Rayanne Darensbourg, a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and education sectors, currently serves as the CEO of Children’s Museum Houston. Prior to that, Darensbourg was the Chief Operating Officer at Neuhaus Education Center. Over the course of her career, Darensbourg has managed complex issues and led results-oriented teams as an executive at organizations such as the YWCA, and American Leadership Forum. She has advised and managed programs for the office of the Governor of Louisiana as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Darensbourg is an effective leader who thrives in diverse environments with a proven record for steering organizational growth, building relationships with the public and private sectors, and leading mission-focused programs and initiatives. She received her Master of Public Administration from Old Dominion University and her Bachelor of Arts in Education from University of New Orleans.

Dr. Klein has held executive leadership positions in higher education and high tech for almost three decades.  Dr. Klein is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Fielding Graduate University, overseeing Administration and Facilities.  Prior to that, she served for 20 years as Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO at Palo Alto University.  

Dr. Klein earned her BA in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business and is an active CPA in the State of California.  Dr. Klein completed her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Change with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration at the Fielding Graduate University in 2010.   

Dr. Klein has been very involved in local community service in leadership positions including the YMCA board in Palo Alto; as Chair for the Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Board; on the board of Financial Executives International Silicon Valley; and on the steering committee for the Bay Area Business Officers Group. Dr. Klein is currently the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee for Benetech’s Board. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE

Tamara Rorie, Esq. is the head of the Patron Engagement Section for the National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Print Disabled, a service unit of the Library of Congress. Ms. Rorie’s responsibilities include developing and overseeing patron programming and consulting with NLS’s network of state libraries on patron issues.

Prior to working at NLS, Tamara was the Assistant Director in the Alternative Media Access Center, at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Before entering the field of alternative text, Ms. Rorie worked in several roles as an advocate for people with disabilities, and as a practicing attorney focused on consumer rights and discrimination. Ms. Rorie has several past and present board affiliations including current member and past Chair of the Braille Authority of North America.

Tamara received her Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest University School of Law, and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hema Sundarraj has over 25 years of experience managing strategic finance and accounting at technology companies in the Silicon Valley. As VP, Global Controller at Cepheid, leader in innovation of molecular diagnostics, she scaled the organization to adeptly manage the tripling of revenue and digitally transformed the business.

Previously, at Nanometrics, Hema completed the integration of a $40 million acquisition and successfully managed the merger of two public companies. Prior to that Hema served as the VP of Finance at Sunpreme, a solar startup, where she helped raise a Series B round of $50+ million from venture capital firms. She led the company’s strategy from pre-alpha to revenue and profitability in five years. Hema started her career at Applied Materials where she was a Director of Finance of a $1 billion division and helped product general managers exceed their profitability goals.

Hema has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from XLRI Jamshedpur, a top-ranked business school in India, and is an active CPA in California.

Anthony Bloome is the Founder and Executive Director of the Mobiles for Education (mEducation) Alliance, the world’s largest convening platform for development and donor agencies focused on EdTech for developing countries. He has specialized in the field of international development and technology for over 25 years, including as Senior Education Technology Specialist at USAID, where he provided technical advice regarding the appropriate uses of technology to support quality educational outcomes in developing countries. He founded the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development with World Vision and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A former technology-for-development specialist at the Peace Corps, he has also served as a distance education specialist for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and Zimbabwe. Bloome has served on multiple advisory boards including the Library of Congress’ Literacy Awards and the UAE’s Alliance for the Future of Digital Learning. He has an MA in telecommunications from George Mason University and a BA in English literature from UCLA.

Radhika Shah is an impact/tech investor, advisor to Illumen Capital Fund of Impact Funds reducing bias, and is passionate about civic engagement, community building and transformative social change. She is an advisor to the Sustainable Development Goals Philanthropy Platform and board member for the Center for Effective Global Action that bridges academics with governments and NGOs for evidence-based research to reduce poverty. She also serves as an advisor to the Stanford Global Center for Gender Equality, the Stanford Business and Human Rights Resource Center, and is Co-President of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs. She cofounded the Ashoka Silicon Valley Chapter and Action for India’s Silicon Valley Leadership Council. She has been a speaker at the National Academy of Sciences and the UN Solutions Summit on entrepreneurship, technology innovation, and SDGs. Shah holds an MS in computer science from Stanford University and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Susan Charles Ed.D. has over 30 years of experience as a teacher, counselor, and administrator in K-12 education and over 15 years in higher education.  Originally from the island of Dominica in the West Indies, where she began teaching, she has lived in the Bay Area for over 45 years.  In 2009, she became the Director of Educational Leadership programs at Santa Clara University and presently directs two Masters’ Programs; Administrative Services Program, and M.A./Education and Curriculum, at Notre Dame de Namur University, in Belmont, California.  She also works with schools in India, China, the Bay Area, and has worked in the Caribbean and Kenya.  Susan is a trainer and consultant for Six Seconds, an organization that trains professionals in social emotional learning.  She sits on many boards.  Susan enjoys spending time with her family, grandchildren and friends, gardening, and cooking. Her Noble Goal is to teach and influence educators to make a difference in the lives of children! 

