Denise Berkhalter
Denise L. Berkhalter is Director of Public Relations for the Alabama
Association of School Boards. She edits the association’s magazine,
writes a newsletter, maintains the website, participates in statewide
collaborations, handles media inquiries and oversees public relations,
marketing and meeting activities. Prior to joining AASB in 2005, she
served as Tuskegee University’s director/coordinator of marketing,
public and media affairs and has worked as an assistant managing editor, editor and a reporter for several newspapers. Her degrees are from Troy University-Montgomery and Jackson State University. She is a member of the Council of School Board Association Communicators, the Alabama School Communicators Association, the National School Public Relations Association and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.

Lisa Dubernard
Lisa is a part-time consultant for eBOARDsolutions. She has a 25 year history working in the education arena for technology-based companies such as eBOARDsolutions, Promethean and Apple. Lisa enjoys all aspects of communications from blogging to professional development to writing lesson tips and ideas.

Ann Flynn
As the Director of Education Technology and State Association Services for NSBA, the nationwide advocacy organization for public school governance, I provide leadership on issues surrounding education technology to empower education, industry, and policy leaders to improve education processes through productive partnerships focused on finding new ways to work together to close the achievement gap as well as increase the market for education-related businesses.

Deb Gurke
Deb Gurke is the Director of Board Governance for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. Deb Gurke has over 20 years of experience in public education in Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin including service on the Stillwater, Minnesota board of education. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where she studied school organizations and rhetoric, specifically the role the community plays in policy decisions. As the Director of Board Governance at the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Deb works with school board member’s and helps them understand how the changing world requires relationship-based leadership. Deb loves biking, walking along Lake Mendota, the Chicago Cubs and Bruce Springsteen, She is learning to play the drums.

Gale Hulme
Gale Hulme is the Executive Director for the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement. GLISI is the state’s leadership institute for school improvement with an eight year track record of success in helping districts achieve desired results. We improve education leadership by developing leader capacity, improving organizational effectiveness and creating the conditions that support the improvement of student achievement. We provide innovative, performance-focused systemic solutions (training, consulting, initiatives and tools) which help education leaders achieve positive results and ensure schools have workforces that are able to meet the needs of 21st century communities.

Bailey Mitchell
Bailey Mitchell brings twenty five years of experience as an educator and has worked for the past thirteen years as the Chief Technology and Information Officer for Forsyth County Schools. He is responsible for both the educational and administrative technology enterprise with a focus on online learning, collaborative classrooms, parent communication and teacher support. Forsyth’s technology enterprise is nationally recognized as a leader in educational technology.

Bailey serves on the board and is chair-elect of Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a professional association for school district technology leaders..

Prior to working for Forsyth County Schools, Bailey served as the Director of Instructional Technology at the Georgia Department of Education. At the Department, Bailey directed the state’s education technology initiatives and was instrumental in building a network of fifteen Technology Training Centers that are located in universities and regional education sites across the state.

Bailey has a B.S. degree in Career and Technology Education and a Masters and Specialist Degree from The University of Georgia in Educational Administration and Curriculum and Supervision.

Lissa Pijanowski
Associate Superintendent- Forsyth County Schools
Educator passionate about transformational, personalized, innovative teaching that results in higher levels of student Lissa Pijanowski has served as a public school educator for over 19 years. As associate superintendent of academics and accountability for Forsyth County Schools she works with educators who are committed to designing personalized learning experiences that reflect high expectations, promote student engagement, and produce results. Forsyth County Schools is considered a lighthouse district in Georgia for fostering innovative practice, exemplary use of technology, and achieving high levels of student performance. The district was recently recognized as having one of the 49 highest rated Investing in Innovation (i3) grants for which Pijanowski serves as project director. Prior to working in Forsyth County Schools, she was the director of school improvement at the Georgia Department of Education. At the GDOE, she led regional school improvement teams to reduce the number of Needs Improvement Schools in Georgia through intense training on data analysis, performance standards, and focused improvement planning. Pijanowski has been a school administrator and classroom teacher and served on the Governor’s Race to the Top committee for Teacher Effectiveness. She was recently recognized by the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders with the 2010 Dr. Jim Puckett Outstanding Educator Award.

Diane Sandifer
From local to state and national roles in public service, Diane Sandifer served on the Harris County Schools GA Board of Education from 1998-2008. Additionally, Diane was elected as president of the Georgia School Boards Association in 2006 and was a member of the National School Boards Association Board of Directors in 2007 and 2008. Diane advocates 21st century governance from the board room to the classroom through her passion for integration of technology as well as effective strategic planning. Diane represents school board members in statewide commissions and projects and has played an integral role in educational research through groups like the Wallace Foundation. Diane lives in Pine Mountain, Georgia and is currently the account executive for eBOARDsolutions.

Thomas Van Soelen
Thomas Van Soelen enjoys creating and participating in collaborative experiences everywhere he goes: as an Associate Superintendent in the City Schools of Decatur, Georgia; a National Facilitator of Critical Friends Groups and Facilitative Leadership for the School Reform Initiative; and a Music Director at St. John Neumann church in Lilburn, Georgia. Thomas draws on his P-12 teaching experiences in Iowa, California, and Florida as well as time spent preparing undergraduates and graduates at the University of Georgia and Georgia State University.

Ann Ware
Ann Ware serves as an educational consultant to local school districts, local and national educational organizations and the private sector. She has worked in the Georgia K-12 educational community for thirty plus years with experiences at the classroom, school, district, and state level. For ten years, she served Henry County Schools as the Director of Technology Services and fostered the value of strong school improvement relationships among district and school leaders. She served the state in her work at the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) while working as the Associate Superintendent for Instruction and then the Interim Deputy Superintendent for Technology Services. While working at the GaDOE, she fostered the value of a common language within school improvement planning process and appropriate technology infused professional development. She advanced the process of aligning appropriate technologies within proven research-based strategies for regular use within classroom practices and subsequent targeted professional development. Ann values collaboration with local district leaders and the private sector on leveraging technology solutions that support positive student outcomes.

Mark Willis
As a long time advocate for the effective use of technology at the board governance level, Mr. Willis has worked directly with numerous boards to integrate technology with the district Leadership Team (Board and Superintendent). Mr. Willis is a product of public education and earned his bachelor of science in business administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Mr. Willis is a member of the Georgia Society of Association Executives, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants.