District and Mid Cities Learning Center in Texas, which led her to become the owner and manager of Mid Cities Speech and Hearing Clinic – the first private speech and hearing clinic in Fort Worth, Texas. |
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Senior Vice President of Development, President , Pearson Inc Steve Dowling is responsible for strategic partnerships with government, business and not-for-profits, for developing innovation initiatives that span Pearson’s pre K-20 education businesses and for developing communications strategy for Pearson’s education business for state and national government and policy audiences. He also oversees the Pearson Foundation. Steve has 39 years in educational publishing including experience in higher education, scientific and technical, and K-12 businesses in a variety of roles that include sales, marketing, editorial and executive management. Since joining Pearson in 1997 he has run all of the international education businesses and later oversaw the US preK-12 businesses prior to taking his current role in 2008. In addition to Pearson, Mr. Dowling has worked for Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and McGraw Hill. |
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Managing Director, Quayle Munro, Inc. Michael Doyle has nearly 20 years’ entrepreneurial and investment banking experience and is currently managing director of Quayle Munro, Inc. His experience spans M&A, privatizations, venture equity, and public debt and equity offerings. In 2006, he joined The van Tulleken Company, which was acquired by Quayle Munro in 2008. From 1990 to 2001, Mr. Doyle, worked for Credit Suisse First Boston in the UK rising to the position of Chief Operating Officer, Investment Banking in the Media & Telecoms Group. He advised on over 50 transactions including numerous cable, telecom and privatization transactions. More recently he was a partner at Touchstone Securities, the media and telecoms investment bank. Mr. Doyle joined The van Tulleken Company from Go4venture, the pan-European technology corporate finance boutique, where he was a Managing Director. |
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Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Tabula Digita, Inc. Nt Etuk is Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tabula Digita, a venture-capital backed educational video game company focused on delivering innovative and effective educational games to schools and students. Through its fusion of education and technology-based immersive learning systems, Tabula Digita offers engaging, standards-based, high impact educational tools for elementary, middle and high school students.Mr. Etuk has been identified as one of Black Enterprise Magazine’s Masters of Technology, was a finalist for the Black Enterprise Business Innovator of the Year Award in 2007, and has been featured in Forbes, Black Enterprise, and BusinessWeek, among other publications. |
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Founding Principal and Government Relations Practi, Arc Capital Development Rita Ferrandino offers more than 25 years of experience building companies and delivering strong revenue in the higher education and K-12 markets. She has led company sales, acquisition, alliance and marketing efforts for traditional print, technology, and online products for some of the industry’s largest publishers and Arc portfolio companies. Ferrandino is currently on the Board of Directors and CEO for Chicago Educational Publishing Company which publishes the Science Companion. Ferrandino shapes government policies and decision making at the federal, state and local level. As the Executive Director of the Elementary Science Coalition, Ferrandino is building federal support for elementary science education. |
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Chief Executive Officer & Founder, WeAreTeachers Sandra K. Fivecoat is the CEO and founder of WeAreTeachers.com � an online teaching, learning, and business network, designed to place teachers at the center of the web 2.0 world. Ms. Fivecoat is an established and respected executive coach, having spent the last three years managing Fivecoat and Associates, a consulting firm whose client list includes Dell and Standard & Poors, as well as several smaller education technology firms. Ms. Fivecoat�s previous industry experience includes Senior Vice President of Sales for Lightspan, Inc, and Area Director of public sector sales for Apple Computer. She has held numerous positions in education, including policy leader as the first director of education technology for the State of Texas. |
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Director, Product Management, PLATO Learning Mr. Frost is the Director of Product Management for PLATO Learning. While at PLATO, he led the team that created and launched a new model for services delivery and is now helping to define the next generation of the PLATO Learning Environment, PLATO's market-leading platform for online learning and intervention. He has also consulted for a number educational technology and software start-ups and holds a BS in Computer Science from Brigham Young University and a MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon. | |
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COO, Red Apple Digital, Inc. In early 2009, Mr. Greenberg co-founded Red Apple Digital, Inc. Red Apple Digital is a software company focused on delivering the tools for the classroom of the 21st century. Red Apple Digital's products change the way educators and students utilize technology in the classroom, improve learning outcomes and the utilization of project based learning. Prior to co-founding Red Apple Digital, Inc, Mr. Greenberg served as Executive Director Business Development for Kichler Lighting, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Kichler is a leading manufacture of decorative lighting and home accessory products. Mr. Greenberg is a recognized thought leader in the areas of strategic marketing and branding, business development, development of vertical and horizontal distribution channels, new markets, as well as building and the execution planning of merger & acquisition strategies for growing companies. | |
