Leadership Change within IT During the Digital Era

Presented by Rod Houpe, Director of Business Development, ENA; Ashley Cowger, Executive Director of Strategy and Integration, Indianapolis Public Schools (IN); Nathalie Henderson, Ph.D., Chief Schools Officer, Indianapolis Public Schools (IN); and Warren Morgan, Ed.D., Chief Academic Officer, Indianapolis Public Schools (IN)
Moderated by Dr. Tom Ryan, Co-Founder, K-12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group (K12STAG)

Sponsored by ENA

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The rapid shift to digital and the influx of federal funds has spawned a technological awakening in many large school districts across the nation. IT and academic departments that were once struggling to get leadership buy-in and financial support now suddenly have the spotlight shining directly upon them.

During this edLeader Panel, experienced leaders from Indianapolis Public Schools, led by moderator Dr. Tom Ryan, discuss how they are leveraging the opportunities afforded to their school corporation to make significant infrastructure improvements, strengthen cybersecurity efforts, evaluate and adjust their staffing approach, streamline business workflows and automation, and deploy new technologies. The panelists provide insight into the cultural shifts they are seeing in terms of the prioritization of technology, discuss how federal funding has erased years of technological debt, and outline the critical importance of attaining long-term sustainable equity in order to place students and staff in a position to succeed.

This recorded edLeader Panel is of interest to school and district leaders, education technology leaders, and chief technology officers at all grade levels. 

About the Presenters

Rod Houpe is the National Director of Business Development for ENA. Rod has over 30 years of experience as an IT leader in K-12 and state government, holding CIO positions at Columbus City Schools, Cleveland Public Library, and most recently Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Rod has been an active member of CoSN and the Council of Great City Schools, presenting on best practices and serving on several peer review boards. He has been the recipient of numerous state and national awards, a featured speaker at various IT conferences, and published numerous articles on technology innovation in public education.

Ashley Cowger is Executive Director of Strategy & Integration at Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and current AASA/Howard University Urban Superintendents Academy Fellow. She leads digital strategy for Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and the functional work of IT, business intelligence, digital instruction and professional learning to ensure their infrastructure, people, and resources are laser focused on supporting high-quality teaching, learning and business in IPS.

Dr. Nathalie Means Henderson serves as the Chief Schools Officer for Indianapolis Public Schools. She has an extensive background in K-12 education having served as Area Superintendent of the Central Learning Community in Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, Instructional Leadership Director for Oklahoma City Public Schools, and principal, assistant principal, and special education teacher in St. Louis Public Schools.

Dr. Henderson earned a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, an Ed.S. from the University of Missouri–Columbia, an M.Ed. from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and a B.A. from Spelman College.

Dr. Warren Morgan is an education reform leader who is passionate about making sure that all students have access to quality education. Prior to his current position as Chief Academic Officer for Indianapolis Public Schools, he served as Executive Director for Teach For America in St. Louis. Dr. Morgan has also worked for President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump as a White House Fellow. Before his time in Washington, D.C., he worked as an academic superintendent in Cleveland. Dr. Morgan also served as a high school principal in Chicago Public Schools and taught secondary science in St. Louis through TFA.

He earned a doctorate in education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a master’s in educational administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Butler University. Dr. Morgan also has an executive certificate in nonprofit leadership from Washington University.

About the Moderator

Tom Ryan, Ph.D. is Co-founder of K-12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group (K12STAG), which is led by public school chief information officers who understand the challenges school leaders face. He is an education professional with 40+ years of K-12 experience. He has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and over 16 years as a chief information officer in large districts. He is engaged in leadership activities in several state and national organizations including Chairman of the Board for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). He is also active in the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) including large school district IT reviews of infrastructure, strategic planning, instructional technology, and digital transformation efforts. He also helps coordinate the CGCS annual CIO conferences. Dr. Ryan is a senior fellow for the Center of Digital Education and presents at several international, national, and state conferences throughout the year.

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ENA delivers transformative technology solutions supported by exceptional customer care. We work with our customers to engineer high-capacity and future-ready connectivity, communication, cloud, security, and data analytics solutions to education institutions and libraries across the nation.