Dr. Karen Billings has over 30 years of experience in the education technology industry with positions in management, development, marketing, sales, and classroom teaching. As Vice President of the Education Division at SIIA, Dr. Billings drives the association’s work with member companies for whom educational publishing is a primary business. Prior to SIIA, Dr. Billings was Vice President, Major Business Initiatives and Vice President and General Manager of the MediaSeek Division for bigchalk, Inc. She has also worked at Microsoft Corporation, Claris Corporation, and Logo Computer Systems, Inc. in strategic relations, marketing, and sales. Dr. Billings taught for 12 years in K-12 and Higher Ed classrooms and has authored four books and numerous articles for education journals. .

Frank Bonsal III
Partner, New Markets Venture Partners

Frank Bonsal III has spent over two decades advancing efficacy and innovation in and around education and the knowledge economy.  In 2007, Frank became Partner of New Markets Venture Partners, and makes early and growth stage investments in education technology and service companies.  Since 1999, as Partner of Bonsal Capital, Frank has invested in over a dozen private education companies across the varying sectors of education, most notably companies such as American Public Education, Blackboard, Capella, Headsprout, Smarthinking & Spectrum K12.  For over 15 years leading up to his venture path, Frank served as teacher, advisor, coach, and administrator to students in middle and high schools in private and public schools throughout the eastern U.S., the U.K., and Japan.  Frank has a M.Ed. and M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. with honors from the University of New Hampshire.

John Bower
Chief Executive Officer, uBoost, Inc.

John Bower brings 20 years business experience managing high growth companies to uBoost, Inc.  Prior to uBoost, Mr. Bower co-founded Sennet Capital and was the CFO and COO at Hawaii Biotech where he helped to secure over $50 million in equity and grant funding.  As a co-founder of HealthRev, a national healthcare front office outsourcing company, Mr. Bower expanded the company to ten states, over two hundred employees, and $5 million in annual cash flow.  In 1999, Mr. Bower sold HealthRev to a Chicago based private equity firm where he remained for two years to assist in the transition.

Todd Brekhus is an educational leader devoted to introducing new technologies to educators and administrators. As Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Todd and his direct reports are responsible for the entire product library, integration of acquired product lines, and bringing new product ideas to market at PLATO Learning. Todd built one of the largest teacher internet portals for MCI (MarcoPolo).  Before coming to PLATO via acquisition, Todd was President and COO of Learning Elements, where he was responsible for implementing business strategy. Todd is currently Board Co-Chair of the Education Division of SIIA.

Chris joined Berkery Noyes from Eduventures, Inc., the leading education market research and consulting firm, where he managed business development, consulted on client growth strategies, and created the company’s consultative sales methodology. Chris brings a wide range of education, management, and consulting experience to Berkery Noyes, including past service as Vice President of Business Development at I.COMM, Inc., a software design and network integrator specializing in the education, government and healthcare markets. As part of his work for I.COMM, Curran ran SchoolFirst Foundation, a non-profit arm of the company that combines innovative educational technology applications into model systems that were donated to under-served schools.

Kevin Custer
Founding Principal, Arc Capital Development

Kevin Custer offers over 19 years of experience in technology and telecommunications. He has launched six startups, four of which achieved over $10 million in revenues within their first 3 years. Mr. Custer is the Chairman of Kinderstreet, an Arc Portfolio company that provides management software for the childcare market. He took Brainium Technologies public through a reverse-takeover of Canada’s seventh-fastest growing public company. In his position at Infonautics, he led the creation of Electric Library, an Internet-based subscription service that grossed over $20 million in its first 30 months. Kevin also has served as the chairman of both the e-business and the Education Division of SIIA.

Bart Epstein
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Tutor.com  

Bart Epstein leads Tutor.com's growth and expansion into new markets, with a special emphasis on the company's successful push into the direct-to-consumer market these last two years.  Mr. Epstein has negotiated and executed countless partnership and joint ventures, both at Tutor.com and beyond.  Mr. Epstein received his BA from SUNY-Binghamton and his JD from the University of Virginia, where he was an Olin Law and Economics Scholar.  Mr. Epstein serves as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight and NASA, and as a member of the board of directors of Gifts for the Homeless, in Washington DC.

