Board of Directors

Kimberly Adams
Vice President of Human Resources
Lockheed Martin Enterprise Operations

Kimberly (Kim) S. Adams is Vice President of Human Resources for Lockheed Martin Enterprise Operations.

Since joining Lockheed Martin in 1998, Ms. Adams has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility including Vice President, Human Resources and Communications at Sandia National Laboratories; Vice President, Human Resources Operations for Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems and Solutions; and Vice President, Human Resources and Security Operations for Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems.

Before joining Lockheed Martin, Ms. Adams worked as a human resources consultant for Fortune 500 organizations concentrating on talent acquisition and development. She has more than 25 years of human resources leadership experience in several industries including healthcare, engineering and technology, and aerospace.

Ms. Adams is active in the community and has served on several boards of directors including Innovate-Educate, where she is a member of the executive committee, United Way of Central New Mexico, and the Governor’s Business Executives for Education.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Ms. Adams is a graduate of Park College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She earned a master’s degree in management from the University of Maryland University College.

Loretta A. Armenta
President
Qwest – New Mexico

As President of Qwest New Mexico, Ms. Armenta provides corporate executive leadership, and interacts and lobbies with state legislators and civic leaders to further the success of Qwest Communications. She also provides strategic direction for Qwest in New Mexico with regard to consumers, employees, and government and civic affairs.

In February 2003, Ms. Armenta was selected to serve as a member of the FannieMae’s Housing Impact Advisory Council. In November 2002, Ms. Armenta was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to serve on the Governor’s Transition Team. Ms. Armenta was also appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to serve on the New Mexico/Chihuahua Economic Commission. In April 1995, Ms. Armenta was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the North American Development Bank (NADBank) Community Adjustment and Investment Program Advisory Committee.

Ms. Armenta has been the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of her community service and national/international leadership. In November 2006 Ms. Armenta was inducted into the “New Mexico Business Hall of Fame” and in November 2005 she received the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her national, state, and local leadership and advocacy on behalf of issues impacting women and minority business owners. In 2004, Ms. Armenta was also awarded the prestigious Spirit of Achievement Award by the National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

Ms. Armenta is a nationally recognized advocate for cultural diversity in the workplace, small business initiatives, civil rights, women’s issues and equal opportunities for the disabled.

Mike Belcher
Education Solutions Manager for the Americas
Hewlett-Packard

With over 10 years experience in education solution development for major OEM’s, Mike has specialized in developing, delivering and marketing technology-based learning solutions into the K-12 and Higher Education segments. Accomplishments include comprehensive anytime anywhere and Student computing solutions including Instructional Technology Planning, Professional and Faculty Development, e-Learning portals, Classroom Delivery models, application partnerships, support and Infrastructure development.

Since joining HP, Mike has led the development of “Real Life” solutions. HP’s “Real Life” solutions are designed to provide students and teachers real world skills through the use of real life examples and applications. Key components include planning, professional development and applications to help prepare teachers to integrate industry standard applications, project-based learning and student-centered collaboration into their classrooms.  Mike currently works and resides in Tomball, TX with his family

Bill Bowman
Regional Vice President
Apple Computers

Bill Bowman is the Regional Manager for the Mountain West Higher Education Region at Apple, Inc.  A 20 year Apple veteran, Bill has served in both Marketing and Sales positions during his career at Apple.  In his current role, Bill leads a team of salespeople calling on Higher Education in 11 states in the western United States.Bill attended the University of Colorado and graduated with a degree in Marketing in 1978.  He lives in Scottsdale, AZ, with this wife and 4 children, one Shetland Sheepdog and one English Bulldog.

Carlos Contreras
U.S. Director of Education
Intel Corporation

Charles Fadel
Global Lead on Education
Cisco Systems

Charles Fadel is Global Lead on Education at Cisco Systems, and the Cisco board member at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, of which Cisco was a founding member. He has consulted with a wide variety of education ministries/boards including Massachusetts, France, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, Tunisia, and the Dominican Republic, to name a few, and has worked on education projects with more than thirty countries and states.

