We’re excited to announce the results of the 2022 Board of Directors election.
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This year, CSTA+ members voted to elect seven representatives to their Board of Directors. We’d like to take the opportunity to announce the newest and continuing members of the CSTA Board of Directors:
Dr. Abigail Joseph
K-8 Representative
Dr. Abigail JosephDr. Abigail Joseph (she/her), The Innovation Doctor, has an extensive career as an educator in the California Bay Area as a teacher, coach, facilitator, and speaker. A recent career highlight is a TEDx talk she gave at Gunn High School (Palo Alto, CA) titled Ubuntu Innovation: A Beacon for Humanity. Abigail is currently transitioning from her role as the MS Director of Learning, Innovation, and Design at The Harker School (San Jose, CA) to a Lead Instructor for the Oracle Education Foundation. She is a Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) Equity Fellow Alum and serves on the Board for CSTA and Maker Nexus, a local Silicon Valley community makerspace. Beyond teaching, making, and the arts, her current passion as an innovation strategist, is helping adults discover everyday innovation so they can lead lives filled with joy and purpose. Born in Toronto, and raised in New Jersey, Dr. Joseph resides in Sunnyvale, California, with her husband innovating the possibilities of tomorrow. Follow her on social media at @drabigailjoseph and learn more at drabigailjoseph.com.
Yolanda Lozano
9-12 Representative
Yolanda LozanoYolanda taught courses both as an undergraduate at The University of Michigan and as a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon, where she earned an MS with a focus on data modeling and programming. She worked for over 15 years in High Tech Startups, the most recent one being Citrix systems. As her children entered the school system, she decided to explore what was happening in math and CS in schools. She is anchored by her experiences as a low-income, underrepresented woman while remaining interested in quality, rigorous content. She currently teaches AP CSP and AP CSA and volunteers in whatever capacity needed to spread the support and knowledge to teachers, administrators, and students interested in CS. She is a CODE.org and a SCRIPT facilitator, K-12 representative for IEEE Quantum committee, the NM advocate for AI4K2, president of CSTA-NM, an AP CSP reader, and a co-founder of ComputerScienceAlliance.org. She is currently a CoPI of an NSF grant focused on Culturally responsive pedagogy in CS. In her spare time, she coaches the state champion Robotics and Cyberpatriots teams as well as a Those who code group. You might find her quilting, embroidering, running, or riding her bike otherwise.
Richard Ladner
College/University Representative
Richard LadnerRichard E. Ladner is a professor emeritus in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. Although he is not teaching anymore, he continues his research in accessible computing and his advocacy work in advancing persons with disabilities in computing fields. He has extensive experience for the past 40 years working with K-12 students with disabilities in computing programs that he created. Since 2006 he has been the leader of AccessComputing, a National Science Foundation funded project with the goal of increasing the participation of students with disabilities in computing fields. In 2014, he joined with Andreas Stefik to create AccessCSforAll which works on developing accessible computer science educational technology and trains K-12 computer science teachers to help them include students with disabilities in their classes. He has won a number of awards, including the 2018 Champion of Computer Science Award from CSTA and Code.org.
Nimmi Arunachalam
At-Large Representative
Nimmi ArunachalamNimmi Arunachalam is an accomplished and passionate educator with a deep commitment to Computer Science education. She is a Specialist in he Career and Technical Education department at the School District of Palm Beach County and a Project Lead The Way(PLTW.org) engineering and computer science master teacher. Nimmi is a strong advocate for girls in engineering and computer science; she significantly increased the enrollment of girls in her school’s engineering academy through an annual outreach event she founded: GET (Girl Engineers of Tomorrow) Day. Her students regularly excelled in competitions such as CyberPatriot, Congressional App Challenge, ZeroRobotics, Student Astronaut Challenge, and Intel Science Fair. Nimmi is an engineer and MBA graduate by training, and began her career as a Business Analyst for a global ERP company. Nimmi recently completed her masters in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University and will begin her Ph.D in Engineering and CS Education at Florida International University starting in fall of 2022. Nimmi has received numerous accolades, such as being named one of the recipients of the 2018-19 CSTA/Infosys USA Teaching Excellence Award, 2017-18 PLTW Teacher of the Year for Computer Science, and a NCWIT (National Council for Women in Computing) Aspirations in Computing Educator Award. She can be reached at Twitter: @Nimmi_ar or email: arunachalamnimmi@gmail.com
Anna Alfano
International Representative
Anna AlfanoI have been teaching high school computer science and math for 28 years in Ontario, Canada.⯠It’s been a pleasure being able to teach computer science to high school students and watch them find a new interest or skill they didn’t know they had.⯠My goal has always been “computer science for all” encouraging all students to take at least one computer science course before they leave high school.⯠I have particularly been focused on increasing the number of females taking computer science.⯠I have also been actively engaging non-CS teachers to bring CS concepts into their classroom.⯠I am looking forward to serving as the International Representative on the CSTA Board of Directors, meeting other passionate CS educators, and to share my extensive experience as a CS educator in Canada.
Cindi Chang
State Department Representative
Cindi ChangCindi Chang is the Assistant Director over CTE Information Technology pathways at the Nevada Department of Education (NDE). She implements policy and practice around K-12 Computer Science (CS) and Information Technology CTE programs. Cindi is an award-winning CS high school and post-secondary instructor, standards author, curriculum developer, state and national presenter, industry programmer, ACM published author, and web developer and technology business owner for decades. She is currently an adjunct professor at Touro University Nevada training in-service teachers to use CS and technology in unique and exciting ways and is the State Department Representative on the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) national Board of Directors. With her undergraduate and graduate background in computer science, business, education, and leadership, Cindi is passionate about looking for new and innovative ways to evaluate and re-design educational systems for the benefit of all stakeholders in Nevada and across the country.
Charity Freeman
Teacher Education Representative
Charity FreemanCharity E. Freeman (she/her) is the Associate Director of Teacher Training at Discovery Partners Institute, a research hub of the University of Illinois System, where she focuses on building teacher capacity in CS at the K-12 and community college levels. In her efforts with CSTA’s Board of Directors, Annual Conference Committee, and its inaugural Equity Fellowship cohort, Charity supports equitable access, engagement, and achievement in CS education through education policy and teacher preparation. “CS For All means that any learner can envision a programmer, analyst, or gamer, and see themselves.”
ââThese seven board members will begin serving their two-year terms starting in July 2022. We appreciate their service and the service of all volunteers who help CSTA promote and support K-12 CS education. Thank you to our CSTA+ members for taking the time to ensure their voice was heard. Congratulations to our new representatives!