We are fortunate to have a highly experienced, energetic, and inspiring group of individuals serving on the RISC board who share our sense of moral purpose to reinvent schooling around the world and dramatically improve student achievement and success. These board members are important partners in fulfilling RISC’s mission.
Greg Butler is responsible for education audience and government relations development for 
Microsoft Education Product Group. As Worldwide Education Strategy Director, he works with key global organizations, such as UNESCO, World Bank, European Union, and OECD, to support strategic partnerships and programs that align Microsoft’s Citizenship activities and Commercial efforts.
After spending 15 years as a teacher, principal, technology consultant, and university lecturer, Butler founded two successful companies and a not-for-profit organization. He joined Microsoft in 2001 to lead Microsoft’s academic programs in the United States. He subsequently became Worldwide Director for K-12 Strategy, Solutions and Programs. His most significant accomplishment during this time was playing a leadership role in the design and implementation of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning initiative. This initiative continues to be a major focus of Microsoft’s Citizenship efforts, with an investment of nearly $500 million and 100 dedicated individuals for worldwide implementation.
In 2005, Butler was appointed New South Wales (NSW) Public Sector Director for Microsoft Australia. In this role, he led Microsoft’s Education, Government and Healthcare teams in NSW, working with government to improve student outcomes and government services through the use of technology. Butler is passionate about partnerships as a model to tap into the power of ICT to transform learning, engagement, and improving student outcomes. He also loves spending time riding his motorcycle.
Butler earned a diploma of teaching from Charles Sturt University, a graduate diploma in Computers in Education from Charles Sturt University, a master of education in Instructional Design from University of Western Sydney, and a graduate certificate in cross-sector partnerships from Cambridge University. Email: gbutler@microsoft.com
Michael Copeland
Dr. Michael Copeland is Director of Human Resources for Rockwall ISD, a large metropolitan school district located near downtown Dallas. 
He recently completed two terms asthe President of the RISC Board and is one of the original founding board members. Having served as an educational leader for 35+ years, he has garnered much respect in the field of educational leadership as a practitioner, motivational speaker, and author. He completed the Doctor of Education degree from the University of Oklahoma during the early 1990s and has continued to be a student of leadership at all organizational levels. Being selected to serve as a national examiner for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has guided much of his visioning and insight for educational systems to effectively transform and mature.
Dr. Copeland has held numerous leadership positions in public education, including that of teacher/coach, assistant principal, junior high principal, high school principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent of schools, and university professor. Prior to joining the leadership team at Rockwall ISD, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University-Commerce where he wrote and managed several grants promoting P-16 innovation and discovery, while also serving as the Executive Director of the East Texas Schools Study Council. While at the University, he successfully developed several courses focused on creating quality school processes for 21st century learners and leaders.
His experience as the President of the National Rural Education Association helped heighten the awareness of and need for promoting the high quality rural educational programs across America. His service on the Board of Consulting Editors for The Rural Educator, a national journal, helped to share the stories of progressive and innovative rural districts who had managed to successfully prepare students with meaningful skills to work, to live, and to produce within the current technological advancements of this new global economy.
Dr. Copeland has consistently been a major presenter at national conferences, including the National Quality Education Conference, the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration Conference, and the National Rural Education Association Conference on topics such as “Creating Quality in the Workplace,” “Challenges of Organizational Leadership,” “Facilities Management and Growth,” “Systemic Organizational Innovation and Change,” “Innovation Challenges and Management,” “Systemic Transformation of the Culture in Education,” “Re-Inventing P-20 Education,” “Performance Pay,” “Use of Data to Improve Student Achievement,” “Effective Use of Quality Tools and Best Practices,” “Continuous Improvement Processes,” “Student Learning Profiles,” and “Standards-Based Education.”
He currently serves as a member of the Educational Advisory Council for both the K-12 and the Higher Education Committees of the American Society for Quality. Email: michael.copeland@rockwallisd.org
Michael Furdyk
Michael Furdyk is founder and director of technology of TakingITGlobal, a global online 
community for young people, engaging hundreds of thousands of youth in more than 200 countries and territories. His amazing adventure began in 1985, at the age of 2 and a half, with a Commodore 64—and his passion for technology was born. Since then, he has embarked on a number of projects, developing websites such as MyDesktop.com, which he started at the age of 15, BuyBuddy.com, and TakingITGlobal.com.
In 2003, CANARIE, Canada’s Advanced Networking association, awarded Furdyk its Public Service award for his innovation in the non-profit sector and the development of the TakingITGlobal website.
In 2007, Furdyk was the laureate at the 2007 Tech Museum awards for Technology Benefitting Humanity, recognizing the development of the TakingITGlobal education program, which supports educators in their rich integration of technology and global education in the classroom. TakingITGlobal also was selected to win the $50,000 cash prize, the Microsoft Education Award. In 2008, Contribute magazine featured Furdyk as one of the “10 Tech Revolutionaries Redefining the Power and Face of Philanthropy,” in an article that looked at the many ways that technology is supporting the charitable sector in growing the engagement of young people in causes.
As one of Teen People’s “20 teens that will change the world,” Furdyk has shared his expertise in youth engagement and experiences in bringing the power of technology to the non-profit sector by speaking at dozens of events, including the World Congress on IT, the U.S. Government’s National Youth Summit, Microsoft’s Anytime, Anywhere Learning Summits, The Business Council, and TED. He has made numerous media appearances and been the subject of numerous interviews and articles in major media including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Time magazine, Fast Company, Business Week, and USA Today. He is a board member and advisor to numerous groups including Better the World, Microsoft’s Partners in Learning, Virgin Unite, Greenpower Canada, and several other national and global organizations.
