Keynote Speakers

Anshul Sonak  

Anshul is Principal Engineer and Global Director – Digital Readiness Programs & Strategy, at Intel Corporation, based in USA Headquarters, Santa Clara. He manages worldwide Intel® Digital Readiness Program strategy and execution for tech skilling, workforce preparation, future of work, policy initiatives to democratize AI, and other emerging tech skills. He is a pioneer who started responsible AI skilling scale models for the citizens, students, current & future workforce, and leaders through public-private partnerships with government-academia worldwide in 2018. He steers Intel’s digital inclusion commitment to make technology and expand digital readiness, as part of RISE 2030 goals. He had earlier designed and executed multiple large-scale innovative digital skillings programs for Intel. 

He is a recognized global business and thought leader in the technology and education-skills industry. In May 2023, he was recognized as “The top 10 most inspiring education leaders 2023” by The Education Insights Magazine and featured on the cover page. His work is covered in a Harvard Business case study for transforming AI education through Intel AI for Youth. He has written on platforms such as Forbes, and UNDP, and he speaks regularly to media (e.g. Houston Business Journal)  and in multilateral and academic forums. He is a technology policy advisor for multiple governments, civil society organizations, and academic bodies. He worked with UNESCO to publish K12 AI curricula mapping for countries wanting to introduce AI in schools. He has authored a chapter on “Mastering the power of creative thinking” in a new book by Oxford Professors titled “Mastering the Power of You”. He is UNDP Asia’s first private-sector regional Youth Co-Lab champion promoting youth tech-entrepreneurship and a global judge for MIT SOLVE, a world-leading social entrepreneurship challenge to solve pressing problems using technology.

In his 28-year-long career, he has played leadership roles like Business Head for India’s number 1 IT Education company, Corporate President for a global ed-tech B2G company, Asia Head for digital inclusion & education business, Corporate & Government Affairs Lead, Technology Policy & Sustainability expert, and Corporate Citizenship – CSR/ESG lead. He has led both for-profit and nonprofit education initiatives.  

He is an alumnus of the Oxford Advanced Management & Leadership Program. He holds MIT Sloan School of Management certificates on “AI – Implications For Business Strategy” with MIT CSAIL (Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab) and on “Shaping The Future Of Work” with MIT IWER (Institute for Work and Employment Research). He is Post Graduate in Rural Management from IRMA (Institute of Rural Management) India. He has lived earlier in India, Dubai(UAE), Kuala Lumpur(Malaysia), and Singapore. 

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Chris Camacho  

Chris Camacho serves as president & CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC), one of the longest-standing public-private partnerships for economic development across the country. As chief executive, Chris leads the development and execution of the region’s strategic economic strategy, oversees domestic and international business development, and ensures the market position remains competitive through coordination with partner organizations, private sector leaders, and municipal and state leadership. He has led the attraction of more than 460 companies during his tenure, creating nearly 85,000 jobs and $24 billion in capital investment. Some notable projects include TSMC, Apple, Silicon Valley Bank, Microsoft, GoDaddy, Yelp, Amazon, Garmin, General Motors, ElectraMeccanica, Zoom, HelloFresh, and headquarters including Benchmark Electronics, Carlisle Companies and Rogers Corporation. In October 2021, Chris led GPEC to being recognized as the top economic development organization globally by the International Economic Development Council a year after being named the top EDO in the U.S. in 2020.

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Presenters

Daniel Barajas 

Daniel Barajas serves as the Chief Office for Workforce & Economic Development Strategy for the Maricopa County Community Colleges District, Phoenix, Arizona.

Daniel has over twenty five years of experience working in post-secondary education within the community college system.  He has held many positions within both the academic and student affairs areas, with years of service as Dean of Academics and Career and Technical Education, prior to his current role.