Samuel Johnson, Jr., is Superintendent Emeritus of the San Mateo Union High School District, where he also served as Director of Human Relations, Assistant Principal, Principal, Director of Personnel, and Associate Superintendent of Human Resources-Administrative Services. His career spans forty-five years in service to secondary and higher education, and he began his career as a mathematics teacher. Previously, Johnson served as a member and chair of the Board of Directors for the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. He also served as the Director of Administrative Services and was an instructor at Notre Dame de Namur University. He has chaired more than thirty Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation committees and served on many educational and community boards. Presently, Johnson serves on the Board of Provident Credit Union. He earned a BS in mathematics from Southern University in Louisiana and an MA in mathematics from Stanford University.

Ky Vu currently advises Outschool.orgin executing their strategy to serve more low-income students of color. With an extensive background in both the public and private sectors, he taught high school algebra and calculus and served as Special Assistant to the Superintendent and Director of State and Federal Programs for San Francisco Unified School District. Previously, he spent twelve years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation managing a portfolio of grants supporting networks of districts and schools to improve teaching practices aligned to new academic standards.Prior to working in public education, he served five years as a U.S. naval officer, was a management consultant for Ernst & Young and A.T. Kearney, and did marketing strategy for Charles Schwab. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Shawn Anthony Robinson, PhD, is a social entrepreneur, co-founder of the award-winning graphic novel Doctor Dyslexia Dude, and is a former Board member with the International Dyslexia Association. Robinson graduated from high school (New Trier) reading at an elementary level, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO) with a Bachelor of Science in Human Services, a Master’s in Education from DePaul University, and a PhD in Language and Literacy from Cardinal Stritch University. Robinson has over 40 publications and has received several distinguished honors throughout his career such as: the 2022 Wisconsin Innovation Award; the 2017 Alumni Achievement Award/New Trier High School Alumni Hall of Honor; the 2016 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from UWO; “Educator of the Year” from All-State Insurance (Chicago) 2005. Robinson is also a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Dr. Tracy White-Weeden, President & CEO, Neuhaus Education Center is a seasoned leader dedicated to advancing literacy success for all and academic excellence for children. She brings 28 years of experience to a calling of shaping dynamic systems-change so that children are well prepared for the realities of a 21st-century knowledge economy. White is also a relentless literacy advocate who frames literacy as a fundamental human right that transforms the family tree when evidence-based practices are scaled responsibly. Her life’s work has been to position literacy success for all as a moral imperative that creates a place at the table for every child and adult, regardless of zip code or country of origin.

Jim Vanides is an educator, advisor, technologist, and consultant, with a passion for equitable and inspiring STEM(+) education and teacher professional learning. His consultancy focuses on innovations made possible through education and industry partnerships. He serves as an advisor to numerous education organizations, including the California Science Project, a subject matter initiative of the University of California. Since 2003, Jim has been teaching science teachers online through the Masters of Science in Science Education program at Montana State University. Jim’s experience includes more than a decade of leadership in Corporate Philanthropy / “Social Innovation” at HP, where he was instrumental in activating and supporting primary, secondary, and higher education edtech projects in over 40 countries. He also served on the Board of The Tech Interactive (formerly The Tech Museum), focusing on education programs. Jim holds a BS in Engineering and a MA in Education, both from Stanford University.

Ellen Moir is an independent educational consultant and founder and former CEO of New Teacher Center, where she pioneered innovative approaches to new teacher development, research on new teacher practice, and the design and administration of teacher induction programs. Moir is widely recognized for this work, as well as a passionate advocate for our nation’s teachers and for the students they teach. She has extensive experience in public education, having previously served as Director of Teacher Education at the University of California at Santa Cruz and worked as a bilingual teacher. Ellen has received several distinguished honors including a Brock International Prize, a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow, an Ashoka Fellow and a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Ellen has also co-authored many publications, including Keys to the Elementary Classroom and Keys to the Secondary Classroom, New Teacher Mentoring: Hopes and Promise for Improving Teacher Effectiveness, and Blended Coaching: Skills and Strategies to Support Principal Development.

D’Andre J. Weaver, Ph.D., is the Chief Digital Equity Officer at Digital Promise where he serves as a leading advocate for digital equity. D’Andre is a native of Chicago’s South Side who understands the life-changing power of amazing teachers and a quality public education. He oversees the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, and also works with a variety of stakeholders at the federal, state, regional, and local levels to advance digital equity across the United States. As a former public school teacher, principal, senior leader, and superintendent, Dr. Weaver cares deeply about helping students realize their dreams. His leadership is centered around equity and access, learner-centered approaches, advancing digital equity, and organizational health. He is a board member at the Chicago Public Education Fund and the Mastery Transcript Consortium, as well as a Pahara Fellow, Racial Equity Leadership Network Fellow, and a member of Education Leaders of Color, Men of Color in Educational Leadership.

Dr. Joseph South is an internationally recognized educational technology leader focused on evidence-based learning transformation. Joseph formerly served as the director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. As a presidential appointee in the Obama Administration, he was an adviser to the Secretary of Education. During his tenure, he developed national educational technology policy, formed public-private partnerships to assist education leaders in transitioning to digital learning, and worked directly with edtech entrepreneurs, funders, and innovators. Joseph was previously a design resident at IDEO where he helped shape The Purpose Project—designed to help young people understand their strengths while developing expertise in something they care deeply about to prototype their purpose. He is a strong proponent of the active use of technology by learners and nurturing purpose-driven expertise. Joseph currently serves as the Chief Learning Officer for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).