October 11-13, 2021 - Midway, Kentucky
HEI 2021 Presidents Conference
Disruption Through Entrepreneuring: Radical Transformation of Higher Education in a Just-in-Time World
REGISTER NOW:
.png){kind=icon}
2026 Presidents' Conference
Speakers
Monday, October 5, 2026 at 12:00 PM (EDT) to Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Mark Bryan
Mark Bryan is the Chief Research and Strategy Officer at the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), where he leads the organization’s global research, foresight, and strategic intelligence agenda. In this role, he is responsible for advancing IIDA’s future-facing initiatives and expanding the association’s capacity to deliver insight-driven strategy, thought leadership, and applied foresight for the design industry.
Bryan also leads IIDA Futures, a dedicated research and foresight platform that consolidates IIDA’s work in future studies, strategic research, and scenario-based thinking. Under his leadership, IIDA Futures serves as a hub for original research, executive insights, educational programming, and the association’s Certified Design Futurist credential, supporting designers, manufacturers, and allied industries as they navigate long-term change.
A designer by training and a futurist by practice, Bryan brings deep experience across the built environment. Prior to joining IIDA, he served as Senior Foresight Manager at the Future Today Strategy Group, where he led foresight work across the Built Environment, Supply Chain and Logistics, Hospitality, Retail, Restaurants, and Consumer Goods sectors. His research has spanned supply chain and logistics, manufacturing, emerging technologies, urban systems, workplace strategy, and the future of communities.
Earlier in his career, Bryan worked as a designer, design strategist, and design researcher, advising clients that include national foundations, global consumer brands, product manufacturers, higher education institutions, healthcare systems, multifamily developers, senior living operators, and large corporate organizations. He has authored and contributed to research on workplace culture, co-living, distance learning, senior living environments, and the evolving role of design in shaping human experience.
Bryan previously served as IIDA’s Futurist-in-Residence and played a central role in developing and proctoring the Certified Design Futurist program. His work sits at the intersection of design, strategy, and foresight, helping organizations anticipate change, understand uncertainty, and design more resilient, human-centered futures.
Bill Martin
Bill Martin is President of The Spangler Candy Company, a 120-year-old family-owned company in its 4th generation of Spangler family leadership. The confectionary company is best known for its flagship brand, Dum Dums, and proudly produces the number one lollipop in the US in its world class factory in Bryan, OH. The company also produces candy canes, Bit-O-Honey, NECCO Wafers, Sweethearts, and circus marshmallow peanuts. Spangler Candy Company is the 11th largest candy company in the United States and is one of the Top 100 Global confectionary companies as determined by Candy Industry Magazine.
Bill Martin is a NW Ohio native and graduate of Bowling Green State University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. Following college, he went to work in public accounting for Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young) in Toledo, Ohio, one of the nation’s largest public accounting firms. In 1993, he passed Ohio’s CPA Exam and became a licensed CPA. After spending 10 years in the furniture manufacturing industry in Greensboro, North Carolina, he returned to Ohio to join the Spangler Candy Company as Controller in 1999. Bill was named CFO in 2003, and later became the President of Spangler Candy Company in 2014.
Skye L. Perryman
Named one of the Time 100’s 2025 100 Most Influential People In The World, Skye Perryman is the President & CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. Under Perryman’s leadership, Democracy Forward has played a leading role in inspiring courage and in protecting the American people from harmful and unlawful federal executive action. The organization has filed hundreds of legal actions, launched hundreds of investigations, and, through its Democracy 2025 initiative, has organized the largest, most successful affirmative litigation effort against executive branch excesses in United States history.
Known for her strategic insight and impact-oriented leadership, Perryman has a track record of winning tough legal and policy battles, uniting diverse coalitions, inspiring the American public, and elevating voices that represent the fabric of our country to deliver results that improve the lives of millions. Over the course of her nearly two decade legal career, Perryman has served in executive positions and has provided legal and strategic counsel for a broad range of clients and institutions.
