SVP Corporate Development

Agile Education Marketing

"Scott Brooks has over 25 years of experience in a variety of corporate and business development leadership positions. Formerly Vice President of corporate business development at Critigen then Managing Director at Afferion, his career began in the data base products area in IBM labs. Throughout his career, Scott has worked in software and services organizations mainly focused on marketing data software and information technologies. He has extensive background in sales, marketing, business and corporate development in the areas of consulting, business intelligence, cloud computing, SaaS, IT Outsourcing and data offerings across many industries including education.

As an entrepreneur, Scott launched and sold a successful software company to IBM, built and ran software and services practices and has been a key member of the leadership team of several tech data companies.

On a personal note, Scott likes to ski, play volleyball, cycle and has been a musician since he was 13. Presently he leads a fun four piece band under his name playing throughout Colorado."

Scott Brooks

@scottabrooks

Managing Director

University Ventures

@TroyWilliams

Troy Williams is a Managing Director of University Ventures. Prior to University Ventures, Troy was a senior executive at Macmillan where he was CEO of Macmillan Enterprise Solutions and President of Macmillan New Ventures, managing an edtech portfolio of seven companies with a focus on data and analytics, university systems and student performance and outcomes. Troy founded and for nine years was CEO of Questia Media, an early ebook company ultimately sold to Cengage Learning. Troy started his career in the mergers and acquisitions practice at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.At University Ventures, Troy leads the firm's investments in EverTrue, Examity, Motimatic, Oohlala Mobile and Packback and focuses his investments in software and systems for universities generally. Troy received his bachelor's degree in History, Phi Beta Kappa, from Rice University, and his law degree from the Harvard Law School where he was a member of Harvard Law Review. He is on the Advisory Board of Rice University's School of Humanities.

Troy Williams

Partner, Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation

Orrick

@emilytabatabai

Emily S. Tabatabai is a partner in Orrick’s Cyber, Privacy and Data Innovation Practice, which was named Privacy Practice Group of the Year by Law360 in 2016. Emily advises companies on a wide range of data privacy laws and cutting-edge data use-cases. The Legal500 highlights Emily’s expertise and "extraordinary depth of knowledge in student data privacy matters," which includes her representation of leading innovators in the Ed-Tech space.

Emily Tabatabai

CEO & Co Founder

EdSurge

@_betsy

Betsy is co-founder and CEO of EdSurge. Before starting EdSurge, she received national recognition for her work as a writer and editor at publications including Scientific American, Forbes and The Washington Post. She has been a fellow in MIT’s Knight Science Journalism program and is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow. 

Betsy Corcoran

Managing Director And Co-Founder

Owl Ventures

@amitashwinpatel

Amit Patel is a Partner at Owl Ventures. He has experience scaling several education startups and is deeply committed to building new organizations that will create sustainable and higher quality education solutions. Amit has worked closely with several education companies, including PresenceLearning, Revolution Foods, TenMarks (acquired by Amazon), Raise.me, MasteryConnect, LearnZillion, Accelerate Learning, DreamBox Learning and EdSurge. Amit serves on the board of directors of Lingo Live, Securly and is a board observer for Panorama Education. 

Before joining Owl, he founded Personal Academic Trainers, an after-school tutoring company, and created the quality assurance program and institutionalized sales training for Mathnasium Learning Centers, an after-school math learning center franchise with over 450 locations on four continents. Amit also served as the Director of Technology for Success Academy Charter Schools, a premiere charter school network in New York City with over 30 schools.

Amit was an Education Pioneers Graduate School Fellow, and he earned a MBA/MA in Education from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Graduate School of Education. He also received a BA in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University and studied theatre/film at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and New York University.

Amit Patel

Technology Sales and Business Development Executive Amazon Web Services

@4kamsyed

I am passionate about working with business leaders and helping them solve complex problems using technology as a key enabler. 

Over the past 16yrs, I had the privilege to work with quite a few intellects, coach and lead brilliant sales reps, manage F500 accounts and help some of the best start-ups and mid-market companies. 

I specialize in: Building lasting businesses and relationships, nurturing great teams, creating multimillion dollar accounts and driving business growth within a geography. 

