1EdTech Contributing Members elect a majority of the 1EdTech Board Members who represent the membership and its diverse interests.
All board members agree to follow the Board of Directors Participation Guidelines.

Rob is a recognized expert on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for learning with over 40 years high tech and education market development experience. During Rob’s tenure, 1EdTech has experienced dramatic growth in terms of members, revenues, and achieved significant adoption of 1EdTech work by leading regional education communities worldwide. 1EdTech has grown over 17x since Rob became CEO and has risen to become one of the world's best resourced and dynamic standards-setting consortia.
Prior to 1EdTech, Rob was Senior Vice President at Collegis (now Ellucian Managed Services), the leading provider of ICT services to U.S. higher education, where he was responsible for online and academic services provided to over 60 U.S. institutions. Rob is also a seasoned high technology software development, business development, market development and venture investment veteran. As Senior Director at Oracle Education he was a leader and innovator in the development of online learning architectures and related standards. Rob also held executive positions at National Semiconductor, TRW and Hughes Aircraft.
Rob holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University, a Masters degree in Management from Stanford, a Masters degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a Baccalaureate degree in Computational Physics from Carnegie Mellon University. Rob was honored with the TRW Chairman's Award for Innovation in the early 1990's for leading advancements in real-time networking and distributed software.




Prior to joining Turnitin, Annie spent over five years at Amazon where she led Kindle Content for School, Work, and Government and launched the AWS EdTech Growth Advisory team, advising education technology companies on how to grow their product and go-to-market strategies with AWS.
Annie began her career in EdTech at Wimba, where she launched a live collaboration platform for education which Blackboard ultimately acquired in 2010. At Blackboard, she led platform management, focused on transitioning Blackboard Learn to the cloud.
Annie holds a B.S. from Columbia University and an M.B.A. and M.S. from Claremont Graduate University. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and three children and is an avid tennis player.

Jim is a seasoned technology and business executive with an extensive background and deep expertise in technology optimization from technical product engineering to business systems management, process management, cybersecurity, and customer support. Prior to joining Cengage Group, Jim held executive leadership positions at a broad range of companies in the enterprise software, high-tech, and education industries, including Dassault Systèmes and SolidWorks.
Jim enthusiastically embraces the importance of ‘giving back’ and leverages his experience and network to influence the industry and community. Jim is an active Advisor and Board Member to numerous Boston area efforts and startup companies, including Apprenti, MassHire, and Evanta, among others.
Jim holds an MBA from New Hampshire College (now part of Southern New Hampshire University) and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Franklin Pierce University. Jim received the 2020 Inspire CIO of the Year/Boston ORBIE award and was a finalist for the prestigious National InspireCIO of the Year ORBIE Award for 2021. Jim is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and lives in Hollis, New Hampshire.

Ed is currently the CIO for the California State University (CSU), the largest university system in the United States, comprising 23 campuses, over 50,000 staff, and more than 470,000 students. Ed’s role is to serve as a strategic partner for the Chancellor’s Executive Team and collaborate with university campus presidents and their chief information officers to catalyze strategic and innovative administrative and academic technology initiatives to advance the mission of the CSU.
In 2019, Ed was selected as Minnesota’s non-profit CIO of the year. He was appointed by Governor Walz to serve on the State of Minnesota’s Blue Ribbon/Technology Advisory Council, and currently serves on numerous boards, committees, and interest groups to advance the cause of higher education while promoting better student outcomes for all.


Sarah also currently serves as the interim Executive Director of the Open Skills Network, a 1700-member coalition dedicated to advancing an open skills-based education and hiring ecosystem. Additionally, she sits on UPCEA’s Council for Credential Innovation and the Credentials Future Coalition.
Prior to WGU, DeMark spent more than 15 years at leading IT companies, serving in various leadership roles where she oversaw the strategy and execution of the design, development, and deployment of innovative, large-scale curriculum and assessment portfolios. As part of this work, she also developed the strategy for leveraging skills-based assessments for internal employee professional development, retention, and workforce management. Previously, she was an independent consultant working with state and local school districts and worked with The College Board on SAT and AP program evaluation. DeMark also served on the American National Standards Institute’s Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee, which serves to validate whether certification programs adhere to standards.
Sarah earned a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Educational Psychology (Measurement, Statistics, & Methodological Studies) from Arizona State University. Sarah earned B.S. degrees in both Elementary Education and Psychology from Vanderbilt University. Sarah has been published in numerous journals and books and is a sought-after speaker.


Prior to Oracle, Nicole served as the Director of Research & Analysis at Ovum where she spent the last decade advising institutions globally on critical areas such as cloud migration, legacy modernization, emerging technologies, and student experience.
A sought after presenter on the higher education technology conference circuit, Nicole is also regularly quoted in publications such as the NY Times, University Business, Campus Technology, and the Wall Street Journal. Nicole holds a BA in classics from Union College and an MEd in educational administration & policy analysis from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Rick's career has been focused on bringing together his three passions: technology, publishing, and education. He is a frequent speaker on electronic textbooks, their integration into an institutional environment, and how the accessibility needs of individual students can best be accommodated in their delivery. He has served on multiple committees addressing the needs around delivering accessible content to students, was a member of the working groups responsible for version 2 and version 3 of the EPUB standard, and is the co-inventor of 3 domestic and international patents dealing with electronic books and their distribution.
Prior to VitalSource, Rick spent more than 12 years with Apple Computer, Inc. As a Senior National Consulting Engineer for them he was instrumental in the implementation of complex solutions for many higher education and corporate customers, and received numerous national and international awards.
A graduate of the communication and business departments of Biola University in 1984, Rick has lived in the Phoenix area with his family since they moved from Southern California in 1991. Married to his wife Susie for more than 35 years, together they have raised two children, have two grandchildren, and are very active in their church and community. Rick also serves on the board of directors for several non-profit ministries.

