Marie Bjerede
Vice President
Wireless Educational Technology, QUALCOMM, Inc.


Marie Bjerede is an executive leader with Qualcomm Incorporated, focused on the role of Wireless Education Technologies in K-12 education.

Over the past decade, Bjerede has worked across Qualcomm technologies and businesses to predict, identify, and leverage trends in the evolution of mobile data-based applications, including social networking, connected consumer devices, the infusion of mobile devices and services into the family, and the revolutionary potential of Wireless Education Technologies—personal, always-connected computing devices—in the hands of students and educators.

In her more than two-decade tenure at Qualcomm, Bjerede has led a wide array of organizations in the development of wireless communications applications, infrastructure, and services, with a relentless focus on the drivers of breakthrough performance. As a technology leader, Bjerede has systematically developed and implemented practices and norms that foster a self-organizing, diverse, inclusive, highly efficient culture of continual organizational learning and improvement.

Throughout her career, Bjerede’s unconventional leadership style has consistently emphasized innovative approaches to classic challenges. In the arena of Wireless Education Technologies, Bjerede brings a confluence of experience in both wireless communication and high-tech communities of practice to exploring the implications of rapidly evolving wireless technologies and increasing demands of high-tech professions on preparing students for the modern workforce.

Bjerede holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from UCSD.

Don Casey
Executive Sales Consultant
Education Sales Solutions


Don Casey has been involved in thought leadership and the management of sales organizations with an exclusive focus on the school market for over 25 years.

Don began his illustrious career as a 3rd grade classroom teacher in a small town in upstate New York. He later sold educational software to schools from 1983 to 1985 and received a Master of Education degree in Computer-Based Education from Arizona State University in 1987. He then became the Western Regional Sales Manager for Mindscape Software, a division of Scott Foresman school textbook company.

By 1989, he was elevated to National Sales Manager at Mindscape and was recruited to be the first Education Sales Manager for Broderbund Software in 1990. After a very rewarding experience at Broderbund, he joined Mindscape again in late 1994 as the Director of the Education Division, where he increased education division sales to nearly $10 million. In March 1998, Mindscape and several other key educational technology companies were acquired by The Learning Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. Don was selected to be the Vice President of Education Sales from a very prestigious group of sales professionals.

Classroom Connect recruited Don as their Vice President of Sales in late 1999. This well-funded Internet-delivered professional development service grew from $4 million to over $13.5 million under Don’s direction. In late 2001, when this company was acquired by Harcourt School Publishing, a division of Reed Elsevier, Don joined Teacher Created Materials as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Curriculum Division. Upon leaving TCM, Don founded Education Sales Solutions, an executive sales consulting service, working with many education publishing companies—including CompassLearning, Houghton Mifflin, Knowledge Adventure, Headsprout, Tech4Learning, AgileMind, JupiterMedia, and IMSI.

In the fall of 2005, Don and his family moved to Austin, Texas, and continued to expand Education Sales Solutions by working with many nationally recognized education publishers throughout the U.S. and Canada, focusing exclusively on sales training and the implementation and training of Salesforce.com. He is currently serving as the Executive Vice President and General Manager for Destiny Learning.

Mitchell D. Chester
Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education


Mitchell Chester began serving as Commissioner of the Massachusetts public schools in May 2008 after being unanimously selected by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in January. As Commissioner he is responsible for the public education of the Commonwealth’s nearly 1,900 schools and more than one million students.

Dr. Chester began his career as an elementary school teacher in Connecticut, where he taught Grades 1, 2, 4, and 5. He was a middle school assistant principal and a district curriculum coordinator. He moved to the Connecticut State Department of Education, where, as Chief of the Bureau of Curriculum and Instructional Programs, he oversaw subject area programs, educational technology, comprehensive health education, and federal entitlement programs and helped to develop standards and performance assessments for both new and veteran teachers and administrators.

