Keynote Speakers

Steve has spent his 25-year technology career building businesses organically—and has seen companies through 20+ acquisitions along the way. Before joining us at Instructure, Steve was the CEO of LANDESK/Ivanti for 13 years. Prior to that, he served as SVP of corporate strategy at Avocent after they acquired his startup, Soronti. Steve also spent 10 years directing marketing for Intel. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in strategy and finance from Brigham Young University.

With over a decade of experience in education technology, Zach Pendleton acts today as Chief Architect at Instructure. Working closely with educators across the globe and with our engineering and product teams, he seeks to extend the reach of education and grow its impact. He’s shared his passion at conferences across the world, and has been featured in a number of technology and education podcasts. Zach holds a BS in English Literature from Utah State, and a J.D. from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School.

Rachel is a serial entrepreneur, tech executive, and customer success pioneer with deep experience strengthening customer relationships across the Fortune 1000. Her diverse background includes experience working with startups and Fortune 100 companies, where she has helped scale businesses from under $10M to over $1B at IBM. Rachel has committed her 25-year career to driving customer success and brings extensive experience leading high-performing account management, customer success, professional services, and support teams. She holds an MBA from Georgia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Shiren has built global software products for millions of users, for over two decades, with more than half of his time in education. He previously served as Chief Product Officer at Newsela, a K–12 content platform, and at General Assembly, the pioneer of career transformation education. He has a master’s degree in interactive media from Quinnipiac University and a bachelor’s degree in communications from St. Cloud State University.

Melissa serves as Chief Academic Officer for Instructure, where she drives the company’s global academic strategy. With extensive experience as an educator in both K–12 and higher education institutions and in edtech executive leadership positions, she advocates for educators worldwide to have the necessary resources as they face ever-increasing educational barriers. Melissa currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the education industry non-profit 1EdTech, is an instructor at the University of California, Irvine, and holds several advisory roles at other organizations. She has a master’s degree in educational policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.