As the Trump-Vance administration is waging an assault on public education and the communities which depend on it nationwide, Democracy Forward has been actively challenging those efforts. We were the first to take action against the president’s plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and won a legal challenge to stop implementation of a “Dear Colleague Letter” that would have targeted schools that taught about racism.
Perryman is also a frequent guest lecturer and keynote speaker on matters at the intersection of law and policy. She has testified before the U.S. Congress and other expert bodies and her legal work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as state supreme courts. Perryman appears on both network and cable television and her work and commentary is routinely covered in outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, NBC News, The Washington Post, Texas Monthly, The Houston Chronicle, MeidasTouch News, Legal AF, MSNow, and CNN.
Perryman grew up in Waco, Texas and is a proud product of K-12 public education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy magna cum laude from Baylor University where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and a Juris Doctor with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center where she served as an Editor for the American Criminal Law Review.
Her book Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times: How to Reclaim Your Power, Fight for Freedom, and Reimagine Democracy (Penguin Random House/Ten Speed Press) hit shelves on August 25.
Erika Willitzer
Erika Willitzer is a passionate community builder, economic development leader, and strategic communicator who has dedicated her career to improving the places people call home.
Currently serving as Executive Director of Defiance County Economic Development, Erika has helped lead one of northwest Ohio's most impressive periods of growth and investment. Since 2020, she has been instrumental in securing more than $2.5 billion in private investment, creating over 1,500 jobs, attracting transformative projects, supporting new housing developments, and positioning Defiance County among the nation's fastest-growing communities (Ranked 9th in the Country. Most notably, she played a key leadership role in attracting First Quality's $1.2 billion investment—the largest economic development project in Defiance County history.
But numbers only tell part of the story.
At her core, Erika believes economic development is about people. Her mission has always been simple: create opportunities, improve quality of life, and help communities thrive for generations to come. Known for her collaborative leadership style, she is a firm believer that success happens when organizations, businesses, elected officials, and community members work together toward a common vision.
Before leading Defiance County's economic development efforts, Erika spent six years in senior leadership at Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative, where she managed economic development, communications, member services, and community engagement initiatives. During her tenure, she helped strengthen relationships with businesses and members, expanded outreach efforts, developed innovative marketing campaigns, and spearheaded projects that generated long-lasting community impact. One of her proudest accomplishments was leading a grassroots Honor Flight fundraising effort that raised $172,000 and helped send 475 veterans to Washington, D.C., earning national recognition from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
Erika's leadership journey also includes serving as President and CEO of the Paulding Area Chamber of Commerce, where she revitalized community assets, expanded membership, and launched initiatives designed to strengthen local businesses and civic engagement.
Long before economic development became her calling, Erika built a successful career in journalism and broadcasting. As a news anchor, producer, reporter, and public affairs host, she interviewed national leaders, covered major news events, and developed the communication skills that remain one of her greatest professional strengths today.
A graduate of The University of Akron, where she earned a degree in Communications and minors in Political Science and Theater, Erika combines strategic thinking with creativity, empathy, and a relentless work ethic. She describes herself as a mission-driven servant leader who believes that great leadership isn't about directing people from the top—it's about helping them discover their purpose and empowering them to achieve more than they thought possible.
Whether she is recruiting a major employer, supporting a small business, advancing a community project, or mentoring future leaders, Erika brings the same energy and philosophy to every endeavor: work hard at work worth doing.
Tom Bush
Tom Bush is CEO for Actual Reality Technologies, an Industry 5, AI/ML, Software development company that specializes in real-world application of AI driving big customer wins.
Bush built the intersection of AI, manufacturing, and leadership—helping organizations unlock measurable value in an era where Industry 5.0 and Artificial Intelligence is no longer optional but inevitable.