Ms. Fivecoat is an established and respected executive coach, having spent the last three years managing Fivecoat and Associates, a consulting firm whose client list includes Dell and Standard & Poors, as well as several smaller education technology firms. Ms. Fivecoat’s previous industry experience includes Senior Vice President of Sales for Lightspan, Inc., and Area Director of public sector sales for Apple Computer.  Prior to her work in the private sector, she held numerous positions in education, including policy leader as the first director of education technology for the State of Texas. 

Jeff Fromm represents numerous growth-stage technology companies, product and service businesses, and investment groups. He has experience in the U.S. and globally with private equity investments, corporate finance matters, mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, licensing and distribution arrangements, executive employment and compensation arrangements, and general corporate issues. In addition, he offers specialized market knowledge to businesses in the education industry, having worked actively with educational technology, product and service companies since 1998. Jeff is also a founding member and manager of the Kidron Opportunity Fund, a private equity fund targeting global investments in a wide range of technology, media, telecom, consumer goods, education, and financial service companies.

Kitty Ganier
Vertical Market Development Manager – Education, Samsung Government and Education

Kitty Ganier is currently managing the Education Vertical Market Development for Samsung Government and Education. That Division is committed to the advancement of student achievement and the spirit of lifelong learning that is achieved through a strong understanding of technology and the doors that technology opens for young minds. She previously served on the University of Virginia's Board for Student Equity and Welfare and worked on initiatives that included an increase in technology funding for IT labs on ground to give students equal access to printers and computing labs. She has created Course Units for Interactive History Online that are included in best practices for NCLB and Virginia State high school curricula guides and worked for the former US Secretary of Education-Senator Lamar Alexander.

Chad Johnson
Cherry Tree & Associates, LLC

At Cherry Tree, Chad specializes in serving education technology companies in buy-side, sell-side, and capital raising engagements. He publishes their Education For-Profit Monthly newsletter and an annual research report on education related markets. Chad has fifteen years experience building businesses and advising business owners, the past seven of which have been focused on education technology. Prior to joining Cherry Tree, Chad worked for a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm in Minneapolis. Previous experience includes running an early-stage education technology firm, managing acquisitions for a publicly traded education technology company, and working as an analyst at a venture capital firm.

Vivek is a Director of Berkery Noyes, specializing in the Education, Knowledge Management and Training Markets. Vivek joined Berkery Noyes in 1999 and since then has participated in transactions across all segments of the Information, Media & Technology Markets. Vivek most recently served as Vice President, where he managed transactions for the firm’s Education Practice. During his tenure at Berkery Noyes, Vivek has worked on the sale of Interwrite Learning to eInstruction, Leeds’ acquisition of eInstruction, the sale of Monotype to CSCP, the sale of Psychological Services, Inc. to ABRY Partners; the sale of the Hampton-Brown Company to National Geographic Society, and the sale of Delta Education to School Specialty.

Lillian Kellogg
Vice President Education Networks of America (ENA)

Lillian Kellogg has dedicated her career to education and technology and has more than 20 years of experience in working with school districts and libraries in the field of educational technology. Before joining ENA, Lillian served as Vice President of Strategic Relations for netTrekker, the trusted search engine for schools. Prior to netTrekker Lillian founded The Peak Group, an industry leading consultancy, that published industry analysis reports on emerging technologies in education such as virtual schools and wireless technologies. Lillian started her career as a high school teacher and has held national positions with education and library market leaders such as Encyclopedia Britannica. Lillian has Co-chaired the Education Division Board of Directors for the past two years.

