Todd Conley Esports & Education Advocate | Highschool.gg
Todd Conley has an MBA in Technology Management from University of Washington, is former Microsoft, and board of Washington DECA. He played college tennis and coached at the high school, collegiate, and tour level. He founded HighSchool.GG to provide a positive and captivating learning experience for all students. He recognizes that students learn best when they are engaged and having fun, and sees that enabling youth to operate an eSports franchise in High School is the perfect answer to today’s environment where future NCAA student-athletes are discouraged from treating themselves as a business in high school. HighSchool.GG is re-prioritizing learning the technical and business skills they’ll need to succeed in the economy of the future.
Victoria Garner is a seasoned Technical Recruiter at The Walt Disney Company, focusing on intern and early career talent across all functions of technology. A Professional Scrum Master and passionate technology enthusiast, Victoria has used her experience and education to elevate Technology Talent Acquisition efforts across the Company. Prior to Disney, Victoria led talent acquisition programs at Bandwidth, Inc., where she was responsible for planning and executing a variety of university events, including conference attendance while managing full-lifecycle recruitment of their intern program. In addition to her professional experience, Victoria is actively involved in the community through volunteerism with organizations such as Big Brother Big Sister Foundation. Victoria holds a B.A. in Psychology from North Carolina State University.
John Harris is Director of College and Career Readiness for Downey Unified School District in Downey, CA. Prior to starting his career as a school administrator, he taught high school Math, Social Science and Student Government.
Diane Hickey joined NSF as an SBIR/STTR program director in August 2020. She has extensive experience in multiple technical fields and early-stage deep technology ventures. Diane founded the Diamond Chameleon Group and grew a broad team providing commercialization services to more than 40 SBIR awardees and deep technology startups with funding across government agencies. Diane began her career at Accenture, implementing enterprise-wide systems in utility and chemical corporations. She then joined C-Bridge Internet Solutions, an MIT-based startup that provided technologies to connect corporate back-end systems to users; the company went public in 1999, and merged with Excelon in 2000 and Progress Software Corp (PRGS) in 2004. After completing her Ph.D., Diane joined Advanced Diamond Technologies (ADT), a startup spun out of Argonne National Laboratory, she helped the company transition from grant support to commercial sustainability. Diane has held life-long roles in STEM education, including the NSF Young Scholars program, participation in the NSF Nanotechnology Informal Science Education network, and as a Sisters4Science mentor. She has also supported science education startups, served as the school and homeschool liaison for the Tampa’s Children’s Museum and has taught for Kaplan, Inc. Diane consulted on science education and pursued graduate coursework at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. Diane holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida.
