SIIA Education Division Announces 2013 Board of Directors

The Education Division is excited to announce the new members of our Board of Directors. These newly elected and appointed executives from SIIA member companies represent a broad spectrum of corporate interests, and their visionary leadership will help guide the education technology industry during this time of seismic change.

As board members, these individuals represent more than 190 SIIA Education Division member firms that provide software, digital content and other technologies for educational needs. The new board members will help to develop the Division’s initiatives and determine the projects, activities and events to be undertaken by the board.

Eight executives were elected to serve two-year terms, while five representatives have been appointed to serve one-year terms.

Newly elected board members serving two-year terms:

  • Susan Adelmann, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Follett School and Library Group
  • Katie Blot, President, Education Services, Blackboard Inc.
  • Diana Gowen, Alliance Manager, Intel
  • Mimi Jett, Vice President, Business Development, Avant Assessment
  • Andy Ross, Vice President, FLVS Global Division, Florida Virtual School
  • Mitch Weisburgh, Managing Partner, Academic Business Advisors, LLC
  • Bruce Wilcox, Vice President of Carolina Science Online, Carolina Biological Supply Co
  • Cathy Zier, Vice President of Content, Channel & Alliances, Promethean

Board members appointed to one-year terms:

  • Christopher Lohse, Vice President, Strategic Affairs, Pearson
  • Andrew Matorin, Director, Corp Strategy and Bus Dev, Scholastic Inc.
  • J Rollins, Senior Vice President, Solution Strategy, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • Susan Silveira, Senior Manager, Business Development, Qualcomm Wireless Reach
  • David Stevenson, Vice President, Government Relations, Wireless Generation

Board members serving one more year of their elected two-year terms:

  • Lisa Barnett, Chief Operating Officer, Atomic Learning, Inc.
  • John Bower, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, uBoost
  • Adam Hall, Independent
  • Robert Iskander, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, EduTone
  • Vineet Madan, Senior Vice President, New Ventures and Strategic Services, McGraw-Hill Education
  • David Samuelson, Chief Marketing Office, Achieve3000
  • Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, DreamBox Learning, Inc.
  • Johann Zimmern, Marketing Manager, WW K12 Education, Adobe Systems

This board represents some of the education technology industry’s leading thinkers, voices, and advocates. SIIA welcomes the new board members, and we value the opportunity to work collectively on advancing the industry’s interests.


Karen BillingsKaren Billings is Vice President for the Education Division at SIIA. Follow the SIIA Education Team on Twitter at @SIIAEducation

SIIA Public Sector Innovation Group Announces Founding Board of Directors

SIIA today announced the founding members of the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) Board of Directors. PSIG is a newly formed division of SIIA dedicated to helping technology firms take advantage of the evolving federal investment in cloud-related technologies.

Newly appointed board members are executives from SIIA member companies and will add a critical voice to the ongoing debate on a host of key issues affecting the government IT industry, including cloud computing, FedRAMP, mobility, security, big data, procurement and innovation. The PSIG Board will help develop the Division’s initiatives and determine the projects, activities and events—which will include thought leadership around the implementation of cloud computing and an executive roundtable series with key decision-makers.

The Public Sector Innovation Group Board of Directors will be chaired by Doug Bourgeois, Vice President and Chief Cloud Executive at VMware, Inc.

All executives were appointed to serve one‐year terms.

Public Sector Innovation Group Board of Directors 2012:
• Mike Binko, President and CEO, kloudtrack
• Doug Bourgeois, VP & Chief Cloud Executive, VMware, Inc.
• Bart Epstein, SVP and GM, Military and Federal, Tutor.com
• Mark Forman, Founder, Government Transaction Services
• Tom Gann, Vice President, Government Relations, McAfee
• Gunnar Hellekson, Chief Technology Strategist, RedHat US Public Sector
• Joel Hinzman, Senior Director, Federal Affairs, Oracle
• Robert Hodges, Federal Business Development Lead, Bancroft Technology Group
• John Landwehr, VP Digital Government Solutions, Adobe
• David Lucas, Chief Strategy Officer, Global Computer Enterprises
• Preston McGee, Director of Business Development, Peniel Solutions LLC
• David Mihalchik, Business Development Executive – Federal, Google
• Michelle Rudnicki, VP, Cloud Computing IBM
• Jeff Ward, Vice President – Federal, Fiberlink


Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

SIIA Launches Public Sector Innovation Group to Address Changes to the IT Acquisition Environment

SIIA today announced the launch of a new membership group to help technology firms take advantage of the evolving Federal investment in cloud-related technologies. SIIA also announced that it has brought on Mike Hettinger, a Capitol Hill veteran and leading expert on public sector management, to direct the new division.

Called the Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG), this new membership division will help cloud service providers and Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAO) take advantage of the evolving Federal investment in cloud-related technologies. PSIG is the only organization of its kind to serve this innovative segment of the public sector technology market. While SIIA been a leader for years in guiding tech companies in the government procurement process, the formation of PSIG reflects the dramatically changed government marketplace.

The move to the cloud is an enormous opportunity for many government contractors. The creation of PSIG will help SIIA members understand the changing landscape, seize upon new government initiatives, and generally be better positioned for success with Federal IT procurement.

SIIA has been guiding our members through this process for six years, with our annual Cloud/Gov conference at the centerpiece. When the Federal government issued its ‘Cloud First’ policy last year and adopted the FedRAMP Concept of Operations, we knew it was time to do more to help our members understand the impact of changes to the IT acquisition environment.

Hettinger most recently served as Executive Director overseeing Strategic Planning and Market Development in Grant Thornton’s Global Public Sector Practice, where he was responsible for firm-wide strategic business planning, federal marketing, and external relations. Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Hettinger was the staff director of the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Finance and Accountability. Hettinger also has an extensive background in public affairs, having served as a Public Policy Counselor at Patton Boggs LLP, where he oversaw large-scale lobbying and public affairs campaigns. Prior to joining Patton Boggs, Hettinger was Chief of Staff to Representative Tom Davis of Virginia.

Read more about PSIG in today’s Government Computer News feature.


Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

SIIA Names Kathy Greenler Sexton to Lead Content Division

Kathy Greenler SextonSIIA today named Kathy Greenler Sexton as Vice President and General Manager of the Content Division. Sexton will lead SIIA’s efforts to shape and support leading information and media companies by providing leadership, advocacy, critical market information, and business development opportunities.

“Kathy is a dynamic, strategic and hands-on executive with deep experience serving information, Internet and media companies,” said Ken Wasch, President of SIIA. “Using her deep digital content experience, Kathy will support our member companies—which provide the content, software and other enabling technologies that drive the content industry—helping them identify business and partnership opportunities, understand disruptive technologies, maximize their monetization models, connect emerging companies with capital, and educate them on the fast-changing policy initiatives in Washington that could impact their bottom-lines. I look forward to working with Kathy to enhance both the leading and emerging media and information companies that are part of our membership.”

“The information market is in the middle of a transformation unleashed by the internet, digital, mobile technology and the proliferation of data,” said Sexton. “These changes are impacting everything from business models to service delivery and operations, and they represent both disruptions and opportunities for our member companies. I am honored to lead the SIIA Content Division, and I look forward to helping our members successfully navigate these market challenges.”

Sexton has had a history of continued success in the digital content industry. After working in broadcast television and international marketing roles, Sexton was a founding member, lead marketer and publisher for the web-based search engine pioneer AltaVista. She established the company one of the top five globally trafficked sites. She also grew Individual.com into a top online news property, successfully selling to Office.com/Winstar, a leading brand and number one e-commerce site for small business. Sexton also launched HighBeam Research, dramatically growing revenue, traffic and subscribers and positioned it for sale to Gale/Cengage. She also successfully transitioned BLR from traditional publisher to a streamlined online information provider and re-launched ZoomInfo, establishing it as a leader in the competitive B2B information market. Sexton earned a BA in communications from Boston College.


Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.