SHLB Coalition Board of Directors

Cindy Altick Aden graduated from Stanford University with a degree in International Relations. Her focus was on languages, cultural communication and political science.
A year later Cindy completed a certification program from Stanford’s Mass Media Institute and became a reporter for the Palo Alto Weekly. She held subsequent newspaper jobs and freelanced stories for multiple weekly newspapers in the Northwest, serving as editor for two papers.
Cindy graduated from the University of Washington with a master’s in Library & Information Science and was recruited for the Library of Congress intern program where she started her library career serving Congress. She worked subsequently at the University of Washington as a reference librarian and as a collections selector at Suzzallo Library, as a reference librarian at Odegaard Undergraduate Library and as Head of Circulation at the Gallagher Law Library.
Cindy left academia to work for Kitsap Regional Library, a public library system, as Assistant Director in charge of Reference Services across the multi-branch system. After two years of commuting by ferry, Cindy was contacted by a start-up, Amazon.com, which was looking for a librarian. There she oversaw the cataloging and engineering teams and finally served as the program manager for all the product business sectors. Cindy was employee number 750, and she saw the company expand to 5 countries and over 10,000 employees by the time she left in 2004.
Cindy then worked for Corbis, Bill Gates's image company, where she served as Head of Cataloging and addressed image management: discovery, metadata and preservation. OCLC then recruited Cindy for a position in Business Development, where she worked with Silicon Valley companies, like Google, Goodreads and Yelp, who wanted access to library data and to understand bibliographic metadata and discovery. Cindy served in that position for over 7 years, enhancing library discovery on the Internet.
Cindy became the Washington State Librarian in August, 2016. Issues like access to broadband, developing a statewide ebook platform, augmenting library catalog visibility, defending federal library funding and identifying new ebook models that benefit libraries and authors, have been some of her areas of focus.
In August, 2020 she became the third iSchool Distinguished Practitioner of Practice at the University of Washington. She is excited to bring together her experience with journalism, government, internet search and discovery and strategic partnerships, to guarantee libraries are always relevant to their communities.

Philip Neufeld has served in technology and board leadership roles in healthcare, agriculture, and economic development. He left private industry to work for Fresno State with more than 25,000 students, and then joined Fresno Unified School District (USD), with 72,000 students. Phil’s leadership roles in education include core infrastructure, enterprise services, co-leading a personalized learning initiative with over 1,000 teachers, and co-leading a global learning analytics collaborative facilitated by Microsoft. To support modern learning in and beyond the classroom, Philip recently rolled out dark fiber rings for the WAN and private LTE to support learning from home for Fresno USD students. He shapes educational ecosystems to better prepare and empower students with knowledge, skills, dispositions, and agency to choose their #AsYetImagined futures.

Philip received an M.B.A. and Ed. D. from California State University, Fresno. His publications and presentations can be found here.

Cathy Cruzan is the President of Funds For Learning LLC, an E-rate consultancy and software services firm supporting schools, libraries and state consortiums. Her work through Funds For Learning enables broadband connectivity at anchor institutions serving students and library patrons at over 12,000 sites across the United States. As president, Cathy is also responsible for overseeing the firm’s business activities, including sales, marketing, business development, finance and human resources. In managing the firm’s core consulting business, she monitors and directs the ongoing development of the proprietary, web-based tools that the firm and its software-license holders use for federal regulatory compliance purposes. Cathy is an E-rate subject matter expert who provides regulatory training to schools and libraries regarding high-speed broadband and other technology-related initiatives. Cathy mentored a PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS® student in 2018 and fell in love.

Melissa Slawson serves as General Counsel and V.P. of Government Affairs and Education at California Internet L.P. DBA GeoLinks.

Melissa has more than 10 years of legal experience in the telecommunications regulatory field, starting her career at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). During her time at the CPUC, Melissa held positions both at the staff level in the Communications Division working on broadband mapping and video franchise matters and at the executive level serving as telecommunications and legal Advisor for Commissioner Catherine Sandoval. Before joining the GeoLinks Team, Melissa served as General Counsel to a small wireless reseller offering subsidized wireless service to low-income consumers under the Lifeline program. Prior to that, Melissa held an Associate position at Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP specializing in legal policy work for the wireless, broadband, and cable industries before the CPUC and other state and federal regulatory agencies.

Melissa earned a J.D. from California Western School of Law in 2007 and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Arizona in 2002 (Magna Cum Laude).

