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Milliron, Lara to Present at HCC's Fall Kickoff

Dr. Mark David Milliron and Jennifer Lara will share their expertise with Heartland Community College faculty and staff Friday, August 17 as part of Heartland's annual All-College Best Practices Kickoff.

Dr. Milliron has a wealth of experience in higher education. Prior to his current position as Chancellor of WGU Texas, he served as the Deputy Director for Postsecondary Improvement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is an award-winning leader, author, speaker, and consultant well known for exploring leadership development, future trends, learning strategies, and the human side of technology change. He has worked with universities, community colleges, K-12 schools, corporations, associations, and government agencies across the country and around the world. He also serves on numerous corporate, nonprofit, and education boards and advisory groups, including Civitas Learning, an Austin-based learning analytics company; the Global Online Academy, a not-for-profit educational partnership serving independent schools nationally and internationally; and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), the parent organization of the Big Ideas Fest.  
 
In previous roles, Milliron founded the private consulting group, Catalyze Learning International (CLI); served as an Endowed Fellow, Senior Lecturer, and Director of the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin; served as Vice President for Education and Medical Practice with SAS, the world’s largest private software company; and was President and CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College.
 
In 1999, The University of Texas at Austin's College of Education named Milliron a Distinguished Graduate for his service to the education field. In 2005, he received the annual PBS/ETS O'Banion Prize for transformational work in support of teaching and learning. In 2007, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) presented him with its National Leadership Award for his work in advancing education opportunity. And in 2011, the National University Technology Network (NUTN) named him the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for his leadership in advancing innovative technology use in education.
 
In addition, Jennifer Lara, professor of teacher education at Anne Arundel Community College outside Annapolis, MD, also will play a significant role in Heartland's fall kickoff. A graduate of Michigan State University, University of Colorado and Johns Hopkins University, Lara has taught pre-service teachers for more than a decade. Her career highlights include attending the White House Summit on Community Colleges, winning a NISOD award of excellence and serving on the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges.  Before her tenure at Anne Arundel Community College, Lara taught K-12 students in suburban Denver, on the Navajo Nation, in Quito, Ecuador, in inner-city Baltimore and on-ropes courses in North Carolina and Arizona.  In addition to her current position at Anne Arundel Community College, Lara maintains a teaching, learning, and lifestyle blog at www.upcyclededucation.com.