He is presently advising two non-profit organizations, and actively serves with several industry organizations including two committees of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA).  Charles has recently served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Readiness Project as well as its 21st Century Skills task force. He is also incubating a non-profit organization addressing the convergence of 21st Century Skills and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Charles has authored a book titled “21st Century Skills – Learning for Life in our Times” http://www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com/index.php , and many articles in publications such as Technology & Learning, New Media Consortium, eSchool News, Education Week, University Business, EETimes, and others. He has presented at numerous education conferences, including the Consortium for School Networking (COSN), the National School Boards Association (NSBA), the National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI), and the Masie Center’s learning conferences.

Charles has been awarded five patents on video, content, and communication technologies. He holds a bachelor of science in electronics with course concentration in quantum and solid-state physics with a minor in neuroscience, and a master of business administration in international marketing. An avid reader, he has autodidactically learned cognitive sciences disciplines (evolutionary psychology, comparative linguistics, and others), and enjoys the lessons of classical history.

William H. (Bill) Graves
Senior Vice President
SunGard Higher Education

Dr. William H. Graves, as senior vice president for academic strategy, is a member of the executive leadership team at SunGard Higher Education. He is also a member of the board of governors of Antioch University and a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) where, after earning a mathematics Ph.D. from Indiana University, he served as dean for general education, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs, senior information technology officer, and founder and director of the Institute for Academic Technology (a UNC/IBM alliance).

First at UNC and now at SunGard Higher Education, Graves has helped pioneer technology-enabled strategies for measurably improving upon and accounting for institutional performance in tertiary education, especially academic performance. On this theme, he has published 80+ articles and books, given hundreds of invited presentations, and advised hundreds of institutions.

Graves is currently a co-founding board member of the National Center for Academic Transformation, the IMS Global Learning Consortium, and the Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness. He formerly served on the boards of EDUCAUSE, the Coalition for Networked Information, and CAUSE. He helped launch Internet2 and EDUCAUSE’s National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (now the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative) and chaired the latter’s planning committee from 1994-2004. He also served on the Tenth Anniversary Commission of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and has participated recently in other national advisory groups convened by, for example, the U.S. Department of Education, the Lumina Foundation, and Innovate-Educate New Mexico.

While on leave from UNC in 1998-2000, Graves founded and directed the nonprofit Collegis Research Institute. He then retired from UNC in 2000 to found (and chair the board of) Eduprise, an academic technology services firm which subsequently merged with Collegis. The resulting privately held company was acquired in 2004 by publicly traded SunGard Data Systems and is now part of privately held SunGard Higher Education, the world’s largest technology-related business focused solely on tertiary education and technology-enabled strategies for improving its efficacy and efficiency.

Bill has published over 80 articles on the academic role of IT, given hundreds of related presentations, and served on the boards of related national and international associations and organizations, some of which he co-founded. Bill lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Vonna.

Jami Grindatto
2009-2010 Innovate-Educate Chairman
Director, Corporate Affairs Manager of Southwestern U.S.
Intel Corporation

Jami Grindatto is Intel’s Corporate Affairs Director covering the Southwestern United States, which includes the largest semiconductor manufacturing sites for Intel.  His team is responsible for government affairs, media relations, education programs and community engagement.

Jami joined Intel in 1994.  Among many roles at Intel, Jami led the Software Architecture Design that automates Intel’ newest Fabs worldwide and was Director of the Americas for Intel® Solution Services.

Jami is an Intel Achievement Award recipient.  He is a member of regional and national executive boards, including the chair for Innovate-Educate, a national pre-competitive industry collaborative to drive innovation in education.  Jami earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of New Mexico.

