Tom Vander Ark is an advocate for innovations in learning and the power of place. As CEO of Getting Smart, he helps education and learning-focused organizations increase their impact with strategy, design, growth, publication, and learner experience services.

He advises school districts and networks, education foundations and funders, and impact organizations on the path forward.

A prolific writer and speaker, his books include Getting Smart: How Digital Learning is Changing the World (Jossey-Bass, 2011) and Smart Cities That Work for Everyone: 7 Keys to Education & Employment (Getting Smart 2014), and he has published thousands of articles and coauthored more than 50 books and white papers. He writes regularly on www.GettingSmart.com, LinkedIn, and contributes to Forbes online.

Emily Liebtag is director of advocacy at Getting Smart, where she leads advocacy efforts, collaborating with educational organizations to create scalable strategies, thought leadership campaigns, industry research, and professional learning experiences. She works with educators to leverage their ideas, share their voices, and promote their work around meaningful and innovative teaching & learning.

Liebtag is the founding CEO of Boundless, a global nonprofit with the mission of inspiring, empowering, and connecting educators, students, and families—helping them lead school transformation from the ground up. She is coauthor of The Power of Place: Authentic Learning Through Place-Based Education Tom Vander Ark and Nate McClennen.

Nate McClennen is vice president of strategy and innovation at Getting Smart, where he partners with schools, organizations, foundations, and districts to amplify and implement what's next in learning.

He is the former director at Teton Science Schools, where he build and scaled Place Network, a comprehensive K–12 blended-learning program that combines an online learning experience with a place-based approach to help students better understand and engage in local rural communities. He was part of the founding faculty and was appointed Head of School in 2006. He has been part of the leadership team since 2011. In 2015, he became the Director of Education and Innovation, focusing on how to scale impact through technology, innovation, design learning, and school networks.