Meet Our Presenters

Diego is an optimist who believes in the power of design to positively influence people’s lives.  He serves as director of design at WRA Architects.  Diego has nearly two decades of experience in education design, and in his role oversees all design leads on projects to develop innovative solutions for a broad range of K-12 and Higher Education projects. As an Accredited Learning Environment Planner (ALEP), Diego partners with educators and communities to envision the future of their educational environments, helping clients translate their vision into a design. Diego leads research that explores approaches to creating forward-thinking educational spaces that respond to learners’ specific needs. He delivers progressive bespoke designs that respond to the community’s needs by implementing a comprehensive process developed through a solid understanding of the client’s vision.

Bijoy’s diverse geographical, cultural, and intellectual journey has provided a unique vantage point from which he synthesizes focused and actionable models.

Raised in India, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Bijoy moved to the US in 1991 to attend Stanford, where he studied economics, history, and computer science. He was an Oxford scholar and completed an Honors program in Science, Technology & Society. In 1995, he joined Trilogy Software in Austin, TX, where he worked for five years in business development, sales, consulting, and product management. In 2000 he cofounded Aviri with Bruce Krysiak. This led to the MRE Model and The Human Fabric (2004), co-authored with Dave Wolpert. 

In 2003 Bijoy started Bootstrap Austin, a community for entrepreneurs pursuing the bootstrap path of entrepreneurship. Over the next 7 years, the community became a learning lab for bootstrapping, resulting in the Bootstrap Method. It also resulted in a model to understand community and how it differs from other human organizations, such as companies. Collaborating with Heather McKissick, the question: what makes Austin, Austin? led to the ATX Equation Model.

Bijoy evangelizes and teaches the models to individuals, organizations and beyond.

As the design visionary and thought leader responsible for conceptualizing innovative learning environments at A4E, Olivia leads the practice in planning, programming, and the overall design direction of the firm through an interactive and collaborative process. She believes that outstanding projects begin with a clear concept and should balance aesthetics with curriculum-based innovations to create expressive and functional 21st-century educational environments that feature hands-on/ minds-on maker spaces, transdisciplinary settings, and project-based learning. Her commitment and involvement extend through every phase of the design process. Olivia is also on the Leadership Group of the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on Architecture for Education (AIA-CAE) and is a frequent speaker at education-focused conferences, including the California STEAM Symposium, California School Business Expo (CASBO), EDspaces, NSTA, and AIA-CAE.

Dr. Terri Horton is a workforce futurist and founder of FuturePath, LLC. She is a future work expert. Her expertise sits at the intersection of the future of work, artificial intelligence, and the impact on business and people strategies. She is a consultant, corporate trainer, international speaker, and author. She has advised and consulted some of the world’s most recognizable brands. She has provided strategic insights for the Pew Research Center, Forbes, and global advisory firms. She is a TEDx speaker, commencement speaker, and advisory board member for the Global Artificial Intelligence Forum. Dr. Horton is the author of the book Force Majeure: A Futurist’s Guide to Boldly Thriving on Your Terms in the Future of Work. Dr. Horton is a university lecturer. international visiting professor and LinkedIn Learning course developer. Dr. Horton holds a doctorate in education from the University of Southern California, two master’s degrees in business, micro-credentials in AI business strategy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and data analytics, from Cornell University.

Tyler Johnson is an accomplished Global Fortune 50 Executive. He has engaged and partnered with executive business leaders across the globe to accelerate growth and expansion in large businesses and early-stage technology software automation start-ups. Tyler has over 28 years of experience working with some of the largest companies in the world, in addition to co-founding a US-based software technology company. Tyler currently advises and invests in internationally based early-stage automation software technology start-ups by providing go-to-market strategies, strategic partnerships, and new revenue streams. 

Tyler worked for Dell Technologies for 21 years in a variety of sales, marketing, and general management roles, including Shanghai, China for 10 of those years (2005-2015). He led sales and operational organizations for Dell within China and across Asia. Tyler’s organization was responsible for Dell’s Global Asia Business Unit which represented the largest companies in the world (Global Fortune 500). In addition, he was Managing Director of the Shanghai headquarters incorporating R&D, Procurement, Sales, and Government relations. Tyler received the Dell Worldwide Executive Leadership Award for Inspirational Leadership from the Chairman and Executive Committee. 

Tyler has worked with many large companies with HQs in North America, EMEA, and Asia including Huawei, ZTE, Ford, GM, Toyota, Nissan, VW, Panasonic, Sony, Siemens, Foxconn, BHP, Walmart, Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and Netease. The work focused on foreign joint venture expansion, localization development, IT manufacturing automation/modernization, business operations, and establishment of technology infrastructure for future innovation. 

Since 2015, Tyler has been involved with several software automation companies focused on cyber security, HRTech, EdTech, and cloud migration technology. He co-founded an HR technology company called Your6, Inc. benefitting United States Veterans, and served as the Chief Sales Officer for iQuate, Inc. (now Cloudsphere), a cloud migration automation technology. Tyler also served as the Chief Executive Officer for VTS Cyber, a cybersecurity company focused on governance, risk, and compliance in highly regulated environments. Tyler is currently working with companies focused on cyber security and the education technology AI/NLP space. 

Tyler serves as a Venture Partner for Stony Lonesome Group which funds companies focused on national security, dual-use technologies, and defense. 

Tyler serves in advisory and board roles to Grayline Group, The University of Texas at Austin Global Programs, and The George H. W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations. 

Tyler published his first book in March 2019 titled “The Way Of The Laowai”: The importance of international self-awareness for business. 

Tyler is the founder of Laowai Enterprises which facilitates people, organizations, and governments to expand economically. His thought leadership.

 Adam Leonard is the Chief Analytics Officer & Director of the Division of Information Innovation & Insight (I|3) for the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Adam envisioned and founded I|3 to help TWC leverage its most important untapped resource - its data – to help the agency and its partners better help employers, individuals, families, and communities achieve & maintain prosperity, that is applying #DataforProsperity

I|3 gathers, publishes & analyzes Labor Market Information, develops & supports a modern Analytics Infrastructure, conducts advanced Analytics and Evaluation and works to leverage it for Business Transformation.

Adam works extensively with federal, state, and local partners to improve the use of data in both the education & workforce system (singular) and the public sector more broadly. He serves on national committees and workgroups relating to data analytics, technology, and accountability.  He is also focused on AI, particularly as relates to ethics, bias, standards as well as how it presents both an incredible challenge to the education and workforce system and an opportunity to make desperately needed changes that will better serve employers, individuals, families, and communities.

Vidya Moorthy, Founder of Austin-based Clural LLC, has worked with American community colleges for more than 20 years and has a deep understanding of the role of community colleges in the communities they serve, the economics of community colleges, student needs and mindset and the importance of program relevance.

Throughout her career she has worked extensively with educational institutions in both Asia as well as Europe and it is this enriched global perspective that she brings to her professional development sessions.

She is a staunch believer in the power of education and the importance that both access and affordability have at this point in the nation’s history. She serves on various boards including the Texas Diversity Council and Texas Women in Business and strives to open minds and instigate thought and action in her sessions.

Dr. Morris won the 2021 Vulcan Teaching Award of Excellence and launched her Advanced Inorganic Chemistry course in virtual reality in the spring of 2021 in the digital twin campus created by VictoryXR on the Engage Platform. She is a pioneer in this space as the chemistry content in VR is limited to nonexistent. Wife to a gamer and mom to five sons, she is an inventive autism mom, a volunteer advocacy ambassador, a National Community Advisory Council member, and a grant review committee member for Autism Speaks. Her purpose in life is to create inclusivity in STEAAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, agriculture, and math). She believes that VR provides a pathway for creating that inclusion through immersive education, vocational rehabilitation services, and therapeutic experiences.

Dr. Helen You is the current Associate Director of the Texas Demographic Center, where she oversees the Population Estimates and Projections program. Over the course of her career spanning more for more than two decades, she has attained extensive expertise in demographic research, with a particular focus on various aspects of welfare, education, migration, health, and healthcare in Texas. Her notable projects include the Population Projections for Texas, Population Estimates for Texas, Educational Attainment Projections of the Texas Labor Force, Diabetes Projections, and Projections of the Uninsured in Texas.