Anne Halsey is the Communications Coordinator for the Texas K12 CTO Council, the state chapter of the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN), which supports school district technology leaders throughout Texas. She received her BA from Macalester College and her MFA from New York University. She previously worked as the director of consumer advertising for the Bravo Cable Network and director of media for the Poetry Foundation. She currently serves as a school board trustee in San Marcos, Texas.

Mel Forehand, CEM, CMP is an event management professional with over 25 years of experience.  She is a certified exposition manager and certified meeting professional. She is an active member of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events and Meeting Professionals International.  Mel planned, coordinated and executed the largest foodservice exposition in the Southwest and the second largest in the nation for over 20 years. This event was named one of the Top 250 Tradeshows in the U.S. by Trade Show News Network.  Mel has extensive experience and background in event planning and has received numerous awards for her work.  Her motto is Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.

Director of Information Systems at McKinney Independent School District

Dianne Borreson was the Chief Technology Officer at Hays CISD for 21 years.  Prior to that, she served in various other educational and instructional technology roles, for a total of 36 years in education. She graduated from Texas State with a B.A in elementary education and  a M.A in curriculum and instruction, minoring in instructional technology and special education.

Dianne has been active in TETL since its inception in 2001. She has served as an officer and chaired many different committees during that time. She has also served on the Texas Education Agency Information Task Force (ITF Advisory Committee), the TEA LRPT Committee and the Texas Education Data Security Task Force.  She brings extensive experience working with state and local organizations to provide technology audits, leadership training, bond planning and strategic alignment.  Dianne is passionate about building leadership capacity in others.  She is excited to have the opportunity to help this organization grow.

As a 20-year educator, Leann Kidd is a Certified Educational Technology Leader (CETL) and is currently the Director of Training and Development in Northside ISD’s Technology Services Department. 

Her professional career started in 2004 as a classroom teacher, where she cultivated a passion for education before becoming a Computer Instruction Teacher to assist others with integrating technology into the curriculum. With an expanding interest in technology, she received her Masters of Education in Instructional Technology. She worked as a Technologist with that new knowledge, blending pedagogy insight with technology skills for staff and students. 

She now has the fortunate opportunity of leading and collaborating with a dynamic team in Northside ISD, implementing technology solutions in education to support their students. As a director, she continues to present at district and state conferences and is eager to learn from and collaborate with others.

Estela Andersen brings a significant amount of professional experience to the TETL team. She has 45 years’ experience supporting various areas of school district administration. For the past 25 years, she has worked in the Hays CISD Technology Department. Her duties have included asset management, budgeting, vendor liaison, technology purchasing and workflow coordination. Mrs. Andersen’s work ethic and extensive experience are a great asset to the organization. 

My professional experience in education technology began in 2004 after I had been in the private sector since the late 90s. I currently serve as the Chief Technology Officer for Prosper Independent School District. Prosper ISD is a fast-growing district located north of the Dallas area. I have served in this position since 2017, and during this time I have been entrusted with incorporating the physical security and Skyward groups into Technology. This latest addition led to the creation of a Management Information team in the department to accommodate growth. During my time since 2017, Prosper ISD has grown by 11 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 2 high schools, and over 13,000 additional students.

After almost 20 years in education, my knowledge spans many areas of technology and the integration and collaboration with multiple departments such as curriculum and instruction, the business office, construction, and student management, to name a few. My greatest skill is the ability to look ahead and plan for numerous possibilities. I am a leader who builds into my team and encourages them to reach greater heights. My main goal is to build the Technology team and the technology infrastructure at Prosper ISD in such a way that when I turn around I can say we are building an exceptional district (both people and equipment).

Dr. Karla Burkholder began her career as a business education teacher, and quickly discovered a passion for teaching and learning with technology. With over 30 years as a Texas educator, she has served as a teacher, instructional technologist, instructional technology coordinator and director, adjunct professor at Baylor University, and recently retired as the Director of Technology in Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD. Throughout her career, Dr. Burkholder has led award winning technology and digital learning initiatives recognized at both the state and national levels.  She has a strong background in both the instructional and technical sides of educational technology and works to ensure that technology initiatives are aligned with district priorities. Dr. Burkholder is a past president of TCEA serving on the Board of Directors for eight years, and she currently serves as the Chair of the Learning Counsel’s User Interface Group. She is a recipient of the ISTE Making IT Happen Award, the Texas Council of Women School Executives Bravo Award for Innovation and was named to the EdTech Digest 2019 Top 100 Influencers in EdTech.  

Dr. Burkholder holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Texas in Business Administration and Computer Education and Cognitive Systems, respectively, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.  

I have been the Director of Technology for Mineral Wells ISD since the summer of 2019. I am nearing 25 years in the field of information technology with almost 15 of those years in public education. Technology in the classroom has increased drastically over the past decade or two. I am excited to be a part of this growth as it enhances the educational environment of our students by creating and promoting new, innovative, and collaborative learning opportunities.

Curtis Shahan is the current Director of Technology for Wichita Falls ISD. He has over 25 years experience supporting both K12 and business technology. He feels his greatest accomplishment is the students he has mentored to amazing technology careers. 

Chief Technology Officer, Northwest ISD

Director of Network and Infrastructure, Lubbock-Cooper ISD