Jami was born and raised in Switzerland and played professional basketball in Europe prior to coming to the United States –he’ made New Mexico his home since 1985.  He and his wife Connie have 3 children: Missie who studies Animal Sciences at New Mexico State University, Lucas and Joshua who attend Hope Christian School.   He enjoys the great outdoors of the Southwest –Jami and the boys like to hike, ski and camp, while the girls prefer the amenities of their fifth wheel for vacationing.

Denise Hobbs
Senior Marketing Manager
Oracle – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Denise Hobbs is the Sr. Marketing Manager for The Oracle Education Initiatives. In this role, she brings more than 16 years of success in marketing and a proven track record in strategic relationship selling specific to the education industry. She is responsible for promoting the Oracle Education Foundation Thinkquest, an online project-based learning K-12 platform and the Oracle Academy secondary and postsecondary curriculum for North America. Denise has held positions ranging from Assistant Director of Enrollment at Eastern New Mexico University, Sr. Sales Manager/Owner of Relational Training and Consulting, Inc., and Sr. Sales Representative for IKON Education and MicroAge, Inc. Additionally, she has held various roles at Oracle Corporation throughout her career. Denise holds a bachelors degree in Marketing from the University of Houston and currently resides in Albuquerque, NM with her husband Greg and daughters Abby and Charlotte.

Colleen T. Jenkins
K-20 Industry Strategist
SAS Institute

Colleen is tasked with developing and nurturing a portfolio of strategic relationships and special projects that address the critical challenges of building and sustaining effective 21st Century educational enterprises.

Throughout Colleen’s 20+ years at SAS, several labels have been attributed to her: “Leader”, “Visionary”, “Intrapreneur”, and most recently, “Boundary Spanner”. As a 21st Century leader, she exemplifies accountability for meeting goals and objectives; proactively identifies and creates sustainable processes and collaborations; brings people together across traditional internal and external organizational boundaries; and effectively guides individuals and teams to work together for a common purpose.

Colleen’s previous leadership roles include: General Manager, Senior Business Director, Business Director, and Regional Manager. She has lead local and regional sales, marketing, customer relationship management, and R&D teams.

Colleen currently resides in Fuquay Varina, NC with her husband and five year old daughter.

Ray Johnson
Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager
Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Phoenix
IBM

As IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager for IBM, Ray oversees the company’s K-12 education reform efforts, and community and government relations programs for a seven-state region, including New Mexico. A leading advocate of K-12 business and education partnerships, Ray has been involved with numerous initiatives in his territory, including the push for standards and assessments in the mid-1990’s.  Under his leadership, IBM has also implemented programs such as e-mentoring, an online program that matched over 300 IBM employees with 4th and 5th grade students to help with math skills. He also helped develop a reading improvement program in Boulder County, and a “Stay in School Program” for middle school students in Denver Public Schools.

Ray has also helped place more than 600 IBM Young Explorer computers at numerous day care centers and kindergarten classes throughout his region to help with early childhood learning through IBM’s KidSmart program; helped establish a computer training program for middle school students in Denver’s inner-city; implemented e-business classes for high school students; created computer labs to help improve math skills at middle schools; and held nine week-long summer technology day camps for middle school girls designed to provide hands-on experience, spark their interest and encourage them to pursue high tech careers.

He also helped establish a new computer technology center for Espanola Valley Schools in New Mexico; provided equipment to assist teachers participating in Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Math and Science Academy; and helped create and or update computer labs in several schools in Northern New Mexico.

Ray joined IBM in 1978 and has held a variety of positions in internal communications, media relations, community relations and government affairs. He has served on the board of many non-profit organizations throughout his career, including the Colorado Center for Tax Policy, Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, Provider’s Resource Clearing House, Teaming for Results, Friends of Food for Thought, Curtis Park Community Center and March of Dimes.  Ray also serves on the executive board of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, and chairs its Education Foundation. He also chairs the Colorado Business and Education Alliance.  He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Northern Colorado, and lives in Westminster, Colo.