William J. Kelly
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Learning.com

Bill is co-founder and has served as CEO for Learning.com since 1999. In 1996 he was co-founder and Executive Vice President of Sapient Health Network, Inc., a pioneer in developing online health-oriented communities for consumers. When Sapient was acquired by WebMD, Bill served as its Vice President of Commerce. He has more than a decade of experience helping to nurture the concept of online communities and user generated value, and is leading Learning.com to apply online community development in K-12 education. Bill received his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Paul Kühne
Director of Marketing, eChalk, Inc.

Paul Kühne currently heads up marketing at eChalk in New York City. He previously served as Vice President, Subscriber Relations and Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience at BrainPOP. He has built successful sales organizations, marketing programs and customer/client service operations in ed tech and beyond, leading and contributing to 30-125% revenue growth. Prior to BrainPOP, Paul directed institutional marketing for Tutor.com and handled marketing, communications and relationship management programs for educational nonprofits, online services and academia. He has a passion for innovative educational technology and methods, giving people the tools they need to succeed and sharing their stories. He takes pride in balancing P&L management with customer-centric practices that encourage action among prospects and brand loyalty among customers.

Barry Lippman
President and CEO, LearningExpress, LLC

Barry Lippman founded LearningExpress, LLC in 1995. A recipient of the 2008 CODiE Award for “Best Student Assessment Solution”, LearningExpress provides career-oriented and educational learning tools, and innovative writing assessment and improvement programs. Prior to starting LearningExpress, Mr. Lippman was the President of Macmillan Publishing, as well as President of Macmillan's General Books Division. Mr. Lippman has over 30 years of experience in the book, education, and information industry and has served more than half of those years in senior executive positions. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of Virtual Enterprises and the New York City Board of Education's Advisory Council for Occupational Education.

Keith London
Founder and Publisher, Defined Mind, Inc.

Keith London, founder and publisher of Defined Mind, Inc. is an entrepreneur who has built several market-leading business over the course of his career.  He has established both private and public companies, and used self-funding, public markets, and angel capital to launch his ventures.  In 2007 he received the AOL@School Technology Leadership Award for his test-prep application DM Online, and in 2006 he received the Association of Educational Publisher’s highest honor, the Golden Lamp Award.   Formerly an investment banker with Geneva Corporate Finance, and an Executive Vice President of BiznessOnline.com, Mr. London holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University's School of Business.

Bob Longo is the Executive Vice President of ETech Group, The Americas. He previously served as President of the PowerSchool Division of Apple Inc., where he established strong growth in revenue, profit, and market share. Prior to PowerSchool, he was President, CEO & Vice Chairman of Carnegie Learning Inc., a software development & publishing company. He has been awarded the Ernst & Young Software Entrepreneur of the Year award, and the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s “Rising Star” Award. Products, under his leadership, have received the U.S. Department of Education “Exemplary” designation award, and multiple best category awards from the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA).

Margery Mayer is Executive Vice President of Scholastic Inc. where she oversees product development, marketing and sales for the Scholastic Education division.  Under her leadership, Scholastic developed the premier reading intervention program READ 180®, which includes highly motivating computer instruction, audio/video components, small group teacher-led instruction, and high-interest books written at low reading levels.  Because of her commitment to increasing adolescent literacy rates, Ms. Mayer was selected as a “Readers Favorite” on the Fast Company magazine annual “Fast 50” list of people doing extraordinary things. She is also one of Pink Magazine’s 2008 “Top 15 Women in Business: The Innovators.”

Jim Marshall brings more than 30 years of enterprise-focused experience in helping technology companies build and develop accomplished management, sales, marketing, professional services and channels teams. Before SpectrumK12, he was CEO at Agentis Software where he led funding rounds, a management buyout, multiple large new sales transactions and took the company to sustained profitability. Prior to that, Jim was Vice President of Apple's US Education Division. Jim has held executive positions at Informix, Oracle Corporation, NeoMedia Technologies, Tandem Computers and Burroughs. He is a member of the Cobb County Education Foundation, and a Director for the Florida Council on Economic Education.

Michael Marchesano
Managing Director, The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.

