Featured Speakers

Tom Vander Ark
Managing Partner, Revolution Learning; Partner, Vander Ark/Ratcliff

Tom is a partner in Revolution Learning, a Seattle and Austin based private equity investor concentrating on improving formal and informal learning globally. Tom served as President of the X PRIZE Foundation and Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he developed and implemented more than $3.5 billion in scholarship and grant programs to improve education throughout the United States. In December 2006, Newsweek readers voted Vander Ark the most influential baby boomer in education. Prior to his role with the Gates Foundation, Vander Ark was the first business executive to serve as a public school superintendent for one of Washington State's larger school districts that has been recognized for narrowing achievement gaps and reducing administrative costs.

John Danner
Co-Founder and CEO, Rocketship Education

Before starting Rocketship, John served as a teacher in the Nashville public school system for three years, the last two as a second-grade teacher of students with limited English proficiency. In 2000, John co-founded Sacred Heart Nativity School, a private Catholic middle school for at-risk Latino boys in San Jose. From 2001-2005, John served as the Chairman of the Charter School Resource Center of Tennessee, working for the successful passage of Tennessee's charter school law in 2002 and assisting the subsequent establishment of 12 charter schools in Tennessee. John served as a founding director of KIPP Academy Nashville, a charter middle school in Nashville. Prior to his work in education, John founded and served as CEO of NetGravity, an Internet advertising software company. John took NetGravity public and sold the company to Doubleclick in October of 1999. John is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Moderated by
Susan Patrick
President and CEO, International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)

Susan Patrick is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). iNACOL is the international K-12 nonprofit association representing the interests of practitioners, providers and students involved in online learning worldwide. She is the former Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. As Director, she published the U.S. National Education Technology Plan for Congress and managed research and technical assistance programs on educational technology. In addition, she co-chaired the federal government’s Advanced Technologies Working Group for Education and Training; and served as a member of the Secretary’s Rural Education Task Force.

Craig Barrett
Retired CEO/Chairman of the Board, Intel Corporation; President/Chairman of the Board, BASIS School, Inc.

Dr. Craig Barrett is a leading advocate for improving education in the U.S. and around the world. He is also a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards globally. In 2009, he stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Intel Corporation, a post he held from May 2005 to May 2009. Dr. Barrett chairs Change the Equation, a national education science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) initiative.  He co-chairs Achieve, Inc., vice chairs the National Forest Foundation and Science Foundation Arizona, is president and chairman of BASIS Schools, Inc. Board of Directors, and is a member of the Board of Directors of K12 Inc., Society for Science and the Public, Arizona Commerce Authority and Dossia.  Dr. Barrett is also on the faculty of Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Scott Pearson
Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary and Acting Director of Charter School Programs in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement

Scott Pearson is the Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, where he serves as deputy in the Office of Innovation and Improvement.  His portfolio includes issues of school choice and charter schools, innovation, and education for military families.   Prior to joining the Department he was active in civic affairs in San Francisco, including co-founding and serving as board chair for Leadership Public Schools, a charter management organization serving low-income communities with college-preparatory high schools.  Mr. Pearson has a long career in business with America Online and Bain and Company, and served as a trade negotiator during the Clinton Administration.

Greg Richmond
President and CEO

Greg Richmond is NACSA’s President and CEO. He was a founding board member of NACSA, serving as the chair of the board from 2000-2005. In 2005, Greg became NACSA's full-time President. Under his full-time leadership, NACSA's national influence has expanded substantially, including a significant role in the re-opening of New Orleans schools as charter schools, in-depth training of California Department of Education staff, a multi-authorizer training and development project in New York City, and multi-year projects in Florida and Ohio. Greg holds a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Master of Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Peter C. Groff
President and CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Before joining the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Peter Groff served as the director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U. S. Department of Education.  Prior to accepting that position, Groff was the founder and executive director of the University of Denver’s Center for New Politics and Policy (formerly Center for African American Policy), and lectured at the University’s Public Policy program.  Groff also served as the 47th president of the Colorado State Senate and was the first African-American in Colorado to hold that post, and only the third African-American in the nation’s history to hold the gavel as state Senate president.  Senator Groff, who was called the “Conscience of the Senate,” served in the Colorado General Assembly for nine years and passed landmark legislation creating visionary education reform measures, prohibiting racial profiling and requiring booster seats for young children.

Moderated by
Lisa Graham Keegan
Founder and President, Education Breakthrough Network

Lisa Graham Keegan is founder and president of the Education Breakthrough Network, a national “one-stop-shop” and online community for all organizations and individuals who offer or support school choice.  Mrs. Keegan's expertise and outspoken nature have made her a sought after education reform expert who has worked with national education leaders, the media, U.S. Congress, state legislative bodies, business groups, policy organizations, community groups, and the education industry.  From 2004 through 2010, she was a consultant to numerous education organizations, and served as education advisor and spokesperson for the McCain 2008 Campaign for President. She  recently co-authored the education chapter for Newt Gingrich’s 2010 bestseller, “To Save America”.