About Us
Our Vision
We envision a world where educational, civic, and commercial organizations work together to support learning powered by the diverse interests, culture, and agency of young people.
Our Work
We connect and coordinate a network of organizations, innovators, and thought leaders by providing operational and communications support for projects and events that advance the vision and values of connected learning.
Our college counselors support our Connected Camps programs, and we work in collaboration with the Connected Learning Lab team.
Our Team
Cindy Hau
Creative Communications Manager
Cindy Hau is the Creative Communications Manager for Connected Camps and The Connected Learning Alliance. Cindy currently manages CLA’s social media accounts, and supports the organization with web maintenance and development of visual assets.
Elissa Alves
Head of Administration
Elissa Alves is the Head of Administration for Connected Camps and The Connected Learning Alliance. Previously she worked as an editorial and operations associate at a literary agency. Elissa holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from Drew University.
Victor Lazo
Chief Operating Officer
Victor is the Chief Operating Officer for Connected Camps and The Connected Learning Alliance. He holds a Bachelors in Computer Science and a Masters in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge.
Leadership
Barak Berkowitz
Board Member
Currently Director of Operations and Strategy at the MIT Media Lab, Executive Chairman of Digital Garage, and the CEO of MarketCentrix, a strategic consultancy. Barak previously served as CEO of Evi, a virtual personal assistant. Prior to Evi, Barak was Managing Director of Wolfram|Alpha, the award winning “Computational Knowledge Engine.”
Carina Wong
Board Member
Carina Wong is the Deputy Director and Senior Advisor for Innovation at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her portfolio includes investments that seek to dramatically accelerate student success and improve the quality of teaching and learning in public schools today. Carina has worked in education in a variety of roles at the national, state, and local levels for over twenty years. She is a mother of three young children and is currently a Deputy Director on the College Ready team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Janella Watson
Board Member
Janella Watson is an international speaker and educational consultant, with expertise in creativity, play and experiential learning. Drawing on more than 20 years of work as a researcher and practitioner in children’s museums and science centers, she is renowned for creating curriculum, media content, programs, exhibits and experiences that center equity and spark joy, learning and whole family engagement. Janella lives, works and plays in Providence, RI with her husband and her curious and kind kid.
Joichi Ito
Board Member
Joichi currently runs Neoteny and is the co-founder and a board member of Digital Garage. Previous boards he served include The New York Times Company, Sony Corporation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He served as director of the MIT Media Lab from 2011 to 2019.
Katie Salen
Executive Director
Katie is the co-founder and Executive Director of Connected Camps and also a Professor in the Informatics Department at UCI. Katie’s background mixes expertise in game design, learning, play, and youth development. Katie loves working with teams to design programs that have positive impacts on kids, preferably using games to do so!
Lili Cheng
Board Member
Lili Cheng is a Corporate Vice President of the Microsoft AI and Research division, responsible for the AI developer platform. Prior to Microsoft, Lili worked in Apple Computer’s Advanced Technology Group on the user interface research team where she focused on QuickTime Conferencing and QuickTime VR. Lili is also a registered architect, having worked in Tokyo and Los Angeles for Nihon Sekkei and Skidmore Owings and Merrill on commercial urban design and large-scale building projects. She has also taught at New York University and Harvard University.
Mimi Ito
Director
Mimi is the Director of Connected Camps and Director of the Connected Learning Lab at UC Irvine. She is a cultural anthropologist and learning scientist by training, whose work has focused on how online communities can support learning. Connected Camps has been an effort that has grown out of this research, and collaborations with the Connected Learning Research Network which Mimi helped lead for over a decade.
Supporters
We are a nonprofit organization that relies on generous contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and public agencies. Our indirect cost recovery rate for federal grants is 10%. We thank the Aphorism Foundation, Chiba Institute of Technology, the Connected Learning Lab, Kaoru Hayashi, Joi Ito, Microsoft Research, Pivotal Ventures, the Samueli Foundation, the Siegal Family Endowment, the John Templeton Foundation, the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund, and Experience Camps for their partnership and support of Connected Camps, the Connected Learning Summit, and the Connected Learning Alliance.