In 1997, Dr. Chester was named the Executive Director for Accountability and Assessment for the School District of Philadelphia. There he headed the offices of Assessment, Research and Evaluation, Student and School Progress, and Pupil Information Services. In 2001, he moved to Ohio, where he served as the Senior Associate Superintendent for Policy and Accountability for the Ohio Department of Education and oversaw standards, assessments, accountability, policy development, and strategic planning. In addition, he was responsible for the state’s implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Dr. Chester has presented nationally on accountability, assessment, and teacher induction and retention. He has served as a consultant to states and school districts regarding curriculum and instruction, teacher evaluation, student achievement, and assessment and accountability.

Dr. Chester holds a doctorate in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University, as well as advanced degrees from the University of Connecticut and the University of Hartford. He and his wife Angela live with their son Nicholas in Winchester.

Michael M. Flood
Vertical Manager, K-12 Education
Sprint Nextel


Michael Flood leads K-12 Education strategy in the Vertical Markets organization of Sprint Nextel. Internally, Michael’s role involves him in strategic opportunities, product and service design, marketing strategy, vertical industry knowledge transfer to Sprint’s education sales force and executive briefings. Externally, Michael serves as Sprint’s liaison to the Education community for media and public relations, association memberships (EdNET, CoSN, ISTE, AASA, NSBA, etc.), business development, and events.

Michael holds a B.S. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. In Atlanta, Michael serves as the Chairman for the Board of Advisors to AIESEC (the world’s largest student-run organization) and as a volunteer with AFS Intercultural Programs (a high school and teacher international exchange program). Michael is a founding member of the Georgia Gwinnett College Technology Advisory Council and guest lectures on Education Technology at Georgia Perimeter College. Michael joined the EdNET Advisory Board in the spring of 2010.

Sue Gendron
Policy Coordinator and Former Commissioner
Maine Department of Education


Susan A. Gendron served as Commissioner of Education for the state of Maine from March 13, 2003, until May 1, 2010, when she stepped down to assume the role of Policy Coordinator for the SMARTER Balance Assessment Consortium. On June 1, 2010, she was named a Senior Fellow for the International Center for Leadership in Education. In her role at ICLE, Sue leads a team of former state commissioners/superintendents to provide coaching and executive training and support to state education leaders and their staffs. She also leads the International Center’s consulting services to local districts and state education departments for development of comprehensive assessment systems and 21st century-based technology plans.

Gendron’s career in education spans 38 years, serving as kindergarten teacher, primary school principal, high school principal, and assistant superintendent as well as superintendent of schools in Windham, Maine, for many years. She has encouraged the expansion of public preschool programs in Maine and focused on working with school systems to move to a learner-centered system of standards-based education. As an early advocate of graduating all students ready for college, career, and citizenship, she led Maine to become the first—and still only—state to use the SAT test as the state’s 11th grade assessment, part of her efforts to create a culture of higher aspirations and encourage postsecondary education for all students. She led the implement of Maine’s reorganization effort of Maine’s school systems into fewer units, the largest education restructuring in the state in 50 years.

During her tenure, Maine joined with three other states to administer a common assessment for reading and mathematics. Commissioner Gendron expanded Maine’s laptop program, which has provided notebook computers to all Maine middle school students since 2002—making Maine the first and only state with a statewide 1:1 computing program, making laptops a possibility for every student in Grades 7-12. The high school expansion, announced in June 2009, marks the world’s largest educational technology program of its kind, once again putting Maine at the leading edge in using technology to support education.

She has received many honors, including the Maine School Superintendents’ Distinguished Educator Award, 2001; the Maine Superintendent of the Year Award, 2002; the Maine Education Association – Friend of Education Award, 2005; the University of Southern Maine Distinguished Alumni Award, 2006; the State Education Technology Directors Association – Pushing the Envelope Award, 2008; and the Jobs for America’s Graduates – National Education Leadership Award, 2009.

Mike Hajek
Director of Business Development & Marketing
National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA)

Mike Hajek is currently the Director of Business Development & Marketing at NJPA. Mike has direct experience and background with educational systems at the administrative level through 18 years of public service as a local K-12 school board member, as well as past experience serving on a regional Minnesota Technical College System board. This experience has given him a wide spectrum and inside view of the education system needs with regard to purchasing. The dimension of experience included district consolidations and excessive budget reductions at both levels.

Mike’s span of public service continued with several years as a member of the North Central Service Cooperative Board of Directors, now doing business as the National Joint Powers Alliance ® (NJPA). For many of those years, he served as Chairman of the Board. It was during these years of service, and through 20 years as an employee of a municipal utility, that Mike established a unique understanding of the need for cooperation between all education and government agencies.

Responsibilities as the NJPA Director of Business Development have allowed Mike to expand local purchasing concepts to national contract purchasing programs and create potential solutions that could be shared by all education and government agencies. This opportunity has presented an exciting challenge that has resulted in making a difference for municipals across the country.

The emphasis in his current position is to develop national contract purchasing solutions through contracted corporate business relationships to better serve the now over 30,000 municipal and nonprofit member agencies located throughout the United States. Mike also continues to guide the expanding need for a user-friendly purchasing and distribution process and continuing need to develop unique municipal programs and national purchasing solutions.

Mike is a strong advocate of choice and ensuring the procurement “process wheel” is as round as possible, avoiding any efforts to re-create the wheel of progress. This emphasis and passion to serve public agencies has led Mike to work with the NJPA staff to develop programs that encourage municipal and nonprofit agencies throughout the United States with common needs to take steps to be a part of the NJPA nationwide cooperative effort and to reach beyond their present purchasing process.

Mike lives in Staples, Minnesota, with his wife and has three grown children and seven grandchildren.

Donna M. Harris-Aikens
Director, NEA Education Policy & Practice
National Education Association

Donna Harris-Aikens is the Director of the Education Policy and Practice Department at the National Education Association and is an avid advocate for educators. The Education Policy and Practice Department is NEA’s primary policy center on pre-k, elementary, and secondary education issues. EPP focuses on analysis and advocacy related to federal legislation (such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and career technical education); advocacy related to administrative grant programs and regulatory guidance; and helping state affiliates, policymakers, and other organizations understand the requirements and implications of statutory and regulatory language.

Donna focuses on ensuring NEA policy goals are reflected in legislative and regulatory initiatives and works primarily with the Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council. She also serves as liaison to NEA’s ESEA Advisory Committee.

In 2008, her work also focused on helping NEA achieve its electoral goals by serving as the Association’s policy liaison to political campaigns. Donna also was selected to serve as a member of the Democratic Party’s Platform Drafting Committee. Prior to joining NEA in 2006, she served as the Policy Manager for Service Employees International Union’s Public Services Division. Before joining SEIU, she served as Director of Government Relations for the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium and as an attorney in an education boutique law firm in Washington, DC.

A Virginia native, Donna graduated from James Madison University cum laude with a bachelor of science in Public Administration with a minor in Economics and a concentration in Statistics. In addition, she earned her law degree from Howard University School of Law and is an active member of the District of Columbia Bar. She, her husband and fellow Howard Law alumnus Ronald E. Aikens, and their two young children live in Manassas, Virginia.

Dr. Nelson B. Heller
President
EdNET at MDR

Nelson Heller is President of EdNET at MDR, a D&B Company. EdNET publishes a weekly e-mailed industry news service, sponsors the annual EdNET: Educational Networking Conference, and offers periodic EdNET Virtual Roundtables with panels of experts regarding key issues impacting educational sales and marketing. Dr. Heller has been quoted in numerous business publications and has spoken or keynoted at many domestic and international conferences.

Nelson Heller started The Heller Reports in 1988. In 2002, the business was acquired by Scholastic Inc. and QED. Nelson joined MDR when QED was acquired by MDR in February 2009. In its early years, The Heller Reports offered periodic international EdNET Trade Missions and published two valued technology-focused newsletters—Educational Technology Markets and Internet Strategies for Education Markets—covering business opportunities in the education markets. The Heller Reports pioneered electronic education market B2B publications with a news alert service, archive, and virtual community for educational industry executives.

He previously served as research vice president for SFN, an educational and professional publisher and radio and TV industry firm; before that, he was president of Educational Programming Systems and the Technology Assisted Learning Market Information Service (TALMIS).

Dr. Heller is recipient of the “Making It Happen” education industry award. In December 2009, he was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers’ Hall of Fame. He holds graduate degrees from MIT and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Jennifer House
President
RedRock Reports


RedRock Reports is led by Jennifer House, Ph.D. A noted education market leader, Dr. House is a former teacher, reading specialist, school district administrator, and educational technology innovator. In addition to heading up the Curriculum Department for the Cupertino Union School District in California, she also led engineering education and marketing programs for Hewlett-Packard; managed
K-12 marketing programs for Apple Computer; held executive positions with Tenth Planet, Classroom Connect, and other leading K-12 organizations. Dr. House also has served on the Board of Directors for the Software Information Industry Association, the International Society for Technology Education, and the Association of Education Publishers.

Fady Khairallah
President and General Manager
MDR

With over 20 years of business leadership and success in driving new business growth through innovation, Fady Khairallah is currently the President of MDR, a D&B Company in Shelton, Connecticut. MDR is a leading provider of sales and marketing solutions for the education sector. Under Fady’s leadership, MDR has grown from $27 million to $53 million in yearly revenue while improving net margin to a world-class 53%. Fady brings MDR and its customers extensive experience in marketing, technology, and operations to solve challenging business problems. Before assuming the GM role in April 2005, Fady served as MDR’s COO. Khairallah has driven an accelerated product development process and championed investment in sales and customer support to meet MDR customer needs.

Previously, Fady served as COO of Sound Vision Inc., a VC-backed startup in Wayland, Massachusetts. Fady was recruited to assist the Chairman in implementing a transition strategy that moved the company’s business focus from a supplier of ASICs to a player in the consumer digital photography market.

In 2000, Fady founded Deligent, a web consultancy focused on creating state-of-the-art CRM systems. Deligent’s client list included Aetna, Johnson & Johnson, Schering Plough, Fidelity, HelpCare, and iPRO Exchange. Deligent developed Answer Center™, a unique system that captures best-of-class CSR behaviors implemented in a self-service environment.

Before founding Deligent, Fady was Managing Director at Zentropy Partners, where he managed 200% company growth and spearheaded the company’s launch, transition, and integration from several of the Interpublic’s interactive companies, including Hill Holliday Interactive, where he served as Chief Technology Officer. Prior to joining Hill Holliday Interactive, Fady was Chief Technology Officer at SiegelGale.

Among Fady’s proudest achievements is his work as Director of Research and Development for the Associated Press, where he oversaw and designed the conversion of AP’s photo operation to satellite delivery. He was instrumental in the engineering of the first digital news camera in a joint venture with Kodak.

Fady resides in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with his wife Pamela, a reading teacher, and his two school-aged children. Fady holds a B.S. in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University, and an executive M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He is fluent in French and Arabic.

Dane Linn
Director, Education Division, Center for Best Practices
National Governors Association


As Director of the Education Division at the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Dane oversees all education-related policy research, analysis, and resource development. He regularly provides consultation and tailored analysis to the nation’s governors on a host of issues, including No Child Left Behind and early childhood, elementary and secondary, and postsecondary education. Under Dane’s leadership, NGA’s work continues to assist governors on developing policies that increase the number of students who graduate from high school ready for postsecondary education and the workplace.

Recognized as a national expert in his field, Dane has authored numerous reports on issues ranging from school finance and teacher quality to school redesign and pay for performance. He recently spearheaded NGA’s national initiative Redesigning the American High School, launched by former Governor Mark Warner of Virginia during his tenure as NGA Chair. Currently, Mr. Linn is leading the Common Core Standards Initiative, which is a state-led process for developing national standards in English language arts and mathematics.