I have worked across UK, Middle-East, India and Americas.

I believe in life-long learning and have earned a degree in Computer Science, MBA from a nice school and have attended leadership & management programs from elite institutions like Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad (India) and from Harvard School of Publishing (USA).

When I am not working, I enjoy sweaty workouts, trekking, playing with kids, volunteering at a charitable institution and reading a lot.

Kam Syed

Founder

SalesQualia

@scottsambucci

Scott has spent the last 20 years building and selling technology products, leading three Silicon Valley startups to their first millions in revenue. With SalesQualia, Scott works with startups all over the world to help them find customers, grow revenue, and build their sales process. Startups that work with Scott include SaaS, consulting, and analytics companies across multiple verticals including EdTech, FinTech, retail, and more.

Scott is also a marketing professor at Hult International Business School, teaching courses in New Product Development, Pricing Strategy, and Sales Management.

Scott lives in Northern California with his wife and son, and is an ultrarunner and three-time Ironman triathlete.

Scott Sambucci

General Partner

Reach Capital

@esosnik

Partner in Reach Capital (an early stage venture fund for K12 edtech startups). Previously entered edtech industry in 2013 as Executive Director of co.lab, an accelerator for ed-tech startups leveraging the power of games to improve educational outcomes

Former co-founder and CEO of social game developer Atakama Labs. Based in San Francisco and Santiago, Chile. Developing next generation social games on mobile platforms.

Acquired in Oct 2011 by the DeNA Group (TYO:2432). After acquisition I became VP at DeNA with roles in Studios, corporate development and as Head of Alliances.

Previously co-founder and CEO of Wanako Games, a console, PC and online videogame development company that pioneered in leveraging Latin American talent for the design and production of videogames. Wanako earned numerous awards including Game of the Year 2006 for Xbox Live by IGN.com.

After Wanako was acquired by Vivendi Inc (Paris: VIV) in December 2006, I was VP of Business Development at Sierra Online.

Previous to Wanako I had worked in the VC, Private Equity and Investment Banking industries.

Esteban Sosnik

Managing Partner

GSV Acceleration

@deborahquazzo

Deborah is an advisor and small business owner. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of GSV Advisors, which she started in April 2009. GSV Advisors is a broker dealer providing advisory services to the education and business services sectors. Additionally, GSV Advisors co-hosts an annual Education Innovation Summit in Scottsdale, AZ with Arizona State University, the nation's largest public university. This event, now in its fifth year, and attended by over 1,400 people, celebrates innovations and innovators across the education landscape from early childhood to lifelong learning.

Prior to GSV Advisors, Deborah co-founded ThinkEquity Partners an investment bank with offices across the U.S. While at ThinkEquity, Deborah was President and Head of Investment Banking. The firm was acquired in March 2007 and Deborah was a board member of the London-based Panmure Gordon (AIM: PMR) through December 2008. Previously, Deborah was a Managing Director in Investment Banking and head of the Global Growth Group at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Deborah currently serves on the public company board of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW), a leading provider of internet services and online marketing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. She is also a member of the boards of Marwen, a visual arts education provider for underserved youth in Chicago and Steppenwolf Theater Company. From March 2008 to March 2011 she served on the national board of America's Promise Alliance, an organization founded by General Colin Powell and dedicated to ending the U.S. high school dropout crisis. Deborah graduated cum laude with a BA in history from Princeton University in 1982 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1987. She is originally from Jacksonville, FL.

Deborah Quarzo

President 

Achieve 3000

@dinsquared

Educational technology executive with strong track record in propelling small and mid-size companies to record growth and profitability. Expertise in product/market and monetization strategy. Possess 360 degree skill set that spans global growth, strategic marketing, business development and operations. Accustomed to high level of P&L accountability. Frequent speaker and panelist on K-12 education innovation

Din Heiman

CEO & Partner

Center for Teaching Quality

@barnettctq

What I do (in a tweet)

I get to work with the best teachers (and administrators) in the nation and get to figure out with them how to best spread their expertise for an excellent and equitable public education system for every student.

