Dr. Todd Ullah, Vice-President for STEM Education

Dr. Ullah holds a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. He is the winner of the 2014 CSTA Administrator of the Year Award, and has wide-ranging experiences in STEM education and marketing. As the former Director of Instructional Technology Applications and STEM for the Los Angeles Unified School District, he oversaw all educational technology programs, including district, state, and federal grants, and all STEM and Computer Science programs including curriculum, professional development, technology, STEM facilities development, and STEM grants for LAUSD. He served as Principal at George Washington Preparatory High School in South Los Angeles where achievement increased for five straight years. Dr. Ullah helped implement the first charter schools in Los Angeles. Until recently, Dr. Ullah worked as the General Manager for California and Hawaii for Pearson Education.

Supt. Art Stellar, Vice-President and Resident Superintendent

Dr. Stellar, the Winner of AASA’s 2015 Distinguished Service Award, is a seasoned superintendent. He is nationally known as an author of 60 plus articles on education, and a former national president of ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development). He has served as a superintendent in many states including MA, OK and NC. Dr. Stellar provides QZAB assistance to school superintendents and their curriculum, business, technology and facilities deputies. He knows how to structure the QZAB. His loyalty is to the profession and fellow superintendents. He understands their world, and how difficult it is for them to find funds. He has an open invitation to superintendents across the US and their deputies to invest 5 minutes with him to learn about receiving millions of QZAB dollars to meet their urgent priorities.

Prof. Anthony Betrus, STEM+ Academy Program National Director

Prof. Tony Betrus, a national expert in digital education system, is a professor of Educational Technology at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam. With funding support provided by NEF to SUNY Potsdam and Dr. Betrus, Tony and his team implement the NEF CyberLearning STEM+ Academy Total Solution programs in the Nation’s schools. Tony and his team, guided by NEF Chairman Dr. Appu Kuttan, developed a digital literacy course that has been successfully completed by several thousand students worldwide since 2012. He and his team at SUNY Potsdam also provide completion certificates for the Digital Literacy and CyberLearning online courses.

Roger Kuttan, Director of Strategy

Roger Kuttan has decades of experience in business, counseling, and investment. He devised key strategies to expand NEF’s reach and effectiveness. A U.S Presidential Honoree, Roger earned from Stanford University, a JD with concentrations in Corporate and International Law, and an MBA where he completed the Global Management and Public Management Programs. Showing incredible achievement from a young age, he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Finance, specializing in statistics, from American University at 18, and was awarded the Volvo Tennis Athlete/Scholar of the Year Award.

Maya Kuttan, General Counsel & Communications Director

Maya Kuttan with over eight years of experience as an attorney and eleven years as a media specialist, has implemented successful campaigns and legal strategies for NEF. She has also provided counseling, enforcement, litigation support and rulemaking for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and municipalities, agencies, startups, and nonprofits. She earned a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law and a BA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Maya has garnered awards for her films and legal work.

Supt. Dan Hampton, Resident Superintendent

Supt. Dan Hampton is a 43- year veteran in Education. Dan’s experiences range from teacher to superintendent in TN, KY and GA. Dan has always carried one strong motto wherever he worked in education, “Kids First”!! Dan devotes his time now to assist superintendents obtain funding such as QZAB and NEF grants for STEM+, Digital Literacy and Professional Development. As a retired Superintendent himself, Dan feels very strongly that he can help superintendents understand NEF’s “QZAB” program (“it is a no brainer,” according to Dan) and how much these funds can impact their respective Districts. Dan also has the ability to relate to the Superintendents and what their job truly encompasses.

Supt. Mike Lannon, Resident Superintendent

Mike has been a public educator for 45 years, serving school districts ranging from the inner city to the Navajo Nation and Florida. Mike served seventeen years as a Superintendent of the Florida Keys, and St. Lucie County, Florida. As the Past President of both the Florida Association of District School Superintendents (FADSS) and the Urban Superintendents Association of America (USAA),and as a current member and past Governing Board Member of AASA, Mike devotes his time now to assist superintendents to find funding such as QZAB and cost-effective programs for STEM, Digital Literacy and Professional Development.

Patricia Dengel, Advisor

Pat Dengel retired recently as the state QZAB director at the PA Department of Education PDE). Pat has the unique distinction of issuing all of PA’s QZAB allocations ($112 million) during 2009-2011. Working with NEF, she also made sure that the PA QZAB school districts implemented QZAB academies that “prepared students better for college and workforce,” as required by the Federal QZAB law. In her capacity as an NEF advisor, Pat assists school districts with their QZAB applications. She also advises state QZAB directors.

Sushant Mohanty, Chief Technology Officer

Sushant Mohanty has vast experience in IT and technology applications, elearning and
ecommerce. He is the former CTO of several IT companies, including Register.com.

Robert Eichorn, K-12 Learning Advisor

Bob Eichorn is a national expert in alternate, at-risk and high school education & turn-around schools. He is also a national expert in differentiated digital education and standards-based learning. Bob is the recipient of several national, regional and local awards and he is the principal of New Directions Alternative Education Center in Manassas, VA where he has improved at-risk student graduation rates from 61% to 97%.

Carey Kriz, Software Applications Platform Expert

Carey Kriz has over thirty years of experience in higher education, healthcare and technology, including substantial experience with IBM, a variety of health care and technology enterprises, and Web 3.0 interactive secure video platform development. He is the former CIO of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is also the author of “The Patient Will See You Now” (2009) series, a view on the future of healthcare, featured weekly on the CISCO website.