Susan Benson:

 Susan is the former Founding Executive Director of the OAS (Organization of American States) Trust for the Americas.  During her tenure the Trust launched several new and highly successful initiatives – including 'NetCorps Americas' - a similar initiative to the Canadian NetCorps International -sending American university graduate volunteers to ICT internships in both Latin America and the Caribbean - and secured significant US private and public funding - including recognition by both the World Bank and the United States Federal Government for their innovative work in ICT for the disabled.  Susan was a long time Senior Executive at OAS, has recently retired though remains part time Senior Adviser to the OAS Trust for the Americas.

James Glover:

James Glover was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama and currently works for the Moss Point School District as the Director of Technology. Before working for Moss Point he has worked for other large educational institutes such as Mobile County Schools in Alabama with 116 school sites and Baldwin County School System with 50+ school sites. He has also worked in the business sector and federal level, working for a time with the Federal Court system. He currently holds a number of IT certifications such as MCSE, CCNA, A+, Network+, Server+, and IC3 certifications. He is married to Tiffany Bennett of Pascagoula, Mississippi for over 10 years.

Kendall Hartmann:

Kendall was, until recently, the very successful Executive Director of the Congressional Award Program of the United States. The Congressional Award is authorised directly by Congress as the premier recognition award for outstanding youth achievement in the United States (and is also a member of the global network of International Award programs under the Patronage of the Duke of Edinburgh).  She remains connected at the highest levels in Congress and is well known as a leader/innovator in youth development programs in the US.  She currently resides in both Annapolis and Wyoming. Kendall will be a Director on the DOT International Board (DOT Canada).

Darrell Owen:

Darrell Owen is highly regarded in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Prior to forming Owen & Owen, Mr. Owen worked at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for six years.  While at USAID, Darrell led the initial set up of its focus on ICT and development. In recent years he has been engaged in a wide-range of ICT related projects in over 20 countries around the globe. He has been actively involved in developing national ICT strategies and tactical plans, supporting the development of a new Telecommunications Law to liberalize the telecom sector in various countries, and working in support of telecom market reforms. More recently, Mr. Owen has been actively engaged in several of USAID's Last Mile Initiatives (LMIs) projects in Mongolia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. In his current work, he has undertaken ICT implementation projects in the developing world through the establishment of public-private partnerships between USAID, Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard.

Janet Longmore:

Janet is the founder of Digital Opportunity Trust.  Janet is an innovative and creative thinker, she has, for the past twenty years, been at the leading edge of youth development programmes in North America and internationally.

In the late 1990's, as CEO of the largest agency for youth-at-risk in the United States, she distinguished herself as a leader in building innovative, multi-year, multi-million dollar partnerships with industry - which successfully strengthened the reach and impact of programme operations. Of particular note was a partnership designed to bring technology training to thousands of inner city and rural youth.

A talented communicator, Janet is passionately committed to effective efforts to bridge the global digital divide and empower people through the application of technology. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen's University and is currently completing a MA in Mass Communications at the School of Journalism and Communications - Carleton University.

James Hutto:

Dr. James Hutto has been the superintendent of Petal School District since 1998. Under his leadership, the school district has added nearly forty new classrooms, a 1,000 seat fine arts auditorium, a new middle school music/dance building, new athletic facilities, and new programs including a Family Support Center, a Computer Engineering and Networking Course, and a Senior Exit Project required for each graduating senior.

He has been a professional educator in the State of Mississippi for 39 years serving as a teacher, elementary principal, high school principal and superintendent.  He is a native of Brookhaven, Mississippi, where he graduated from high school.  He later received his A.A. from Copiah-Lincoln Jr. College, followed by his B.S., M.Ed. and Ed.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi. 

Carol Whelan, Ph.D.

For the past 15 years, Dr. Carol Whelan’s mission has been to improve teaching and learning in public schools. In her career, she has worked as a teacher, counselor, and professor. She is the former Assistant Superintendent in the Office of Quality Educators for the Louisiana Department of Education. She holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts and the University of New Orleans. She has continued to take courses at the University of South Alabama and most recently at the University of California at Los Angeles Online Teaching Program. Dr. Whelan is currently a professor at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Karen Soniat, Ph.D.

Dr. Karen Soniat, the current Director of Communications and External Relations for Louisiana State University Paul M. Herbert Law Center, has more than 25 years of experience working in education. She has worked as a teacher at the junior/high school level, and as an administrator in higher education institutions. She holds a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate’s degree from Louisiana Sate University at Baton Rouge.