Jennifer Rosato is the director of the Northern Lights Collaborative for Computing Education at the University of Minnesota, leading efforts to create more inclusive computing education opportunities. She has been supporting educators in K-12 and higher education in efforts to broaden participation in computing for over 20 years. She is passionate about collaborating with partners across systems and stakeholders to increase equity. She has led multiple grants and projects that provide curriculum and professional development for teachers and districts, is a CSforAll-MN steering committee member working on educational policy in Minnesota, and previously served as chair of the CSTA Board of Directors.

Evan Trout is a Grantmaking Manager at Siegel Family Endowment, where he builds trust-based, learning-focused relationships with grantee partners to support more equitable and effective philanthropy. With a background in education and grant writing, Evan brings firsthand insight into the challenges faced by schools, educators, and nonprofit leaders navigating funding systems. His graduate work focused on examining foundation-grantee power dynamics, fueling his commitment to shifting philanthropic practices away from traditional hierarchies and toward collaborative, community-centered change. As an advocate for more just ecosystems of learning, working, and connecting, Evan is passionate about helping people thrive so they can, in turn, uplift others. He holds degrees from Miami University and Baruch College. Outside of work, Evan enjoys cooking, watching sports, and spending time with his daughter, who inspires his vision for a future whose problems can be solved with curiosity and joy.

Jennifer Parham-Mocello fell in love with computer science while pursuing an undergraduate degree in secondary math education. Since then, her focus turned to computer science education. Immediately after obtaining her bachelor’s in computer science, she became an adjunct instructor at a community college. She subsequently pursued a master’s in computer science, which sparked her interest in how people learn computer science, the best ways to teach computer science, and the higher-order/logical thinking skills needed for computer science. She returned to school for a doctorate focusing on how people solve problems in computer science. Her mission is to improve computer science education through exploratory research and empirical evidence, best teaching practices, and community efforts supporting computational literacy for all.

pedrito maynard-zhang, phd (he/him), is an Independent Consultant and former Sr. Research Scientist on the Amazon Community Impact team, where he led research & evaluation for programs like Amazon Future Engineer. He previously was a Software Development Engineer for 15+ years at Amazon and Microsoft, specializing in artificial intelligence (AI)-related problems. Preceding his industry career, he held a faculty position at Miami University. He earned his doctorate in computer science (CS) from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics from Walla Walla University. His professional career and lived experience as a child of Jamaican immigrants fuel a passion for promoting equitable access to CS/AI/STEM education and careers for all young people.

Dr. Monica McGill is a leader in computing education research and the founder of the nonprofit Institute for Advancing Computing Education (IACE). Since launching IACE (pronounced eye-ACE), she has helped secure over several million in grants and services from organizations including the National Science Foundation, Google, and Amazon Future Engineer.

With a background spanning industry and academia, Monica brings over a decade of research experience to her work, focused on expanding access to computer science education. She has published dozens of articles and currently serves as a principal investigator on multiple NSF-funded projects.

Monica holds degrees in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Curriculum & Instruction, and has served in leadership roles with ACM-W North America, CSTA, and the Sjögren’s Foundation. She is a senior member of ACM and active in several professional organizations including SIGCSE, IEEE, ASEE, NARST, and AERA.

Dr. Julie M. Smith holds degrees in Curriculum & Instruction and Software Development. She also completed a doctoral program in Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas. Her research focus is computer science education, particularly the intersection of learning analytics, learning theory, and disparities in CS education and excellence. She was a research assistant at MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab, working on a program aimed at improving disparities in high school computer science programs; she is also co-editor of the SIGCSE Bulletin.

Dr. Joseph Tise is a Senior Education Researcher at the Institute for Advancing Computing Education (IACE). He earned his B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Tech, M.S., and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Penn State, and completed a Postdoctoral appointment at Texas A&M University. He has expertise in self-regulated learning, theories of learning, student motivation, quantitative and mixed-methods research, and is experienced in conducting longitudinal research.

In his free time, Dr. Tise enjoys spending time with his family and friends, getting outdoors, and staying active.

Dr. Allison Master is a Principal Education Researcher at the Institute for Advancing Computing Education (IACE). She earned a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University. Before joining IACE, she was an Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Houston, where she received one of the university’s highest teaching awards. In 2025, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from President Joe Biden, which represents the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding early-career scientists and engineers.

Her research examines motivation, identity, stereotypes, and belonging in STEM education from preschool through higher education. Her work has been published in journals including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Educational Psychology, and Child Development. Her research on promoting youths’ interest in computer science has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s ITEST and CSforAll programs and the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, in partnership with computing education organizations such as CS4RI. She is passionate about translating research into practical insights that can help teachers improve their students’ motivation and academic achievement.

Jessica Rago earned her Bachelors in Business Management and Organizational Leadership from St. Petersburg University. Her expertise is in event coordinating, digital marketing, operations and project management.

In her free time, Jessica enjoys spending time with family and friends, being out in nature, traveling, and volunteering in her community.

Megan Souter is an experienced Grants and Contracts Manager with expertise in post-award administration, compliance oversight, and financial management of large-scale federal and state-funded research programs. She brings over a decade of public sector financial experience, including prior roles in state-level auditing and tax compliance.

Megan holds an MBA and an MS in Finance from Webster University and is a Certified Grant Research Administrator through the University of South Carolina. She is known for her attention to detail, collaborative approach, and commitment to operational excellence.

In her spare time she enjoys traveling with her family, cooking, and reading news articles.

Adrienne Decker, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the University at Buffalo. Her areas of scholarship are computing education with a primary focus on how we teach introductory programming and providing tools and support for student learning computing concepts.

Brian McSkimming, Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the University at Buffalo. He studied the data on evaluation instruments to explore learning heuristics and biases. He also provided support for other parts of the project development.

Dr. Emily Thomforde is a professor at Reach University. She advocates for equity in K-12 Computer Science and supports teachers and districts in building rigorous pathways to deliver the California K-12 CS Standards. Emily is a BAFTA-winning video game developer, and has eight years of experience teaching computer programming, software development and engineering at libraries, prisons, museums, and public schools locally and abroad. Her curriculum development credits include Vidcode, Hopscotch, Code.org, STEM from Dance, Code Combat, and BrainPOP. Emily holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK.