Josh Arbaugh

Josh Arbaugh is a Digital Innovation Leader at AWS. He identifies, develops, and leads engagements with our customers – engaging line of business, C-suite, and other senior leaders. Josh teaches the Amazon Culture of Innovation and leads innovation workshops utilizing the Amazonian Working Backwards mechanism to drive prototypes and scaled solutions for customers to bring new ideas to life. Josh previously led the State & Local Government Professional Services team at AWS and prior to that spent 20 years as Vice President of Professional Services at Informatica.

Michael Cato

Michael leads Bowdoin College's Information Technology strategy and operations through the Information and Technology department and has spent over 20 years in Higher Education IT. He is active in a number of professional organizations such as CAUDIT, EDUCAUSE, and NERCOMP, with an emphasis on leadership development, inclusive leadership, and the array of issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion. He is the 2022 Technology Executive of the Year – Education award winner from the IT Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), and the 2021 recipient of the EDUCAUSE DEI Leadership Award.
Michael holds a B.S. in Zoology from Andrews University and an M.B.A. from Wake Forest University. He loves to learn, read, eat, and occasionally cook, and starts most days being humbled by CrossFit. Michael is raising an awesome son with his partner and wife Heather.

Amy Schack

Amy Schack currently serves as the Professional Development and Member Relations Manager for the Northeast Regional Computing Program (NERCOMP).  In this role, she works directly with professional development organizers to plan and execute workshops and webinars, as well as the Board of Trustees to advance the mission and vision of the organization She is also the Co-Chair of the Professional Development Committee, the Digital Credentials Sub-Committee, the Mentorship  Development Task Force, Co-Vice-Chair of the NERCOMP Annual Conference and Chair of the Innovation Task Force. 

Prior to joining NERCOMP, Amy worked as the Director of Residential Life at several colleges and universities in New York.  Amy holds a Master of Science in Education with a concentration in Counseling from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Eastern Connecticut State University.  

Jennifer Sparrow

Jennifer Sparrow is a Business Development Manager for Higher Education at AWS.  She was formerly the Deputy CIO and Associate Vice President for Teaching and Learning Technology (TLT) at Penn State. At PSU she worked to help PSU faculty take advantage of information technology to enrich the educational experiences of their students and to champion the creative and innovative uses of technology for teaching, learning, and research. Prior to that, she was Senior Director of Networked Knowledge Ventures and Emerging Technologies at Virginia Tech. For more than 25 years, she has championed the use of technology to engage students in the learning process. She has a passion for working with faculty to explore new technologies and their potential implementations in teaching and learning. She loves working with faculty who are willing to push the boundaries of the leading edge of technology in teaching, learning, and research. Her teaching and research projects included examining the convergence of technologies and learning spaces to create interactive and engaged learning opportunities. Jennifer's research focuses on increasing digital fluency for students, faculty, and life-long learners. Jennifer received her bachelor's degree from Smith College, her master's degree from Florida Gulf Coast University, and her doctorate from the University of Central Florida. Jennifer is the winner of the 2013 EDUCAUSE Rising Star Award.

Karen Warren

Karen serves as Associate Vice President for Information Technology at Wesleyan University and has oversight for the user services, technical services, and academic technology teams. Combined, they provide the foundational support for all other IT operations in the University, develop strategic input regarding systems and infrastructure, and provide support for teaching and learning through the use of technology. Karen oversees the ITSM initiative for Wesleyan and is responsible for initiating department-wide changes to IT processes, including incident and change management, configuration management, and the service catalog.

Danielle Yardy

Danielle Yardy is a leader in the AWS Higher Education Strategy team in the US, where she focuses on enabling colleges and universities to turn their vast amounts of data into wisdom that impacts student outcomes and institutional missions. Danielle holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature and spent time lecturing in the UK before moving into the world of technology and higher education innovation.