CONFERENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE
2023 NICE K12 CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION CONFERENCE
The 2023 NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference Conference has a robust Planning Committee consisting of constituents from Industry, Education, Non-Profit and Government organizations.
Oscar Aliaga - Associate Professor at University of South Florida (Florida)
Oscar A. Aliaga, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Career and Workforce Education program at the College of Education, University of South Florida. His work focuses on high school Career and Technical Education programs, including Cybersecurity. Prior to this position, he was the Career Pathways Coordinator for the Agency of Education in Vermont, where his role included the creation of a career pathway in cybersecurity that started in the Fall of 2020. He has been a Program Director and Research Associate with the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, both at the University of Louisville and the University of Minnesota. He is the author of different publications.
Cori Araza -
Director, GCU STEM Outreach at Grand Canyon University (Arizona)
Cori Araza is the Senior Project Director for Grand Canyon University's K-12 STEM Outreach. She writes curriculum for K-12 STEM courses and hosts STEM competitions on campus in the areas of Cybersecurity, technology, and engineering. She is passionate about using STEM concepts to solve real-world problems in education.
Susana Barraza - Program Manager at NICE at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (Washington D.C.)
Susana Barraza is Program Manager for the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Prior to NICE, she served as the Student Personnel Assistant for the Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) STEM Equity and Success Initiative (SESI) Project at Sacramento City College. A program that seeks to increase the enrollment and success of Latina/o and economically disadvantaged students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs in their transition from high school to college and ultimately degree completion, transfer, and career opportunity.
Cathleen Barton - CEO at Cathleen Barton Consulting (Arizona)
Cathleen Barton consults on workforce and economic development, specializing in business/education partnerships and high tech apprenticeships. Current projects include developing and facilitating a youth apprenticeships in cyber security with The Center for the Future of Arizona’s Pathways to Prosperity early college and career high school initiative and supporting the ASU AZNEXT DOL grant to develop 1600 IT, Cyber and Data Analytics apprenticeships. Cathleen Chairs the Workforce Development and Education Committee for the Arizona Technology Council, serves on the Cybersecurity Committee and is on the Advisory Board for Opportunity for Youth.
Curt Beers - Information Technology Instructor at Four Rivers Career Center (Missouri)
CTE Instructor at Four Rivers Career Center in Washington Missouri. Adjunct instructor at East Central College in Union Missouri Cisco Networking Academy Instructor Member of CompTIA's' National CTE Advisory Council
Fran Bromley-Norwood - Administrator
at
Clark County School District (Nevada)
Fran Bromley-Norwood is a Computer Science and Cybersecurity administrator in the Clark County School District, Nevada. She has the privilege of sharing her knowledge of computer science and cybersecurity with students, teachers, administrators, and industry professionals. Fran’s overall goal is to encourage and prepare educators and students to be career ready for industry positions.
Daniel Benson - Economic Development, Business Attraction Manager at City of Glendale (Arizona)
Daniel brings his private market experience of business development, international trade, and experience working with emerging technologies. Daniel got his first taste of economic development as an intern with the Town of Gilbert, while he was a student at Arizona State University. Daniel has been with the City of Glendale (AZ) for 5 years and where his interest focuses on utilizing the collective resources Glendale offers and connecting industry, to build towards the future.
Lemi-Ola Erinkitola - The Critical Thinking Child LLC (Illinois)
Lemi-Ola Erinkitola is an award-winning educator and author of children's books, notably the Cyber City Book Series, which teaches preschool and early elementary students about cybersecurity using animated cartoon characters and rhyming words. Erinkitola is the founder of The Critical Thinking Child LLC, a boutique tutoring and virtual learning company for schools and parents who are looking to support children in navigating academic success in our modern era of technology. Holding a Master's degree from Rush University in Chicago, a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois, and specialized training in critical thinking from the University of Edinburgh, she is also the proud mother of three gifted children.
Amanda Fitzgerald - Assistant Deputy Executive Director at American School Counselor Association (Virginia)
Dr. Amanda Fitzgerald serves as the Assistant Deputy Executive Director at the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). Her primary responsibilities at the association are in the areas of federal government relations and coalition partnership for the k-12 school mental health and career development communities.
Ashley Greeley - K12 Project Lead at National Security Agency (Indiana)
Ashley Greeley is the K-12 Project Lead in the Center for Education, Innovation, and Outreach at the National Cryptologic University at the NSA. Currently she serves as the team lead for the GenCyber, STARTALK, and secondary NCAE-C pathway programs.
Janet Hartkopf - Cybersecurity and CTEC Outreach Coordinator at Chandler Unified School District (Arizona)
Janet Hartkopf is with Chandler USD in Arizona. She is currently the district Cybersecurity and CTEC Outreach Coordinator and has been managing the cyber program since its inception. Her passion is to see education and industry partner together to build the cybersecurity pipeline, by collaboration, thinking out of the box, and applying techniques that reach all students.
Maureen Laurence-Kuether - Communications & Development Manager at Virginia & US Cyber Range of Virginia Tech
Maureen leads the marketing and outreach efforts for the Virginia & U.S. Cyber Range. She is a two-time Virginia Tech graduate with a B.A. in English and M.A. in Communication. Fun fact: she participated in her first Capture the Flag event at NICEK12 2019 and has enjoyed capturing flags (and sometimes even creating them!) ever since.
Amber Lindsay -
President and CEO at iKeepSafe
Amber has an extensive portfolio of strategic work with corporate partners, schools, and organizations to develop nationwide initiatives, launch national prevention programs, and design best practices for youth protection and privacy.
Prior to working at iKeepSafe, Amber served as the Manager of Marketing and Outreach for the NetSmartz Workshop, a program for The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and at The Constitution Project. Amber holds a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.
Jessica Lueman - CEO at Cyber Spartans’ Workshop, LLC (Maryland)
Jessica is passionate about introducing Cybersecurity opportunities to our communities, both young and old. She is the Founder and CEO of Cyber Spartans’ Workshop, LLC, a place where boys and girls from grades 3 through 10 can go to learn and have fun while being exposed to new technologies and skills associated with the IT world. From Cyber Security to building Video Games, Spartans get to have fun while learning skills that will benefit them for years to come.
Jennifer Marden - Business & IT Teacher at Loudoun County Public Schools (Virginia)
Jennifer Cramer Marden has been teaching for Loudoun County Public Schools for the past thirteen years. She has been teaching Introduction to Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Operations for the past six years and Python programming for the past three years.
Mrs. Marden has been the Chairperson or Vice Chair of the Virginia Cyber Range K-12 Advisory Committee and Executive Board of the Virginia Cyber Range for the past six years. She has worked with Virginia Cyber Range and with Cyber.org on cybersecurity curriculum review and standards. She has also worked with the Virginia Department of Education on updating cybersecurity curriculum standards and advocating for further cybersecurity classes to be taught in secondary schools. She, along with Chris Starke, created the Virginia CyberSlam conference for high school students and has grown the initiative for the past three years to 500 students state-wide. Mrs. Marden was awarded the Virginia Cybersecurity Educator Award in 2022, nominated for the Presidential Cybersecurity Educator Award in 2023, and nominated for the National Cybersecurity Teacher of the Year in 2020. Mrs. Marden also works part-time for Widelity, Inc. as a cybersecurity policy lead for their NIST CSF and ISO 27001 initiatives.
Ken Mattern - AP Computer Science/Cybersecurity Instructor at Cactus High (Arizona)
Ken Mattern is an AP Computer Science/Cybersecurity Instructor with Cactus High in the Peoria Unified School District, Glendale, AZ. His presentations at local, state, and national level were topics related to business, college funding, computer science, cybersecurity, and sports entertainment. He has held past board positions with various organizations and was inducted into the Phoenix College Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2009.
K Melton - VP SAC Courseware & Innovation at KnowBe4
K Melton, SACP has been part of the cybersecurity awareness industry for more than a decade, spending most of those years creating effective, best-in-class training programs on a global scale. Currently an executive for KnowBe4, they are known for their exemplary leadership, visionary strategy, and piloting vital initiatives such as educational gaming. In addition to their professional career, K leads a double life as an artist and is a published illustrator in esteemed books by industry legend Winn Schwartau.