Prior to his work at NGA, Dane worked at the West Virginia Department of Education, where he was responsible for ensuring the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Before that, he served as legislative liaison to the House of Delegates. His professional experience in education began as an elementary school teacher and principal.

A graduate of Cabrini College, Dane received a master’s degree from Marshall University Graduate College and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Steve Midgley
Deputy Director, Office of Education Technology
U.S. Department of Education

Steve Midgley is the Deputy Director for Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. His work there is focused on interoperability, online learning, and data systems. Prior to joining the Department, he was Education Director at the FCC and headed the development of the education chapter of the National Broadband Plan. Before coming to Washington, he was the principal of Mixrun, a technology consulting firm. Mixrun projects include assisting the California Department of Education on a project called Brokers of Expertise, which uses online and real-world systems to share and build the expertise of educators. Steve previously served as a Program Manager for the Stupski Foundation, designing and implementing grants for data and technology in K-12 education. He was also the founding Vice President of Engineering and Software Architect for LoopNet Inc., now a publicly traded commercial real estate technology company. He designed and built LoopNet’s technology and web systems from its inception. LoopNet remains a successful business and is currently listed on NASDAQ.

Donovan Neale-May
President, Global Fluency, Executive Director, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Executive Director, Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network

Neale-May, 58, is the founder and executive director of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council (www.cmocouncil.org), a global affinity network of nearly 5,000 senior marketing and branding executives, who control more than $150 billion in annual marketing spend. Neale-May is also the founder and executive director of the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network (www.bpinetwork.org), a global management community dedicated to identifying, exploring, and sharing emerging trends and transformational ideas and practices that are reshaping world markets and competitive landscapes.

Neale-May serves as president and managing partner of GlobalFluency, Inc., the leader in Intelligent Market Engagement, with 70 offices in over 40 countries. Collectively, GlobalFluency member firms have annual billings of $50 million and employ 450 professionals, servicing scores of clients across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. He has been managing and running his respected multi-channel marketing and perception management business since 1987, operating from Silicon Valley and New York offices.

Previously, Neale-May held senior positions with marketing, promotions, and PR agencies, such as Ogilvy & Mather, in Silicon Valley, New York, London, and Los Angeles. During his 30 years as an international marketing and brand strategist, Neale-May has consulted with over 300 leading multi-nationals, new venture starts, and emerging growth companies. He serves on the board of directors for Travelzoo (NASDAQ: TZOO) and the Rhodes University Trust USA and is an adjunct professor at Seoul National University in Korea.

Lance Rougeux
Director, Discovery Educator Network
Discovery Education


Lance Rougeux started his career as a teacher at Julia de Burgos Bilingual Middle School in the School District of Philadelphia. Lance has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer and was recently highlighted in The Emergency Teacher, a book about urban teaching.

Prior to joining Discovery Education, Lance was an Executive Policy Specialist at the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Bureau of Educational Technology. While at PDE, Lance spearheaded many statewide initiatives—including Keystones, a program recognized as a success story in the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan, and eSPARC, a research endeavor called the “gold” standard of scientifically-based research by eSchool News.

Lance has presented at numerous state, regional, and national conferences, including NECC, NSTA, FETC, T+L, PETE&C, IL-TCE, MICCA, MassCUE, TAMS, and DITC. He holds master’s degrees in Educational Leadership and Technology in Education from Villanova University and Harvard University, respectively. Lance currently serves as National Director of the Discovery Educator Network.

Warren Simmons, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Brown University

Warren Simmons directs the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. The Institute was established in 1993 to develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves conditions and outcomes in American schools, particularly in urban areas and in schools serving disadvantaged students. The Institute pursues its mission through three circles of work: District Redesign and Leadership, Research and Knowledge Products, and Community Organizing and Engagement. In each of these areas, the Institute conducts applied research, develops tools and products, and offers technical support designed to build capacity of communities to transform urban schools and school systems.

Prior to joining the Institute in 1998, Dr. Simmons headed the Philadelphia Education Fund, a nonprofit organization that played a key role in helping the School District of Philadelphia fund, develop, and implement a comprehensive school reform agenda called Children Achieving. Over his 30-year career in education, Dr. Simmons has worked on urban education issues from several vantage points. As a grant maker at the National Institute of Education and Annie E. Casey Foundation, he developed and funded initiatives on youth and adult literacy, community development, and urban school reform. As Director of Equity Initiatives for the New Standards Project, he worked with a coalition of 17 states and 6 school districts to design performance-based assessments and advance curricular and instructional reforms. His local experience includes serving as special assistant to the superintendent of schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where he designed and implemented reforms that improved the achievement of disadvantaged students; these included the Comer School Development Project, the College Board’s Equity 2000 Project, and the school system’s multicultural education and Black male achievement initiatives.

Dr. Simmons received his B.A. in psychology from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned a doctorate in psychology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He serves on boards and advisory groups of numerous education reform organizations, including the Public Education Network, the Merck Institute, the Campaign for Educational Equity, the Cowen Institute’s National Advisory Council, and advisor to PLATO Learning, Inc.

Vicki Smith Bigham
EdNET Conference Manager, MDR and President,
Bigham Technology Solutions, Inc.

Vicki Smith Bigham has an extensive background in educational technology, with over 35 years’ experience in public and private school education as a teacher, software developer, school administrator, university professor, and industry consultant.

As President of Bigham Technology Solutions, Inc., she has managed a wide variety of product development, training, meeting planning, and marketing projects and works directly with companies and schools in the ed tech community.

She manages the annual EdNET conference, sponsored by MDR, serves as Professional Development Director for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and is currently working on a variety of professional development and implementation projects. She is a former president of the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA), which she helped to found, and a former president of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Liz Strauss
CEO/Founder, SOBCon at SOBEvents, LLC
Social Web Strategist and Community Builder, Successful Blog


Liz Strauss builds irresistible strategies for incredible people and businesses online and off. Her passions are entrepreneurs, business, and education. Founder of SOBCon, which grew out of her popular Successful-Blog.com and author of The Secret to Writing a Successful and Outstanding Blog: An Insider’s Guide to How Conversation Is Changing the Way that Business Works, Liz has been called the most influential non-celebrity blogger on the Internet. She’s been called a thought provoker, an über connector, an idea machine.

Liz Strauss has been named to the Top 100 Social Media & Internet Marketing Bloggers, the Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008 and, most recently, the Top Social Media Strategists to Watch in 2010.

Scott Traylor
Chief KID
360KID

Scott Traylor defines the vision behind the Boston-based digital consulting firm known as 360KID. This youth-focused company specializes in product ideation, market testing, and product development as a service to companies interested in engaging kids through interactive media in the consumer marketplace as well as in the classroom.

In the early days of 360KID, Scott was a computer science instructor for 12 years at Harvard University's Extension School, teaching graduate students how best to develop interactive learning products for children. He started the 360KID business 20 years ago with his spouse, Diana Traylor, who is also a teacher. Together they decided to create the future of interactive learning at a time when technology was first being considered as a means to deliver educational content.

Scott is actively involved in research, writing, and speaking about child engagement through new technologies, social media, and various consumer-based delivery systems. He is an active speaker at numerous education and consumer industry events related to kids and technology, including the Consumer Electronics Show, EdNET, KidScreen Summit, AEP Summit, Meaningful Play, InPlay, Education Arcade, American Center for Children and Media, School Library Journal Summit, Interaction Design and Children, and many more.

Scott is on the Board of Directors for The Association of Educational Publishers as well as a Board of Trustees member of a summer school enrichment program called Exploration School (explo.org) for 3rd through 12th graders on the campuses of Yale University, Wellesley College, and St. Marks School in Southborough, Massachusetts. Scott also advises a small number of venture-backed startups, focused on virtual worlds and social media engagement for kids.