Michael Marchesano, a Managing Director with The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), focuses on the firm's leading M&A advisory practice to the B2B media, and business information and education services sectors.  Mr. Marchesano is a 25+ year media industry veteran, a former top executive at The Nielsen Company, and the former President and CEO of VNU Business Media USA. Prior to joining The Nielsen Company, Mr. Marchesano spent 22 years with BPA International, the primary global auditor of business publications, rising to the position of President and CEO in 1994. Mr. Marchesano was recently elected to the Software and Information Industry Association’s (SIIA) Content Division Board. 

Mark McCusker is the architect of Texthelp's growth to its dominant position in the literacy support market worldwide.  He has been with the company since September of 1998 and is charged with guiding the direction of the company. With a wide variety of business experience, Mark has a vast knowledge base and provides an ever present steadying influence. He combines great engineering credentials with keen financial and entrepreneurial talent.  He has wide experience working with the financial community. Under his leadership Texthelp Systems Ltd. has been recognized in the Deloitte and Touche Fast 50 Program (Ireland) for the past 8 years. 

Louis C. Pugliese
President, Learning Diagnostics, Inc.  

Pugliese is president of Learning Diagnostics, Inc., an education consulting organization that provides assistance in corporate growth to Fortune 500 organizations and private equity organizations involved in global e-learning initiatives. He was recently vice president of corporate development at Educational Testing Service (ETS) and is now providing strategic consulting to the company. Pugliese has served a number of companies as interim CEO and has worked closely with founders, current executives and other team members to expand their market share, sales and visibility.  He is a noted international speaker on educational technology and has addressed a wide range of issues in education and education policy.

Steve Ritter, Chief Scientist at Carnegie Learning, has been developing and evaluating educational systems for over 10 years. He earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University was one of the founders of Carnegie Learning. Dr. Ritter was instrumental in the development and evaluation of the Cognitive Tutors for mathematics and developed one of the earliest web-based intelligent tutoring systems. As Chief Scientist, Dr. Ritter is responsible for monitoring and improving the effectiveness of the company’s products and services.

Rob J. Rueckl
Vice President and CFO, PLATO Learning, Inc.

Robert Rueckl joined PLATO Learning in June 2005 and currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Rueckl held the positions of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Vice President, Controller at Zomax Incorporated, a publicly-held supply chain services company. From 1996–2002, Rueckl held several senior finance leadership positions at ADC Telecommunications during a period of significant growth and change. Prior to ADC, Rueckl spent five years at Cray Research in several accounting and finance positions, and six years in the audit practice of KPMG.

David Samuelson
Senior Vice President, Global Schools, Pearson

David Samuelson is Senior Vice President for Global Schools for Pearson’s education division. He has spent the last 15 years in K-12 education publishing. He served as Vice President for Product Development at Living Books, and at the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation (MECC). Prior to education publishing, David was COO, and ran the software development group for an interactive advertising technology start up. David has also worked in television production, running his own television production company, and becoming an Emmy award-winning children’s television producer. David’s first career was as a theatre director and teacher at The Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company and School.

Farimah Schuerman is a specialist in the business of educational technology. During her career, she has helped hundreds of education companies bring new products to market while ensuring that product quality is maintained at the highest level. Farimah has provided guidance in the areas of sales, marketing, product development, business development and many other pivotal areas. Farimah has been active within SIIA's Education Division the past few years; serving on the Education Board, as co-chair of the Postsecondary Committee and on the Steering Committee for the Ed Tech Business Forum and the Ed Tech Industry Summit, at which she has presented in years past.

Jeff Schultz
Vice President, Learning Solutions, McGraw-Hill Higher Education The McGraw-Hill Companies

Jeff is responsible for custom publishing, online learning and one-off learning solutions for clients at McGraw-Hill, Higher Education. As an education consultant, Jeff works with customers to transform curriculum and content delivery methods for both the traditional and for-profit higher education markets. Prior to joining McGraw-Hill, Jeff was Director of Solutions for Pearson Education and an Executive Editor for Pearson Technology Group where he worked on emerging technology publications. He has authored/edited reference works in political science, religion, and literature including the CBA's Gold Medallion Award-winning CS Lewis: A Reader's Encyclopedia. Jeff began his career as a college faculty member at several colleges including White Pines College, Ashland University and The Colorado College.

Joe Vallo
Chief Operating Officer, Thinkronize, Inc.

Mr. Vallo has been an executive with Thinkronize since its formation in 1999. He is currently Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Technology and Product, CRM, Financial Management, HR, legal and facilities.  Prior to Thinkronize he spent 17 years in information systems and operations management with Luxottica Retail (LensCrafters), Andersen Consulting (Accenture), Price Waterhouse Consulting (PriceWaterhouse-Coopers), Hobsons (Collegeview), and Lazarus Department Stores (Macy's).  He has an MBA and BS-Marketing from Ohio State University.

Pat Walkington
Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Sebit, LLC

Pat Walkington is a Consultant in the K-12 Education Market with a proven track record in marketing and sales management. She is currently the VP of Sales and Marketing for Sebit, LLC, developers of the award-winning Adaptive Curriculum, which enhances learning in math and science for students in the middle grades. Pat has over 20 years of experience creating, leading and growing the educational divisions of technology companies including Commodore Business Machines, The Learning Company and Broderbund Software.  Pat also co-founded Making It Happen a non-profit that recognizes outstanding educators in technology, and she has served on various industry and company boards.

Robin Warner
Managing Director, The van Tulleken Company

Robin Warner is a Managing Director at The van Tulleken Company, a subsidiary of independent merchant bank, Quayle Munro. The van Tulleken Company (TvTCo) is a leading advisor on mergers and acquisitions in the education and academic sectors, as well as other markets. Ms. Warner has more than 23 years’ publishing experience, that includes marketing sales, editorial, direct mail and school book clubs, and she has published for the trade, mass and public library markets. Prior to joining The van Tulleken Company she was at Western Publishing Company (Golden Books); Simon & Schuster and at Grosset & Dunlap Publishing Company. She is a member of the EdNet Advisory Board, SIIA Education Steering Committee, SIMBA Education Conference Board and SIIA’s Education Working Group on Innovation.

Kenneth Wasch
President, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA)

Kenneth Wasch is the president of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association of the software code and information content industries. The Washington, D.C.-based organization represents more than 600 leading companies that sell digital property. His long-standing interest in computers and software, coupled with the industry’s need for a central trade association, led him to establish the Software Publishers Association (SPA) in 1984 with an initial group of 25 software firms. Wasch has led the association from its infancy to its merger with the Information Industry Association in January 1999, resulting in the formation of SIIA. Prior to founding SPA, Wasch spent eight years as a senior attorney for the U.S. Department of Energy. Wasch was awarded the Computer Law Leadership Award for significant contributions to the international legal and regulatory systems relating to the computer industry.

Randy Wilhelm
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Thinkronize, Inc.

Randy Wilhelm co-founded Thinkronize in 1999, and since then, has navigated his company through the dot.com craze and bust to create a highly successful organization. With the netTrekker product suite, Wilhelm changed how digital curriculum is tagged, sorted and delivered to all stakeholders in K-12 education. He has spoken at EdNET, SIIA, and The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) conferences, in addition to numerous other events. Prior to Thinkronize, Wilhelm provided consulting services to Fortune 500 businesses on better analyzing and controlling costs in their employee benefit packages. An Executive Vice President at USI Midwest (NASDAQ:USIH), he managed the delivery of rapid and sustainable growth at a leading insurance broker.

Lee Wilson

Lee has been a Senior Marketing, Sales, and Business Development Executive at Harcourt, Pearson, Apple, and Chancery Software. He consults on strategic direction, marketing programs, and sales management. His recent focus has been virtual worlds, video games, and Web 2.0 technologies for learning.   He currently serves on the board of the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP), is a former board member and chair of the Education Division at SIIA, and was one of the founding board members of the Schools Interoperability Framework.  He blogs at www.education-business-blog.com.  Lee earned an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from Princeton University.