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Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Blackboard, Inc. Kelly Hamilton brings more than ten years of practical K12 education experience to her role as Senior Manager of Product Marketing at Blackboard, Inc. In her role, Kelly develops and manages strategy and marketing campaigns for the client community. Kelly joined the Blackboard team in 2009 after a year at ANGEL Learning as the K12 Marketing Manager and time as K12 school administrator. Kelly continues to work as a consultant for Indiana University’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy and for the Indianapolis, Indiana, Mayor’s Office for Charter Schools. | |
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Vice President, Marketing, CompassLearning Mark Hammer has over 20 years of experience in education and software marketing. A former educator, Mr. Hammer joined the K12 software industry, first as product manager at COMPanion Corporation, then as VP of Marketing for Sagebrush Corporation. He is currently Vice President of Marketing for CompassLearning. Mr. Hammer has lead re-branding efforts, district-wide adoptions, and unprecedented sales. | |
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Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Pearson Foundation Kathy Hurley is a 35-year veteran of the education industry. She has served in senior executive positions with PLATO Learning, The Learning Company, Skillsbank, and IBM. She works at the Pearson Foundation on education-related initiatives on a domestic and international scale. In 2003, Hurley was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) Hall of Fame for her achievements and service to the education publishing industry. She is based in Washington, D.C., where she works closely with education policy associations. In this capacity, she currently served on several key industry and education advisory boards, including, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) as Board Chairman, the National School Boards Foundation (NSBF), the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET), the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) board where she participates on the International Committee. |
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Chief Executive Officer & Founder, VIP Tone, Inc. Robert Iskander is the Founder and CEO of VIP Tone, Inc. and serves on the SIIA Ed Division Board. After spending 13 years at Sun Microsystems, including 5 years leading the global education market development and vision, Robert started VIP Tone in April 2000 with the goal of connecting all of the dots for the K-20 education enterprise. VIP Tone's EduTone is the first e-integration platform that connects and provisions education enterprise end-users with a multi-vendor ecosystem of IP-based communications, collaboration, learning and administration applications, through a global identity management utility. |
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General Manager, netTrekker Mimi Jett leads the creation of tools, services, and premium content for netTrekker users, while building global distribution channels. Prior to netTrekker, Jett was founder and CEO of Electronic Technical Publishing, specializing in STEM textbooks for Higher-Ed. She was also an Evangelist for IBM Research and led business development for such K-12 companies as Renaissance Learning and Integre. Jett has offered consulting services in education technology, served on community and corporate boards, and served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business under the Clinton Administration. She has spoken internationally and is a member of SIIA’s Global Strategies and Strategic Partnerships Working Group. |
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Managing Director, Cherry Tree & Associates, LLC Chad Johnson is a Managing Director in the investment banking practice of Cherry Tree & Associates. Chad has a long and successful track record advising dozens of entrepreneurs in the sale of their businesses, and numerous public and private companies in the acquisition of complementary businesses. His previous experience includes building a successful software firm, managing corporate M&A, and working in a venture capital firm. Chad is a member of the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). |
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President Chief Potential Officer, Full Potential Associates Michael has been in the education technology marketplace since 1985 developing and delivering technology solutions for universities, public and school libraries, publishers, and classrooms of all types. In 2008, Michael started Full Potential Associates which is a strategic consulting firm specializing in the blend between education, publishing, and technology. Before 2008, Michael spent over 15 years working in various capacities for Follett Corporation. Michael was founder of Follett Digital Resources and one of the chief architects of Follett Corporation's digital strategy. Michael is a frequent speaker and panelists at events ranging from SIIA and AEP events to the London and Frankfurt Book Fairs. |
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CEO and Founder, Learning.com Bill Kelly is the founder and CEO of Learning.com. Over the past ten years he has helped guide the company to become a leader in online instructional materials delivery. Learning.com currently serves over 3 million students and teachers with curriculum and assessment solutions delivered on the Sky Digital Learning Environment, which combines a curriculum repository, professional learning tools and learning management system functionality in one, easy-to-use environment. The company has received many awards, including three SIIA Codie awards. Bill has been an active participant in industry affairs and has helped shape the discussion about digital educational policies and practices at the state and federal level. |
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Vice President, Virtual Expert Clinics, Inc. Karina is a sales and marketing professional with proven success in both large multinationals and earlier stage technology companies. She is the Vice President of Virtual Expert Clinics Inc., makers of AutismPro - a 21st century response to educating students with autism. Her focus is on optimizing sales strategy and execution, business development and managing growth. Karina led the Feminine Care category for Procter & Gamble Canada prior to managing global sales and marketing for a start-up pharmaceutical technology company where she successfully created partner programs around the world. Karina has expertise in refining sales and marketing execution to successfully meet the unique needs of the diverse markets her products have served. |
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Government and Education Strategist, Intel Americas Dr. Lento is developing and implementing holistic models to meet the needs of state and local governments as well as school systems in the United States. In the education space, she is expert at guiding school systems along the technology adoption curve. Recognizing that such efforts demand more than simply providing students and educators with laptops, her work addresses quantitative and qualitative results, visionary leadership, creative funding, rich digital content, ongoing professional development, all supported by a solid infrastructure. Additionally, she brings awareness to the need for advocacy around policies necessary for such systemic reform efforts to gain real traction (i.e., scale and sustainability) Eileen currently serves on the SIIA Education Division's Board of Directors. |
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President, SchoolOne Bob Longo is the President of SchoolOne, LLC a multifaceted education technology company that provides end to end solutions including student information systems, custom application development, managed IT services, complimentary 3rd Party applications such as Studywiz’s learning environment, and school-related soft goods through its Campus Outfitters subsidiary.With more than 25 years of experience, Longo previously served as President of PowerSchool and CEO of Carnegie Learning, Inc. Longo has held executive positions at Revive Technologies, Surefind Information, Inc., Westinghouse Communications, Apple Computer and NeXT, Inc. Earlier in his career Longo was a fulltime educator in both higher education and secondary institutions. |
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Senior Vice President, New Ventures & Strategic Services, McGraw-Hill Education Vineet oversees McGraw-Hill Education’s strategic planning, reengineering, major partnerships, market development, venture investments, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and an internal research and development function. Prior to his current role, he led McGraw-Hill Higher Education’s Learning Ecosystems group, focused on developing breakthrough digital products and services to optimize faculty, student and institutions. Earlier, he served as vice president and global head of strategy and corporate development for McGraw-Hill Education. In that role, Vineet helped direct the company’s digital transformation leading product and market strategy efforts across K-12, assessment, higher education and international resulting in the launch of new digital products and services. Vineet currently serves on the Board of the Education division of the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) and was previously a Board observer at HotChalk. |
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Managing Director, The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. Michael Marchesano, a Managing Director with The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), focuses on the firm's leading M&A advisory practice to the B2B media, and business information and education services sectors. Mr. Marchesano is a 25+ year media industry veteran, a former top executive at The Nielsen Company, and the former President and CEO of VNU Business Media USA. Prior to joining The Nielsen Company, Mr. Marchesano spent 22 years with BPA International, the primary global auditor of business publications, rising to the position of President and CEO in 1994. Mr. Marchesano was recently elected to the Software and Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) Content Division Board. |
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President, MindShare Learning Robert Martellacci is president & publisher of MindShare Learning, an International strategic marketing company he founded in 2001 based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2007 Mr. Martellacci earned a master’s in educational technology from Pepperdine University which inspired the creation of the MindShare Learning Report—Canada’s Premier, Learning & Technology eMagazine. Martellacci is living the 21st Century dream having experienced a number of careers before launching his own business. He served as the Sport Information Director for his alma mater, York University. He then got down to business as the Director of the York University Business Alliance, a university outreach program connecting business & education. His entrepreneurial spirit kicked in after 10 years as a university administrator seeing a future in education and technology. Mr. Martellacci seized the opportunity to take on a new challenge of launching The Learning Company (TLC) Canadian School Division as country manager and continues to follow his passion to transform learning in the 21st Century today. The MindShare Learning partial client list includes: Blackboard, Dell Canada, EPSON, ERDI Canada, Microsoft Canada, NECTAR Foundation, netTrekker, Pearson Canada, RM PLC, SMART Technologies, Softease and Tech4Learning. |
