Learn from industry and community leaders. D2L Fusion brings together some of the brightest minds out there; just check out our roster below.
Mainstage Speakers
John Baker
President and CEO, D2L
John is a strong believer in community involvement and devotes both his personal and business efforts to supporting young entrepreneurs who are developing and applying technology to improve society worldwide. He was appointed to the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He is also a member (Entrepreneurs’ Circle) of the Business Council of Canada and the Business Higher Education Roundtable, is past chair of the board of Communitech, and is a board member of Canada’s National Ballet School. John has been awarded the Meritorious Service Cross, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Ontario for Software and Technology), the Young Alumni Achievement Medal from the University of Waterloo, and the Intrepid Entrepreneur of the Year in the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.
John graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Honors B.A.Sc. in systems design engineering, with First Class Honors and an option in management sciences.
Dr. Wendy Suzuki
World-renowned neuroscientist, professor and author
Barry Dahl
Teaching and Learning Advocate, D2L
Prior to D2L, Barry served as the Vice President of Technology and Lake Superior Connect e-Campus at Lake Superior College in Duluth, MN, where he was the senior administrator in charge of online learning. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Instructional Technology Council that concentrates on providing useful services to member schools. He has a total of 27 years of work experience within higher education, and also milked his college student career for as long as he possibly could.
Allison Sinclair
Customer Advocacy Manager, D2L
Allison began her career as an educator in an intermediate classroom, and has her Masters of Teaching with a specialty in Science. A passion for technology brought her out of the classroom, and she has spent the last five years in ed-tech supporting educators with training, building community of D2L champions and sharing stories of success.
Jack Pinette
Senior Director, Higher Education Product Management
D2L’s company mission is to transform the way the world learns. That plays out via institutions using technology as they roll out new models of accessible and inclusive education – and it also plays out in product improvements that empower students and instructors with every monthly release. Jack has built and led teams responsible for software development, solutions consulting, and product rollout/enablement, which has given him a chance to invent everything from early REST APIs to new UX/workflows to demo scripts and market-messaging frameworks.
He is deeply interested in technology at the scale of human emotion. How does interacting with our product make people happy, and improve their lives? How can technology lead to personal and institutional change, leaving teachers and learners better off than they started?
Jeannette McNamara
Director, Product Management
Jeannette is passionate about speaking with clients, colleagues, and advisors to keep grounded, maintain her passion, and validate her decisions when it comes to product. Reflecting on her journey, two things motivate her most: new things to learn and old problems to own. She believes that having new things to learn motivates many people, but old problems to solve can often cause anxiety, paralysis, or worse – apathy. She finds that old problems offer opportunities to reveal the true values at the core of a team, a department, or a company. Tackling an old problem and reinvigorating others to come together to rethink a situation is her superpower.
Kathleen Murphy
Creative Learning Strategist
Kenneth Chapman
Learning Innovation Advocacy
Lindsay Shipman
Team Lead, Solutions Engineer Operations
Michael Bird
Senior Solutions Engineer, Team Lead
Whether working closely with pre-sales teams, instructors, or directly with clients, Michael excels at identifying needs and building solutions to delight stakeholders. He is a skilled collaborator and sales process innovator to drive higher win rate and enhanced efficiency.
Stephen Laster
Chief Operating Officer
Stephen has over 25 years of leadership experience in digital transformation, product development and technology enablement. Before joining D2L, Stephen was the Chief Product Officer of Ellucian, the market-leading student information system provider for global higher education. Prior to Ellucian, Stephen held critical roles including Chief Product Officer for Penn Foster, Chief Digital Officer for McGraw Hill Education, and Chief Information Officer for the Harvard Business School. He also served as a Trustee, member of the faculty, and head of innovation for Babson College. Previously, Stephen founded and ran Intelligent Solutions, LLC, a higher education technology consulting firm. Stephen has been a board member of IMS Global, Microsoft Higher Education Advisory Board, The Online Learning Consortium, and FineTune Learning.
Surekha Rao
Senior Product Manager
Featured Speakers
Colleen James
Principal Consultant and CEO, Divonify
Laura Osborne
Faculty Training & Certification Coordinator, Stephen F. Austin State University
Andrew Bieronski
Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching Consultant, WRDSB
Barbra Thoeming
Sales Enablement Manager, D2L
Rosanne Holmes
Learning and Development Manager, D2L
Brielle Harrison
Sr Solutions Engineer Operations Specialist, D2L
Speakers
Janice Aanenson
Minnesota State IT Center of Excellence
Jen Alexander
VHS Learning
Jeff Allison
Grand Erie District School Board
Jessica Ament
University of Arizona
Dayna Armstron
Bongo
John Baker
D2L
T. Adam Baldry
Pima Community College
Tina Bergman
HPEDSB
Andrew Bieronski
Waterloo Region District School Board
Michael Bird
D2L
Maurice Mark Boland
Technological University Dublin
Mary Bollash
Carrier
Dr. Jeff Borden
National University
Andrew Brackett
New York University
Terri Brown
East Georgia State College
Patrick Brunet
D2L
CARLOS CARRILLO
Pima Community College
Dr. Sambhavi Chandrashekar
D2L Corporation
Kenneth Chapman
D2L
Lynn Cooke
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Liz Cote
Southern New Hampshire University
Delia Couto
D2L
Chris Cramer
CPA Canada
Barry Dahl
D2L
Niki Davis
Southern Illinois University
Lauren Daws
CFIA
Craig Debbo
D2L
Brendan Desetti
D2L
Reed Dickson
Pima Community College
JP Dunn
Southern Illinois University
Joshua Eckenrode
National University
Robert Egan
New York University
Zala Fashant
Minnesota State
Martha Fedorak
D2L
Mark Felix
University of Arizona
Sean Fitzgibbons
D2L
David Fonseca
Pima Community College
Kari Frisch
Central Lakes College
Kassia Gandhi
D2L Corporation
Kim Godwin
Middle Tennessee State University
David Gomes
Greater Essex County District School Board
Jackie Guan
D2L
Susan Halick
Michigan State University
Kelly Hall
Southern New Hampshire University
Megan Hamilton Giebert
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Marisha Handzel
New York University
Wendy Hanwell
Southern New Hampshire University
Rod Hardman
D2L
Christa Hardy
D2L
Brielle Harrison
D2L
Carin Headrick
D2L Corporation
Michelle Hernandez
D2L
Rochelle Hill
D2L
Ben Holmes
Purdue University
Rosanne Holmes
D2L
Kristin Hrynczuk
Western Michigan University
Angelia Huggins
Georgia WebMBA
Sheri Hutchinson
Brian Jacobsen
Bongo
Steve Jaegle
University of Rhode Island
Divya Jagan
D2L
Shireen Jahedkar
Texas A&M AgriLife
Laura Janusek
D2L
Jon Johnson
Red Rocks Community College
Anita Joshi
D2L
Renée Judd
National Louis University
Mark Knockemus
NortheasternTechnical College
Melissa Koenig
DePaul University
Charles Kroger
Minnesota State
Hilda Ladner
Pima Community College
Karen LaPlant
Metropolitan State University
Stephen Laster
D2L
Amy K. Lavender
Georgia WebMBA
Ada Lee
D2L
Meg Longhi
Southern New Hampshire University, Global Campus
Sarah Love
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Josh Luckens
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Crystal Mallner
Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College
Stephanie Markowitz
Pellissippi State Community College
David McGeary
D2L, Ltd.
Jeannette McNamara
D2L
Tanya McPherson
D2L
Cecile Michniewicz
D2L
Amy Miele
VHS Learning
Anneka Moline
D2L
Gregory Moore
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Micheal Moore
D2L
Susan Moore
Spartanburg Community College
Tarah Moore
Texas A&M AgriLife
Alexis Morton
Southern New Hampshire University, Global Campus
Ruth Mullen
D2L
Kathleen Murphy
D2L
Robb Nash
The Robb Nash Project
Elyssa Naval
University of Arizona
Jacqueline Nelles
D2L
Laura Osborne
Stephen F. Austin State University
Meredith Painter
Vanderbilt University
Tina Parscal
CCCS
Tara Perrin
Middle Tennessee State University
Abby Pfeiffer
Western Governors University
Jack Pinette
D2L
Josie Quinn
DeafBlind Ontario Services
Valentin R. Mancha
University of Arizona
Alicia Ramberg
Horry-Georgetown Technical College
Surekha Rao
D2L
Julie Reginek
Ridgewater College
Sara Reidy
Southern New Hampshire University
Alex Reis
D2L Corporation
Derk Riechers
Northeastern Technical College
Tom Roberts
Canada School of Public Service | École de la fonction publique du Canada
Jacki Ross
D2L
Kelly Ross
Southern New Hampshire University
Jeff Salin
D2L
Alison Sberna
Ohio Department of Education
Suzanne Schlangen
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Gideon Sears
D2L
Shereen Seoudi
D2L
Lindsay Shipman
D2L
Allison Sinclair
D2L
Michel Singh
Canada School of Public Service | École de la fonction publique du Canada
Leo Smith
Purdue University
Alexander Snyder
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College
Ron Stafford
Northeastern Technical College
Laura Stewart
D2L
Dr. Wendy Suzuki
New York University
Barbra Thoeming
D2L
Sue Tischendorf
J.C. Turner
Saint Paul College
Frank Vazquez
CCCS
Ramanuja Vokkarane
National Louis University
Carolyn Vos
DePaul University
Kim Vossen
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Jennifer Wagner
Michigan State University
Megan Walker
D2L Inc.
Jaymes Walker-Myers
Southern New Hampshire University
Harold Watkins
Western Michigan University
Chris Watson
D2L Inc.
Heather Watson
D2L
Lori Wendt
Parkland College
Jonathan Werth
MinnState
Stephanie Wickman
Front Range Community College
Megan Wilcox
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Amy Williams
Western Governors University
Jennifer Wilson
PNW BOCES
Lucy Wolski
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Lara Wolters
Purdue University (Northwest campus)
Pepe Wonosikou
Saint Paul College
Adam Woodrow
Westmoreland County Community College
Alyssa Young
DeafBlind Ontario Services