Richard Culatta
The chief executive officer of ISTE and brings vast experience in education policy, teacher preparation, educational technology and innovation to his role.
Culatta is a longtime ISTE member and a past recipient of the ISTE Making IT Happen Award.
Prior to joining ISTE, Culatta served as the chief innovation officer for the state of Rhode Island. In this role, he focused on developing partnerships to improve opportunities for students, including launching a program to make Rhode Island the first state to offer computer science in every K-12 school and creating a state vision for personalized learning.
As the director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, Culatta was at the helm of numerous efforts to expand connectivity to schools across the country, promote personalized learning and develop the National Education Technology Plan. He also pioneered new ways for the department to engage with educators and tech developers.
Prior to his role with the Department of Education, Culatta served as an education policy adviser to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. He was also the learning technologies adviser for the David O. McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University where he redesigned the technology component of the teacher prep program. He also served as the director of operations for the Rose Education Foundation, which brought the first internet connections to schools in rural Guatemala.
Culatta began his career in the classroom as a high school teacher and, across his career, has coached educators and national leaders around the world on using technology as a tool to reimagine learning.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish teaching and a master’s in educational psychology and technology, both from Brigham Young University.
Dr. Kecia Ray
Dr. Ray’s career includes designing technology within the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and directing technology research through Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Science Outreach programs. As a district administrator for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, she led the award-winning design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional technology programs including instructional design for online and blended learning environments, redesigning physical learning environments, establishing the virtual high school, and redefining school libraries. Dr. Ray is published and recognized internationally for her work in online and blended learning as well as flexible learning environments.
Dr. Ray is a member of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and is past president of the ISTE Board of Directors. Dr. Ray also serves on the board of eLearn Institute and the board of Learning Bird Inc. In 2015, she was invited to serve on a USDOE technical working group focused on evaluating education technology. She is a four-time recipient of the Presidents Volunteer Service Award and the ISTE lifetime achievement ‘Making IT Happen’ Award. Dr. Ray was named ’20 to Watch’ by the National School Board Association, Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women, one of the top 10 EdTech Leaders by Tech and Learning magazine, and most recently named a Top 100 EdTech Influencer by EdTech Digest. She is an instructor at Johns Hopkins University in the Graduate School of Education and after leading the Center for Digital Education for three years, she now leads a leadership community forum, K20Connect and other passion projects.
Thomas C. Murray
Tom serves as the Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education, located in Washington, D.C. He has testified before the United States Congress and has worked alongside that body and the US Senate, the White House, the US Department of Education and state departments of education, and school districts throughout the country to implement student-centered, personalized learning while helping to lead Future Ready Schools and Digital Learning Day. Murray serves as a regular conference keynote, was named one of “20 to Watch” by NSBA, the “National/Global EdTech Leader of the Year” in 2018, the “Education Thought Leader of the Year” in 2017, and the “Education Policy Person of the Year” by the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. His best-selling book, Learning Transformed, was released in 2017 with ASCD. Connect with him at thomascmurray.com or @thomascmurray.