Experience

My insights on the teaching profession are grounded in a career that has positioned me to analyze education policy and practice from a rich range of perspectives. I am a former high school social studies teacher, think tank analyst, senior state education agency leader, and university professor. In the mid-1990s, I served as a research consultant to the National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future in developing its seminal report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future, and later led its state policy and partnership efforts. This work led to the founding of CTQ in 1998.

I have authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. My research and analysis has focused on policies to advance the teaching profession, spanning from teacher recruitment and preparation to how teaching effectiveness is evaluated and rewarded.

My first book, TEACHING 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools… Now and in the Future (2011), was crafted with the wisdom of 12 expert teachers and outlines a potent vision for the future of teaching. Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead But Don’t Leave (2013) details the contours of a bold brand of teacher leadership.

Barnett Berry

Co Founder & President

Team Theory

Over 4 years, David has helped hire over 200 team members for teams from across the country. He draws on his experience as a product manager on the Obama Campaign, the Gates Foundation, and NYC Department of Education in his daily work with startup leaders. His super power is helping you uncover yours.

David Osborne

CEO

SchoolMINT

@jinal

In 2012, Forum Desai and Jinal Jhaveri set out to enroll their daughter in pre-school. It was a frustrating process that involved filling out tons of forms, the occasional need for whiteout, and lots of waiting on the phone or in line at the school. As co-founders of Log(n), a design and engineering firm that specializes in education technology, they had built several custom enrollment systems for school systems throughout the country, but it wasn’t until this moment that they realized that all schools, and families, can benefit from a streamlined and modernized system. Shortly afterward, SchoolMint was founded.

Jinal Jhaveri 

Edtech Consultant

EdSurge

@aratinagaraj

Arati enjoys creating measurable, positive and enduring outcomes for learners of all ages. She has harnessed technology to create innovative learning programs for employees at Apple, Facebook, Google and Uber, worldwide. While Director of the Learning Innovation Hub at Silicon Valley Education Foundation, Arati built strategy and toolsets to empower over 30 school districts in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The result has been growth in technology pathways for the future of education and the alignment of goals and measurements that ensure accountability. Arati is a Trustee of the Saratoga Union School District Board since 2010, and was Board President for 2 years. Arati has a Masters in Education, Media and Technology from Boston University and Bachelors, Early Childhood Education from India.

Arati Nagaraj

Founder & CEO

Consorte Media

@aliciamorga

Alicia Morga is the founder and former CEO of Consorte Media, a leading digital media company focused on the Hispanic market funded by The Mayfield Fund and Sutter Hill Ventures. Consorte Media worked with advertisers such as Best Buy and Ford to help them reach Hispanics online via integrated, innovative advertising campaigns spanning display, search, direct marketing, mobile, social networks, video and email. Consorte Media was ranked #4 in the Fast Company Readers Choice Awards, was named an AlwaysOn Global 250 winner, and was a finalist for Best New Company in the American Business Awards.

Prior to founding Consorte Media, Alicia was an investment professional focused on venture opportunities in the technology sector for The Carlyle Group’s U.S. Venture Fund. She also worked at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, where she focused on early-stage software investments. While at Hummer Winblad, Alicia served as VP of Operations for Napster and CEO of venture fund Zero Gravity Internet Group. Alicia has served on the boards of technology companies such as Ingenio, Ventaso, Secure Elements, Archetype-Solutions, Applied Semantics, Menerva Technologies and Discovercast. Alicia has also been a corporate attorney for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She started her career as an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Alicia holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a B.A. from Stanford University.

With her insightful perspective on interactive advertising, Alicia is a sought-after speaker at industry events. She has recently spoken at SES New York, SES Toronto, SES San Jose, Ad:Tech Miami, Hispanic Retail 360, Multicultural Marketing Expo, The National Association of Hispanic Publishers Conference, Digital Hollywood Building Blocks and Digital Hollywood CES.