Marina Leight
Vice President of Education, Center for Digital Education
Editor-in-Chief, Converge Magazine

Marina Leight serves as Vice President of Education for the Converge media platform and the Center for Digital Education. The Converge platform includes an award-winning magazine, a cutting-edge website, turn-key custom publishing and high-level events in numerous jurisdictions. Converge’s mission is to drive forward a new vision around the education imperatives vital to the future success of our people, communities and nation. These include investment in and commitment to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), green education, literacy, digital infrastructure and education technology, and workforce development. It involves understanding the importance of education in all aspects of economic development. The Center for Digital Education flanks this effort with prestigious surveys and awards, primary research and relevant market analysis.

Leight is responsible for all content and strategy for Converge and the Center for Digital Education. A writer and former teacher, Leight has been interviewed and quoted in prominent media such as National Public Radio and has participated as a featured author in published works for the K-12 market. Her speaking calendar has included major education audiences and engagements such as the National Educational Computing Conference, the Council of State Governments, and Educause. She has also served on several education boards and task force groups throughout her career.

Jeff Lunsford
Chairman
New Mexico Technology Council (NMTC)

Jeff Lunsford has served on the New Mexico Technology Council (NMTC, formerly the New Mexico IT and Software Association) for the past six years, most recently as the organization’s Vice Chairman and now as Chairman. In past years, hehas led the organization’s Computers for Kids and Technology Excellence Award programs, focusing the events to support innovative teachers and technology-enabled teaching methods. Jeff is leading NMTC’s newest program to pilot 21st century classroom technologies in several New Mexico high schools.

In his day job, Jeff is a regional manager for Technology Integration Group (TIG), an Information Technology value-added reseller and solution provider. Responsible for TIG’s New Mexico and Department of Energy business, Jeff’s team has expanded to three offices around the country to serve its primary customers and has become TIG’s largest branch operation, generating over forty million dollars in revenue annually. Prior to coming to TIG, Jeff had also worked as an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories for eight years and then five years as the founder and owner of a local IT consulting and training company.

Thomas Molina
U.S. Education Director
AT&T

Thomas Molina is a knowledgeable and innovative expert who began his career working with IBM selling to higher education and PK12 school districts.

Thomas specializes in the use of current and evolving technology to enhance learning, education finance, school operations, and leadership development.  Thomas continued his experience after IBM in the educational environment becoming an IT Director for a school district of 40K students for 12 years.  His primary task was to enhance the class network design and increase revenue via grants and e-rate funding.  He had a staff of 90 people that reported to him and he worked on putting together a 30 million dollar overhaul over a three year period.

Thomas joined AT*T as the E-Rate Subject Matter expert for Texas in 2005.  He then became the National Education Director for AT&T in 2008.  Thomas runs the program that provides education consulting to customers with a major focus on integrating technology solutions, grants, funding, and other major projects designed to expand and improve education opportunities for various communities.  He works closely with AT&T Regional Education Directors to identify and develop new opportunities, design and present seminars for industry conferences, and analyze industry trends that may drive revenue opportunities in the education market.

Thomas is a graduate of Texas A&M Corpus Christi where he received his Bachelors in Management.  He resides in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Joan Myers
Director of Cyber Technologies
Applied Research Associates (ARA)

Joan Myers is an entrepreneurial, politically astute leader whom has a deep passion for innovation, a global perspective and a strong sense of patriotism and commitment to U.S. competitiveness.  Currently she serves as Director, Cyber Technologies for Applied Research Associates (ARA.)  Former assignments include Director, Special Projects for the Partnership for Defense Innovation/Defense Security Technology Accelerator, Director, U.S. Policy for SAS, the largest privately held software company in the world, and she served as President and CEO of the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) for over nine years.  In her role at NCTA she focused on growing and prospering the technology industry.

Ms. Myer’s strengths in “building bridges” between public officials and business leaders and has been pivotal in shaping the Information Technology sector and returning value to NC companies.  Actively engaged in the global Eisenhower Fellowship program, Ms. Myers studied Cyber Security and Cyber Terrorism and led the effort to create the North Carolina Defense and Security Technology Accelerator. She continues to collaborate with the FBI and helped in the launch of the FBI Domain Counter Intelligence Program aimed at better protecting U.S. intellectual property.

Joan was also appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the Presidential Rank Review Board in 2004.  Joan is also the creator of the 5 Pillars of Executive Leadership in a Non Secure World conference and believes that in order to remain on the forefront of innovation and global competitiveness, business leaders need to embrace security as a corporate ethic and weave a culture of security throughout the corporate enterprise.  She has worked with companies and organizations to explore ways to better protect our economic competitiveness and national security interests.Ms. Myers team-building history and collaborative nature has given her a proven track record of performance, deep respect in her peer group and state and national recognition.  Upon coming to North Carolina in 1990, she managed the Celebration North Carolina Foundation.  In 1993, she finished an appointment as the Assistant Secretary for Administration for the North Carolina Department of Transportation and later served as Vice President of Government Affairs for the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

Lee Ramsayer
Vice President, Public Sector & Education Sales
Monster Government Solutions

Mr. Ramsayer joined Monster Worldwide in April of 2007 where took responsibility to build a dedicated sales force focused on the development of state and local and education markets. He has brought to market numerous solutions specific to helping regional economies with workforce and economic development. Expanded responsibilities for recruitment advertising agencies and sales partnerships have been added to his role in 2009.Prior to Monster, Mr. Ramsayer held the position of Vice President at Intelliworks, Inc. where he was responsible for company sales and customer relationships. In this role, he has established licensing and contract models, marketing initiatives, sales force development, business development, and established an off-shore inside sale team. Additionally, Mr. Ramsayer directly assisted the company CEO and CFO in securing $10M Series B funding from three venture capitalist firms.

Prior to Intelliworks, Mr. Ramsayer was the General Manager, US State and Local Government Sales and Consulting Services for Microsoft. He was responsible for sales of Microsoft’s products, solutions, and services to State & Local Governments with the United States. Additionally, Mr. Ramsayer is responsible for defining and developing Microsoft’s strategic approach to State and Local Governments with the United States as well as assisting Microsoft’s foreign government sales staff. These activities included developing go-to-market approaches, establishing relationships with Systems Integration firms and Government specific Independent Software Vendors.

Prior to Microsoft, Mr. Ramsayer worked for Bearingpoint, Inc where he was responsible for developing, selling, and delivering their Managed Service offerings into the public sector, Federal, State & Local, Higher Education, Health Care and Not-For-Profits. Responsibilities included the initial development, over sight, and communication of BearingPoint’s entry into the managed services market. This included, defining capabilities, packaging solutions, establishing strategic partnerships, developing service level agreements and pricing, setting delivery strategies, and supporting sales and marketing functions.

For thirteen years, Mr. Ramsayer held various sales leadership positions at Oracle Corporation, where his final responsibility was Vice President of Oracle’s sales vertical focused on the higher education marketplace. In this role, he was responsible for developing, managing, and communicating software solutions specific to Higher Education. He has held multiple client advisory roles and participated in multiple industry panels and conference presentations.

Mr. Ramsayer has over 20 years of experience in the disciplines of sales, marketing, and management in the federal, state & local, and education markets. These experiences give him a clear understanding of the Information Technology issues that large enterprises face and provide him with a foundation to advise customers on the adoption of technology and solutions.

He holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics from Muskingum College and currently resides in Bethesda, Maryland.

Eric Reeves
Director of Public Affairs
Schooldude, Inc.

Eric Reeves is the Chief Legal Counsel of Schooldude, Inc. , one the country’s fastest growing Service as a Software Company in the U.S. Schooldude has the statewide contract for the State of New Mexico Public Education system for facilities management and is working throughout the State with other school districts to manage their technology resources.

