Our People

As an executive in high technology, Avanish has grown multiple business from zero to $20-$100M in short periods, while building high performing teams ranging from 5 to 100+ members. Avanish is also an advisor/consultant to boards and executive teams of various venture-backed companies that have had successful M&A exits. Over his career, he has raised…Read more…

Barbara Illowsky retired after 30 years as a mathematics and statistics professor at De Anza College (CA). She was on loan to many statewide projects and offices, including the California Community Colleges’ (CCC) Online Education Initiative, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges Executive Committee, and the CCC Chancellor’s Office. Barbara is co-author of Introductory…Read more…

Christopher M. Sarlo brings 20 years of teaching experience to his work with NLET.  As philosopher-practitioners who are still full-time teachers, Sarlo and business partner Patti Dieck believe that the “process of learning” should always be at the center of mathematics instruction, with an emphasis on foundational math.  Outside of the classroom Sarlo and Dieck…Read more…

Conrad Seales, CPA of Santa Cruz Pacific Accounting and Tax, has worked in public accounting since 1996. Santa Cruz Pacific is a sophisticated CPA firm serving exempt organizations, businesses, and individuals. Conrad especially enjoys helping his clients analyze and understand their accounting systems and results. He currently serves as treasurer of The Compassionate Friends of…Read more…

Craig Martell is Head of Relevance Science and Engineering at LinkedIn, Sales Solutions.  Craig’s focus has been on leveraging modern AI technologies to help LinkedIn’s members succeed in networking, business and learning.  Previously, Craig served both as Head of Engineering, Learning Experience and Head of Relevance Science, Natural Language Processing. Craig served as Associate Professor of Computer Science at the US…Read more…

Danielle Saunders is a data scientist in education and workforce development aiming to promote 21st century skills. Bringing in new analytics, she authored most of the evaluation of the CSU’s systemwide Course Redesign with Technology program. She co-founded Eclasstic, a learning management system offering supplementary communications courses for international students such as those at UC…Read more…

David Andrews serves as both Chancellor of University of Massachusetts Global and Chair of the Board of NLET.  Andrews is a lifelong educator committed to equity and access through personalized, student-centric approaches. Prior to joining NLET, he served as President of National University, California’s second-largest, private non-profit university. During his five-year term as President, National…Read more…

Until recently, Dr. Henry Mack served as the higher education and workforce system head for the State of Florida, a post he held for four years. As chancellor, he was responsible for Florida’s public and nonpublic institutions of higher education—overseeing a $3 billion dollar budget with a combined K-20 student enrollment of 1.5 million, annually.…Read more…

Dr. Jay K. Box has 30 years of outstanding community college leadership, including as President of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) – one of the top 10 systems in the country. He served on the White House’s American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, the national board for Rebuilding America’s Middle Class, and the…Read more…

Ed Stanford has spent over 40 years in educational publishing. He was president of two of the three largest higher education publisher for over twenty years. He was president of what was then the Prentice Hall College Division (now Pearson) from 1984-1994. From 1994-1997, he was president of St. Martin’s College Division as it was…Read more…

Ferdinand “Ferdie” Rivera, Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at San Jose State University, conducts research in school-based mathematical cognition, in particular, the emergence of structural thinking in children and adults. Rivera’s research program falls under the category of psychology of mathematics education with a focus on the development of mathematical cognition in…Read more…

Dr. Hernandez received his MA and Ph.D. (1980) from Stanford University’s School of Education where he specialized in the History of Education. He received his B.A. in American History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970 and an Associate in Arts Degree from Sierra Junior College in Rocklin, California in 1968. Dr. Hernandez was…Read more…

Freedman served as VP, Global Education Strategy for eLearning leader Blackboard, Inc. from 2005 until 2012. In this position, he visited 18 countries and met with numerous leaders in government, higher educations, schools, research institutes and related associations. He also helped create, as well as led, the Blackboard Institute, which concentrated on K-through-College progression in…Read more…