Alicia has been widely recognized for bringing stringent methodology to Hispanic online advertising. In 2009 she was named one of the Most Influential Women in Technology by Fast Company and in 2008 was named 10 Most Influential Latinos of Silicon Valley by the Mexican American Community Services Agency. She was also profiled in the February 2008 issue of Inc. Magazine and in the March 2008 issue of Fast Company. She was featured as one of the country's top 20 under 40 in the August 2008 issue of Poder Magazine, and profiled as a technology pioneer in the December 2008 issue of Hispanic Business Magazine.

She was also featured in the new book: Building the Latino Future: Success Stories for the Next Generation”, published by Wiley and Sons. In addition, she regularly contributes articles on online marketing to publications such as Adotas, DM News, and MediaPost.

Alicia Morga

CEO & Founder

HireEdu

@HireEdu

HireEducation was founded in Boulder in 2010. We help education companies find and secure the best possible talent. We love that we get to live and breathe education all day, every day and that we get to work with the smartest, most passionate people in the education sector.

Mark Phillips

Superintendent

Carlsbad Unified School District.

@suptlovely

Dr. Suzette Lovely is the Superintendent of the Carlsbad Unified School District in San Diego County in California. Prior to her appointment as Superintendent, Dr. Lovely served as a Deputy Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent in the Capistrano Unified and Placentia Yorba Linda School Districts in Southern California. She has been in public education for 30 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and director. Dr. Lovely is the author of three books and numerous journal articles. She has been part of The Master Teacher professional cadre since 2005.

Suzette Lovely

Managing Director

Bisk Ventures

@biskeducation

Mr. George Straschnov has been Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President of Development of Bisk Education, Inc. Mr. Straschnov is responsible for all legal and regulatory matters and for the development of new university relationships and the roll out of new programs. Mr. Straschnov has over seven years of previous experience as an Internet entrepreneur, having founded and managed two successful internet-related companies specializing in services and proprietary content delivery, including a top 10 financial information portal. Prior to that, Mr. Straschnov practiced as a commercial litigator and corporate attorney, and served in the Sarasota County attorney's office. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Florida, and is a member of the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association and Association of Corporate Counsel. Mr. Straschnov earned a Bachelors of Arts from Colgate University, a Masters of Arts from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctorate from the Valparaiso University School of Law.

George Straschnov

Managing Partner

ReThink Education

@mattgreenfield

Matt Greenfield is Managing Partner of ReThink Education, a venture capital firm focused on educational technology. He is on the boards of BrightBytes, Allovue, CareAcademy and Southern New Hampshire University. His non-profit affiliations include the leadership council of NewSchools Venture Fund and the board of Mouse.org.

Matt received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English from Yale University, where he won five academic prizes and fellowships from the Mellon and Whiting Foundations and served on the editorial board of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities. He taught at Bowdoin College, where he served on the committee overseeing admissions, and the City University of New York, where he served on a college curriculum committee, helped launch an interdisciplinary learning community program for first-year students, taught in the teacher preparation program, and taught graduate classes in literature to teachers from the New York City public schools.

Matt Greenfield

Sr Product Manager - Alexa Language Technologies

Amazon

@robindautric

Proactive and customer-focused product management professional with extensive experience defining product visions, driving development processes, managing customer relationships, and strengthening brand loyalty. Specializations include leading product and analytics teams to enhance application designs, optimize context-sensitive and personalized user experiences, apply data-driven continual refinement solutions, and execute growth strategies. Engaged team player and thought leader who thrives in collaborative environments, builds consensus among stakeholders, communicates value throughout product life-cycles, and increases customer satisfaction.

Specialties:

Strategic Planning, Team Leadership, Partner Relationships, Product Management, Product Requirements, Product Roadmap, Analytics, Data Mining, Reporting, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Product Marketing, Start Ups, User Experience, User Engagement, User Acquisition, User Retention, User Interface, Continual Refinement, Predictive Analytics, Contextual Intelligence, User Intent, User Identity, Mobile, Web, Speech, Multi-Modal, Social Media, Online Advertising, Speech Recognition, Linguistics, Team Building, Training, Mentoring, Recruiting, eCommerce, Retail, Travel

Robin Dautricourt

Assistant Superintendent, Education Services

Ocean View School District

Jodee Brentlinger has spent the last 28 years in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director, executive director, and assistant superintendent in both Human Resources and Educational Services. She joined the Ocean View School District in September of 2015.

