Teamwork for the Win!

Let me take a minute to tell you how much I appreciate my team ❤️. We won the 2022 Indiana CTO Council Team Award for our collaborative and innovative approach to educational technology, which is human-centered. It has meant re-examining the way technology decisions are made to improve transparency and center on the way technology decisions impact students and teachers in our classrooms. We want our school community to be involved with technology and never to feel like technology is done to them!

Chuck and Rocky stayed at the office to run things while these four women joined me at the 2024 Indiana CTO Council Clinic. These two gentlemen were already part of the team when I transitioned to technology, and they are phenomenal. They are the pure technical knowledge on our team, coming from a technology background rather than an education background like the rest of us. They have taught me so much these last 8.5 years, and they are true team mates in our work! When I first began in this role, it was clear that even they felt detached from technology decisions and best practices; technology was even done to them in the past. We’ve come such a long way in building an inclusive team, and now even these men ask what are stakeholders will think about different technology options.

These women (pictured below) are so special to me! I have had the honor of hiring each of them, knowing they would fit our team and the culture I want to create. They were all working in the district in different roles beforehand, but I KNEW they could handle a transition to a more demanding job and schedule to work in our technology department. I saw their drive to learn more, to help more, and to solve problems. Lucky for me, they believed in themselves enough to take the leap to my team! Watch for more about how I identify talent in those around me and invite them to trust themselves to grow in their leadership and influence!