Scott Boone has 20 years of public and private sector experience in the fields of telecommunications and information systems and has served on the board of directors of the Maryland Broadband Cooperative. Most recently, Scott has focused on digital inclusion by managing the Kent County Broadband Expansion Program, which connects 70 anchor sites to Kent County’s 110-mile fiber network. Scott managed the rollout of Kent County’s free public Wi-Fi initiative, which consists of gigabit-connected homework hotspot locations throughout the County. Currently, Scott works with the Maryland Office of Rural Broadband to expand network offerings by participating in that Office’s first round of pilot projects.

As the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), Julia Fallon works with U.S. state and territorial digital learning leaders to help the education community leverage technology for learning, teaching, and school operations. Involved with learning technologies since 1989, she envisions public school systems in which educators can optimize technology-rich learning environments to equitably engage the learners who fill their classrooms.

Prior to joining SETDA in 2021, Julia worked for Washington state's K-12 education agency, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) as the Title II, Part A program lead, where she provided operational leadership and oversight of the federal program designed to improve the quality of instruction and administration. In her previous role as the state’s technology integration program manager, she streamlined strategic planning for districts, championed robust professional learning programming for educators, and advocated for smart, flexible network policies.

Julia holds a master’s degree in educational technology from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree in business education from New York University. She was the 2019 recipient of the SETDA State Leader of the Year award, and has also received the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Making IT Happen and the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) President’s awards.

Kitty O’Connor serves as Zayo’s strategic leader for erate and healthcare regulatory initiatives across the company. She advocates for ENA as an active participant in the E-rate and Rural Health Care programs at the Federal Communications Commission. Kitty’s dedicated work and expertise with USAC and the FCC has helped navigate complex appeals and approvals; resulting in the successful funding for key technology programs for customers such as school districts and healthcare institutions across the nation. Kitty is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and Tennessee. She is a member of the following associations: The American Bar Association; the Federal Communications Bar Association; The Tennessee Bar Association; and trained as a Rule 31 Mediator. Prior to ENA, Kitty worked at Samsung North America in California and New Jersey on the Strategic Planning Team and at Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas on the Government Relations and Corporate Responsibility Team. She worked on the Hill for Senator Alexander, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Lauren Moore has served in various leadership positions at public libraries and library systems throughout her career. As the Assistant Commissioner for Libraries and New York State (NYS) Librarian at the New York State Education Department, she leads the operations of the NYS Library and its statewide services, including the Regent Joseph E. Bowman Research Library, the New York State Talking Book and Braille Library, and the Division of Library Development. She has oversight responsibility for a $13 million operating budget, 100 employees, over 20 million collection items, and more than $100 million in state and federal aid to libraries.

Prior to her current role, she served as the executive director of the Pioneer Library System where she led the development of 42 small and rural libraries in Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Livingston Counties by coordinating shared services. She previously served as the assistant director of the Pioneer Library System and the deputy director of the Southern Tier Library System. She has also served in leadership positions for various library professional organizations as well as for local, regional, and statewide community service groups, including the New York State Complete Count Commission that was created to help direct the State’s efforts in the 2020 Census.

Lauren earned her Master of Library and Information Sciences degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Rutgers University.

Over his twenty-two years with Harris County Public Library, he has worked in a variety of positions. Starting in a temporary PC support role, Ty worked his way up from Field Technician to Systems Administrator, to Integrated Library System Administrator, to Web Team Leader and finally to his current position as Division Director for Information Technology (IT). 

Angela Siefer has been working in the field we now call digital inclusion since 1997. From physically setting up computer labs in underserved areas and managing local digital inclusion programs to consulting for the U.S. Department of Commerce and testifying before Congress, Angela develops national strategies and solutions from the ground up. In 2015, Angela helped found the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a unified voice for home broadband access, public broadband access, personal devices, and local technology training and support programs. Government Technology Magazine named Angela one of their Top 25 Doers, Dreams, and Drivers of 2019.

Beverly Sutherland founded EdTechnologyFunds, a consulting firm that provides E-rate program and technology infrastructure support to schools and libraries nationwide. Over the past five years, EdTechnologyFunds has contributed to the statewide effort to connect California libraries to the California Research and Education Network (CalREN). Prior to founding EdTechnologyFunds, Beverly held senior positions in product marketing at Lucent Technologies and software engineering at Hughes-JVC. During her tenure at Lucent Technologies’ Microelectronics Group from 1992 to 2000, Beverly led the worldwide product launch of “soft'' modem chipsets and was one of the strategic account managers that oversaw the integration of Wi-Fi into PCs. As a software engineer at Hughes-JVC, Beverly was responsible for the digital signal processor and controller code development for HD projectors. Beverly earned a patent for contributions to the automatic correction of mis-converged images in a video projection system during this time. Beverly has served as president of the University of California, San Diego Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, where she assisted in creating programs that promote STEM education to local students. Beverly received her Bachelor of Science from the University of California, San Diego and a Master of Business Administration from Rutgers University. 