Ed Mondragon - CTE Coordinator: CSIT at Granite School District CTE Department (Utah)
Ed Mondragon is a career educator serving as a computer science and information technology curriculum specialist in Salt Lake City. He is active in the K12 CSIT community locally, regionally, and nationally, and he is referenced as a K12 cybersecurity education specialist by his colleagues because of his active involvement in the NICE K12 and related communities. Ed has served in various capacities within the NICE K12 community, including involvement on the conference committee, in various working groups, a workshop presenter and panelist, a workshop mentor/facilitator, a community builder, and a workshop proposal evaluator.
Kaycee O’Neill - College and Career Coach at Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation (Arizona)
Former educator, Teach for America, and Arizona State University alumna currently working for the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation's education initiative, ElevateEdAZ. Kaycee works with students at Phoenix Coding Academy to promote college and career readiness, industry-recognized credentials, and work-based learning experiences with industry leaders.
Loyce Pailen - Sr. Director, Center for Security Studies at University of Maryland Global Campus (Maryland)
Dr. Loyce B. Pailen has over 35 years of experience in IT, computer science, cybersecurity, software development, project management, telecommunications, risk management, and network and systems security and administration. She is the Sr. Director for the Center for Security Studies at University of Maryland Global Campus, overseeing its NCAE-C activities and as a PI for GenCyber and CySP grants. In the K-20 education arena, she has experience in teaching, curriculum development, instructional design, cyber lab development, and as a subject matter expert. She volunteers with the TWG of FISSEA, as a member of the NICE K-12 Working Group, CyberWatch Center National Visiting Committee, and the Advisory Board of the Edison Academy Magnet School. She is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Chapter at UMGC and the author of a fun and enlightening series of children’s books regarding cybersecurity, the use of emerging VR technology, and safety in the digital environment.
Davina Pruitt-Mentle -
Lead for Academic Engagement at NICE (Washington D.C.)
Dr. Davina Pruitt-Mentle serves as Lead for Academic Engagement of NICE at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Prior to joining NICE, she was a senior researcher and policy analyst for Educational Technology Policy, Research and Outreach (ETPRO) and served as the Co-PI for the National Science Foundation (NSF) supported National Cyberwatch Center (NCC). She has spent the past 20 years conducting research on student and educator cyberawareness, and developing programs to help increase the cybersecurity workforce pipeline. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Technology Policy from the University of Maryland, her M.Ed from Lynchburg College, and her B.S. from Virginia Tech.
Felicia Rateliff -
Director of Operations and Programs at iKeepSafe (Missouri)
As part of iKeepSafe, the NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference host organization, Felicia Rateliff is currently in her seventh year serving as the Conference’s chief organizer. Felicia has an extensive background in project management, marketing, design, technology, and education. Prior to working with iKeepSafe she served as US marketing director for an education technology company and a senior marketing director for a PR company focused on space technology representing NASA. Before entering the corporate and non-profit worlds, she was an 11-12th grade CTE graphic design, animation, printing, and sign-making teacher for 9 years. Felicia earned her MS in Organizational Leadership and Change Management, and MBA in Marketing from Colorado Technical University. She is an enthusiastic proponent of Career and Technical Education, and a Yoga Alliance-certified yoga instructor. She resides in Central Missouri where she is a proud mother of four daughters, grandmother (“Mimi”) of four, and dog-mamma of two Shih-Tzus affectionately nicknamed “The Stuffin’ Heads”.
David Raymond - Director, Virginia Cyber Range and U.S. Cyber Range at Virginia Tech (Virginia)
Dr. David Raymond is Director of the Virginia Cyber Range and U.S. Cyber Range, and Deputy Director of Virginia Tech's IT Security Lab. He also teaches networking and cybersecurity in Virginia Tech's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and serves as faculty advisor to the university's cybersecurity club.
Kristi Rice - Cybersecurity Teacher at Spotsylvania High School (Virginia)
Kristi Rice teaches at Spotsylvania High School and is extremely passionate about teaching Cybersecurity. Kristi enjoys collaborating with other educators across Virginia and the nation as well as working with Virginia school divisions to start their cyber program. She has been involved in the development of the Cybersecurity Curriculum for Spotsylvania Co Public Schools and for the Virginia Department of Education for their cybersecurity pathway. Kristi is the creator of the summer web series HackItUp with Kristi & Friends. She serves as the Chair for the Virginia Cyber Range K12 Advisory Committee and is a member of the NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference planning committee. She serves as Virginia Tech's Pedagogical Expert for their GenCyber teacher camp. In July 2021, Kristi has been recognized for her hard work in receiving the Inaugural Virginia Cybersecurity Educator Award. She is also the recipient for the 2021 Presidential Cybersecurity Educator of the Year.
Tamara Shoemaker - Director, Center for Cyber Sec & Intel Studies at University of Detroit Mercy (Michigan)
Tamara Shoemaker serves as the director of the University of Detroit Mercy's Center for Cyber Security & Intelligence Studies (CCSIS). Her primary mission is to address the critical shortage of specifically educated and trained Cyber Security professionals. She has developed a statewide CyberPatriot program, providing teacher support, training, summer camps, digital badging and a yearly “Hometown Hero” celebration for state level champions.
Sabrina Smiley - Operations at DARK Enterprises Inc. (Indiana)
Sabrina Smiley leads Operations for DARK Enterprises. In 2018, Sabrina began contributing to the DARK Enterprises, Inc. team. She enjoys her role as an editor and copy editor, and she also assists in performing data collection and analysis. She contributes to various cybersecurity projects within DARK Enterprises, Inc.
Thomas “Tweeks” Weeks - Engineer / Director at Virginia Cyber Range
"Tweeks" is a Linux/OpenSource advocate, published Linux author, has 25+yrs of IT/engineering experience and is a Lead Engineer at the Virginia Cyber Range at Virginia Tech. In his spare time, Tweeks is passionate about teaching kids to peek behind the curtain of modern technology through various community STEM related groups and opportunities.. to help transform our growing consumer generation more into a generation of innovators and designers.. or "Transforming kids from takers into makers". He waters the STEM grass roots of his community by offering various STEM related home schooling workshops, coaching First Lego League, teaching coding/robotics classes with Let's Code Blacksburg! and helping run the High Power Rocketry club nrvr.org.
Deanne Wesley - Director Cybersecurity at North Carolina
Central University (North Carolina)
Dr. Deanne Cranford-Wesley is the Director of the Cybersecurity at North Carolina Central University (NCCU); there she continues to oversee initiatives with the cybersecurity ecosystem, internal and external partners and in the innovative cybersecurity lab at NCCU. She is the former Associate Dean of the Davis iTEC/Cyber Security Center at Forsyth Technical Community College where she directed the Center of Academic Excellence program designated by the National Security Agency. Dr. Cranford- Wesley is currently a member of the Executive Board for the NC TECH Association as well as member of the Executive Board for the Colloquium of Information System Security.
Amber Williamson - Cybersecurity Teacher at Atlanta Public Schools (Georgia)
Amber C. Williamson is a cybersecurity teacher and doctoral student focusing on cybersecurity education in secondary education and historically black colleges and universities. She has over 20+ years of industry experience and feels the need to disrupt the cybersecurity workforce by introducing cybersecurity in K12.
James Winn - CS Teacher/IT Tech/District Security Officer at Wyoming Indian High School (Wyoming)
I am a CSTA Equity Fello and an advocate for bringing CS opportunities to indigenous peoples' reservations.
Donna Woods - CTE Cyber Academic Pathway, Chair at Moreno Valley Unified School District (CA)
Donna is thoroughly dedicated to California Cybersecurity Education and the national mission and vision of NICEK12. She enjoys collaborating with educators and industry leaders across the nation sharing best practices and resources to ensure equitable access for all students desiring to learn about and pursue careers in cybersecurity. She is dedicated to helping students attain academic degrees and industry certifications while developing a future ethical workforce of cybersecurity experts. Her passion is found in serving underrepresented and at-risk student populations as a STEM Interdisciplinary Educator teaching ICT and Cybersecurity within the Moreno Valley Unified School District for twenty-three years and Moreno Valley College for the past four years. Distinguished honors include Riverside County Teacher of the Year (2015); Model of Academic Excellence & Innovation (2017); State Assembly 61st District Women of Distinction (2018); the 2020 Inaugural Presidential Cybersecurity Educator of the Year, and the California Pivotal Practice Award/Exemplary Program, (2022).
If you are interested in serving on the 2023 NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference Planning Committee please email us: