Future Ready Panelists

Moderator

Dr. Joe Glavan

Superintendent

Auburn Career Center

Jill is an NCIDQ-certified Interior Designer and Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer (CKBD) with the National Kitchen and Bath Association. After earning a BA in Finance from Ohio University, she transitioned from accounting to pursue her passion for design, completing her Interior Design degree at Purdue University. Since 2015, she has served as Lead Designer and Creative Director at Payne & Tompkins Renovations and Design, where she creates functional, beautiful spaces tailored to each client’s needs. Known for her creativity and ability to blend styles, Jill guides projects from concept to completion with a personalized approach that makes each design unique.

Professor Chris Orban is a plasma physicist and education researcher at OSU's Marion campus. He leads the STEMcoding project (http://u.osu.edu/stemcoding), which is an effort to reimagine introductory science and math classes with computer science and data science in mind. As a professor, he has served on many committees with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and contributed to the science and computer science standards in Ohio.

As a Program Manager, I enable IT Commercial strategies by bridging backend product data with front-end commercial applications. I specialize in architecting and delivering scalable product configuration solutions that empower business outcomes. My work leverages APIs and headless architecture to ensure seamless data flow and flexibility across platforms. With over 30 years of experience in engineering application design, I collaborate closely with Engineering Services and Product Engineering teams to implement technology solutions that drive product innovation and customer value. 

Neil partners with Fortune companies and mid-market leaders to architect AI strategies, fortify cybersecurity frameworks, and deploy immersive technologies that drive measurable business outcomes. As a trusted advisor to C-suite executives, Neil transforms complex emerging technologies into competitive advantages, leveraging insights, Published in Forbes, National television appearances on Cheddar Live, and his keynote expertise showcased at AWE2025. His exclusive network of industry titans enables clients to access cutting-edge solutions before competitors, positioning organizations at the forefront of technological disruption. 

Leigh Ann Tomaswick, MA. MS is the Assistant Director, Innovative Teaching at Kent State University and the founder of Innovative Academic Services LLC.  She specializes in helping educators integrate evidence-based practices and educational technology, including GenAI, into their classrooms.  LeighAnn has consulted and facilitated dozens of workshops at institutions around the North-East, non-profit organizations and libraries to help others effectively use GenAI.  When not focused on her work, her greatest joy is raising her three children.

Dr. Joanna Whetstone is a professor of English and co-chair of the English department at Lakeland Community College in northeast Ohio. There, she teaches online composition, fiction, women’s literature, and film (including one on Tarantino and another on zombie films). Her research interests include hybrid curriculum (co-authoring Making Hybrids Work: An Institutional Framework for Blending Online and Face-to-Face Instruction in Higher Education), online pedagogy (AUCE certification), responsible AI integration (GPT Zero certification), and advocating for adjunct faculty (contributing chapter author in The Invisible Professor anthology). Her passion rests with “conference pedagogy,” wherein she is reinvigorated every time she presents at a conference to apply that feedback into her pedagogy.