Dr. Kellen brings a rare combination of academic, business and IT strategy experience to his role, with a focus on transformational leadership within IT, applying leading edge approaches to current business challenges. His twenty-five years of executive-level information technology experience offers a proven track record of successfully integrating innovative applications of information technology into all aspects of teaching, learning, and student success. These innovations have resulted in markedly improved efficiencies and enhanced learning environments, as well as fruitful, collaborative relationships with researchers, faculty, staff, and students across all levels of higher education and the world.
Dr. Kellen formerly served as the senior vice provost of Analytics and Technologies for the University of Kentucky, one of the top public research institutions and academic medical centers in the US., where his areas of responsibility included institutional research and analytics, enterprise software, research computing, academic technology, IT infrastructure and cloud services, and supporting the university’s 17 colleges, 30,000 students, and 14,000 faculty and staff. Prior to that role, he held the position of chief information officer for three years.


Jeff holds a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Education Technology with a focus on leadership. He is active both state and nationally on multiple advisory boards, including the National School Transformation Conference Advisory Board and the National Chief Academic Officers Working Group. He serves as Board Chair for The Children’s Museum of the Upstate Board of Directors. He has also served on the South Carolina Ed Tech Conference Board and the Education Research and Development Institute Advisory Board. Jeff has taught at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in the areas of technology integration and technology leadership. He and three national colleagues recently published a series, "Blueprints on Personalized Learning, Cybersecurity, The Marriage of Information Technology and Academics and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion." He is a regular contributor to books, webinars, and national publications.

Mrs. McDade worked to streamline and reduce waste by aligning the Office of Teaching and Learning programs to district priorities and advocating for the consistent, formal evaluation/ROI assessment of services and supports provided by central office departments. As a veteran educator, she challenged the efficacy of traditional education models and initiated the PK-12 Curriculum System Project to modernize instructional practices across the district.
A proud graduate of CPS, LaTanya was a student in Chicago from Kindergarten through 12th grade and dedicated her entire career to the children of Chicago. In her various roles, including teacher, assistant principal, principal, and Network Chief, she has prioritized instructional equity and excellence for every child.
A passionate believer in lifelong learning, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and an M.A. in Educational Leadership and Administration. Mrs. McDade was a member of the main advisory group for advancing teaching and learning through the Charlotte Danielson Teaching in Excellence Framework Pilot. She completed the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association Cohort “Leadership Initiative for Transformation (LIFT).” She is currently a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Illinois Principals Association (IPA), and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. LaTanya was named Future Chief in the 2019 Cohort of Chiefs for Change.
With more than 20 years of experience in Chicago Public Schools, Mrs. McDade deeply understands school communities and knows how to support their academic growth. She is dedicated to the field of education and passionate about improving the quality of life for all children through a lens of equity. Her mantra is, Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. – John Dewey



Major initiatives that Darlene has accomplished include deploying a Learning Management System, integrating online resources using 1EdTech standards, developing Katy ISD’s own virtual high school, deploying a single-sign-on environment for all stakeholders, including parents, endorsing professional learning through digital credentialing, leading the development of asynchronous and synchronous courses and the deployment of devices during COVID. Darlene continues leading the technology strategic design plan for Katy ISD, overseeing the supplier relationship and the multi-million dollar software budget for the Katy ISD technology department. Driving innovation, Darlene keeps abreast of new technologies and associated standards to ensure the digital teaching and learning ecosystem is robust and responsive for students and teachers.
Darlene was named by NSBA's “Top 20 to Watch Educators” in 2011 and has served on the HMH Technical Advisory board and continues to serve on the 1EdTech K-12 Board. Most recently, she has served on SMART’s Advisory Council and CoSN’s Advisory Committee for Digital Standards. Under her leadership, Katy ISD has continued to receive numerous awards for digital content from organizations: the Center for Digital Education, Consortium of School Networking, The Learning Counsel, the National School Boards Association, and TXDLA.

In June of 2022, Dr. Rafalski joined the Clark County School District as the Chief of Staff. CCSD is the 5th largest school district in the nation and serves over 300,000 students.
Prior to her new role, Shana served as the Executive Director/Assistant Superintendent for the Educational Choices and Innovation Department in the School District of Osceola County, Florida. She has also served as the Vice President for Digital Instruction Strategies for an educational technology company, Executive Director for Elementary Education for Pinellas County Schools, and Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Orange County Public Schools.
Dr. Rafalski welcomes the opportunity and challenges that will present themselves in the role of Chief of Staff for the Clark County School District after a lifetime of serving as a teacher, trainer, coach, curriculum specialist, school principal, and district leader in diverse public school settings. She is committed to keeping her service and solution orientation at the heart of the work in support of students, staff and instructional leaders.

Prior to pivoting to Education, she led innovation teams at IBM, Walt Disney World, and HMH and provided management consulting at many others. Serena has won numerous state, national, and global awards for leadership, vision, technical excellence, and her commitment to supporting women in technology.