With a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University, Daniel has a passion for marrying educational opportunity and solutions to industry and community need.  Daniel has served on many councils and boards during his career.  This is exemplified in his past role as the President for the Arizona Occupational Administrators Council, and current roles as Board member for the Phoenix Business & Workforce Board and Arizona Chamber of Commerce: Arizona Manufacturing Council Member, among his many engagements. 

Daniel has enjoyed representing education to many industry partners during his time in education developing academic products and services to meet industry needs.

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Jay Burris

Jay Burris is an Academic Program Manager for the OpenVINO™ Toolkit. Jay Burris has been working in the embedded, automotive and Internet of Things industry for 22 years. He is passionate about advocating for academics (students and faculty) with use of Intel Technologies such as the Intel®️ Distribution of OpenVINO™️ toolkit using Intel® Architecture based equipment and resources such as teaching kits and instructional Jupyter Notebooks. Jay often hosts workshops and facilitates coding competitions for students and developers. Jay hold a bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona.

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Dr. Steven Crawford

Dr. Steven Crawford is the District Director for the Maricopa Center for Learning and Innovation at the Maricopa County Community College District. His interests include the use of educational technologies, usage of multimedia, and emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. He is also interested in approaches to course design to effectively leverage blended, HyFlex, and synchronous online learning environments. Steven. served on the EDUCAUSE Horizon Report Panel for the 2021 and 2022 reports and currently serves on the Quality Matters Academic Advisory Council and as a Quality Matters Research Colleague.

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Antonio Delgado

Antonio Delgado Fornaguera is passionate about creating and providing educational opportunities that change lives. As the Vice President of Innovation and Technology Partnerships and formerly the Dean of Engineering, Technology and Design at Miami Dade College (MDC), one of the largest and most diverse higher education institutions in the United States, he has focused on realizing MDC’s ethos as an equalizer of opportunity. At MDC, he has developed strategic partnerships and cutting-edge programs to harness the immense potential of MDC students and the community at large through exposure to emerging technologies, ensuring MDC’s role at the frontier of innovation and solutions to our society’s most pressing challenges.
Antonio has fostered strong connections with key industry partners such as Amazon, Tesla, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple and Google; and launched Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Electric Vehicle Centers at MDC. He has helped secure over $50 million in prestigious grants and external resources from private and public institutions like Knight Foundation, National Security Agency, National Science Foundation, Economic Development Administration, Mozilla and Google.org, among others.
Since the onset of his professional career as a researcher in electronic engineering, Antonio has accumulated over 15 years of ascending experience in technology program management and consulting across the United States, Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean, including country manager at one of Latin America’s leading technology companies. Antonio currently serves on the STEM Advisory Board of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the Advisory Board of South Florida Tech Hub, and the Miami- Dade Beacon Council’s Technology Committee.
He obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from Universidad Tecnológica de La Habana (CUJAE) in Havana, Cuba, and a Master of Science in Computer Networks from the University of Westminster in London, UK.

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Lisha Dunlap

Lisha Dunlap is the PR marketing manager at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. She began her education at a community college in Kansas, earning an A.A. in Business from Cowley County Community College. She then transferred to Washburn University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Military Studies. Dunlap is an experienced public relations professional, marketer, writer, editor, social media expert, communications specialist, photographer, reputation manager, and passionate storyteller.

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Miguel Fernandez

Miguel Fernandez is Composition and Literature residential faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. He has graduate degrees in Comparative Literature, and National Security and Intelligence Studies. He teaches ENG101 and ENG102 for Cybersecurity, Applied A.I. and Drone Fields of Interest. Fernandez is a co-author of “Elementary…the Art and Science of Finding Information: Knowledge Advantage through OSINT” (2020) and was an Aspen Institute Greater Phoenix Workforce Fellow 2021-2022.

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Wade Huber

Wade Huber is a Residential Computer Science Faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.  Wade has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Trinity University and a Master's in Computer Science with an emphasis in Telecommunications from The University of Texas at Dallas.  He has over 20 years experience as a software engineer in industry, including with Alcatel, Uhaul, Analog Rails, and Medtronic. 

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Matt Jolly

Matt Jolly currently serves as a Tri-Chair for the Maricopa Community College District’s AI Task Force. He is also the Co-Chair of the district’s Committee on Academic Freedom. Matt has a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from Arizona State University. Since 2002, he has taught English, literature, and creative writing classes at GateWay Community College. He has also served as the English Program Director, Faculty Senate President, and Chair of GateWay’s Guided Pathways Committee. In his current role as Faculty Developer, Matt supports the professional growth of GateWay’s faculty through timely and robust professional development activities.

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Jenna Kahl 

Jenna Kahl is the Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and has over 15 years of experience in higher education. Mrs. Kahl approaches her work through the lens of connection and partnership striving to leverage creative approaches that benefit students and the communities that we serve. In her role she also oversees teams that amplify the stories, successes and vision of the college through marketing, institutional research, government affairs, community relations and philanthropy.

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Dr. Paula Livingston

Dr. Paula Livingston holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and currently serves as the Dean of Instruction and Workforce Development at Estrella Mountain Community College where she provides collaborative visionary leadership and support for 15 academic and occupational/CTE divisions and programs. Additionally, Paula leads the work out of the Center for Workforce and Experiential Learning and the EMCC Makerspace in supporting critical workforce initiatives and project-based learning opportunities for students and our communities. In her work, Dr. Livingston develops and fosters relationships with business/industry, education partners and community organizations to further EMCC’s mission of student success. Paula has collaborated with faculty in developing and expanding educational offerings to support the socio-economic mobility and educational advancement of students. Her focus has been on promoting teaching excellence, fostering an environment of inclusivity and teamwork, and championing innovation across the college. She has worked closely with faculty and provided academic leadership for expansion of the Nursing program, the successful partnership and launch of the first Microsoft Datacenter Academy in Arizona, and the development of the first 2-year Artificial Intelligence program in the United States. Additionally, Paula has been integral in garnering millions in grant funding and donations to support teaching and learning, student scholarships, and workforce development programming.

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Habib Matar

Habib Matar is a professor at Chandler Gilbert Community College in Arizona, United States. He was one of the pioneers bringing Artificial Intelligence to first and second year higher education in the United States. He currently has been teaching for 3 years, but previously he worked at Intel as a Production Leader at the Ocotillo Campus. He has an immense passion for teaching beginner students about the subject of Artificial Intelligence and hopes to make the subject accessible for all.

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Tuan Nguyen

Tuan Nguyen is a tenured faculty at Laney College with 25+ years of teaching in computer science and programming. He gained professional experience with several years of working in the industry. Tuan has participated in professional development with Intel, AWS, WASTC, and others. He has led several curriculum development projects, which include AI/ML. Tuan holds a BS from the University of California at Berkeley and an MS from Stanford University in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is skilled in team building and collaboration.

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Cristina Ortiz 

Cristina Ortiz directs Intel® Digital Readiness Programs in the US, including AI for Workforce, which is delivering critical AI workforce development to America’s community colleges. She has over a decade of experience bringing STEM programs to diverse audiences. During her 20-year career at Intel, Cristina has worked in multiple disciplines including corporate affairs, sales and marketing, and manufacturing. She earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona, an M.S. in Engineering from Arizona State University, and is PMP certified. Cristina lives in Arizona with her husband and two teenage kids.

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Tom Pearson

Tom Pearson, serves as the Interim Associate Dean of Workforce Programs at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Prior to this role he served as the Chair for the Business and Computing Studies Division and CIS faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Tom was part of the core team that collaborated with Intel and created the AI program at CGCC. Tom has a B.S. in Computer Science from Hawaii Pacific University, and a M.S. in Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix. Prior to joining academia, he worked in the IT field for over 12 years, with positions ranging from computer desktop support to server administration and network engineering. Tom also served in the United States Air Force for 22 years, where he worked in electronics on ground-based air defense radars. 

