CoSN Staff

Keith R. Krueger, CAE
Chief Executive Officer
202.861.2676 x118

Keith R. Krueger is CEO of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a nonprofit organization that serves as the voice of K-12 school system technology leaders in North America. CoSN’s mission is empowering educational leaders to leverage technology to realize engaging learning environments.

In 2008 he was selected by eSchool News as one of ten people who have had a profound impact on educational technology over the last decade.

He serves on many Advisory Boards including eSchool News, the Education Committee of the National Park System, the American Productivity Quality Council, the Virtual High School Global Consortium, the Friday Institute at NC State University and the Wireless Reach Advisory Board. He is a past Board Member/Treasurer of the National Coalition on Technology in Education & Training (NCTET).

Keith has a global reputation as a key thought leader and has organized senior level U.S. delegations to visit Australia, Asia, Europe and South America to examine best practice in ICT in education.

As a Certified Association Executive, he has extensive background in nonprofit management and has a Masters from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Irene K. Spero
Chief Strategy Officer
202.861.2676 x112

Irene Spero serves as Chief Strategy Officer of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). Ms. Spero received a BA in political science from Bryn Mawr College and an MA in Public Law from Columbia University. She is actively involved in a wide range of community and professional activities in the Washington, DC area and currently serves as the President of NCTET, a professional association of education technology leaders in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining CoSN in 2003, Ms. Spero was the first Executive Director of SchoolTone Alliance, a global consortium of education technology and service provider companies. Ms. Spero served as Director of External Relations at the Web-based Education Commission where she was responsible for directing its outreach efforts, organizing its public hearings and managing its public relations and communications efforts. The Commission submitted its report, The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice, to Congress and the President in December 2000.

Irene worked for 16 years as Executive Director for Federal and State Relations at the College Board. Based in Washington DC, her primary responsibility was to represent the interests of the association by conducting and directing a comprehensive government relations program at the federal and state level. As the College Board's representative, she was frequently asked to advise policymakers and comment on issues relating to the transition from secondary to higher education, access and equity issues. In that capacity, she testified before congressional committees and state legislative bodies and appeared at national education association meetings.

Ed Gloninger
Certification Manager
202.470.2780

Ed joined CoSN in April 2011. As a member of CoSN's certification team, Ed worked on developing and implementing CoSN's CETL Cerfification program. Ed continues to manage the CETL program and promote its growth as the nation's premier education technology leader certification program.

Ed joins CoSN with more than 14 years of experience managing and implementing publications and online communications solutions for a wide variety of organizations. Ed will use his background in writing, editing, graphic design, and production management to help further the goals of CoSN’s CTO Certification Program.

Marci Giang
Project Manager
202.861.2676 x122

Marci is the project manager for the Participatory Learning in Schools: Policy & Leadership Initiative funded by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. As part of this initiative, Marci is working with leading-edge school districts in implementing a participatory learning environment that is student-centered and technology-enabled to improve learning and teaching. Marci is also responsible for managing CoSN’s leadership initiatives, including the US Department of Education’s Connected Educators Project and CoSN’s online communities of practice efforts.

Prior to joining CoSN, Marci was a senior program associate at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) leading their Common Education Data Standards Initiative. Marci’s work focused on improving the quality and use of education data to inform decision-making at the policy and instructional level. Her experience also included teaching in the Washington, DC Public Schools through the DC Teaching Fellows program. Marci received her Master of Arts in Teaching from American University in Washington, DC and an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Virginia.

Sarah Landers
Membership Coordinator
202.861.2676 x115

Sarah joined CoSN as the Membership Coordinator in August 2012. In this capacity, she collaborates with the Director of Membership and Chapters on all membership and communications initiatives. She also manages the CoSN Awards Committee and supports the Board of Directors.

Sarah is eager to use her communications experience to bolster CoSN’s membership and further its mission. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Yale University.

Parvin Zahedivash
Staff Accountant
202.861.2676 x121

Parvin joined CoSN in September 2012 and is responsible for managing all financial and accounting record keeping for CoSN. She oversees the financial components of HR management and creates reports at the request of senior management. Parvin graduated from University of Maryland University College with a BS in Accounting and also has a minor in Business Administration.

Parvin has many years of experience in the accounting and finance field as both a Staff Accountant and Tax preparation specialist. Parvin will use this experience and expertise to improve CoSN’s operational efficiency.

Dresden Farrand
Director of Membership and Chapters
202.861.2676 x130

Dresden Farrand joined CoSN in November 2012 as the Director of Membership and Chapters. Dresden is responsible for developing and implementing strategic membership plans to recruit, retain and support members in the United States and abroad. She is also responsible for developing CoSN State Chapter in the United States and Canada as well as implementing state-specific membership and retention strategies with State Chapter leaders.

Dresden brings to the position a diverse background in membership/sponsorship management, program management, service delivery and access and public policy. Her passion for public service includes working on public health and environmental social justice issues and recently took her to Geneva, Switzerland to work with the United Nations on food security. She received her Masters in Public Administration and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Public Policy.