Kathleen S. Ives, D.M. has worked in online technology for over 20 years and is currently the Online Learning Consortium's Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director where she oversees the organization's strategic direction. Additionally, she serves as faculty for the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (sponsored by Penn State and OLC), and serves on the EdSurge Advisory Group, the Executive Strategic Council for IMS Global Learning Consortium and on the Leadership Advisory Board for the Center for Learning Innovations & Customized Knowledge Solutions (CLICKS). Formerly, Dr. Ives oversaw all forms of alternative instruction at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, MA (distance learning, accelerated programming). She serves as adjunct faculty for graduate and undergraduate business programs at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. Dr. Ives began her career at CBS and helped to develop the service that evolved into Prodigy. She then spent fourteen years designing and implementing consumer online information services, first at AT&T and then at Verizon where she spearheaded the development of the nation's first online Yellow Pages product, now called superpages.com. Dr. Ives has degrees in communication, communication management, and organizational leadership from the University of California at Davis, the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication, and the University of Phoenix-Online, respectively.

Roberta Vigliani is the newest team member of Online Learning Consortium as the Chief Financial Officer. She comes to us with 16 years of educational learning experience from Pearson Education as a Finance Director in Higher Education. She worked closely with the CFO to guarantee financial and operational requirements which were communicated and addressed by the Business groups she was responsible for. Roberta has managed cross-functional teams within Pearson including the President of Longman and the executive team leaders in Editorial, Marketing, Production and Media, who were located in both Boston and New York City. Working in the Pearson Tutor Center assisting the integration and utilization of a large international tutoring firm into the North America service was an example of her contribution to academia. She also has financial experience from her years at MITRE Corporation. Roberta holds a BS in General Management from University of Massachusetts and an MBA in Finance from Southern New Hampshire University.

Jennifer provides leadership in researching and planning strategic initiatives, special projects and partnerships that align with OLC's mission, vision and goals. Dr. Mathes has nearly 20 years of experience in both public and private for-profit higher education where she has supported online learning initiatives since she taught her first online course in 1997. She has been instrumental in working with start-up online initiatives as well as leading growth in institutions with an existing online program. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she wrote her dissertation on “Predictors for Student Success in Online Education.” She also has earned a Master of Science degree in Business Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications from Illinois State University.

Christine Hinkley has worked in sales and marketing for over 25 years. She currently serves as the Online Learning Consortium's Director, Conferences. In this capacity, Christine, in conjuction with the Associate Director, Conferences and the Conference Support Manager, provides direction and leadership toward the planning and implementation of OLC's three annual conferences. Formerly, Christine assisted with OLC's conferences as part of her duties as Business Development Manager at The University of Central Florida's Division of Continuing Education. Christine's sales, marketing and business development skills were honed through the years in the transportation and medical fields, where she served in various sales and product management roles for Roche Molecular Diagnostics, Baxter Scientific Products, REMEL Microbiology, and CF AirFreight. Christine is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a B.B.A. Business Administration - Marketing.

Academic Background

-Ph.D. Educational Studies with a Specialization in Adult Learning
-M.S. Curriculum and Instruction
-B.A. History

Ph.D. focus: Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Technology Use in Mentoring Relationships

Background

Prior to joining the Online Learning Consortium, Dr. Buban was the Assistant Provost for Research & Innovation at Post University.  In this role, Buban instituted university-wide initiatives with a forward thinking, student-centered focus.  These initiatives included, but were not limited to, the university’s transition to digital course materials, the creation of an online academy for high school students, competency-based learning initiatives, professional developing credentialing, articulation agreements, enrollment management, oversight of all academic publications, as well as a variety of teaching and learning initiatives.

Prior to joining Post University, Buban worked in Academic Affairs at SUNY Empire State College.   She collaborated on a variety of online learning initiatives including the implementation of ePortfolios, open learning access and opportunities, and prior learning assessment.

Dr. Buban continues to study and present on topics surrounding effective technology use for adult learners in online environments. She is a member of the SSEA Communications Committee, an organization for which she was named an Emerging Scholar in 2012. Given the opportunity, Buban continues to teach in the areas of adult and online learning.