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President-North American, Tata Interactive Systems Tij Nerurkar is the President of North America operations for Tata Interactive Systems, a global pioneer in e-learning that develops custom training and education solutions for corporations, educational institutions and public sector organizations worldwide. Tij has been in this capacity since 2005 and is responsible for overseeing all of the company’s day-to-day operations. Tij began his career in the US branch office with business development where he set up the North East regional office in 2001. Prior to this he was the head of Company’s Mumbai development center for training and education solutions where he serviced global clients with several large scale engagements in content and technology development. Tij is an expert in program management and finance and holds a master of Business Administration degree from the University of Mumbai. | |
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President, The Greaves Group LLC Brenda Raker, President of The Greaves Group, is a highly skilled strategic planner, project manager and executive leader. Her background and continuing involvement as an educator, administrator and educational technology business leader provide her with critical insights into the requirements for success in the education market. Brenda has 20 years of experience working with a variety of educational software and hardware companies including Fourier Systems and Educational Resources where she served as CEO and Apple Computer and The Learning Company where she held sales management roles. She has also worked with two large systems integration companies, BDM and SAIC, where she provided leadership in strategic planning, marketing and business development. |
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Senior Vice President For Strategic Initiatives, Knowledge Universe Nina Rees is Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Knowledge Universe Education, LLC, a leading global education company with investments in early childhood education, before and after school programs and online instruction. Before joining Knowledge Universe, Rees worked for over 15 years in Washington, D.C., most recently as the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. In this post, she oversaw the administration of 28 grant programs (which supported 1300 projects around the country) and coordinated the implementation of several provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Prior to joining the White House, Rees served as the senior education analyst at the Heritage Foundation where she authored more than two dozen policy briefs and served as the foundation's chief spokesperson on education. |
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President, Consulting Services for Education John Richards, Ph.D., is President of Consulting Services for Education, Inc. (CS4Ed). CS4Ed works with publishers, developers, and educational organizations in business development, strategic planning, market research, and developing and launching award-winning products. He is the author/editor of 3 books, over 60 articles, has been responsible for the development of over 1,000 educational products, and is currently Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. |
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Partner, Trademark and Creative Industries , Dorsey and Whitney, LLP Partner in the New York Office in the Trademark and Creative Industries practice groups. Sarah’s practice includes the clearance, enforcement and exploitation of brand names, complex licensing matters including trademark, copyright, software and character licensing, litigation support for intellectual property and entertainment-related claims and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Sarah is also involved in the intellectual property and commercial aspects of various corporate transactions and also assists a variety of start-up companies in creative fields. Sarah advises domestic and international clients in such diverse areas as fashion, music, luxury goods, personal care products, toys, new media, computer games software, alcoholic beverages and hotel services.Prior to joining Dorsey, Sarah practiced in Toronto, Canada and is admitted to the Bar of Ontario.Sarah works in both Dorsey’s New York and Toronto offices. |
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Principal, Ascend Venture Group LLC Kylie Sachs joined Ascend in July 2003. Prior to joining Ascend, Ms. Sachs served in several operating and managerial roles at PRIMEDIA Inc. Prior to her tenure at PRIMEDIA, Ms. Sachs served as a Director of Corporate and Business Development at 360HipHop, a media company founded by Russell Simmons. Ms. Sachs also has a background in investment banking, having worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co., Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Peter J. Solomon Company. Ms. Sachs serves as a director of Printroom.com, Inc. and Boxxet, Inc.; is an observer to the NextMedium, Inc. board of directors; and is a director on the board of trustees of Literacy, Inc. |
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President, edWeb Lisa Schmucki is the founder and CEO of edWeb.net, a professional social network for the education community that makes it easy to connect with peers, share information and best practices, spread innovative ideas, and provide professional development. Lisa is an education industry executive with 30 years experience in product development, database development, and marketing. She is a graduate of Princeton University and has a Masters Degree from the Stern School of Business at NYU. |
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Chief Economist, National Education Association Before working with the National Education Association, Richard Sims served as Policy Director for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington; as Director of Applied Economic Research at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia; as Chief Economist & Director of Taxation & Economic Policy for the Arkansas Legislature; and Director of the Office of Economic Analysis for the Kentucky Legislature. In addition, Richard served two years as the Senior Advisor to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. Dr. Sims has authored over one hundred publications on taxation, economic growth and regional development, and applied public finance. |