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Tyler Perrino

Tyler Perrino is the Creative Lead at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Arizona. He has nearly a decade of higher education marketing experience, and currently manages CGCC's social media channels and email marketing, as well as produces videos for the college. Prior to moving to Arizona, Tyler was the first dedicated social media manager at the University of Pittsburgh, where he focused on alumni relations and development. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Tyler earned a B.S. in Journalism from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a M.S. in Digital Audience Strategy from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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Dr. Greg Peterson

As a first-generation community college student, Dr. Greg Peterson has a passion and commitment to the community college and its mission of access and success for all students. Dr. Peterson has served as President of Chandler-Gilbert Community College within the Maricopa Community College District, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), since July 2018. Prior to his time at CGCC, he served as the vice president of student services and/or instruction at three Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) in California which included comprehensive work around student success and assessment. Due to his innovative leadership, he has presented at the White House for both the President’s Domestic Policy Council and the U.S. Department of Education. He also serves on the governing board for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), many local boards in the Phoenix area, and he sits on the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) Commission on Workforce and Economic Development.

Dr. Peterson holds a doctorate in Educational Administration with an emphasis in Community College Leadership from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s in Postsecondary, Adult and Continuing Education from Portland State University, an MBA from Kaplan University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University. He was also recently selected as part of the first cohort of the Aspen New President Fellowship and teaches graduate-level courses for Kansas State University.

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Prema Rayappa

Prema Rayappa is the Computer Science/CIS faculty lead at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. She has been teaching at CGCC for more than 8+ years. Prema has a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and Masters in Computing Studies from Arizona State University. She has 5+ years of experience working as a Programmer Analyst. Areas of teaching include Computer Programming, Databases, and Web Design. She has been involved in the curriculum development for Programming and Systems Analysis, Web Design/Development, and Data Analytics Certificate and Associates program. She is also certified as a lead coach of the Intel for Youth Artificial Intelligence Program as of May, 2020. She is the advisor of the CGCC Coding Club, and is actively involved in community outreach programs. 

My role as a computer science faculty is to bring together my knowledge and experience as a programmer to foster critical thinking and apply the knowledge learned to real-world applications.

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Gabriela Rosu

Gabriela is the Dean of Instruction at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. With over twenty-five years of experience in Higher Education and the IT industry, Gabriela holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Robert Morris University and M.S. in Multimedia from Duquesne University. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree. 

As an immigrant to the United States, Gabriela has a passion, influence, and deep commitment to diversity, inclusion, and student access for building the next STEM generation. Gabriela is a transformational leader, and her work on academic and workforce innovation is recognized nationally. 

As a girl who dreamed of changing how education shapes women into entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, and global leaders, Gabriela is a promoter of building strong, sustainable, and equitable educational opportunities.

Gabriela is invited to lecture and present at numerous conferences and Oxford Roundtable on topics in Human and Global Cyber Security, Emerging Challenges & Opportunities in AI Market Trends, Our Future with AI Ethics, Workforce Transformation & Impact on Global Economy, and Women’s Leadership.

Gabriela and other inspiring women have led to real changes in American education and the workforce, contributing to the progress of how education is practiced, prioritized, and understood, as well as how women can lead effectively for the greater good.

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Jennifer Strickland

Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at MCC

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Dr. Lisa Young

With thirty years of experience as faculty in higher education, Dr. Lisa Young currently serves as the Faculty Administrator for Open Education and Innovation for the Maricopa Community Colleges and faculty at Scottsdale Community College. She provides leadership for the planning, implementation, and growth of open education efforts and academic innovations - including microcredentialing, artificial intelligence and instructional technology digital transformation. Prior to this role, Dr. Young served as the Faculty Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Scottsdale Community College where she led efforts in eLearning, faculty development, open educational practices, and more. Lisa served as program director and faculty meeting industry needs through the development and continuous updates of the water resources and occupational safety programs at GateWay Community College for fifteen years.