Awards

- Emerging Scholar, Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood, 2012-14
- Graduate School of Education Scholarship, Lesley University, 2010-11
- Best in Track Award, Sloan-C International Distance Learning Conference, 2011
- Explorations in Diversity and Academic Excellence Grant, SUNY Office of Diversity and Educational Equity, 2011

Deb Burns has over 25 years’ experience leading business strategy, marketing, sales and product development. She currently serves as Online Learning Consortium’s Senior Director of Business Development, focusing on growth strategies for the organization, and providing guidance to the marketing and sales teams as they bring OLC products and services to the community. Deb has served K-20 education for most of her career, in digital content, curriculum and professional development. Prior to OLC, Deb was Director of Publishing for The Center for Responsive Schools initiating the development of an innovative product line. Previously Deb created new market entry plans, territory growth plans, and other strategic development initiatives as the Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Follett, School Specialty, Heinemann, and the WGBH Educational Foundation.  Deb holds a B.A. in Psychology from Mt. Holyoke College.

Jean Simmons has over 20 years’ experience in online marketing, product development and project management. Jean is currently the Director of Marketing for the Online Learning Consortium, focusing on the growth of a multitude of core services and product initiatives. Jean previously served as Executive Marketing Director for The Kelsey Group, a strategic research and analysis leader in online directories and local media. Prior to this, Jean was Marketing Manager for Verizon’s online yellow pages team leading the successful creation and launch of today’s Superpages.com. As a marketing consultant, Jean has worked on projects for Stratfor, focusing on geopolitical, economic, political and military information services, and YellowBrix, focusing on data analytics and contextual advertising. Jean holds a BS in Business Administration from Emmanuel College in Boston and an MBA in Marketing from Post University in Waterbury, CT.

Robert Pope oversees technical operations at the OLC.  He directs the development of all OLC web properties, mobile apps and systems integrations. He has a degree in computer and electronic engineering technologies CEET.

Jennifer Rafferty provides leadership in researching, scoping, managing, and evaluating a full range of professional development solutions for multiple audiences within the OLC Institute. She has worked for over 15 years supporting online learning initiatives in higher education and in the adult basic education system. Jennifer assumed this role at OLC after working for over seven years as an instructional designer at Quinnipiac University Online in Hamden, Connecticut. During her time at Quinnipiac University, Jennifer was also responsible for spearheading the development of the first online Spanish course at the University. She continues to teach this specialized curriculum for the School of Nursing and presents both nationally and internationally on the topic of online foreign language instruction. Prior to working in higher education, Jennifer was the project manager for the Massachusetts Adult Basic Education Distance Learning Project. In this role, she collaborated with the Massachusetts Department of Education and Project IDEAL to research and identify best practices for distance learning programs serving adult GED and ESL students. Jennifer holds a Masters of Education in Instructional Design from UMASS Boston, a Masters of Arts in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an undergraduate degree in Romance Languages from Mount Holyoke College.

Brenda Weiss-Pesta is the Director, Sponsorship Sales for the Online Learning Consortium. She is responsible for the relationships with new and existing sponsorship partners and building opportunities to share their products and services with valued OLC members and the OLC online learning community.

Prior to joining OLC, Brenda was a sales manager in the educational technology industry working with both higher education institutions and K-12 districts in the northeast. She has been active in her central Minnesota community as a chairperson and a volunteer on youth related projects and is a member of her local planning and zoning commission. Brenda has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Northwestern College.

Prior to joining OLC, Thomas(TJ) worked with higher education institutes and K12 Districts on the West Coast. Before his work in the Educational Space, TJ worked in the Internet/Technology world, specifically help launch Mobile Ad Platforms. TJ helped a number of Start-ups get off their feet; as well as working with a number of Fortune 500 company's continue to grow their business model and integrate mobile marketing strategies to capture this continually growing market. When not working, TJ is an avid sports fan and outdoorsman.

Dr. Laurie G. Hillstock has been a faculty member and administrator in higher education for over 16 years. Most of her experiences have been in the distance learning arena, focusing on strategic planning, technology research and integration, academic integrity, and both faculty and curriculum development. In addition, she has taught a number of credit bearing courses in the online, hybrid, and web-enhanced learning environments. She has also administered and/or taught with a variety of LMS systems including Blackboard.

She is a co-director and faculty member of the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL). In addition to her duties as Board Liaison, Dr. Hillstock is actively involved with OLC, serving as Director of Community Engagement, and a content developer, workshop facilitator and mentor for the Institute. More specifically, she is the developer and facilitator for the Leadership in Online Learning Mastery Series and the Advanced Online Teaching Certificate program.

