Board of Directors

Tom Anderson has been the Curriculum Director for the Collingswood, New Jersey public schools since 1985. Tom completed the VHS Teachers Learning Conference (TLC) and developed and taught the VHS course, Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is currently teaching AP Government

Martha Coakley is the Northern Specialist for Macmillan College Publishing, working with sales and marketing to present and train instructors in all Math, Science, Economics and Psychology titles.  She has worked in K-12 educational materials for more than 10 years.  Previous positions include Market Development Manager for Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing, the Macmillan high school group.  In this position she was responsible for all research, compliance and management of work flow for the adoption states. She has also prepared and delivered presentations, including North Carolina Department of Education, Boston Public Schools, South Carolina Department of Education, New York City Department of Education. She was previously a Sales Specialist at BFW in their high school group where she established advantageous relationships with state level content and curriculum directors, securing Advanced Placement data and invitations to attend Professional Development targeted at AP teachers.

Chad Dorsey is President and CEO of the Concord Consortium. Chad's professional experience ranges across the fields of science, education, and technology. Prior to joining the Concord Consortium, Chad led teacher professional development workshops as a member of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance. There he developed technology-embedded assessments, analyzed Web-based phenomena and representations for an online library, and co-authored an NSTA Press book of science formative assessment probes. Chad has also taught science in classrooms from middle schools through college and has guided educational reform efforts at the district-wide and whole-school levels. While earning his B.A. in physics at St. Olaf College and his M.A. in physics at the University of Oregon, Chad conducted experimental fluid mechanics research, built software models of Antarctic ice streams, and dragged a radar sled by hand across South Cascade Glacier.

Michael Ehrhardt worked as a journalist in New Jersey before beginning his education career in Cyprus. He later worked at two large American international schools in Brazil and the UK, holding positions as a teacher, director of technology, assistant high school principal, middle school principal, and assistant head of school. He is currently Head of School at Marshall School in Duluth, Minnesota. Mike grew up in Minnesota and earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Olaf College, a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts--Lowell, and a doctorate of educational administration from the University of Minnesota.

Jeffrey A. Elliott is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for VHS. Prior to joining VHS, Jeff was the President/CEO of Advanced Academics, one the leading providers of online education for public school students in the United States.  There he led the company’s pioneering strategy to serve at-risk students and the deployment of its comprehensive online learning model. Before then, he served as Vice President of Development for the Wright Group/McGraw-Hill where he oversaw three divisions of this leading educational publishing company. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and University of Missouri School of Journalism. Email: Jeff Elliott or call: 978.450.0411.

Denise Goodwin Pace is Co-Founder and Chief Communications Officer of The Halo Group, an award-winning New York City brand communication firm that serves a select roster of international clients. Before founding Halo in 1994, Denise’s 35-year communications career included a variety of creative positions, including as one of the youngest managing editors in the history of the oldest NYC publishing firm – Appleton-Century-Crofts, as an investigative reporter for newspapers in Pennsylvania and Ohio, as an independent writer/producer for corporate clients and for original content, and as a writer and client service leader for several metro NY advertising agencies.

Kevin Lyons Ed.D. has served as Superintendent of Schools in Hudson, Massachusetts since July 2009. He was previously Superintendent of Schools in Newburyport, MA and Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Hopkinton, MA. He was an administrator and taught at Suffolk University (1979-1984) and Boston College (1984-1999). He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a Master’s in Reading and Language from the University of Lowell, and his Doctorate in Reading and Language from Boston University. Lyons served on the Governor’s Readiness Task Force in 2007-2008 and has a keen interest in 21st century skill development, educational technology, and K-12 instructional and assessment best-practices.

Dr. Mark McQuillan has spent his entire career in education; Dr. McQuillan holds advanced degrees from Harvard University and has served in a number of administrative capacities: Secondary Curriculum Coordinator, Assistant Superintendent, Superintendent, and Deputy Commissioner of Education and Chief Operating Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Education. Dr. McQuillan began his career as a teacher in the Newton Public Schools where he taught English at the F.A. Day Middle School. Dr. McQuillan also served as Executive Director/President of EDCO, the Education Collaborative for Greater Boston. In 2007, Dr. McQuillan was appointed as Commissioner of Education by the Connecticut State Board of Education until his resignation in 2011. The author of several publications, Dr. McQuillan has written extensively about curriculum and staff development, leadership training, and strategic planning. He is co-editor of Thought and Language/ Language and Reading, published by the Harvard Educational Review. He is also the editor and producer of No Child Left Behind, A Toolkit for Massachusetts. Dr. McQuillan's research interests are centered on secondary school reform, English language learning, and federal policy. He has just completed a comparative study of education reform in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Chuck Olson brings over 30 years of executive experience in product vision, development, and business development strategy in educational technology. He co-founded and is a partner at LTGO, growing development companies, building award-winning products, and establishing partnerships for Scholastic, HMH, Discovery education, PBS, Reader’s Digest, Follett, NetTrekker and others. Chuck founded and was Chief Operating Officer of the venture backed social networking company Quickdot Corporation, which grew to over 6 million users in 18 months. As CEO of LearningWays, he grew the company and sold it to Davidson & Associates, later helping to sell a group of their assets to form the new Simon & Schuster subsidiary, Learning Technology Group, where he served as CEO for three years. Prior achievements include successes running a business unit at Lotus Development Corporation, and leading the development team of the Bank Street Writer for Broderbund and Scholastic. Chuck graduated cum laude with a B.A. in mathematics from Messiah College in Grantham, PA.

Linda Roberts is best known as the former Director of the U.S. Department of Educational Technology and for her role as the Secretary of Education’s Special Adviser on Technology, both under the Clinton Administration. A former elementary school teacher, university professor and Academic Dean,  Roberts’ illustrious career includes developing our nation’s first National Technology Plan, launching five new technology programs for the Clinton Administration and increasing the Federal technology budget. Roberts advises state and local education agencies, foundations, corporations, and government on the use of technology for teaching and learning, focusing on STEM, 21st century skills and literacy, open education resources (OER) and digital content, social networking and online communities of practice. Roberts currently serves as a visiting scholar at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Barbara Stein spent most of her career working on public policy at the 3.2 million member National Education Association. She managed technology partnerships and policies, as well as K-12 online learning issues and 21st Century learning initiatives and policies. She also served on the boards of both NCTET and COSN. Barbara continues to work as a consultant in Washington D.C. on education policy, particularly in areas around 21st century learning. She received the NCTET Lifetime Achievement Award at its inaugural ball in 2009.

Robert Tinker has, for thirty-five years, pioneered innovative approaches to education that exploit the power of technology. In 1995, he started the nonprofit Concord Consortium to focus on educational technologies. His group originated the idea of using sensors in student learning investigations, pioneered online collaborative student projects, and co-founded VHS. His current work involves supporting guided inquiry with open-ended tools. Bob earned his PhD in experimental low temperature physics from MIT and has taught college physics for ten years.