Bob Wise
President
Alliance for Excellent Education

Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. He is author of the book Raising the Grade: How High School Reform Can Save Our Youth and Our Nation and chair of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Under Governor Wise’s leadership, the Alliance continues to build its reputation as a respected authority on high school policy by advocating for reform in America’s secondary education system and working to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared for college, careers, and to be contributing members of society. Since joining the Alliance in February 2005, Governor Wise has become a sought-after speaker and advisor on education issues. He has delivered keynote addresses at high-level functions to core groups of the education community, state and federal government entities, as well as business, philanthropic, civil rights, and community organizations—all with a stake in education reform. Governor Wise has also advised the U.S. Department of Education, White House Transition Team, and frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress.

Governor Wise serves on several boards, committees, and commissions, including the Public Education Network’s board of directors, the Springboard Project Commission, the board of trustees of America’s Promise, and the steering committee for the Coalition for Student Achievement. He is an advisory committee member for a number of organizations, including the Campaign for Educational Equity, Editorial Projects in Education, the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, and the National High School Center, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and Office of Special Education Programs and housed at the American Institutes for Research. He also serves on the board of advisors for the Moffitt Cancer Center and the board of directors of C-Change, which works to eliminate cancer as a major public health risk at the earliest possible time.

Governor Wise earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a JD from Tulane University School of Law. He has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Governor Wise and his wife Sandy live in Washington, DC, with their two children.

Anne Wujcik
Editor, EdNET Insight, and Education Research Analyst
MDR

Anne Wujcik has more than 25 years of education and publishing experience. She is an Education Research Analyst in MDR’s Market Research department and Managing Editor of the EdNET Insight News Alert. As a Research Analyst, Anne uses her market experience to inform quantitative and qualitative research projects and also conducts focus groups nationwide. As Managing Editor of EdNET Insight News Alert, Anne is responsible for strategic positioning and content development for the newsletter and news alert services, policy analysis, and tracking education market trends. Anne is also part of the EdNET Insight team, the MDR’s new research and information service that delivers decision support services to industry leaders.

Anne ran her own consulting firm, helping companies in the education market developing and implementing strategic marketing plans. Anne spent a year as Market Research Director for the Software Publishers Association, now SIIA, and was Director of Research for TALMIS, the leading market research company focused on educational technology use. Anne began her career as an elementary school teacher. She has a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education and supervised early education programs for the state of Georgia.

Mark T. Bielang
Superintendent
Paw Paw (MI) Public Schools; Immediate Past President, AASA

Mark Bielang is beginning his 15th year as superintendent of Paw Paw Public Schools in the southwest corner of Lower Michigan. The district has approximately 2,300 students in Grades K-12, with additional students enrolled in the district’s Early Childhood Center and Adult/Alternative Education Programs.

Prior to Paw Paw, Bielang served as high school principal in Ionia (Michigan) and Central Montcalm (Michigan). He began his teaching career as an industrial education teacher in Three Rivers (Michigan).

Bielang currently serves as Immediate Past President of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and has previously served on the Governing Board and Executive Committee of AASA. In 2005, he served as President of the Michigan Association of School Administrators.

His BS and MA degrees are from Western Michigan University and his EdS degree is from Central Michigan University. Outside of his positions in education, Bielang serves as President of Eastern Van Buren County Habitat for Humanity, is on the Advisory Board of Bronson-Lakeview Community Hospital, and is a member of the Paw Paw Area Kiwanis Club. His hobbies include woodcarving, mountain biking, and spending time on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He is married to his wife of 34 years, Pamela, and has three children.

Dr. Edgar B. Hatrick
Superintendent
Loudoun County (VA) Public Schools; President, AASA

Edgar Hatrick is in his 19th year as Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools. Over his 43-year career in Loudoun County, he has been a high school teacher of English, high school principal, director of special education, director of instruction, supervisor of guidance and foreign languages, and assistant superintendent for pupil services. He was educated in the public schools of New York City; Miami, Florida; and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia.

