Advisory Board

The Advisory Board plays an important role in shaping SXSW EDU. The board is composed of leaders from all backgrounds in education, including professionals from early, K-12, and higher education as well as workforce development. Advisory board members are practitioners, administrators, business professionals, nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and students from all over the world, each offering unique and diverse perspectives.


SXSW EDU 2024 - Photo by Tico Mendoza

PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE

 

Members of the Programming advisory board committee share their time and expertise by evaluating proposed sessions submitted via PanelPicker. The board’s participation weighs heavily in the overall session programming of the event.

* SXSW EDU Founding Board Member

Adam Gismondi
Director, National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts

AJ Crabill
School Board Coach / Director of Governance, Effective School Boards / Council of the Great City Schools
AUSTIN, texas

Akua Kouyate-Tate
Vice President, Education, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Vienna, VA

Alan Buller
Internship Consultant, FEDC TechSTART
Cañon City, CO

Alex Chandler
Chief Communications Officer, AVANCE
San Antonio, TX

Alli Lee
VP Programs, Book Trust USA
Los Angeles, California

Amber Oliver
Managing Director, Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund
New York, New York

Anita Givens*
Associate Commissioner for Standards and Curriculum, Texas Education Agency (retired)
Austin, Tx

Anna Belle Burleson
Associate Director Disability Services, The SAFE Alliance
Austin, TX

Annette Pedersen
Digital Learning Consultant, University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark

Benjamin Powers
Director, Yale and UCONN Haskins Global Literacy Hub
New Haven, CT

Beth Carls
CEO, Co-Founder, OneSeventeen Media PBC
Liberty Hill, TX

Bruce Douglas
Co-Founder, Frame Change
Chicago, IL

Caroline Vander Ark
CEO, Getting Smart Collective
Federal Way, WA

Charles Hopkins
Director, Teaching & Learning, Council on Foreign Relations Education
New York, NY

Chiho Feindler
Chief Program Officer, Save The Music Foundation
New York, NY

Chris Hopper
Technology Director, Lone Star Learning
Rosanky, TX

Christian Martinez
Community Innovator, Noxhegalactica.
Oakland, CA

Clyde Boyer*
CIO, TEG
Ellicott CIty, MD

Corinne Weisgerber
Professor of Communication, Concordia University
Austin, Texas

Cory Colby
Professor of Political Science, Past State President - ATPE, Lone Star College - Tomball
Tomball, TX

Cynthia Burrow
Owner, Strategic Education Solutions
HOLLISTON, MA

Dagmar Kauffman
Founder & Executive Director, On Balance Parenting
Raleigh, North Carolina

Dan Gilbert
Founder and Principal, Gilbert+Chittenden
Omaha, NE

Dan LaSota
Instructional Designer, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska

Dan Ryder
Director of Design & Innovation, Community Regional Charter School
Skowhegan, Maine

David Conover
Instructor, PFISD
Austin, 1108 Haverford Drive

David D Anderson*
Partner/Lobbyist, HillCo Partners
Austin, TX

David Roberts
Associate Director, Individual Giving, Foundation Communities
Austin, TX

Devon Tutak
Director, Ready To Learn Community Engagement, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Washington, DC

Drew Davidson
Professor, CMU
Pittsburgh, PA

Elizabeth Gossens
Director, Social Contract
New Castle, DE

Elizabeth Newbury
Director, Serious Games Initiative, The Wilson Center
Washington, DC

Emily Kotecki
Museum consultant, High Beam Strategies
Raleigh, North Carolina

Eric Nentrup
Writer & Filmmaker, Stoked for Learning
Indianapolis, Indiana

Erik Woning
Program Manager Innovation, Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam
Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Felice Nudelman*
President, Net Edge Training LLC
Beavercreek, OH

George Rislov
Retired Educator, Formerly at Edmentum
San Antonio, TX

Greg Weatherford II
Youth Empowerment Program Officer, The Allstate Foundation
Dallas, Texas

Honoria Starbuck
Assistant Professor of Practice, The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

Hugh Norwood*
CEO, Trinity Education Group
Clarksville, MD

Jacqueline Gardy
Virtual Engagement and Materials Development Specialist, Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC, District Of Columbia

James Miles
Professor, Fresh Professor
Seattle, WA

Jeff Wayman
Vice President of Research and Innovation, Acadience Learning
Austin, TX

