IMPACT CONFERENCE
July 23-25, 2025
Westmont College
Cultivating Community in the Age of AI
Higher education is at a crossroads. As AI reshapes how we work, learn, and connect, the role of technology leaders has never been more critical. The Impact Conference is where senior technology leaders in higher ed come together to navigate this transformation—leveraging AI to strengthen, rather than replace, the human connections at the heart of our institutions.
Join us for two dynamic days of thought leadership, practical insights, and peer collaboration. You’ll hear from top innovators in the field, engage in hands-on discussions about AI-driven transformation, and explore how to cultivate trust, engagement, and belonging in an increasingly digital world.
Why Attend?
- Gain exclusive insights from leading voices in AI and higher ed
- Connect with like-minded CIOs, CTOs, and digital strategists tackling the same challenges
- Discover actionable strategies for integrating AI while strengthening community and student success
- Participate in interactive workshops and real-world case studies that move beyond theory to practice
This is more than a conference—it’s a catalyst for change. Secure your spot now and be part of shaping the future of higher education
Featured Speakers
Lev Gonick is the Enterprise Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University. Enterprise Technology at ASU leads the design and agile management of all enterprise infrastructure, applications, products, services and analytics. Lev also chairs the Sun Corridor Network, Arizona's Research and Education Network.
In 2023, Lev has been recognized by the ORBIE Awards as Arizona’s top large Enterprise CIO. In 2022, EdScoop named him as a Top 50 Educational Technology influencers and leaders.
An accomplished thought leader and master technical trainer with 20+ years’ experience, Leah McGowen-Hare specializes in developing programs that make tech accessible to everyone. She is currently the senior vice president of the Trailblazer Community at Salesforce.
An experienced speaker on the future of work, education, technology and equality, she has delivered keynotes at multiple technology events around the world, including TrailheaDX, Dreamforce, and Salesforce World Tours. She has also presented at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Monktoberfest, Paris Dreamin, Pulse, Developer Preview Live, and The Year of Einstein Customer Kickoff.
Julia Freeland Fisher is the Director of Education at the Clayton Christensen Institute, where she leads a team researching the effects of disruptive innovation on the public and private education landscape. She has published and spoken extensively on topics including the EdTech market, new school models, and competency-based education policies and practices. Most recently, her research focuses on emerging tools and practices that leverage technology to expand students' social capital by enhancing their access to new networks and their ability to navigate those networks.
Randy Bass is Vice President for Strategic Education Initiatives and Professor of English at Georgetown University, where he leads the Designing the Future(s) initiative and the Red House incubator for curricular transformation. For 13 years he was the Founding Executive Director of Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), and for seven years, Vice Provost for Education.
Matt DeJongh joined the Hope College Department of Computer Science in 2002. He teaches courses in software design, programming languages and computational theory. Matt came to Hope after working as a software engineer for a bioinformatics company. He has carried that expertise with him as he conducts interdisciplinary collaborative research with students and colleagues in both the computer science and biology departments. Matt is also an amateur pianist and uses his computer to accompany him in piano concertos.