Kara Amana

Kara has an impressive trajectory of leading teams and championing educational technologies in higher education. Currently, she holds the position of Manager of Learning Technology Services at Harvard Business School (HBS), where she orchestrates the strategy for educational technology services and their associated applications. 

In her role, Kara oversees a dynamic team that administers and supports a myriad of technology solutions tailored to meet the unique educational requirements of HBS. This involves interfacing with a broad spectrum of individuals across HBS and Harvard University, setting priorities, and ensuring optimal team capacity management. 

A testament to her expertise, Kara excels in managing people, consulting with faculty and business partners, and delivering a diverse range of technology solutions in an enterprise-level setting. Her knack for listening, critical thinking, and rapid learning allows her to comprehend current processes, discern requirements, and pinpoint innovative tools and methodologies that fulfill set objectives. 

Kara's passion for technology and education is evident in her endeavors to enhance the learning experience, making her an invaluable asset to the HBS community and the broader IT landscape in higher education. 

 

April Bellifiore
April Bellafiore is the Director of Multi-Modal Education for the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) at UMass Amherst. In her role, she supports CNS faculty and departments as they seek to implement, expand, and refine online and flexible learning strategies. In addition to her current experience with the UMass migration to Canvas, April led two previous LMS transitions, from WebCT to Blackboard, and from Blackboard to Angel (before going back to Blackboard again), while at Bristol Community College. 

Tamarin Butcher

As Associate Director of the UMass Amherst IDEAS team (Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support) Tamarin has been a driving force behind the Canvas LMS initiative and oversees the identification and implementation new technologies and instructional design practices to enhance the academic learning environment. Tamarin has been with IDEAS since April 2022, serving first as a Team Lead, then as Acting Manager, and now as Associate Director.  

 

Adam Hauerwas

Adam has managed three different learning management systems for Providence College, from ANGEL to Sakai to Canvas.  He is a "jack of all trades" as well and serves as Tier 3 support within the User Support division of the college's IT services, supporting operating systems, application software, and academic technology.

 

Kevin Kennedy

With over a decade of experience teaching college-level classes, Kevin brings a purposeful approach to technology use in the classroom. His passions include increasing student autonomy and investment in class and using gamification and game-based elements to build a community in the classroom and increase student involvement. Kevin works as an instructional technologist at Framingham State University and is also a part-time faculty member with the Bridgewater State University English Department.

 

Mary MacDonald

Mary is the Senior Instructional Technologist with Framingham State University’s Education Technology Office (ETO). In this role, she manages the Learning Management System and associated integrated technologies and contributes to a wide variety of education technology initiatives across the university.  Before ETO, Mary served FSU for over six years as an instructor and manager of the campus Planetarium, where she developed a unique and diverse array of skills, including AV and multimedia production, technical support, immersive media, event planning, and more. Her areas of interest include Extended Reality, Open Educational Resources in STEM, data science, and digital literacy. 

Robin Robinson

Robin Robinson is the Director of the Education Technology Office, Learning Spaces and Innovation within ITS at Framingham State University. Together with her team of five, she is dedicated to helping faculty identify and implement the best practices for technology-mediated teaching and learning. Robin and her team work collaboratively to solve problems and create a welcoming environment for faculty to engage in meaningful learning experiences that support students' intellectual growth. Robin earned a Master's in Technical and Professional Writing from Northeastern University in Boston. She has presented at regional and national conferences. In addition, she is co-coordinator of the Master of Education in Educational Technology with her colleague Steve Courchesne. Outside the institution, Robin serves on the NERCOMP Board as vice-chair and was recently appointed to Instructures' Customer Advisory Board.  

Michael Yakubov

Michael Yakubov is currently a Senior Account Manager at Instructure working with over 200 institutions in the New England, New York, Delaware, Washington D.C., and New Jersey regions to establish best ed-tech practices and resources planning for academic success. Prior to joining Instructure, Michael spent 12+ years in higher education as an Assistant Director of Admissions, Executive Director of a Business School, and Dean of Enrollment Management and Strategy. Spanning experience at small liberal institutions, mid-sized state universities, and community college settings has helped Michael align the values coveted by institutions when evaluating digital tools for student and faculty success.

Moreover, Michael possesses a Doctorate of Education from Wilmington University, focusing his dissertation on institutional closures and fiscal resource planning. Outside of higher education, Michael owns a small consulting company called The Resumaniacs, where he provides services in career empowerment and quality HR practices.