Furdyk is passionate about helping companies develop meaningful Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that impact the issues he cares about: education and the environment. He volunteers to help a number of charities and non-profits use technology effectively.
Email: mfurdyk@takingitglobal.org
Dr. Dale Marsden is superintendent of Victor Elementary School District, Victorville, California.
Dr. Marsden began his teaching career in 1985 as an Outdoor Education Science teacher for the Orange County Department of Education. Shortly following, 
he joined the United States Air Force where he served as a Non-Commissioned Officer with one of the Air Force’s only Combat Ready Units in Germany in charge of security for Ground Launched Cruise Missile Systems. He earned several awards including the Meritorious Service Award, the Combat Readiness Award, and the Marksmanship Award.
Dr. Marsden began his teaching career with the Victor Elementary School District in 1993. After serving as teacher and assistant principal, he was named principal at the district’s Village Elementary School, where his school earned the 2004 California Distinguished School Award.
At the district level, Dr. Marsden served as Director of Quality and Development. In this role, he coordinated the district’s strategic planning process and worked to align district academic and operational systems to those of other world-class organizations. Dr. Marsden was selected to be Victor Elementary School District’s superintendent in 2009. The district is one of California’s highest performing, high-poverty districts with more than11,200 students, 900 employees, and 18 schools. VESD schools have earned numerous awards including more than 14 California Distinguished School Awards, 3 National Blue Ribbon Awards, 4 Title I Academic Achievement Awards, several California Business in Education Excellence Awards, and 2 California Awards for Performance Excellence, which models the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program. The district was recently awarded the Team Excellence Silver Level Award by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) for their “Closing the Achievement Gap” process.
Dr. Marsden and his wife, Laurie, have lived in the Apple Valley, California since 1990. They have four children: two boys and two girls, all redheads!
Dr. Marsden earned his B.A. from California State University in Liberal Studies with a minor in mathematics, his M.A. from California State University in Educational Administration, and his Ed.D. from Pepperdine University in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy. Email: Dmarsden@vesd.net
Patrick Russo. Secretary/Treasurer.
Dr. Patrick Russo has more than 34 years of experience as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and business leader.
Since 1986, he has served as a superintendent in New York, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Dr. Russo has been the superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools since July 2009. The school division has more than 49,500 students and one of the most comprehensive 1:1 Laptop Technology Initiatives in the country. A leader who is committed to community engagement in the educational process, Dr. Russo combines solid business practices with his educational administration leadership skills to meet the needs of students, teachers, administrators, key stakeholders, and the community.
In 2009, Dr. Russo held Henrico County Public Schools’s first Community Priorities Workshop. The school board and administration engaged more than 150 students, parents, community members, business leaders, and government officials in a process to identify and support the school system’s priorities and goals for the upcoming 2010-11 school year. He also has initiated the development and implementation of Henrico County Schools’s five-year strategic plan.
Dr. Russo was named Georgia’s 1996 Superintendent of the Year, Regional Superintendent of the Year in North Carolina, and on three occasions was named one of the Top 10 Executive Educators, selected by the national publication Executive Educator. In 2009, Dr. Russo was a finalist for Virginia’s State Superintendent of the Year.
Dr. Russo’s commitment to education is a family affair. His wife, Brooke, is a registered nurse who previously taught at a regional vocational school in the Hampton, Virginia, area. They have five children: Erik, Meagan, Sarah, and school-aged twins, Ashleigh and Patrick, who will attend middle school in Henrico County Public Schools.
Dr. Russo earned a B.S. in Business Administration from The University of Charleston, an M.A. in Secondary Education from Adelphi University, an M.B.A. from Dowling College, a Professional Diploma from Long Island University, and an Ed.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Email: prusso@henrico.k12.va.us
Arliss Sturgulewski was elected to serve on the Anchorage Charter Commission and the Anchorage Assembly. She was elected to the Alaska State Senate in 1978 and 
served until she retired in 1992. Ms. Sturgulewski was the Republican candidate for governor of Alaska in 1986 and again in 1990.
Ms. Sturgulewski is a trustee for the Anchorage YMCA, Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, and the University of Alaska Foundation. In addition, she serves on numerous statewide boards andcommissions, including the Chancellor’s Board of Advisors for the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and the Advisory Council for the University of Alaska School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
Ms. Strugulewski received a B.A. in Economics and Business from the University of Washington with a major in accounting and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She has served on many Municipality of Anchorage boards including the Planning and Zoning Board and the Examiners and Appeals Board. Ms. Sturgulewski gives frequent speeches on public policy and education issues. Email: a.sturgulewski@swallingcpas.com
Annelize Bester
Graduated Spring 1996 from U.S.C. Marshall School of Business with a B.S. in Business Management and an emphasis in International Finance. Graduate Risk Analysis Classes with emphasis on sustainable development in Africa created a strong background that helped create Think Tank Thuto, albeit years later. Upon graduation from Marshall, an internship at Conquistador Entertainment (A Film Distribution company) led to my first job as an Acquisitions and Co-Productions Assistant for Canal+/UFA.
A couple of years later I decided to pursue a dual major in Photography and Film at The Art Center, Pasadena, CA. While completing my final term in the Graduate Broadcast Cinema Program, I directed two music videos for John Oates (Hal & Oates) and started development of my first short film, “Wannabe.”
The year “Wannabe” screened at the Arc Light on Sunset Boulevard I traveled to Botswana, Africa to conduct research for a possible Documentary. That trip led to the creationof the U.S. educational non-profit, Think Tank ‘Thuto.’ Since Fall 2005 my focus has been on the planning and organization of the Botswana Anglican Schools; the U.S. Charity Think Tank ‘Thuto’ Inc.; and our THUTO ICT initiative. My cameras are my way of exploring, communicating and documenting the worlds I am part of.