Jessica Herring-Watson
Assistant Professor; 1:1 Mobile Learning Coordinator - College of Education, University of Central Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas

Jessica Slusser
Vice President of Growth & Impact, Getting Smart
Tacoma, Washington

Jodi Lis
Learning Engineer Strategist, ASU
Tempe, Arizona

Joel Thierstein*
Teacher, Kindergarten, Cincinnati Public Schools
Cincinnati, Ohio

John Fitzpatrick*
Executive Director, Educate Texas
Austin, TX

John McKenna
Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Lowell, MA

Julie Dierberger
Chief Engagement Officer and Paul Sather Distinguished Director of the Service Learning Academy, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE

Julie Willcott
Education Products Manager, zSpace
Corea, Maine

Justin Nguyen
Founder/President, Declassified Media
Orlando, Florida

Kathy Blankenship
Teacher, Kelly Lane Middle School
Pflugerville, TX

Kathy Hurley*
CEO, Kathy Hurley Consulting
Punta Gorda, FL

Kay Gallagher
Sr. Communication Specialist, Westat
Rockville, MD

Kelvin Chan
Executive Director, A Family Foundation
New York, NY

Kierstan Schwab*
Executive Director, Texas PBS
Austin, TX

Kirsten Hund
Program Director, The Holdsworth Center
Austin, TX

Kristen Procko
Associate Professor of Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

Kwee Lan Teo
Head of Workforce Development, Samsung Austin Semiconductor
Austin, Texas

Lakita Edwards
Arts Education Program Specialist, National Endowment for the Arts
Washington, DC

Langston Clark
Professor, The University of Texas at San Anto
San Antonio, TX

LaToya Rush
Program Director-Surgical Technology, Concorde Career College
North Hollywood, CA

Lauren Lutz-Coleman
Director of Education, Shoelace Learning
Scotch Plains, NJ

Lindsey Own
Makerspace coordinator, The Evergreen School
Seattle, WA

Lisa Guernsey
Director, the Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX), New America
WASHINGTON, DC

Lizzy Perez
CEO/Founder, Lizzy Pérez, LLC
San Antonio, United States

Lori Gracey*
Executive Direcor, TCEA
Austin, TX

Mallory Tuominen
Chief Program Officer, World Savvy
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mark Rogers
Teacher, Austin Achieve Public Schools
Austin, TX

Martin Moran
Lead Designer, Middle and Upper School, Bennett Day School
Chicago, IL

Mary Murphy
Herman B Wells Endowed Professor; Author; Founder & CEO, Equity Accelerator
Bloomington, IN

Mayet Andreassen
Associate Program Director, & Instructional Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University, School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts
College Station, Texas

Meredith Crawford
Senior Program Coordinator, The University of Texas at Austin - Extended Campus
Austin, Texas

Michael Crawford
Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, America Succeeds
Novi, Michigan

Michael DiMaggio
VP, Partnerships and Development, KnowledgeWorks
Cincinnati, OH

Michael Mills
Dean, Graduate School, University of Central Arkansas
Conway, AR

Michelle Wallis
Executive Director, Austin ISD/Austin Ed Fund
Austin, United States

Mike Kleba
HS Teacher, North Shore Schools
Brooklyn, NY

Mike Lawrence
Director, Information & Technology, ABC Unified School District
Cerritos, CA

Natalie Minas
Manager of Exceptional Student Services, Vertex Education
Denver, Colorado

Nina Dixon-Mauricia
Senior Director, Implementation, CORE Learning
San Diego, CA

Noreen Barajas
Higher Education Ambassador, CDW
Claremont, California

Rachel Vanausdoll
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Facilitator, Special School District of St. Louis County
St. Louis, MO

Raymond Rose*
Public Policy Chair/Digital Accessibility Liaison Digital Accessibility Evangelist, TxDLA
Austin, Texas

Robin Lerner
President and CEO, The Texas International Education Consortium
Austin, TX

sam seidel
K12 Lab Director of Strategy + Research, Stanford d.school
Oakland, CA

Sara Tahir
Assistant Director of Admission for International Recruiting, St. Stephen's Episcopal School
Austin, Texas

Sarojani Mohammed
Founder + Principal, Ed Research Works
Austin, TX

Scott Kley Contini
Instructional Technology Trainer, University of Memphis
Memphis, TN