Eric was a State Senator in North Carolina for 5 terms, leading innovation in science and technology throughout his tenure. Eric was instrumental in the creation of the North Carolina Technology Association, which became a voice of policy and change in the State of North Carolina. This group was an association of lead technology companies in the Research Triangle Park area and the entire state of NC. Through Eric’s vision of policy and his effective leadership, North Carolina saw many successes during Senator Reeves’ terms. He chaired the NC State Senate Technology Committee and served on the Education Oversight Committee. During his tenure in the Senate, North Carolina made great efforts to improve public technology in poor and underserved counties and the state received great recognition for its progressive approach to education.

Eric is a graduate of Duke University and Wake Forest University Law School. He now resides in his hometown of Dallas, Texas.

Vikram Savkar
Senior Vice President and Publishing Director
NPG

Vikram Savkar is Senior Vice President and Publishing Director at NPG with global responsibility for managing NPG’s educational publishing programs. Vikram joined NPG to launch Nature Education in January 2007. A new division of NPG, Nature Education publishes innovative, high quality products for graduate, undergraduate, and high school science students worldwide. Prior to NPG, Vikram held a number of management roles in digital and textbook publishing over a 10 year career at Pearson Higher Education, and prior to that served for 3 years as Assistant to the Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Vikram received degrees in Physics and Classics from Harvard University.

Michael Schmedlen
Director, Worldwide Education
Lenovo

Michael J. Schmedlen is the director of worldwide education for Lenovo.  He is currently serving a 2 year term on the BETA Commission, appointed by NC Governor Mike Easley.  He also serves on the board of the North Carolina Public School Forum and the North Carolina Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology.  Mike is the director of ThinkTank International, a best practices community designed to manage and distribute knowledge pertaining to mobile computing in K12 and Higher Education.  Mr. Schmedlen holds a B.A. in Classics from Colgate University, and currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife, Rian, and daughters, Tatum and Lindy.

John Stahl
Senior Director
Oracle America, Inc.

John is a thought leader within the education market space for Oracle, bringing more than 15 years of fostering and developing solutions for State Departments of Education, Higher Education, and Local Education Agencies. In his current national position, John has been working towards solutions and recommendations for Race to the Top, Longitudinal Data Systems, and innovative and transformative technology solutions for education.

Prior to joining Oracle, John was vice president of a leading educational process and organizational transformation consulting organization, where he helped guide some the nation’s largest school district’s process change and technology initiatives.

John is a Certified Management Accountant and a four-term board member of the Milwaukee chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants.  He holds an Accounting Degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. and currently resides in the Milwaukee area.

Mark Weston
National Education Strategist
Dell, Inc.

Mark E. Weston is the national education strategist for Dell Inc. Profound change in education—educating all students to dramatically higher levels of learning—is the enduring theme of Mark’s work. In support of that goal, Mark, during his career, has served in key positions in the private, public, and education sectors.

Prior to joining Dell, Mark led the strategic education initiatives group at Apple Computer focused on creating large, policy-driven and funded educational technology initiatives in Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York City, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. Earlier, Mark coordinated state services at the Education Commission of the States, chaired by Governors Tommy Thompson (R-WI), Terry Branstad (R-IA), and Zell Miller (D-GA), where he served on the organizing staff for the 1996 National Education Summit. He managed media affairs for Congressman Jim Nussle, directed intergovernmental affairs for Secretary Lamar Alexander at the U.S. Department of Education, served as minority counsel for the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, directed the education reform program of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and served as an educator and association president in Iowa. In these roles, Mark consulted with over 40 state legislatures, the US Congress, and hundreds of school districts.

Mark earned his doctorate from the University of Colorado Denver, where he holds a dual appointment as an adjoint associate professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development and the Graduate School of Public Affairs. His work has been published in a wide range of publications including Converge, Education Week, Education Forum, Journal of Educational Administration, Independent School Magazine, Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research in Education, Los Angeles Times, State Legislature, and Washington Times.

Mark, wife Kay, and bulldog Petunia live in Atlanta Georgia.