Ariel Anbar, PhD

Director, Center for Education Through eXploration at Arizona State University

Ariel Anbar is a scientist and educator interested in Earth’s evolution as an inhabited world, and the prospects for life beyond. Trained as a geologist and a chemist, Anbar is a President’s Professor at Arizona State University, where he is on the faculty of the School of Earth & Space Exploration and the School of Molecular Sciences, and a Distinguished Sustainability Scholar in the Global Institute of Sustainability. The author or co-author of over 100 refereed papers, Anbar directed ASU's NASA-funded Astrobiology Program from 2009 - 2015. Recognized as an education innovator, he now directs ASU's Center for Education Through eXploration.

Michelle Barrett, PhD

Vice President, Research and Learning Engineering, Edmentum

Dr. Michelle D. Barrett is Vice President of Research and Learning Engineering for Edmentum, where she guides Edmentum’s research policies and agenda, and leads the design and instrumentation of technologies that improve learner outcomes. For the past 15 years, her primary career focus has been the research and development of software, algorithms, and analytics for assessment and learning solutions. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the IEEE ISTO Adaptive Instructional System Consortium and on the Board of Directors for We Can Learn, a non-profit committed to creating equitable and innovative learning opportunities.

Dr. Barrett earned her Bachelor of Science from Stanford University, her Master of Education from Harvard University, a graduate certificate in large-scale assessment from the University of Maryland, and her Doctorate of Philosophy in research methodology, data analysis, and measurement from the University of Twente, Netherlands.

Norman Bier, MA

Director, Open Learning Initiative & Executive Director, The Simon Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University

Norman Bier is Director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) and the Executive Director of the Simon Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. His work at OLI sits at the intersection of CMU’s internal educational practice, ongoing learning science research, and external collaborations. Norman has spent his career at the intersection of learning and technology, working to expand access to and improve the quality of education.

Kelvin Bentley, Ph.D.

Senior Consultant, WGU Labs

Kelvin Bentley has over 20 years of experience leading online learning initiatives as an administrator and consultant for two- and four-year colleges and universities and k-12 and for-profit organizations. Kelvin currently serves as a senior consultant at WGU Labs’ business accelerator program designed to help early-stage education companies make a social impact for learners in higher education. Kelvin has served as a digital learning consultant for organizations including Success Academy Charter Schools, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Tyton Partners, and Entangled Solutions. Dr. Bentley has received different honors including his selection as a Digital Learning Fellow by the Association of Chief Academic Officers (ACAO) in 2017, receiving Blackboard’s 2017 Catalyst Award for Inclusive Education, and his selection as a Fulbright Specialist in 2010 in which he provided faculty development in online course design and instruction to University of Medellin faculty.

MJ Bishop, Ed.D

Associate Vice Chancellor and DIrector, William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, University System of Maryland

Dr. MJ Bishop is the inaugural director of the University System of Maryland's Center for Academic Innovation, which was established in 2013 to enhance and promote USM's position as a national leader in higher education academic innovations. The Center conducts research on best practices, disseminates findings, offers professional development opportunities for institutional faculty and administrators, and supports the 14 public institutions that are part of the system as they continue to expand innovative academic practices.

Andreina Bloom Parisi-Amon, PhD

VP of Learning & Teaching, Engageli

Andreina Parisi-Amon is the VP of Learning & Teaching at Engageli. She brings over 15 years of experience across academia and industry-driving innovation in education. Before joining Engageli, she spent three years in K-12 applied learning development, and five years creating and leading Coursera’s Teaching & Learning team. She has extensive experience in research, curriculum development, teaching, and building partnerships with university and industry leaders. Andreina has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a BSc from Duke University.

Michael Feldstein

Co-founder and CLO of Argos Education, Chief Accountability Officer at e-Literate

A teacher from a family of teachers, Michael is best known in higher education for his e-Literate weblog on many aspects of technology-enabled education. The Empirical Educator Project (EEP) arose out of his experiences writing e-Literate and Argos Education arose out of collaborations within EEP. Michael has worked in both universities and EdTech companies and, more recently, has worked as a consultant/marriage counselor to both.

Whitney Kilgore, PhD

Co-Founder and Chief Academic Officer, iDesign

Dr. Kilgore is a noted leader in the field of instructional design. She is responsible for the creation and refinement of high-quality online degree programs around the world that emphasize increased learner engagement and humanized teaching practices.

Daphne Koller, PhD

Co-Founder of Engageli, Co-Founder of Coursera

Daphne Koller is a Co-Founder and Board Member of Engageli. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, where she was a member of the faculty team for 18 years. She is a MacArthur Fellowship recipient and a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, Daphne was selected as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. She co-founded Coursera, one of the world’s largest online education platforms, and Insitro, a machine learning-enabled drug discovery company. She is also the author of over 200 publications. Koller has a BSc and MSc from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Stephanie Moore, PhD

Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico

Dr. Stephanie Moore has designed and led award-winning online programs for over 20 years, developing solutions in different disciplines including virtual and remote engineering labs, and has authored several articles and books on effective design of online learning, including the widely-read article “The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning” and a soon-to-be-released book, SEL at a Distance. She is an assistant professor in the Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences program at the University of New Mexico.

Nancy O'Neill, M.A., M.Ed.

Associate Director, William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, University System of Maryland

Nancy O'Neill joined the Kirwan Center in February 2016 and has served as the Associate Director since April 2016. She currently leads a project on taking high-impact educational practices (HIPs) to scale that involves four USM institutions and helps to lead the Kirwan Center’s system-wide digital badging initiative, Badging Essential Skills for Transitions (B.E.S.T.). She also convenes the General Education directors from across the system to strategize and share best practices. Prior to being at USM, she served as the Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Technology at the University of Baltimore from 2012 to 2016.