Opening Keynote Speaker: Hadi Partovi, Founder, CEO - Code.Org
Hadi Partovi is a tech entrepreneur and investor, and CEO of the education nonprofit Code.org.
Born in Iran, Hadi grew up during the Iran-Iraq war. After immigrating to the United States, he spent his summers working as a software engineer to help pay his way through high school and college. Upon graduating from Harvard with a Masters degree in computer science, Hadi pursued a career in technology starting at Microsoft where he rose into the executive ranks. He founded two tech startups that were acquired by Microsoft and Newscorp respectively, and he has served as an early advisor or investor at many tech startups including Facebook, Dropbox, airbnb, and Uber.
In 2013 Hadi and his twin brother Ali ‘94 launched the education nonprofit Code.org, which Hadi leads full-time as CEO. Code.org has established computer science classes reaching 30% of US students, created the most broadly used curriculum platform for K-12 computer science, and launched the global Hour of Code movement that has reached hundreds of millions of students spanning every country in the world.
Hadi's family lives in Seattle, Washington and in his spare time he enjoys skiing, water sports, playing music, and playing word games.
Born in Iran, Hadi grew up during the Iran-Iraq war. After immigrating to the United States, he spent his summers working as a software engineer to help pay his way through high school and college. Upon graduating from Harvard with a Masters degree in computer science, Hadi pursued a career in technology starting at Microsoft where he rose into the executive ranks. He founded two tech startups that were acquired by Microsoft and Newscorp respectively, and he has served as an early advisor or investor at many tech startups including Facebook, Dropbox, airbnb, and Uber.
In 2013 Hadi and his twin brother Ali ‘94 launched the education nonprofit Code.org, which Hadi leads full-time as CEO. Code.org has established computer science classes reaching 30% of US students, created the most broadly used curriculum platform for K-12 computer science, and launched the global Hour of Code movement that has reached hundreds of millions of students spanning every country in the world.
Hadi's family lives in Seattle, Washington and in his spare time he enjoys skiing, water sports, playing music, and playing word games.
Closing Keynote Speaker: Jessie 'Chuy' Chavez - Senior Software Engineer / Manger - Google
Panel Speakers
Mayra Bachrach is a research consultant at Kean University in Union, New Jersey (NJ). Her research interests include increasing access to K-12 Computer Science (CS) Education and improving the learning outcomes in CS of all student groups. She received an MSCS from the New Jersey Institute of technology (NJIT). Mayra has held positions as a CS lecturer at Kean, as a NJ high school CS and robotics teacher and First Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics coach and as a New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) CS educational consultant.
Mayra is past president of the Northern NJ Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) chapter and served as a NJ representative on the CSTA CS Advocacy Leadership Team (CSALT). She is a CSTA advocacy representative for the NJ chapters. At the state level, she served on the revision committee for the NJ Computer Science Student Learning Standards adopted in June 2020 and on the NJ CS Advisory Board convened by the NJDOE and charged with developing the NJ Computer Science State plan. The State plan published in November 2019 identifies the major policy initiatives and related milestones needed to promote equitable access to CS education for all K-12 NJ students.
Mayra is past president of the Northern NJ Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) chapter and served as a NJ representative on the CSTA CS Advocacy Leadership Team (CSALT). She is a CSTA advocacy representative for the NJ chapters. At the state level, she served on the revision committee for the NJ Computer Science Student Learning Standards adopted in June 2020 and on the NJ CS Advisory Board convened by the NJDOE and charged with developing the NJ Computer Science State plan. The State plan published in November 2019 identifies the major policy initiatives and related milestones needed to promote equitable access to CS education for all K-12 NJ students.
Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis is Senior Associate Dean for Research and Community Engagement and Professor of bilingual and mathematics education in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies at the University of New Mexico. She prepares elementary bilingual/ESL pre-service teachers to teach mathematics and teaches bilingual education courses. She taught mathematics at Rio Grande City High School in Texas. Her research interests focus on studying linguistic and cultural influences on the teaching and learning of mathematics, particularly with emergent bilinguals. She was a Co-Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as (CEMELA). She serves as an Advisory Board Member of several NSF-funded projects and as an Editorial Board Member of the Bilingual Research Journal, Teachers College Record, and Journal of Latinos and Education. She has co-edited three NCTM books: Access and Equity: Promoting High Quality Mathematics in Grades PreK-2 and Grades 3-5, and Beyond Good Teaching: Advancing Mathematics Education for ELLs. She is Lead-PI of two NSF-funded projects, Broadening Participation of Latina/o Students in Engineering Using an Integrated Mathematics, Engineering and Computing Curriculum in Authentic, Out-of-School Environments and Developing and Testing Bilingual Curricula that Infuse Authentic Computer Programming Experiences into Middle School Mathematics for Latinx Youth.
Jackie Smalls is our Chief Programs Officer, managing Code.org’s curriculum, professional learning programs, and our nationwide network of regional partners + facilitators to expand CS opportunities in schools.
She worked in large and diverse school systems as an experienced teacher, science curriculum writer, and STEM Administrator. Jackie held various leadership roles with Discovery Education, a K-12 Digital curriculum resources provider, running national professional learning programming and education partnerships impacting tens of thousands of teachers and students. Combining her passion for education and STEM she was the head of programs at Black Girls Code with the oversight of (14) City Chapters Workshops, Enrichments, Summer Camp Programming and Strategic Partnerships impacting thousands of girls of color.
Jackie was a contributing writer for the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) based on the National Research Council Framework for K–12 Science Education, served on the National Academy of Engineering Guiding Committee for K-12 Engineering Education, and a member of the inaugural NGSS Advisory Board for the National Science Teacher Association.
Jackie’s family lives in Southern Maryland. She is committed to public service often volunteering to support community youth STEM programs and also loves fitness, working towards competing in a triathlon one day.
She worked in large and diverse school systems as an experienced teacher, science curriculum writer, and STEM Administrator. Jackie held various leadership roles with Discovery Education, a K-12 Digital curriculum resources provider, running national professional learning programming and education partnerships impacting tens of thousands of teachers and students. Combining her passion for education and STEM she was the head of programs at Black Girls Code with the oversight of (14) City Chapters Workshops, Enrichments, Summer Camp Programming and Strategic Partnerships impacting thousands of girls of color.
Jackie was a contributing writer for the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) based on the National Research Council Framework for K–12 Science Education, served on the National Academy of Engineering Guiding Committee for K-12 Engineering Education, and a member of the inaugural NGSS Advisory Board for the National Science Teacher Association.
Jackie’s family lives in Southern Maryland. She is committed to public service often volunteering to support community youth STEM programs and also loves fitness, working towards competing in a triathlon one day.