Laurie Wellner, Ed.D., is the Director of Teaching and Learning at Colorado State University Global and has worked in education for the past 24 years. Dr. Wellner specializes in issues regarding autism, special education and organizational leadership, ADHD, Educationally Related Mental Health Services, faculty development, course design and program development and the successful communication and collaboration with stakeholders for the improvement of the educational process. Dr. Wellner has served as an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University, and Touro College (New York). She has served on many committees pertaining to systems change in education. Dr. Wellner is the author of several articles, a meta-analysis of the literature in the area of trust theory, a curriculum guide for Applied Behavior Analysis, as well as other writing, leadership, conferences and research projects. She regularly chairs and participates in committees for dissertation research at the doctoral level. She is a passionate advocate for the success of all.
Kathleen Pierce-Friedman received her M.S. in Education Leadership and Ph.D. in K-12 Future Studies from Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her current appointments include serving an Associate Professor at University of Arizona, Global Campus and a Senior Doctoral Chair at Grand Canyon University, Arizona. Prior to this appointment she worked for a competency-based university, as a 2nd and 3rd grade teacher and assistant principal for one of the first online public schools in the United States and got her start in the teaching field teaching grades 1st-3rd at an intercity school in Sacramento, California. Her research interest include self-efficacy, isolation and online K-6th grade teaching.