As CEO of Actual Reality Technologies, Bush works with Fortune 500s, growth-stage manufacturers, and research institutions to apply augmented intelligence, digital twins, and AI-driven process innovation to real-world problems. His team has partnered with NASA, Owens Corning, SSOE Group, Owens-Illinois, and others to reduce downtime, optimize energy, and bring AI automation directly into production floors, engineering workflows, and decision-making. Previously, Bush spent more than 20 years at Amazon and GE, where he led transformations in finance, technology, and operations—including co-creating the Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) at AWS, a global initiative that helped move enterprises into the cloud and reshaped the industry quadrant.
Dr. Michael Fischer
Michael Fischer, Ed.D. has served as President of York County Community College (YCCC) in Maine since 2020. His more than 25 years in higher education span student affairs, enrollment management, workforce and economic development, operations, and college leadership.
Fischer believes strategic plans matter only when people can see themselves in the work, understand how they contribute, and share responsibility for moving an organization forward. At YCCC, that belief took shape as United by Purpose, a college-wide framework connecting mission, vision, and purpose with organizational culture, decision-making, and day-to-day work. At the center is a shared commitment to student success and the economic and civic prosperity of York County.
Under his leadership, YCCC has experienced sustained enrollment growth, record credential completion, strengthened financial performance, and national recognition for innovation (including the HEI Institutional Award for Entrepreneuring Excellence).
Just as important, the college has built a culture where people are empowered to challenge assumptions, learn from one another, and continually rethink how the institution serves its students, employers, and communities.
Fischer’s conviction that education is the great equalizer is not borrowed language. A first-generation college student who grew up in public housing, he believes deeply in education’s power to create socioeconomic mobility and strengthen the communities we serve.
Dr. Mike Hobbs
Mike Hobbs became the President of Georgia Highlands College in July 2022. Originally from Ensley, Ala., Dr. Hobbs is a first-generation high school graduate and a first-generation college graduate. He earned an associate degree in applied science from Jefferson State and completed his bachelor’s in criminal justice from the University of Alabama – Birmingham (UAB). He also earned his master’s degree in education supervision and leadership from UAB and completed his Ph.D. in community college leadership from Mississippi State University. He has also completed post-graduate coursework in economics from the University of Detroit Mercy.
During his time at GHC, Dr. Hobbs has led impressive enrollment growth Fall 2023 (+6.7%), Spring 2024 (+5.6%), and Summer 2024 (+9%), as well as added a number of career-targeted bachelor’s degrees bringing the college’s total
to 10.
Dr. Hobbs was recently chosen by students for the national Paragon Award at the PTK Catalyst national convention. The award recognizes college presidents who have shown significant support for student success initiatives leading to stronger pathways to completion, transfer and employment.
Additionally, under Dr. Hobbs’ leadership, GHC has been named a finalist for the $1 million Aspen Prize by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program for an unwavering focus on student success and outcomes.
Dr. Lisa Jellum
Currently serving as the Assistant Vice Provost and Dean of the Atrium Health Floyd School of Health Sciences at Georgia Highlands College, Lisa holds a Doctorate of Education in Instructional Design from the University of West Georgia. She also holds a Masters in Sport Management from Montana State University Billings as well as a Bachelors degree in Exercise Science. Lisa also holds graduate certificates in Strength and Conditioning and Public Health from Georgia Southern University. Currently, Lisa is serving as the Vice President of Georgia Association of Nursing Deans and Directors (GANDD) and on the Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition (GNLC).
Lisa's commitment to innovation and academic excellence extends beyond her administrative roles. She has been instrumental in securing numerous grants, including Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Grants and GHC Faculty Scholarship Grants, contributing significantly to the institution's financial resources.
Dr. David King
David has more than three decades of senior leadership experience in independent higher education. After twenty years serving in a variety of leadership roles at Eastern University (PA), David was appointed president at Malone University (OH) where he served for over a decade. In 2024 – 2026 David served as president of Ursuline College (OH) with the expressed objective of executing the Board’s MAP strategy to accomplish a sustainable future for this small, women-focused, Catholic College. Ursuline College was acquired by Gannon University (PA), a transaction that culminated in July 2026 at which time the presidency at Ursuline was retired.
In each of the institutions in which David has served, he has been called upon to lead adaptive change. At Eastern University this included playing a key role in the University’s merger with Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the context of complex and consequential change, David has led and coached governing boards, senior leadership teams and campus communities to successful outcomes.
David has served on multiple Boards including serving as Chair of the Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Ohio and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and is a recipient of the National CUPA-HR Distinguished Service Award. David has earned a B.S. in social work from Eastern Mennonite University; M.S. degrees in human services administration and human resources development from Villanova University; an education management certificate from the Institute for Education Management, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; and the Ed.D. in higher education administration from Temple University.
David currently serves as a Senior Consultant with SPH Consulting advising colleges and universities on building stronger, more valuable institutions through major restructuring including mergers, acquisitions and partnerships.
Dr. Amanda Lee
Dr. Amanda Lee has dedicated more than twenty-five years to the North Carolina Community College System and currently serves as President of Bladen Community College. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of leadership and academic positions, including Vice President, Chief Academic Officer, and faculty member. Her extensive experience in higher education reflects a deep commitment to student success, workforce development, and community engagement.
Prior to her appointment as president at Bladen Community College, Dr. Lee served in positions at Nash Community College, Cape Fear Community College, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Union College, and Texas A&M University. These experiences have provided her with a broad perspective on higher education and have strengthened her ability to lead institutions through growth and innovation.
Dr. Lee is an active member of the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents (NCACCP), where she served as President during the 2025–2026 year. In addition to her leadership within the Association, she recently played an active role in the selection process for the President of the North Carolina Community College System, further demonstrating her commitment to advancing community college education across the state.
Dr. Lee earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Arts from Regent University. She also holds a Master of Arts in Communication Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Radio, Television, and Film from Baylor University. As president, she remains dedicated to expanding educational opportunities, fostering strong partnerships, and advancing the mission of community colleges to improve the lives of students and the communities they serve.
Dr. Richanne Mankey
In October 2015, Dr. Mankey was elected as the nineteenth and first female president of Defiance College (DC). Focus during her tenure has been rebuilding the capacity and quality of the college. Engineering programs have been added and are offered through a partnership with the University of North Dakota. In 2020, DC implemented an award-winning, nationally unique career readiness program called Jacket Journey which is required and for credit.
Under Dr. Mankey’s leadership the college has secured almost $9 million in grant awards from federal, state, and local agencies. In September 2024, she was awarded the Michael A. Schultz Leadership Award, the highest honor of City of Defiance.
Dr. Mankey serves on the board of directors for NAICU and chairs the PAPR committee as well as other federal, state, and local boards – she has recently become a trustee for the Stroede Center for the Performing Arts in Defiance, Ohio.
Dr. Mankey holds degrees from Ohio Northern University (B.A.); the University of Dayton (M.S.Ed.); and Teachers College, Columbia University (Ed.D.).
Dr. Lynn Priddy
Lynn Priddy, Ph.D., is the President of Claremont Lincoln University (CLU), a special focus non-profit university known for its distinctive degrees for the public sector, focusing on ethical leaders who engage their communities to address complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. CLU is the university of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a globally recognized non-profit private operating foundation known for nearly 80 years of significant research, policy, practices, and tools focused on finding solutions to these complex challenges through land policy. In 2022, Priddy led the merger of CLU into the Lincoln Institute. Together, the Lincoln Institute and CLU have created new models of higher education to address the workforce, leadership, and trust crises in the public sector and to address critical issues, such as housing, climate migration, urban sustainability, data centers, energy and AI, and water and infrastructure.
