Keynote Speaker Bios
(Listed in order of appearance)
Keynote
Joshua Brown is the Founder, President, and CEO of Icarus Aerospace Inc. The focus of Joshua and his company has been to develop and integrate future concepts to foster a next generation workforce. He is a Doctoral student in Global Security at the American Military University, holds a Master’s degree in Intelligence Studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in Emergency & Disaster Management. He is a Service-Disabled Veteran who trained and supervised Naval Special Warfare/Special Operations candidates & Aviation Water Survival for pilots and aircrews. Joshua has extensive experience in Military, Law Enforcement, Fire, and EMS including supervisory/instructor roles as well as operational roles. He holds almost three dozen certifications in various disciplines along with copyrights and other pending intellectual property which include being the architect of the UAS for Public Safety IADLEST Certification Program.
Day 1 Lunch Panel: Preparing All Learners for the Future of Work
Ritu Raman is an engineer, writer, and educator with a passion for introducing bio-hybrid materials into the toolbox of every inventor. She grew up in India, Kenya, and the United States where she learned to appreciate and thrive in diverse and dynamic environments. Her life experiences have forged the belief that technical innovation can drive positive social change, and this inspires her work to democratize and diversify STEM education around the world. Ritu is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Langer Lab at MIT, funded by a Ford Foundation Fellowship by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She holds many awards and honors, including being named a Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee for Science, an Innovation and Technology Delegate to the International Achievement Summit, and a L'Oreal USA For Women in Science Fellow.
Emily Reid is a computer scientist, educator, and entrepreneur. Emily is the VP of the Open Learning Program at AI4ALL and the owner of E. E. Reid Consulting, LLC, where she advises and creates curriculum for schools and businesses to help them build inclusive computing education programs. Previously, Emily was the founding Director of Education at Girls Who Code, where she was responsible for ensuring that GWC programs were unrivaled in delivering quality computer science education. Before Girls Who Code, Emily was a Senior Cyber Security Engineer at the MITRE Corporation and has published research in computational linguistics and cybersecurity. She speaks and writes on diversity, education, and technology. Emily holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University and a B.S. in Mathematics from Tufts University.
Sheryl Sorby is a Professor of Engineering Education at the University of Cincinnati and was a Fulbright Scholar at Dublin Institute of Technology. She is a former Program Director within the Division of Undergraduate Education at the NSF. She has been an investigator on more than $13M in external funding and is the author of numerous publications and textbooks. She was the recipient of the Betty Vetter research award through WEPAN for her work in improving spatial skills and ultimately the success of women engineering students. Dr. Sorby was recently elected President-Elect of the American Society of Engineering Education and will begin her term as President in June 2020.
Day 2 Keynote Panel: The Future of Work
Journel Joseph is the author of Data & Analytics 4.0:The Future of Work, Privacy and Trust in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. As a passionate, multi-disciplinary, multilingual, hands-on data & analytics professional, he brings over a decade of experience to the industry and consulting arena. His interest in leveraging the advances in technology in order to harness the power of data began as an Intern at the former ITEST Learning Resource Center (LRC), currently known as STELAR. Being well-versed in both the public and private sectors, Journel advises clients on the most efficient use of technology in addition to data and analytics as it pertains to their business models. He is the founder of Analytics for Lunch: a masterclass series on the business of data & analytics, and the co-founder of Insert Analytics™. Journel Joseph is a graduate of Tufts University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (MA, International Economics and Trade), the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning (Master of Public Policy), the Graduate School of Art and Science (Program Evaluation), and the University of Massachusetts (BA, Technology and Community Media).
Joylin Kirk is the Director of Public Sector Partnerships at Burning Glass Technologies. At Burning Glass, she connects community and social services agencies with leading edge labor market data and analytics solutions that improve organizational and systems-level performance, promote economic vitality of businesses and communities, and help individuals take greater control over their own career success. Prior to joining Burning Glass, Joylin was the senior director of mission services for Goodwill Industries International. At Goodwill, she led the career navigation, financial capacity building portfolios with focuses on veterans and military families, and youth services. Joylin has more than 20 years of experience leading programs for behavioral health and nonprofit workforce development organizations. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Human Resource Management from King’s College and an M.S. in Experimental Psychology from State University of New York: College at Cortland.
James Tracy is a nationally renowned educator and speaker on the implications of technology inflections for education, workforce development, spirituality, and social policy. With Greg Toppo, he has just completed a book on these issues, under contract with MIT Press. Jim received a Ph.D. in American History from Stanford University as well as an M.B.A. (with a concentration in nonprofit management) and an Ed.M. (in Higher Education Administration) from Boston University. He has been the head of several Independent schools and, most recently, President of the Woodrow Wilson Graduate School of Teaching and Learning, an innovative teacher training college founded in collaboration with MIT. Jim has been a Board Member of the Bostonian Society, an education advisor to Singularity University, a Visiting Fellow at Yale University, a Klingenstein Fellow at Columbia University, an Affiliate of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, and a Board member of Boston University’s Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. He is currently Co-Chair of the MassRobotics Work of the Future Committee, a Member of the MassRobotics Advisory Board, a Board member of the Boston edtech convener and accelerator LearnLaunch, a member of the Advisory Board for Boston University’s Digital Education Initiative, a member of the MIT Subgroup on Skills and Training (within the MIT Future of Work Taskforce), a Board member of the Massachusetts Association of Nonprofit Schools and Colleges, and a Trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, among other endeavors.