Ilkay Altintas is the chief data science officer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), UC San Diego, where she is also the founder and director for the Workflows for Data Science Center of Excellence. Since joining SDSC in 2001, she has worked on different aspects of dataflow-based computing and workflows as a principal investigator…Read more…

Ioana Marinescu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Harris School. She has broad interests in the areas of labor and public economics. What is the impact of public policy on labor markets? How can we understand the linkages between micro-level labor market dynamics and macroeconomic outcomes such as unemployment and economic growth?…Read more…

Dr. Valenzuela-Mumau is a groundbreaking educational leader with proven success in supporting the professional growth of teachers and administrators. He brings over 20 years of educational experience serving as a teacher and as a site and district administrator at both elementary and secondary levels. He most recently served as the Superintendent of Alta Public Schools…Read more…

John is responsible for the leadership, management, and strategic direction of the organization. He became the CEO of the New Mexico Consortium in 2023 after spending over 25 years studying proteins with mass spectrometry. Most of his career was spent at Northeastern University in Boston where he rose to become a Distinguished Professor and the…Read more…

Julia Phelan is the co-founder of To Eleven an innovative education consultancy firm specialized in using evidence-based principles and approaches to develop, evaluate, and improve learning experiences. At To Eleven she works on collaborative projects both to create new research-based learning experiences and to integrate new technologies and approaches into existing experiences (both in-person and…Read more…

Kathleen S. Ives, D.M. has worked in online technology for over 30 years in the non-profit, higher education, and corporate arenas. Dr. Ives currently serves as Director, Higher Education Transformation for the National Laboratory for Education Transformation (NLET) where she oversees the development of tools, programs, and best practices by supporting higher education systems in…Read more…

Ken Brooks is president of Treadwell Media Group, a publishing operations and strategy consulting firm focused on the higher education and trade publishing sectors. Prior to Treadwell he was the Chief Operating Officer of Macmillan Learning where he oversaw implementation of process, technology and organization changes related to product development, eCommerce, business systems and supply…Read more…

Ken is an independent consultant, who recently served as Senior Executive Vice President of Educational Results Partnership.  Ken led statewide and national initiatives that provide actionable data to public schools, districts, colleges and universities leading to improved academic, college completion and workplace outcomes for students through his leadership of CalPassPlus.  He also served as the primary liaison…Read more…

Kurt Steinhaus was confirmed as the State of New Mexico Secretary of Public Education on February 22, 2022. Prior to his state appointment, Steinhaus was the Superintendent of the Los Alamos (NM) Public Schools. Steinhaus stepped down as Director, Community Programs Office, Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2015 after serving 17 years at the Lab where he…Read more…

Lee D. Lambert, J.D., Chancellor of Pima Community College since July 2013 is dedicated to leading through academic and resource management, community engagement, fiscal management, relationship building, and strategic planning. Lee served as president of Shoreline Community College in Shoreline, WA.   As a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of…Read more…

Luciano is Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute; Governing Body Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford; Senior Member of the Faculty of  Philosophy, Research Associate and Fellow in Information Policy at the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford; and Distinguished Research Fellow of the Oxford…Read more…

Meredith serves as Manager of Integrated Advising Analytics at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Previously, Meredith was President of SpireWirk, a regional strategy consultancy, where she provided support to regional development projects in NJ and AZ. Prior to this role, she was the director of the NJ Advanced Manufacturing Talent Network and the Associate…Read more…

Mike entered the education community after a successful career in human resources with a major retailer. The time working in retail supporting worker retention and satisfaction as well as recruiting was important, but not the difference in the world for which Mike aspired. After earning his Master of Arts in Teaching, Mike worked as a…Read more…

Storm is the Associate Director of School and Community Engagement at Georgia Institute of Technology’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC).  He is the former Interim President and CEO/Chief Innovation and Education Officer at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy where he provided executive leadership and vision in the areas of Educator…Read more…

Patti J. Dieck brings 30 years of teaching experience to her work with NLET.  As philosopher-practitioners who are still full-time teachers, Dieck and business partner Christopher Sarlo believe that the “process of learning” should always be at the center of mathematics instruction, with an emphasis on foundational math. Outside of the classroom, Dieck and Sarlo…Read more…

Richard Rasiej is a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education where he works on both finding ways to improve the quality of K-5 math instruction, and also to help produce better outcomes for students in math at the community college and undergraduate level. He also currently teaches at…Read more…

Stevens is interested in the development of innovative tools and techniques that enable computational scientists to solve important large-scale problems effectively on advanced scientific computers. His research focuses on three principal areas: advanced collaboration and visualization environments, high-performance computer architectures (including Grids) and computational problems in the life sciences. Stevens teaches courses on computer architecture,…Read more…

Mr. Wexler is a Principal with the San Francisco law firm of Adler & Colvin, a firm that specializes in the representation of nonprofit organizations and their donors, with an emphasis on tax and corporate matters. His practice focuses on private foundation grant making, program related investments, representing social enterprises, and unrelated business income tax…Read more…

Ryan Craig is a founding Managing Director of University Ventures. Prior to University Ventures, Ryan founded and built Wellspring, the largest and leading organization of treatment programs for overweight and obese children, adolescents and young adults, including boarding schools, summer camps and after-school programs. Ryan headed the Education & Training sector at Warburg Pincus from…Read more…

Sam Wang is Professor of Molecular Biology and Neuroscience at Princeton University. His work focuses on the neurobiology of learning, at levels ranging from single synapses to the whole brain. An alumnus of the California Institute of Technology, where he received a B.S. with honor in physics, Dr. Wang went on to earn a PhD…Read more…

Dr. Shade T. Shutters is the Director of Economic Transformations at Arizona State University’s Decision Theater. He is also the founding director of the Laboratory for Regional Dynamics and Development, a unit in the university’s School of Complex Adaptive Systems. His research and outreach focus on theoretically grounded methods of identifying a region’s ideal targets…Read more…

Dr. Shah Ardalan has invested over 30 years in executive and pivotal roles in global corporations, distinguished universities, and prominent community colleges in North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. Ardalan joined Lone Star College System as Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer (CIO) in January 2008 and was named Lone Star College-University Park’s founding…Read more…

Susie Freedman is a dedicated professional with twenty-five years higher education experience across workforce, market, program and strategic relationship development and management, landscape analysis, and product feedback. At NLET and with clients, she identifies key regional stakeholders including workforce boards, economic development organizations, Chambers of Commerce, employer sector associations and employers for education-to-employment ecosystem analysis.…Read more…

Tamara Hamai, Ph.D., has dedicated her career to rebuilding our global systems to encourage children’s holistic growth and well-being, from prenatal through the completion of higher education – especially those who are most vulnerable and facing the greatest challenges. In 2008, she founded Hamai Consulting as a platform to empower nonprofits and public agencies serving…Read more…

Dr. Terri E. Givens is Provost and Professor at Menlo College in the San Francisco Bay Area. From the Fall of 2003 until the Spring of 2015 she was a Professor in the Government Department at the University of Texas at Austin where she also served as Vice Provost for International Activities and Undergraduate Curriculum…Read more…

Dr. Tyrone W A Grandison is CIO of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.  Dr. Grandison was Deputy Chief Data Officer at the US Department of Commerce (2015-16), and was a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow (2014-15) where he worked with the US Department of Labor and the US…Read more…

Dr. Veronica Garcia has 24 years of experience in higher education and has worked in both public and private, 2-year and 4-year institutions, in Arizona, California, and Texas with a focus on serving underrepresented student populations. Dr. Garcia has worked in various roles in Enrollment Management, Student Services and Academic Operations over the years and…Read more…

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. He is a professorial fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy, Victoria University in Australia.  His works focus on the implications of globalization and technology on education. He previously served as the Presidential Chair and Director of the Institute…Read more…

Zach Kirshner is a freelance web developer, graphic designer and multimedia artist. He specializes in bespoke WordPress websites, detail-oriented digital illustration and abstract acrylic painting. During his dozen-year tenure in the web and design world, Zach has applied his versatile skill to a variety of tangential fields. In 2016, Zach spent a year working with…Read more…