As the Assistant Superintendent for the Educational Services Division in OVSD, Ms. Brentlinger supports and coordinates all facets of OVSD’s educational program. The Division, consisting of individual departments, works together to support all students becoming proficient, successful, and on the path to college and career readiness as they promote from OVSD to high school.

Ms. Brentlinger is proud of the collaborative efforts, commitment, and dedication the teachers, classified staff, administrators, and parents put forth to support student success in and out of the classroom. The Ocean View School District provides students, families, and employees exceptional learning opportunities to do and be the best each and every day.

Jodee Brentlinger

CEO

Amplify

@larryamplify

Larry co-founded Wireless Generation, which became Amplify, in 2001. He has led the invention of mobile software to help early reading teachers and next-generation curriculum for elementary and middle schools. Larry was a Rhodes scholar and a White House fellow working on educational technology at NASA, and a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow. He serves on the boards of Touch Press, the Academy of American Poets, Lapham’s Quarterly, and the Institute for Sustained Attention.

Larry Berger

Managing Partner

Agile Education Marketing

Verlan is an expert in data compilation and skilled in data analysis. He specializes in helping companies use data to better understand the specific traits and nuances around education and use that information to drive decision-making that produces successful results in education markets.

He honed these highly technical skills over more than 30 years spent compiling, managing and analyzing large information databases. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with an emphasis in Computer Science from Boise State University, Verlan went on to hold senior management positions, including: Director of Information Technology and Database Compilation for Quality Education Data; Vice President of Development of CodeCorrect; and Director of Information Technology for the Arabian Horse Registry of America. He also served as Director of Information Systems at Health Decisions International and Director of Operations and Product Management at IHS Health Information.

In his current role, Verlan is a Managing Partner at Agile Education Marketing and one of its founders. His passion and expertise in data trending and market intelligence has led him to spearhead Agile’s data compilation efforts. 

Verlan Stephens

Superintendent

Santee School District

@SSDKristin

Dr. Kristin Baranski, Superintendent of Santee School District in San Diego County, has been an educator for 25 years. She has served as a junior high English teacher, vice principal, principal, Director of Curriculum and Assessment, Director of Educational Services and was appointed Superintendent in Santee School District in February 2017. Dr. Baranski loves sharing her perspectives of educational leadership with others, including how to engage and motivate employees through conversational practices.    

Kristin Baranski

CEO & President

MindRocket Media Group

@mindrocketmedia

Dr. Berger strategically advises companies, in the education sector, providing media relations, influential introductions and brand communications. Dr. Berger is a known entity in media publishing his interviews with global education leaders in multiple publications in the US and abroad. 

Dr. Berger was recently named Brand Ambassador to Soundtrap. Soundtrap is a Google for Education Partner and was awarded Best Website for Teaching and Learning 2015 by the American Association of School Librarians. The online collaborative music and audio recording platform is one of only three applications to be included in Google For Education’s 2016 Creative Apps For Chromebook program bundle.

He also teaches courses in Personality Theory and Forensic Psychology as an adjunct faculty member for Argosy University where he recently directed the development of a new online course, Psychology of Gender.

For the past five years, Dr. Berger has taught Leadership Development for Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. Additionally, has worked for major medical centers including King Drew Hospital in Los Angeles, California and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

A published author, national speaker and former national radio show host, he received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Michigan State University and his Masters and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Phillips Graduate Institute. 

Rod Berger

Founder & CEO

edWeb.Net

@lisa4edweb

Lisa developed the idea for edWeb 10 years ago when she saw how social networking technology could help educators connect and collaborate and break down the silos and traditional barriers that have existed in education. edWeb is now an award-winning global professional learning network that helps educators connect and collaborate online to make learning more engaging, supportive, and effective for all students. edWeb is free for all educators (teachers, librarians, administrators) thanks to the sponsorship of leading education companies and non-profit organizations. Lisa is an education industry executive with more than 30 years experience in marketing, product management, and product development. She is a member of the Board of the SIIA Education Technology Industry Association (ETIN). She is a graduate of Princeton University and has a Masters Degree from the Stern School of Business at NYU. Lisa can be reached at lisa@edweb.net.

