Future Forward Forum: AI-Ready Planning for Leaders

Retired CTO Calcasieu Parish Public Schools Louisiana. ISTE Certified Educator, longtime transformational technology innovation integration expert, led technology infusion into curriculum districts, states, internationally. Teacher-principal-library-media specialist-CTO, assistant professor. Accomplished grantwriter/trainer-reviewer National Science Foundation. Founding member ISTE-NETS,ISTE-Standards Accreditation Committee. Deeply involved infusing technology-standards-based instruction. First teacher inducted National Teachers' Hall of Fame. U.S. Education Department Technical Writing Team National EDtech Plan, nationally recognized consultant/speaker/educator, FCC appointed USAC board, Sought-after EDtech speaker, presented published nationally/internationally. ISTE Public Policy Advocate Award, ISTE MakingItHappenAward, CoSN past Chair

Suzan Brandt is the Chief Technology Officer of Mountain Brook Schools, near Birmingham, Alabama. In March of 2023, Suzan received the Innovative Technology Director Award by Tech & Learning. Most recently, she was featured by EdTech Magazine as one of the 30 K-12 Influencers to follow in 2023. Passionate about student voice, Suzan has been the license holder and organizer of TEDxYouth@MBJH for the past ten years. Suzan is actively involved in professional development and learning. She regularly presents at, ISTE, FETC, TCEA, ASCD, Tech & Learning, and the Alabama Educational Technology Conference.

Benjamin “Benjie” Brown serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Darlington County School District. Mr. Brown provides leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment throughout the District. Darlington County School District Technology Department provides support for instructional technology, digital tools, delivery of IT infrastructure and services, information security systems and compliance, administrative systems, and client support services. Mr. Brown is committed to working with the DCSD team to create an instructional environment that fosters and encompasses innovation as well as a sustainable IT infrastructure that supports personalized student learning and bolsters achievement.

Phil Hintz serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the Niles Township School District 219 in Illinois. In June 2015, Phil was the recipient of ISTE’s Outstanding Leader Award, in Philadelphia. In 2016, Phil made the list of the National School Boards Association’s “20 to Watch” in Edtech for 2016. In 2017, Phil helped Gurnee to earn the coveted ISTE Distinguished District Award. Recently, Phil was the 2019 Withrow CTO of the Year for Consortium of School Networking (CoSN). In June of 2022, Phil was the winner of Tech & Learning Magazine’s Innovative Leader Award for Best Implementation of Data Privacy.

Jeff McCoy currently serves as the associate superintendent of academics for Greenville County Schools, the largest district in South Carolina and the 44th largest in the nation with over 78,000 students. McCoy is active both statewide and nationally on multiple advisory boards including the National K12 Congress Advisory Board, National School Transformation Conference Advisory Board and the National Chief Academic Officers Working Group. He also serves on the board of directors for the Upstate Children’s Museum and 1EdTech. He and three of his colleagues recently published a series of Blueprints on Personalized Learning, Cybersecurity, and The Marriage of Information Technology and Academics. .

Allison Reid, an accomplished educator and CETL certified technology leader, holds an MEd in Instructional Technology from NC State University. She serves as the Senior Director for Digital Learning & Libraries in WCPSS, driving innovation in digital tools. Allison's accolades include the 2014-15 District Teacher of the Year, the 2019 CoSN NextGen Emerging EdTech Leader award, and the 2022 Ed Tech All Star Award sponsored by CoSN and RTM. With her unique blend of teaching and tech expertise, Allison ensures administrative policies positively impact student outcomes, fostering dynamic and inclusive learning environments. She was a contributor to CoSN’s Digital Equity Toolkit.

She directs ISTE’s standards and teacher preparation efforts. Under her leadership, she developed and launched the ISTE Certification for Educators and Librarians, and designs, implements and leads large scale projects in districts, states and internationally. She supported the second generation standards update and led the development of the most current standards. In teacher preparation, she works in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and national associations to support change in how we prepare new teachers for connected classrooms and recognizing programs that align with the ISTE Standards.