From 2013 to date, Dr. Priddy has led, assisted, or overseen two asset purchases, three acquisitions, four mergers, and seven teach-outs of institutions. Her expertise includes working with the Department of Education, states, accreditors, attorney generals, and multiple university and system boards. Her 40-year career has included serving as vice president at the Higher Learning Commission (the largest of the six well-known accrediting agencies) and in higher education institutions as provost, chief academic officer, executive advisor to the board, strategic advisor to the president, faculty, director of research and assessment, and executive vice president of strategic planning and effectiveness. She has served on several US and foreign institutional boards. Known as a big picture change agent, Priddy has been a national speaker and facilitator on diverse topics in higher education, new models of higher education, and the wonder and reality of caregiving long-term pediatric cancer survivors. In a former life, she was a member of two ballet companies. Today, she has a fabulous husband and two wonderful adult children ages 39 and 34; the former an extraordinary business owner and technological and sociological wonder, the latter a wise and courageous +30-year brain cancer survivor.
Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus
President Rebecca J. Stoltzfus became the 13th president of Goshen College in 2017. A 1983 Goshen College graduate, she was vice provost for undergraduate education and professor of human nutrition at Cornell University before returning to lead her alma mater.
President Stoltzfus studied chemistry at Goshen College and received master’s and doctoral degrees in human nutrition from Cornell University. Before joining the Cornell faculty in 2002, she taught human nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore, Maryland) — the top-ranked school of public health in the United States. Her ongoing research focuses on the causes and consequences of malnutrition in women and children in low-income countries.
As a vice provost at Cornell, President Stoltzfus oversaw initiatives designed to enhance undergraduate instruction and campus efforts to support inclusivity and academic success for all 14,000-plus undergraduate students. She was part of the leadership team of Engaged Cornell, a university-wide public engagement initiative.
Dr. Jamel Wright
Dr. Jamel Wright is currently the 27th President of Eureka College in IL. She is the first woman and African American to serve as President. After an interim year, Dr. Wright was named President in 2017. As a first-generation undergraduate student, Dr. Wright realized her calling in higher education. Dr. Wright was one of several experts called upon to serve in Ferguson, MO. as part of the Ferguson Commission’s Citizen Law Enforcement Working Group on community policing, racial profiling, use of force, and mass demonstrations.
Dr. Mary Landon Darden
Dr. Mary Landon Darden is a higher education futurist, author, and leadership expert. She is the Founder and President of Higher Education Innovation LLC, which began in in 2015. The mission of HEI is to “transform higher education.” Darden is the author of three books co-published with the American Council on Education and Bloomsbury Publishing: “Entrepreneuring” the Future of Higher Education: Radical Transformation in Times of Profound Change (2021), which is the Winner of the 2021 American Book Fest Award (education/scholarly) and was named one of the “best higher education books of all time” by “Bookauthority;” and Beyond 2020: Envisioning the Future of Universities in America (2009), which was adopted as a textbook in the higher education administration doctoral program at Harvard University. Darden’s third book with co-writer Joanna Kile is titled Transforming Higher Education: How Bold and Innovative Leaders Entrepreneur the Future (2025) and shares success stories of entrepreneurial institutions, presidents, and administrators.
Darden served in higher education leadership in colleges and universities for more than two decades. She holds a doctorate from the Scholars of Practice program in Higher Education Administration at Baylor University.
Darden has received awards for administrative achievements, including the 2001 National Exemplary Award in Community Education from The National Council of Continuing Education and Training (NCCET). She was named by CIO Views magazine as one of the 2023 “Top Ten Most Visionary Leaders Transforming Education,” by The Knowledge Review magazine as one of the “Most Inspirational Leaders Empowering the Education Sector in 2024,” and by The Leaders Globe magazine as one of the “Five Most Inspiring Leaders Transforming the Future of Higher Education in 2024.” Darden is a regular speaker both nationally and internationally on the topics of leadership, institutional transformation, and the future of higher education.
Darden received the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and a 2024 Baylor University Distinguished Aluma Award by the Baylor Line Foundation.
![HEI Logo - Blue w Black Black Higher FJ Segue B[70].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1463b5_64a80859a74f44ffb50c775cddf99c5d~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_377,h_144,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/HEI%20Logo%20-%20Blue%20w%20Black%20Black%20Higher%20FJ%20Segue%20B%5B70%5D.png)