Lisa Schmucki

President & CEO

Jefferson Education Exchange

@Bart314

Bart Epstein is the founding CEO of the Jefferson Education Exchange and Managing Director of the Jefferson Education Fund. Bart has been building, operating, and advising high growth companies for over twenty years. Most recently he helped build Tutor.com into the world’s largest online tutoring and homework help service, serving along the way as its Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Chief Strategy Officer, and as General Manager of the popular “Tutor.com for U.S. Military Families” program. Prior to joining Tutor.com, Bart was a corporate attorney at one of the largest law firms in the world. For many years Bart has advised, served on the board, and owned stakes in a variety of startup and growth-stage education and technology companies. He has mentored or coached scores of founders and growing companies through a variety of initiatives. Bart received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and his J.D. from University of Virginia. In addition to serving as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight, Bart is President of Gifts for the Homeless, a charity that relies on volunteers and donations to purchase clothing and blankets for homeless shelters in the Washington D.C. area annually.

Bart Epstein

Director of Learning Science

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

@katrinastevens1

Extensive experience bringing together diverse stakeholders including funders, investors, leaders of large non-profits, entrepreneurs, researchers, technologists, and national, state and local educators, with a goal of bringing more coherence to the education ecosystem. Repeated success moving initiatives from vision to full implementation. 

As a political appointee, Katrina served as Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology through the end of the Obama administration. 

In addition, she has led curriculum and professional development teams, as well as designed, reviewed and integrated education technology, written and managed grants, and developed teachers and leaders in both public and independent school settings. Her work is anchored in her twenty years as an educator. Her consulting clients have included Emerson Collective, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Alliance for Excellent Education, Jobs for the Future, Tuscany Associates, Baltimore County Public Schools, MSDE, Maryland Public Television, MICA, Johns Hopkins University, Conceptua Math, Sylvan Learning, LearnIt Systems, and Calvert Education Services.

In her position as the English Language Arts Supervisor for STEM in Baltimore County, Ms. Stevens coordinated multiple curricular, professional development and implementation programs to prepare teachers and the 108,000 students in the district for the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. She also served on the MSDE committees to design the new Maryland curriculum framework and the Maryland STEM Standards of Practice. Prior to Baltimore County, Ms. Stevens served as Deputy Director for Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth in Bermuda where she designed and implemented an island-wide acceleration and enrichment program and laboratory school for academically talented students. Previous to CTY Bermuda, Ms. Stevens worked in independent schools as a department chair, dorm dean and teacher.

Katrina Stevens

Senior Director Educator

PowerSchool

@techmaverick

Mike Lawrence has been impacting education as a teacher, administrator, technology coordinator and non-profit leader for twenty years. He is Senior Director of Educator Engagement at PowerSchool, powering student success for 32 million students.

He served as CEO of CUE, a nonprofit educational association, driving 500% growth for over a dozen years. He also serves as Director of the California Student Media Festival; the nation’s oldest such festival. He served on the ISTE Board of Directors during a critical four-year term. During his tenure, the board transformed itself into a leaner, more nimble board. He is a respected presenter at international conferences and events.

He was named an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2003 and co-founded the Google Certified Innovator program in 2006. In 2009-10, he founded Leading Edge Certification. In 2018, he was named a Minecraft Global Mentor. He has received honors from: CUE (Gold Disk, 2010), National School Boards Association (20 to Watch in Ed Tech, 2012), ISTE (Making IT Happen, 2013), EdTech Digest (Founder/CEO, 2014). He recently was tapped to serve on the UNESCO Expert Group on Mobile Learning, board of National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET) and as an Expert Advisor for the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF).

Mike is also a licensed youth soccer coach, former child actor and enthusiastic musical theater participant.

