Executive Commitee

IT Innovation Summit Chair

Bill Cullifer, Executive Director WebProfessionals.org and Chair of the WhyITNow.org initiative.

Bill Cullifer is the founder of the Webprofessionals.org (WOW), a non-profit professional association established in 1996, providing community, education and certification for Web professionals worldwide. As the organization’s executive director, Cullifer participates in a variety of industry, government and educational advisory boards that assist WOW in developing and delivering professional standards and improving communication between all Web professionals and business and industry. He acts as the organization’s chief evangelist to stimulate the continued growth and opportunities of the Web. He also provides daily podcast regarding a variety of Web professional topics.

Education and Government Committee Members

Alyssa Lynch, Career Technical Education (CTE), Director Santa Clara County Office of Education

Alyssa Lynch has demonstrated extraordinary passion and commitment to help students develop the skills they need to compete in a more global, economically challenging world,” said O’Connell. “She has selflessly dedicated more than 15 years to advance Regional Occupational Programs and Career Technical Education. Ms. Lynch has helped so many young people define their career paths, whether they go straight into work after graduating from high school or pursue higher education.

Cindy Beck, Health Careers Education Programs Consultant, California Department of Education
Image and Bio to Follow

Gary Page, Information Technology Consultant – California Department of Education (CDE)

Gary Page is the Information Technology Consultant for the California Department of Education, providing curriculum information, resources and support to teachers and schools throughout California. As the IT Sector lead consultant, Gary serves as liaison/advisor/facilitator to industry groups, associations, committees, labor unions, etc., to promote effective career pathways. Gary provides leadership and advocacy for actions that foster educational excellence to support students’ goals for college and career.

Sarah M. Vielma, Consultant III, Career and Workforce Development / Regional Occupational Program Los Angeles County Office of Education

Sarah Vielma has been involved in Career Technical Education and the information technology industry sector for the past twelve years. As an instructor Sarah delivered innovative learning experiences to encourage student creativity, thinking and development of new ideas through use of technology in web design, media design, and multimedia.
Sarah is currently an administrator with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, working with Career and Workforce Development / Regional Occupational Program. She supports educators in the business industry sectors and information technology sector throughout 23 school districts in Los Angeles County. Sarah works directly with curriculum development, professional development, advisory groups, standards-based instruction and assessments, and developing effective career pathways to prepare students for success.

James B. Jones
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MID-PACIFIC ICT (MPICT) CENTER
James B. Jones, Executive Director, MPICTJames B. Jones is Executive Director of the Mid-Pacific ICT Center, established in October 2008 with a $3 million Advanced Technological Education grant from the National Science Foundation. Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) is an umbrella term, widely used outside the U.S. and in the U.N., to encompass all rapidly emerging, evolving and converging computer, software, networking, telecommunications, Internet, programming and information systems technologies. MPICT’s mission is to coordinate, promote and improve ICT education, with an emphasis on 2-year colleges, in northern California, northern Nevada, southern Oregon, Hawaii and the Pacific Territories.

Suzanne Ama, Web Design Program Coordinator, Instructor Cerro Coso Community College

Industry Committee Members

Bob Haas. Partner and Vice President A.T. Kearney

Bob Haas is an A.T. Kearney Partner and Vice President as well as Leader of the firm’s Strategic IT Practice. With more than 20 years of industry and consulting experience, he has global clients in the Consumer Goods, High Technology, Financial Services and Healthcare industries. Key issues on which Mr. Haas has focused include customer strategy and relationship management, IT strategy and IT transformation, enterprise restructuring and shared services, IT innovation, and merger and acquisition integration. Prior to A.T. Kearney, Mr. Haas held senior positions at Information Resources Inc. and Metaphor Systems, an IBM subsidiary. Mr. Haas has an MBA from Rutgers University, Graduate School of Management and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Rutgers College of Engineering.

Julian Keith Loren, CEO InnOh

Julian Keith Loren is an award-winning innovator who tackles large-scale, multi-faceted design challenges. He speaks and writes about design strategy, innovation management, and emerging technologies for a variety of audiences. His recent article on Cloud Software Architecture for ‘Perspectives of the IASA’ was directed at IT professionals, his simultaneously-published article on Business Process Management Suites in CxO Europe was intended for top executies, and his introductory chapter for A Guide to Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing (Kogan Page, February 2011, Editor: Paul Sloane, Foreword: Henry Chesbrough) is written for project managers and innovation leaders. That ability to speak the many “languages of business” and to bridge multiple domains has been critically to Julian’s success in consistently tackling huge design challenges. In 2008, Julian founded the Innovation Management Institute to promote tested and proven design-strategy and innovation-management practices. He organizes events such as Design + Innovation Camp Boston and Business Model Camp Berkeley. He’s working with leading design and business schools to integrate more-sophisticated design tools and innovation management approaches into their curricula. He’s also refining design programs for social entrepreneurs who wish to transform their ideas into big, positive impact.