The EdTech Awards Judges – Past & Present

Our esteemed panel represents a wide variety of professional backgrounds.

MEET THE JUDGES | by Victor Rivero

Educators, industry veterans, entrepreneurs, learning and technology coordinators, and forward-thinking change agents are among those evaluating entries for The EdTech Awards, the world’s largest recognition program for edtech.

The prestigious program celebrates the best and brightest innovators, leaders, and trendsetters in K-12, Higher Education, and Workforce learning.

Our distinguished panel of judges represents a wide variety of backgrounds and are all esteemed leaders in their various areas.

Judges (past and present) include:


Clemencia Acevedo. Clemencia is a New York City Department of Education middle school teacher with a focus on Special Education. She earned her master’s degree in Education, and is both a Hunter (CUNY) and Fordham Graduate School of Education alum. She participated in NYC SchoolsTech Summit 2018 and as a dedicated educator, remains actively involved in classroom technology use and exploration.

David Brier. A branding veteran who for three decades has provided strategies, identities, and design for startups, retail, and technology brands, David’s work has been featured in ADWEEK, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, New York Times magazine, and Inc. Daymond John of Shark Tank says, “David Brier is brilliant with branding.” David’s bestseller, Brand Intervention: 33 Steps to Transform the Brand You Have into the Brand You Need is recognized widely as “the branding bible.”

LeiLani Cauthen. LeiLani is CEO and founder of The Learning Counsel, a mission-based organization helping schools and the edtech industry. The author of The Consumerization of Learning, an overview of the current state of education disruption, she has visited more than 50 cities meeting and guiding educators and superintendents through digital transitions of their schools. An EdTech Digest Top 100 Influencers in EdTech, she is a veteran media expert, publisher, and a compelling speaker.  

Jennifer Corriero. Jennifer is the co-founder and Executive Director of TakingITGlobal, a nonprofit empowering youth to understand and act on the world’s greatest challenges. She’s been a presenter in over 30 countries including TED and the National Youth Summit, and she is a facilitator, speaker, dreamer, catalyst, driver of change, enabler, social technologist—and highly energetic individual.

Shabana Figueroa. Shabana is Director of Learning Design at Georgia Tech Professional Education, an academic division of the Georgia Institute of Technology, a top-10 ranked public university (US News & World Report), serving working professionals and industry partners. A recognized innovator in curriculum design and development, Shabana is a trusted leader effectively guiding executive leadership in long-term curriculum planning, and motivating design team members to develop excellence in education. 

Ted Fujimoto. As Landmark Consulting Group president, Ted re-designs organizations, scales innovations, and develops strategic alliances across education, entertainment, music, tech, and real estate. Co-designer and co-founder of Napa New Technology High School, Ted has helped to design replication systems and strategy for several of the highest performing public schools in the country, creating over 350 schools, including New Tech Network and Big Picture Learning. 

Angel Green. Head of Talent Development for a global cloud-based software firm, Angel was previously Director of Talent and Learning for Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, responsible for creating best-in-class learning with performance-based solutions at all levels of the organization. A perpetual student of the adult learning field, she has provided executive consultation and learning strategy services to some of the world’s largest organizations. 

Mark Gura. Mark taught at New York City public schools in East Harlem for two decades. He spent five years as a curriculum developer for the central office and was eventually tapped to be the New York City Department of Education’s director of the Office of Instructional Technology, assisting over 1,700 schools serving 1.1 million students in America’s largest school system.

Judy Faust Hartnett. Judy is a veteran editor and writer and was Editor-in-Chief of District Administration magazine for many years. Passionate about education technology, she has been a recognized leader in education journalism. Previously, she was the managing editor of the venerable ConsumerReports.org with more paid subscribers than any other publication-based website in the world.

Michael B. Horn. Chief Strategy Officer at Entangled Group, co-founder of Clayton Christensen Institute, author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (McGraw-Hill), Michael recently published Choosing College: How to Make Better Learning Decisions Throughout Your Life (Jossey-Bass). A LearnLaunch Institute board member, he studied education innovation in Vietnam and Korea as a 2014 Eisenhower Fellow; he was named an EdTech Digest Top 100 Influencer. He holds a B.A. in history from Yale and Harvard Business School MBA.  

Eliot Levinson (in memoriam: 1942-2019). Eliot was founder of the BLEgroup, one of the nation’s preeminent networks of education decision makers with deep practical knowledge in edtech, with over 200 working CIOs, superintendents, business administrators and heads of instruction from State Education Departments, large, intermediate and leading-edge technology districts. Eliot earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Policy Science, an M.S. in Applied Medical Anthropology, an M.A. in Education from Stanford, and a B.A. in History from Middlebury College.  

Keshia Mashak. Keshia is Director of Technology Integration at Merrill Area Public Schools in Merrill, Wisconsin, a small city in the north central part of the state. She has been an instructional technology integration specialist, is an Apple Learning Specialist and a Google Certified educator. Skilled in tech support, instructional design, public speaking, and curriculum development, she earned national recognition as an EdTech Leadership Award Winner in The EdTech Awards 2018.

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. Over a 25-year career, Sheryl has been a classroom teacher, tech coach, charter school principal, district administrator, university instructor, and digital learning consultant. As co-founder and CEO of Powerful Learning Practice, she works with schools and districts in the U.S. and internationally to re-envision their learning cultures and communities. Co-author of The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age (Solution Tree), Sheryl serves on the Executive Board for the International Society for Technology in Education. 

Matt Renwick. A current elementary school principal, Matt has served for 18 years as a public educator, started as a 5th & 6th grade teacher; after 7 years of teaching, he worked as a junior high assistant principal/athletic director. He enjoys the curriculum, instruction, and assessment side of education, and is author of Digital Portfolios in the Classroom (ASCD). He also teaches online graduate courses in curriculum design and instructional leadership.

Mike Teichberg. Mike is Founder of InventivHR, an innovative human resources and recruiting firm for startups, nonprofits, and small businesses. He is former head of Human Resources for Open English and Nearpod, both award-winning, high-growth edtech companies. He has led teams and supported operations in 12+ countries and is a mentor with the Founder Institute, one of the world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch programs.  

Mitch Weisburgh. Mitch has overseen growth and development of systems, content, curriculum, and courses across K-12, postsecondary, corporate training, and job readiness sectors, and has expanded organizations in both K-12 and higher ed. He co-authored the Software & Information Industry Association Guide to the Postsecondary Market, and is a regular speaker at K-12 and higher education tech conferences.

Mark Weston. Mark has spent more than four decades working to enhance education for all students through key positions at Dell, Apple, Education Commission of the States, at the Department of Education, and with key congressional leaders, state legislatures, governors and school leaders. He has contributed to groundbreaking initiatives in more than half a dozen states. He retired as Associate Dean, Learning Systems at Georgia Tech Professional Education and continues writing and leading discussions. 


Our judges are giants among us, having collectively influenced millions through their efforts at improving, advancing and modernizing education. They are highly regarded leaders from a variety of experiences but what they all have in common is a keen eye for what works in education and technology.

Victor Rivero is the Editor-in-Chief of EdTech Digest and oversees The EdTech Awards recognition program, now entering its 10th year. Write to: victor@edtechdigest.com


To see a list of current and past winners, click here.

For a free ENTRY GUIDE, click here.

For a REMINDER alerting you to the opening of our next entry window, email edtechdigest@gmail.com with ‘REMINDER 2021’ in the subject line.

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