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President and CEO, Q2A Media Sudhir is responsible for defining Q2AMedia’s strategy, growth and development of its business. Under his leadership Q2AMedia has become the largest development house in the children reference book segment and a key player in the primary & secondary school market. Prior to Q2AMedia, he was a Vice President at Patni Computer Systems leading their Communications, Media and Entertainment business in EMEAt. Sudhir joined Patni through the acquisition of a Silicon Valley based boutique consulting firm, Cymbal Corporation, in October 2004 where he played a key role from start-up to successful exit. He joined Cymbal in 2001 as a key member with the mission to build a US $50M high end consulting-led business model focused on serving communications/media service provider, leveraging global delivery. Prior to this, Sudhir has worked with NaviSite (formerly Avasta), In Touch Technologies and Standard Chartered Bank. |
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Director of Business Development, Adaptive Curricu, Sebit, LLC With 20+ years of industry experience in educational technology Paul Skiera’s commitment to finding technology-driven solutions began at the earliest stages of technology in education. He is the Director of Technology Based Learning and Research (TBLR), an educational technology research center at Arizona State University and Director of Business Development for Adaptive Curriculum (an eLearning solution from Sebit, LLC) at ASU’s SkySong Center for Innovation. TBLR offers instructional design, professional development, research and evaluation. Skiera’s expertise in current and emerging trends in educational technology match his leadership resulting in efforts that brought Sebit, LLC and Adaptive Curriculum into the U.S. |
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Chief Development Officer, Florida Virtual Nearly ten years ago Joy Smith first saw and understood the vision of Florida Virtual School. As a project manager for IBM, a company that partnered with FLVS in the late 1990s, Ms.Smith participated in that vision. Today as the FLVS Chief Development Officer, she lives that vision. Ms. Smith is a Project Management Professional certified by the Project Management Institute. By training and experience, she has developed a multifaceted set of talents. She leads the Curriculum Services team in the development, maintenance and upgrading of FLVS course content and curriculum resources. Her approach involves leading and facilitating the collaborative and problem-solving efforts of her team members. Her decision to accept a position with FLVS was prompted by her belief in the FLVS vision for education, and by her desire to work with a talented group of people highly committed to that vision. |
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Vice Presdent, Design, Muzzy Lane, Inc. Bert Snow is the VP of Design and Content at Muzzy Lane Software, and a designer with wide interests and a history of innovation in game design. Bert leads Muzzy Lane’s design group, and has designed the social history game American Dynasties, ReFresh, a game to teach Marketing, and the company’s first title, Making History, the Calm & the Storm. He and his team are now working on the Clearlab Project, developing games to teach science at the middle-school level. In 1993 he founded Virtual Music, a company that pioneered the music-game genre. There, Bert designed several groundbreaking music-gaming titles including Quest for Fame (starring Aerosmith). |
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Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The CyberSmart! Education Company Jim Teicher is Cofounder and CEO of CyberSmart! Education, a leader in facilitated online professional development and curriculum fostering 21st century skills. Jim founded CyberSmart! Africa in 2007 partnering with The Millennium Villages Project, a joint initiative of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise and the United Nations Development Programme to provide a sustainable, scalable solution to 21st century learning. Working closely with the Senegalese Ministry of Education and local education authorities, CyberSmart! Africa is introducing a suite of 21st century learning activities including digital storytelling, whole class instruction with interactive whiteboards, supplemental curricula using smartpens, learner-centered professional development, and more. Jim currently serves on the advisory board of the US Congressional Internet Caucus and currently serves on the consumer advisory board of McAfee Corp. |
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Chief Executive Officer, Second Avenue Software Victoria Van Voorhis is the founder and CEO of Second Avenue Software, Inc., which specializes in the development of award-winning interactive media and serious games for the K-16 education market. Second Avenue creatively blends pedagogy with technology to create innovative learning environments which empower teachers, engage students and improve outcomes. Ms. Van Voorhis previously taught at the middle school, high school and college levels and played a leadership role in strategic initiatives at Xerox. |
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VP, Business Development North America, Fronter International Founded in Norway in 1998, Fronter was acquired by Pearson in 2009, joining the world’s leading education company. Setting the standard for online learning solutions, Fronter provides a flexible learning solution for the next generation of global education. Winning many prestigious awards, Fronter has been acknowledged as a leader in its market, and one of only 10 Learning Platform Service Suppliers to be certified by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) in the UK. Experiencing rapid growth and expansion, the Fronter Platform is used by millions of teachers and learners in schools, colleges, universities, and professional organizations around the world. |