Sheri Lawson
EL Teacher, Hazelwood West High School
Hazelwood, MO

Stefan Neuber
Founder/CEO, MatheX
Potsdam, Brandenburg

Steph Campbell
Owner, TTRPGkids, LLC
Commerce Twp, Michigan

Stephan Turnipseed
Executive Vice President Emeritus, Pitsco Education
Pittsburg, KS

Stephanie Sandifer
AVP, Academic Product, Southern New Hampshire University
Houston, TX

Stephen Majors
Chief External Affairs Officer, Teach For America
Takoma Park, MD

Steve Amos
CEO, HealthCode
Austin, TX

Sualeha Irshad
Student, University of North Texas
Mansfield, TX

Susan Nozick
Senior Manager, State Shared Services, Stride/K12 Colorado Schools
Westminster, Colorado

Teddy Hartman
Head of Privacy and Trust, GoGuardian
Silver Spring, United States

Therese Laux
Educator: Computer Science, Design, Music, EF Academy Pasadena
Pasadena, CA

Thomas Rodgers
Senior Vice President and Head of K-12 Communications, Whiteboard Advisors
Washington, DC

Todd Groves
Board member, The Practice Space
Richmond, CA

Trisha Callella
Chief Learning Experience Officer, CxD
Los Angeles, CA

Wietse Van Bruggen
Senior advisor, Kennisnet
Zoetermeer, Netherlands

LAUNCH COMMITTEE

 

Members of the Launch advisory board committee share their time and expertise by evaluating startup applications for the Launch Startup Competition, and providing instrumental insight as it relates to the education marketplace.

Amy Looper
Co-Founder, COO, OneSeventeen Media, PBC
Liberty Hill, Texas

Andy Bell
Chief Executive Officer, Thinkery
Austin, TX

Ashish Chettimada
Founder & CEO, ReAlign
Waterloo, Canada

Chris Cook
Senior Director of Sales, Lexia Learning
East Grand Rapids, MI

Chris Fancher
Education Consultant, Chris Fancher Consultiing LLC
ROUND ROCK, Texas

Don Fraser
Senior VP, Design and Innovation, Education Design Lab
Washington DC, District of Columbia

Eileen Rudden
Innovation Fellow, Harvard iLab
CAMBRIDGE, MA

Erin Mote
CEO, InnovateEDU
Brooklyn, NY

Jennifer Chidsey
Associate Commissioner of Organizational Development, Texas Education Agency
Austin, Texas

Jessica Falkenthal
Consultant, Jessica Falkenthal Consulting
San Francisco, CA

Jessica Millstone
Managing Director, Copper Wire Ventures
New York, NY

Joan Hughes
Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas

Juanita Soranno
Founder & Executive Director, CodeConnect
Floral Park, NY

Julia Rivard Dexter
CEO, Shoelace Learning
Lake Loon, NS

Kent Charugundla
CEO, EAGLENET LLC
New York, NY

Kenzie Butera Davis
CEO, Maro
Bozeman, Montana

Leslie Begert
Founder & Head of Pedagogy, FabuLingua
Austin, Texas

Lucy Kosturko
Co-Founder, Chief Product Officer, Social Cascade
Raleigh, NC

Matthew Cohen
Managing Director, Cohen Strategy Group, LLC
New York, New York

Michael Jackson
CEO, Texas Education Alliance
Austin, TX

Mike Wang
Head of Platform, Long Journey Ventures
Oakland, CA

Mike Yates
Senior Product Designer, The Reinvention Lab at Teach for America
Houston, Texas

Riyaz Gayasaddin
Vice President, Program & Talent, Camelback Ventures
Fort Collins, CO

Scott Lipton
CEO, Education Delta
Austin, Texas

Sean Oakes
Founder & Creative Director, Backpack Interactive
Brooklyn, New York

Shanna Peeples
Dr. John G. O'Brien Distinguished Chair in Education, West Texas A&M University
Canyon, TX

Steven Freidmutter
CEO - Founder, SF Ventures
Ithaca, NY

Sunil Gunderia
Chief Innovation Officer, Age of Learning
Calabasas, CA

Tanya LaMar
CEO, Struggly
Austin, TX

Taylor McLemore
CEO & Managing Partner, Human Potential Capital + Human Potential Summit
Denver, CO

Ted Kalomiris
Partnerships Manager, The Positivity Project
Austin, TX

Yiying Lu
Founder & CEO, Yiying Lu, LLC
San Francisco, CA

 

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