Mike Lawrence

Director of Business Development

CALSA

@calsatdavis

Thomas Aurelio Davis has over thirty years of experience in education. After receiving his B.S. degree in Biology at the University of San Diego in 1974, he taught secondary school Biology, Bilingual Science and Spanish courses in both private and public school systems in the San Diego area for fifteen years. In 1988, Tom co-wrote and managed an Eisenhower Grant from the Department of Education to help restructure the science curriculum in the Sweetwater Union High School district’s ten middle schools. That experience led to his moving into the K-12 instructional software and service business.

Tom Davis

Co Founder & Head of Customer Success

Nearpod  

@emi_nearpod

Emiliano “Emi” Abramzon was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is a co-founder and the head of customer success at Nearpod.

After graduating from UADE with a degree in Economics in 1997, Emi became a Process Consultant for Accenture. In 2002, Emi attended and graduated with an MBA in marketing & entrepreneurship from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill while simultaneously working in the Product Marketing Department of Red Hat.

After his MBA, Emi worked as a Director of Strategic Marketing at Pulte Group where he led a team responsible for the feasibility studies, strategic growth plans including financial analysis, operational structure, marketing strategies, site selection and site development.

In 2012, along with his co-founders Felipe Sommer and Guido Kovalskys, Emi founded Nearpod. Nearpod is an award-winning education technology company focused on developing digital learning tools, virtual reality and interactive content across mobile devices that provides teachers an easy and efficient way to leverage technology in the classroom.

Nearpod currently reaches almost 5M students monthly in over 10,000 schools. While most of Nearpod’s usage and focus to date has been in the US, the product also sees significant adoption in leading international markets. Using Nearpod, teachers collect over 10M insights into student learning every month.

In his free time, Emi enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and playing sports.

Emi Abramzon

Managing Partner

Agile Education Marketing

Bob, a founder and managing partner at Agile Education Marketing, has extensive managerial experience in the analysis, development and implementation of software and systems, including training personnel in a wide variety of information products and devising re-engineering processes that cut across organizational silos. Market-driven, customer-focused and with an understanding of the bottom line, Bob works closely with sales, staff and clients to identify the key issues in growing and re-engineering the organization.

Prior to founding Agile, Bob received a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He also served in leadership positions at a number of education organizations: T.H.E. Journal, Market Data Retrieval (MDR), McGraw-Hill Education, Mindscape, Scott Foresman Electronic Publishing, and Texas Instruments, and Quality Education Data (QED). While at QED, Bob was responsible for architecting and developing a new sales order flow and fulfillment program as well as managing a new line of marketing database services.

Over the years, Bob has been recognized for his innovative thinking and leadership, receiving awards from both McGraw-Hill and Dun & Bradstreet. Clients find him instrumental when it comes to implementing technical systems, developing new products and growing the expertise and abilities of their staff.

Robert O'Dell

General Partner

New Markets Venture Partners

@educationpalmer

Jason Palmer is General Partner at New Markets Venture Partners, one of the nation’s leading education-focused venture capital firms. As a double-bottom line investor, New Markets focuses on innovative, high impact, early and growth stage edtech companies that improve student outcomes while building profitable organizations.

Jason has been affiliated with New Markets since 2011 and became a General Partner in 2016 after three years at the Gates Foundation. Jason brings twenty years of experience as an education technology entrepreneur, executive and investor, and focuses on fund strategy, supporting portfolio companies and leveraging deep connections with industry leaders. He is a board director for Motimatic and serves as a board observer for Credly, Signal Vine, LearnPlatform and American Honors College. Jason previously served as a board director at Moodlerooms, DecisionDesk and StraighterLine.

Prior to his current role, Jason served as Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leading postsecondary innovation efforts to improve the outcomes of low-income, minority and first-generation college students by investing in colleges, universities and entrepreneurs pursuing digital and adaptive learning, student coaching and advising, financial aid structures, comprehensive credit transfer and employer pathways. Prior to the Foundation, Jason founded and grew three investor-backed technology and services companies before holding a series of executive positions at Microsoft, SchoolNet, Kaplan and StraighterLine. At Kaplan, Jason led three education businesses as general manager or president, in addition to founding and leading the company’s venture capital effort.

Jason holds a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and also serves on the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education Foundation Board.

Jason Palmer