Ray Zeisz
Senior Director @The William And Ida Friday Institute For Educational Innovation
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WORK HISTORY
Senior Director @The William And Ida Friday Institute For Educational Innovation
Raleigh-Durham, NC, US
Since joining the Friday Institute full time in 2013 I have been focused on providing equitable access to technology to K-12 students in the state of North Carolina. I developed the statewide standard for Wi-Fi in the classroom and helped build the most successful E-rate category two consortia in the history of the FCC’s E-rate program. All North Carolina schools not only have Internet access, but every classroom has Wi-Fi as a result of this program.I’ve developed consortia RFPs/contracts that allow even the smallest school district to benefit from the combined buying power of the entire state. I’ve analyzed the entire business systems portfolio used to manage a school district and we are in the process of modernizing these systems to provide better transparency and reduce management cost, freeing more funds for educators to use in the classroom. I continue to challenge and work with our stakeholders to solve these important issues in education- homework gap, lack of computers for disadvantaged students- rural broadband, lack of access for remote students out of reach of modern internet- app addiction, cyber bullying, harmful content- access to content that aligns with curriculum and that teachers can rely on and know how to use- student exposure to technical career paths, specifically, robotics, wireless communications, programming. We need to inspire students to understand how the technology they use every day works!Currently my largest project is managing the development, deployment and reporting of the state\'s official broadband survey. This tool, which includes a speed test, allows residents to report locations lacking high quality internet access. There is also a call in/text chat bot for those with only a landline or mobile phone. The data from this tool is used to help drive millions of dollars in grants, per year, to service providers that are deploying new broadband in the state.
EDUCATION
Virginia Tech
Computer Engineering & Computer Science
SKILLS
ABOUT RAY ZEISZ
I am an experienced technologist with a combination of business acumen, technical depth, and vision.I apply my diverse and extensive experience in the technology industry to solve challenging and important problems for the betterment of society.Broad experience across a range of disciplines: • Public Education Sector• Enterprise Networking• Information Security • Product Development• Business Development• Strategic Planning • Product Management• Fortune 500 & Startup Experience• Embedded Systems• Investment and Strategic Deals• Federal/Government Sales & MarketingSpecialties: • Connecting complex technology to the masses• Developing trust in low-trust environments • Delivering long term strategic vision to develop new opportunities• Elegant product design• Product portfolio development• Strategic planning• Information security, networking, cloudOver the coming years I hope to apply my creative thinking and technical background to help remove obstacles and ensure every student is armed with the technology necessary to have an equal chance at success and a career.
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