Luis Wong is the Chief Executive Officer for the California K-12 High Speed Network (K12HSN) where he oversees and coordinates the participation of K-12 schools in the California Research and Education Network.  In his role, Luis works very closely with County Offices of Education and school districts across the State to ensure the network can provide reliable capacity for teaching and learning.  Luis also collaborates with various committees across the state to address issues of reliable network access, cybersecurity, and professional development opportunities for network administrators. In Imperial County, Luis oversees the operation of a high-speed self-provisioned fiber optic network which connects over 125 community anchor institutions with dark fiber and deployed a self-provision private LTE network (using EBS spectrum) to serve the community at large. Luis holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with a specialty in Telecommunications and has over 25 years of experience in IT infrastructure and high-speed networking.

Tracy Doaks is President & CEO of MCNC, the technology nonprofit focused on delivering high  performance protected Internet and networking, cloud services, cybersecurity, and other essential  technologies for communities throughout North Carolina. MCNC owns and manages nearly a 4,500-mile  fiber optic infrastructure backbone, the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), that supports more than 900 community anchor institutions (CAIs) in all 100 counties.  

Prior to joining MCNC in August 2020, Tracy was state chief information officer and secretary for the N.C.  Department of Information Technology where she led the state agency responsible for all IT procurement,  state cybersecurity, operational services, broadband infrastructure, solutions division, data analytics center, the N.C. 911 Board and strategic IT planning. 

She joined NCDIT in November 2015 and served as chief deputy state chief information officer and chief  services officer until her appointment as state CIO in February 2020. Prior to NCDIT, Tracy worked for  Duke Medicine where she served as the senior director of service delivery. Her primary responsibilities included providing leadership and oversight in the execution and delivery of application and infrastructure  services for all of the hospitals, clinics, School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Tracy previously worked  for the state of North Carolina as assistant secretary of Information Technology and CIO for the North Carolina Department of Revenue, where she led all aspects of strategic IT planning, implementation,  operations, support and risk management. In addition, her past work experience also includes managing  clinical informatics and analytics at Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and developing systems at Accenture. 

Tracy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University  and then went on to earn her CIO certification from the UNC School of Government. Additionally, she  received the 2018 Public CIO Award from NC TECH and the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from North  Carolina University's Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Most recently,  Tracy was named the recipient of the Triangle Business Journal’s 2022 Women in Business Award for  Nonprofit Leadership.  

Tracy serves on the boards of the MCNC Endowment Board of Directors, the MCNC Board of Directors (as  ex officio), The Quilt, Rewriting the Code (RTC), North Carolina Telehealth Network Association (NCTNA) Board, CORRAL Riding Academy, the Center for Internet Safety (CIS) Board of Directors, and NC State  University’s Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE) Advisory Board. Tracy is  the current Chair of The Quilt’s CEO Round Table. She also serves as an advisory for Certree, and a member  of the: Association of IT Professionals Advisory Council, ATHENA in Tech Advisory Panel, Carolinas Pandemic Preparedness Task Force, CIS Finance & Audit and Nomination & Governance Committees,  National Association of Chief Executive Officers (NACEO), NC Broadband Coalition Steering Committee, NC Digital Equity Collaborative (NCDEIC), NCSU ISE Growth Committee, NCTECH, NCTNA Governance &  Nominating Committee, Raleigh Professional Women’s Forum, RTC Finance Committee, and The Quilt’s Executive Committee. She previously served on the Governor’s task Force on Connecting NC, NC State's  Computer Science Strategic Advisory board, the Triangle Technology Executive Council, and held leadership roles as chair of the MCNC Advisory Council and chair of the N.C. Information Technology  Strategy Board. Tracy is also a co-PI for 2 National Science Foundation Awards: CC*Planning: NC Regional  Science DMZ and CC* Regional: NCShare Science DMZ.

Adam is a member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians. 

Adam worked at the US Department of Commerce for 8 years and formally served as the Division Chief for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, deploying nearly 2 billion in funding to connect 158,000 tribal households. Adam also served as the Department of Commerce’s broadband Tribal subject matter expert for the White House Council for Native American Affairs Economic Development, Energy, and Infrastructure Committee. Adam is formally the National Tribal Government Liaison for FirstNet, a sister bureau within the Department of Commerce focused on building a Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.

Adam is a former Tribal Leader, serving 3 terms as elected Tribal Council Secretary for the La Jolla Tribal Council, a federally recognized Tribal Government. During his time in and out of elected office, Adam has shaped national, state, and local policy and deployed infrastructure projects surrounding transportation, public health, gaming, economic development, energy, housing, emergency management and communications, and broadband.

Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree from San Diego State University and is a recipient of the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) under 35 Young Achievers Award for his work in bringing public safety broadband access to Native communities.

D’Andre J. Weaver. Ph.D. is a native of Chicago’s South Side who understands the life-changing power of effective teachers and a quality public education. As a former public school teacher, principal, senior leader, and superintendent, D’Andre cares deeply about helping students realize their dreams. His leadership is centered around equity and access, learner-centered approaches, advancing digital equity, and organizational health.

Currently, D’Andre serves as Chief Digital Equity Officer (CDEO) at Digital Promise Global. As CDEO, D’Andre oversees the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools (VILS) program, part of Verizon’s flagship education initiative with a national network of more than 590 Title I schools. Additionally, D’Andre uses lessons learned from the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program and other Digital Promise initiatives to develop new state- and district-level opportunities for the organization that will further the goal of improving digital equity.

Under D’Andre’s previous leadership as superintendent of DeSoto ISD – a Dallas, TX-area school system –the District’s state accountability rating improved from a 67 ‘D’ rating to an 83 ‘B’ rating and saw improvement in student learning, student connectedness, district finances, talent management, and stakeholder engagement. He also spearheaded an ambitious community driven and learner-centered strategic plan which prioritized a whole-child/whole-family approach to education as well as an emphasis on personalization, competency-based education, and passion-driven learning.

Prior to his appointment as the superintendent of DeSoto ISD, D’Andre served as a Community Superintendent with Houston-area school system Spring Branch Independent School District where he oversaw 20 campuses and principals. He was a part of a senior leadership team that scaled personalization district-wide, impacting the district’s 35,000 students, resulting in dramatic increases in student achievement and student belonging.

As a principal, D’Andre led Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy, one of eleven selective enrollment high schools in the Chicago Public Schools system. During his tenure, academic achievement, graduation rates, college entrance and retention rates, and freshmen on-track rates improved to all-time highs. As a result, U.S. News and World Report recognized Brooks as the #10 best high school in Illinois, received four Gold Medal status awards, and was the first high school on the South Side of Chicago to be named a National Blue Ribbon High School.

D'Andre is a board member at the Chicago Public Education Fund, the Mastery Transcript Consortium, and Big Thought. He is a Pahara Fellow, a Racial Equity Leadership Network Fellow, and a member of several local and national educator associations. 

Charlotte Bewersdorff serves as Merit’s Vice President for Community Engagement. She has been a part of Merit’s leadership team since joining the organization in 2013.

Charlotte spearheads the Michigan Moonshot initiative for Merit, working tirelessly to solve our state’s broadband access challenges through data and research efforts, community education initiatives and the development of public/private partnerships. In partnership with MSU Quello Center, Charlotte led the effort to pioneer Merit’s approach to crowdsourced citizen science broadband access and adoption data collection & mapping techniques.

She is a current Board Member of Michigan Broadband Alliance, a member of the
Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation, and runs the Digital Equity and Inclusion Community of Practice for The Quilt. Charlotte was honored with the 2021 Rose-Werle Award for her contributions to the education community by extending advanced networking, content, and services to community anchors nationwide through her work with the Michigan Moonshot.

Charlotte’s passion for solving long-term challenges in Michigan’s research and education community through organizing around action, assimilating team components and managing with a strong sense of urgency has aligned perfectly with Merit’s mission of “Connecting Organizations and Building Community.”

Prior to joining Merit, Charlotte served in various leadership roles at M&O Marketing where she focused on identifying opportunities to enhance systems and provide continuous improvement platforms.

Charlotte graduated from Detroit Mercy with her BA in Business Management and Finance. In her down time, Charlotte can be found on the golf course, enjoying cooking or spending time with her family.

John Windhausen Jr. founded the SHLB Coalition in 2009 with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As executive director, he spearheads SHLB's membership growth and shapes its broadband policy recommendations. Previously, he served as president of the Association for Local Telecommunications Services, spent nine years on Capitol Hill, and started his career as a staff attorney at the FCC. In his role as senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, John was a principal staff person responsible for drafting the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and served as chief legal adviser on telecom issues to Senators Fritz Hollings and Daniel Inouye.

John has authored several papers documenting the benefits of broadband. His EDUCAUSE whitepaper, "A Blueprint for Big Broadband," resulted in the creation of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). In 2012, John was named the Community Broadband Hero of the Year by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisers.

John sits on the board of directors for the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). He holds a J.D. from UCLA Law School and a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University.