Dr. Hillstock holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership (Higher Education) and M.A. in Human Resource Development from Clemson University. She also holds a B.A. in English (minor: Computer Science) from Converse College.

Katie Fife Schuster is the Associate Director, Conferences for OLC. In conjunction with the Director, Conferences and the Corporate Relations Representative, Katie provides direction and leadership toward the achievement of OLC's annual conferences. Prior to her current role, she held the position of Director of Online Learning for OLC and managed the planning, development, and production activities of the workshop program. She has also been OLC's Director of Publications. She has experience from her years in the publishing industry prior to joining OLC and holds a BA from Tufts University in anthropology and Spanish.

Matt Norsworthy, Ed.D. establishes relationships with institutions in order to develop strategies for improvement in their online and blended programs.  Matt provides professional development options and project development solutions for institutions of all sizes, both public and private, domestically and internationally.  Dr. Norsworthy has been designing, developing, and teaching English and Humanities courses for over fifteen years.  He has a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from National University and a Masters of Liberal Studies in English from Fort Hays State University.  In addition, he holds a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education and Organizational Change from Benedictine University where he wrote his dissertation on “A Comparison of the Experiences of Online and Face-to-Face Doctoral Students in the Humanities”.

Laurie provides professional consulting services to OLC as a Conference Support Manager in connection with OLC’s Conferences. As the Conference Support Manager she works closely with the OLC conference team and provides operational support specifically in regard to conference customer service and management of exhibitors and sponsors. Laurie graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Denise Musto joined Online Learning Consortium in March of 2015. As the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, Denise’s primary responsibility is to support Kathleen Ives, as well as the Executive Team. Denise contributes to other areas of the organization when necessary, including customer service and conferences. She comes to us with a solid background in the education arena, including work experience of 15 years in the New Hampshire public school system.

Zeren Eder, along with producing workshops for OLC, teaches online classes at University of Phoenix and in seat courses at the Orlando branch of Colombia College. She completed her education in Turkey where is originally from. She has an AA degree in Tourism Hotel management, BA in Education with emphasis on English, MA in Linguistics and holds ABD status in English Literature.

As Marketing Manager, Amy is responsible for marketing promotions and related duties for customer acquisition and lead generation for the full range of products and services offered by OLC. Her role includes writing and developing all print and electronic marketing collateral, as well as supporting materials for event and conference activities.

Prior to joining OLC, Amy was a marketing specialist in the educational technology industry working with both higher education institutions and K12 districts. She has more than fifteen years experience working in both corporate marketing and advertising agency roles. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a Minor in Management.

Elisabeth Stucklen has worked in online higher education and instructional design for over 12 years. Prior to joining OLC, she worked as the senior instructional designer at Mount Washington College in Manchester, NH, where she was responsible for creating new online courses, providing training and support for faculty, and assisting the director in monitoring the course development process. Before MWC, she worked at Lesley University providing professional development and course design assistance to faculty.

In addition to her role with the OLC, Elisabeth also teaches online for Brandeis University in their Masters in Online Instructional Design program.

Elisabeth holds a Masters of Science in Instructional Design and Technology from Emporia State University, and a Bachelors of Science in Visual Communication Technology from Lesley University.

Kaitlin Garrett is an instructional designer with OLC and she is responsible for supporting the Advanced Online Teaching Certificate program. She has worked in higher education for 7 years with a focus on learning management systems and distance education.

Prior to joining OLC, Kaitlin was a module coordinator at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine. She assisted first-year module directors and faculty teams with the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional materials used in both synchronous and asynchronous environments.

Kaitlin holds a MA in Educational Leadership (Higher Education/Student Personnel), a graduate certificate in Instructional Design and Technology (e-Learning), and a BS in Psychology from the University of Central Florida.

As Digital Marketing Specialist, Patricia has primary responsibility for the technical and analytical aspects of all marketing initiatives, and supports the marketing team by collaborating on website design and development, graphic design, tracking and analytics, and design/development of marketing and sales collateral.

Prior to joining OLC, Patricia worked as a freelance designer and developer where she developed and managed a variety of eCommerce websites.  

Patricia holds a Master of Science in Technical Communication and Information Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  

Michael Kantor is a Programmer at the Online Learning Consortium, he helps create modern Web Applications like the new Interactive Quality Scorecard, supports server infrastructure and ties together technical puzzle pieces to make a more efficient workplace.

He has worked privately as a contractor and freelancer for six years, building teams at web agencies, working on startup projects and building indie games.