Board of Directors

Jon Carter

Chairman

Jon currently serves as a product manager for Dell, Inc., where he is responsible for managing strategic business planning in the large enterprise storage group. He has also held various product management roles at Hewlett Packard, including the position of global product manager in both the business PC group and the LaserJet printing group. Prior to joining Hewlett Packard, Jon worked for Det Norske Veritas, a Norwegian consulting firm, as a project manager responsible for developing risk-based management programs in the energy industry. With over 15 years of computer hardware and software experience, Jon is a recognized expert in his field. He regularly speaks at industry events and contributes to related publications. Jon graduated from Baylor University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Jon has a vested interest in education and development programs for children. He’s currently an active volunteer for the Watch D.O.G.S. school mentoring program (www.fathers.com) and Annunciation Maternity Home (www.thematernityhome.org). He also serves on the board of directors for the non-profit Gifted and Talented Alliance of Georgetown (www.gtagt.net). Previously, he held advisory board positions with the Treasure Valley YMCA in Boise, Idaho, and the Boys and Girls Club in Nampa, Idaho.

Jon currently lives in Georgetown, Texas with his wife, daughter and son.

Michael Abrams

Chair-Elect

Michael’s 21-year career has always centered on people development, business development and information technology.  The founder of Resulting Idea, Michael works with companies to create interactive communication and training programs that drive customer and employee engagement.  His main passion is on helping businesses leverage technology to achieve real results.  Before Resulting Idea, Michael spent six years as an executive at Avnet, a Fortune 500 company, where he held executive positions in corporate training, global web services and eCommerce. A prolific trainer in Avnet’s award winning international executive development program, he taught courses in the US, Belgium, Germany and the UK.

Always an active member of the community, Mike has served on the board of directors for American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) Phoenix Chapter and most recently for the Arizona Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (AZHIMSS). Mike is also an advisory board member for Blueprint Education and sits on the ASTD National Technology Team. Mike holds both MBA and Master of Education degrees, and is also certified in Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership II and Wilson Learning’s Sales Excellence.

Michael has long supported youth development across various non-profit associations.  He holds leadership positions in his church as the junior high youth minister and director of youth acting programs, and coordinates the youth leadership development program for the local Knights of Columbus.  Michael’s work in this area earned him an appointment to the Arizona State Knights of Columbus Council to run the State Squires program, which focuses on developing young leaders ages 12 to 17.

Michael proudly calls Phoenix, Arizona home, and he lives here with his wife, son and daughter.

Steve Gilbert

Secretary

Steve is currently the managing director of PassiveCast, an executive search and recruiting company headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.  A practice area at PassiveCast focuses on the education and training industry nationwide.  Steve is concurrently a partner at Executive Management Group, a retained executive search firm, where he oversees the education and training practice.  Prior to entering the talent management industry, Steve practiced as a licensed physical therapist and served as a member of the diabetic education team at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Roanoke, Virginia.  Earlier in his career he worked with Boulder Connections, a non-profit organization in Boulder, Colorado that helps teens with developmental disabilities become more involved in their local communities.

Steve earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Arizona and a Master of Science in Physical Therapy from Pacific University in Oregon.

An active member in his community, Steve volunteers at Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Arizona (www.bbbsaz.org) and as an assistant troop leader in his daughter’s Girl Scout troop (www.girlscoutsaz.org).  An amateur musician as well, Steve also volunteers with the Downtown Music Lab in Roanoke, Virginia to help elementary and high school students learn the art of writing and recording music (www.jeffcenter.org/musiclab).

Steve’s thirst for ongoing learning keeps him involved in the local entrepreneurial community through the local TiE chapter (www.tieaz.org) and , as an active member of Toastmasters International (www.toastmasters.org) , and the Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org).

Steve is an Arizona native and currently lives in Glendale with his wife and two children.

 

Timothy K. Kelly

Treasurer

Tim currently serves as a general sales manager for the dairy division at Shamrock Foods Company, where he’s worked for over 18 years in various positions. He’s currently responsible for managing the national sales expansion of Shamrock’s fluid milk and culture business. 

A former student of Blueprint Education, Tim graduated from the Arizona State University with both his BS and MS degrees in Agribusiness.

Tim has formerly served on various non-profit boards and committees, including Grand Canyon State Games, UCP of Arizona and The Grove Bible Church. 

Tim lives with his wife Robyn and three sons in Chandler, Arizona.

Kevin Donaldson

Board Member

Kevin currently serves as the VP of product management for a rising venture-funded software start-up called Balihoo (www.Balihoo.com).  Employee number six at the company, Kevin built Balihoo’s product management function from scratch, while staying avidly focused on the organization’s agility in unstable markets. He is responsible for managing the strategy and future direction of Balihoo's product/market offering.  Prior to joining Balihoo, Kevin worked at a wide range of small and large ventures, including start ups, his own consulting company, and fortune 500 companies such as Capital One, Toyota and Deloitte Consulting.  With over 12 years in business and technology strategy, Kevin is an expert in design thinking and understanding how to make organizations work more effectively.  Kevin holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.

With three children under the age of five, Kevin has a deep interest in the future of education, and a passion for new and innovative teaching methods and tools that can meet the needs of diverse learning styles.  He serves on the board member of The Momentum Group (TMG), a non-profit development organization that focuses on empowering those that have the least.  A major initiative of TMG, Common Ground (http://cg.themomentumgroup.org/), offers curriculum and experiential job-training programs for the refugee community.

Kevin currently lives with his wife, two sons and daughter in Boise, Idaho.

Terry Pfeifer

Board Member

Terry is currently an independent catastrophic claims adjuster for the insurance industry, responsible for paying significant loss claims after catastrophic weather events so people can quickly rebuild their lives.  His diverse past experience includes brokering large commercial real estate transactions in California, owning and operating a prominent café, and serving as an urban and wild land firefighter.  Terry graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.

Terry has a profound interest in improving quality of life for children. A wish grantor and community representative for the Make-A Wish Foundation, he grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich their human experience. He partnered with Humanity Unites Brilliance and FEED 333 to help feed three million hungry children in the United States. He’s also involved in other community service programs, including Habitat for Humanity, Transformational Training Staff and Toastmasters International.

Dr. Anne Auten

Advisory Board Member

Anne recently retired as an associate dean for the School of Education at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Before joining the university, her employer for nearly 20 years, Anne worked as an English teacher for grades 6-12, as a freelance editor, and as a staff writer and information services coordinator for the National Council of Teachers of English. At the university, she held various faculty and administrator positions and led numerous initiatives, including marketing communications, grant writing and budget management, and faculty development in teaching, critical learning and computers as cognitive tools. An advocate of collaboration and community-based urban teacher education, Anne also coordinated a partnership with nine public schools to develop circles of advocacy for metro school children, their parents and college students in pre-service teacher education.

 
Anne received her Master’s in Education and Instructional Applications of Computing (IAC) at the University of Illinois, and her PhD in Higher Education Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota.
 
Anne offers a wealth of experience in teaching K-12 and graduate students, professional writing, project management and marketing, research assessment, faculty and staff development, and collaborative initiatives. In addition to serving as Capella adjunct faculty, she is engaged in the standards-based redesign of a community college’s urban teacher education curriculum.
 
Anne lives in Minnesota, where she enjoys cross-country skiing, biking, geo-caching and spending time with friends and family.

David McCauley

Advisory Board Member

 

David now serves a consultant for a wide-range of clients, and is typically hired to “repair” broken operations of businesses and non-profit organizations. His experience spans a diverse array of industries and institutions, including retail, reseller, channel, direct, manufacturing, subscription, web-based, software, consumer, B2B, federal and government, and all levels of the education field. In his past, David participated in a start up that grew to be worth over $600 million in its initial public offering, helped to start several companies and non-profits, and has led change management, hiring, mergers and acquisition for numerous businesses. He’s also a coach, confidante and mentor to several CEOs and company founders.
 
David holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Arizona, and an MA in Anthropology from the University of Kansas.
 
His dedication to community service and education stand out in his experience. He’s served as the board president for Eastwind Community Church and Treasure Valley Institute for Children’s Arts (www.trica.org), as a volunteer in the children’s ministry of the Boise Vineyard Church, and as the PTA president and treasurer at Washington Elementary School, where he’s volunteered every week in both of his son’s classes for the last 3 years.
 
David lives in Boise, Idaho with his family.

 

Sade Ogunbode

Advisory Board Member

Sade is a software analyst at Bridgeway Software, Inc., where she ensures that software applications meet quality standards prior to being released to clients. She enjoys the challenge of working in the technology industry as a quality analyst. She recently became licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and looks forward to an exciting career in the area of public interest law, especially education, disability, employment and consumer law. As a naturalized citizen of the United States, she has a vested interest in global education and international initiatives.
Prior to joining Bridgeway, she worked as a Special Education teacher, teaching life skills, developing modified curricula and co-teaching mainstream classrooms. She decided to become an educator so that she could inspire children to learn, just as her teachers had fostered her love of knowledge. She has a passion for children and is committed to serving children in various capacities. She believes every child is trainable and advocates the use of alternative methods to accommodate individual learning styles. She tutored after school programs with Houston Independent School District, organized community outings for the Special Needs program in Katy Independent School District, and participates in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record programs. She is currently a volunteer member of Child Advocates Inc., where she serves as a court appointed Guardian ad litem.
Sade received her Juris Doctor degree from South Texas College of Law, her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from University of Houston, and holds a Texas Special Education K-12 Teacher Certificate.
One of her favorite quotes is "The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.” – John Lubbock

Viliami Tuivai

Advisory Board Member

 

Viliami, known as Coach V, serves as the Director of Football Operations at Boise State University (BSU), a position he’s held since 2009. He’s worked on the blue turf since 2003, when he was hired as a Graduate Assistant, before being hired on full-time as an Assistant Coach for linebackers in 2006. To sum up his tenure, he’s had a “winning experience.” At BSU, he’s experienced 72 winning games (with only nine losses), six Conference Championships, two BCS Championships, and seven Bowl Game appearances in seven years in Division 1 Football.
 
Viliami was born on the Kingdom Island of Tonga in Nuku’ alofa in 1975. His family immigrated to the United States in 1979. Like many first generation families, they struggled to succeed with the new language, culture and schools. Viliami eventually dodged the pitfalls of the mean streets of Pomona by focusing on academics and participating in athletics. He lettered in track and football, serving as football co-captain and class president his senior year in 1994. He attended three secondary education institutions until he stepped on the campus of UC Davis in 1999. This place and experience shaped the first major career milestone in his life, when he noticed that winning football games had more to do with a particular process than trying to win. To him, this process was about more than football, it was about life. Including his two years as the starting weak side linebacker and one year as a volunteer Linebacker Coach at UC Davis, Coach V has experienced 103 wins to 13 losses over 10 seasons.
 
Through personal experience, Coach V has learned the power of the American story, where someone from humble beginnings can find the hope of a better tomorrow and learn the skills that help him move forward in life. In Coach V’s view, a winning recipe for continued success in life includes integrity, work ethic, discipline, respect, commitment, the audacity to dream, a great attitude, a defined skill set and the ability to finish and win. He believes that teamwork, humility and continuous improvement lead to excellence.

 

Emeritus Board Members

Dr. Jim Davis
Dr. Larry Kelly