From student to superintendent, he has watched Loudoun grow from a rural farming community with 8,000 students into a suburban community with a student population of 60,000 students. Since 1995, LCPS has constructed 45 new schools and renovated 19 more. As the home to significant high-tech and bio-medical industries, LCPS places a premium on the use of up-to-date technology to meet the individual instructional needs of students.

Ed is the President of the American Association of School Administrators, is a Vice President of the Urban Superintendents Association of America, and has served in numerous professional and community offices. He has been recognized for his work by the General Assembly of Virginia and recently received an honorary doctor of humanities degree from Shenandoah University for his community service. Two of his three children are educators—one in the Los Angeles Unified School District and one in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His older son is a Leadership Gifts Officer at Bates College in Maine. Ed and his wife Betty have two granddaughters.

Judith Johnson
Superintendent
Peekskill City (NY) Schools


Judith Johnson was named Superintendent of Schools for the Peekskill City School District on September 1, 2001, becoming the first woman and African-American to serve in that post. Upon her arrival, she engaged the community in the development of a five-year strategic plan based on two principles: (1) schools must focus on continuously improving the delivery of instruction based on what is learned from practice and data analysis and (2) all students must be educated to high and challenging academic standards.

Over the ensuing years, her accomplishments included the acquisition of over $20 million in grant awards to support reform. Over the past five years, 13% to 20% more students are meeting or exceeding the standards in English language arts and math, and the percentage of students scoring below level fell to historic lows with all schools reporting single-digit percentages of low-performing students. The high school graduation rate has risen from 55% to 76%.

In acknowledgment of her professional achievements and commitment to education, Judith was named 2008 New York State School Superintendent of the Year and, more recently, has been designated by Brooklyn College, her undergraduate college, as one of four 2009 Alumni of the Year Honorees. Her leadership roles include serving as executive committee member for the New York State Council of School Superintendents from 2003 to 2007 and currently as co-chair of the Council’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee.

Since arriving in Peekskill in 2001, she has received wide recognition for her pioneering leadership reform initiatives. Highlights include the 2002 Congressional Black Caucus Education Brain Trust Award, the March 2004 NAACP Act-So Youth Service Award, and in April of that same year, she received the Excellence in Education Award from the greater Hudson Valley NAACP Chapter. In 2006, the American Red Cross awarded her the Jerome H. Holland Power of Humanity Award for educational leadership, and later that year, the Zeta Phi Beta sorority awarded her the Outstanding Achievement in Education Award.

She has a BA from Brooklyn College, an MA from New York University, and a Diploma for Advanced Study from SUNY, New Paltz. She has accrued credits at the doctoral course level in school administration/leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University and intends to one day to complete degree requirements.

Her proudest contributions to our country are her two children, Paul and Pamela, and her granddaughter, Adhira.

Dr. Paul Shaw
Superintendent
White County (GA) School System

Paul Shaw is beginning his 11th year as superintendent of the White County School System in Cleveland, Georgia, home of the Cabbage Patch Kids. The school system is located at the foothills of the mountains in northeast Georgia and serves approximately 3,850 students in Grades K-12. Prior to moving to Georgia, he served as superintendent for 15 years in South Carolina for three different school systems. He began his career as a social studies teacher and coach and then served in various capacities, including assistant principal, principal, Dean of Men at St. Leo College, and assistant superintendent. Also, he serves as part-time faculty for Piedmont College, having taught Research, Communication in the Schools, and Current Trends in Education.

Shaw recently served on the Executive Board of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and has returned to the Governing Board of AASA, representing Georgia. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Center for Education Research and Technology. He served as president of the South Carolina School Superintendents in 1998. Also, he was selected as Superintendent of the Year for South Carolina in 2000 and Georgia in 2010. He is active in numerous community and professional organizations.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina, has a Master’s degree from Western Carolina University, and has an Education Specialist degree and Doctorate from the University of South Carolina. He has been married to his wife Cindy for 39 years, has two children and four grandchildren.