Sean Applegate serves as Chief Technology Officer for Swish, where he leads innovation strategy, solutions, and services. Sean is passionate about delivering life cycle services to ensure clients realize maximum value for technology investments.
Prior to joining Swish, Sean spent nine years with Riverbed Technology helping large enterprises understand, optimize and control performance of global IT architectures. He filled several technical leadership roles at Riverbed, including Senior Director of the Portfolio Solutions Group and Public Sector Technology Strategist.
Before Riverbed, Sean worked with several OEMs doing business in the Public Sector. He has also worked as a technology consultant and served as an active-duty United States Marine.

Kelley Baran is a seasoned executive administrator with 24 years of experience in higher education. She has been an integral part of Bridgewater State University since 2010, where she currently serves as the Associate Vice President for Information Technology. Kelley's expertise spans Technology and Student Services, where she has demonstrated proficiency in Application Support, Data Analytics, Service Management, Financial Aid, and Enrollment Management. Her leadership style, characterized by a blend of creativity, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking, empowers her to drive positive outcomes. Kelley excels in strategic planning, resource management, organizational theory and analysis, and team building. She holds a Master’s Degree in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies from Boston University, obtained in 2020. Kelley's servant leadership approach, combined with her ability to individualize and inspire her team, makes her a valuable asset in the ever-evolving landscape of higher education.

Ronald M. Bergmann most recently served as Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Lehman College/CUNY. At Lehman, Ron and his team pioneered the use of analytics, automated major business processes, enhanced classroom technology, and opened the first virtual reality lab in the region. Lehman was cited as an exemplar in the 2018 Horizon Report for its innovative Lehman 360 digital platform. Ron is a fellow of the EDUCAUSE/CLIR Frye (now Leading Change) Institute and was named in 2017 as one of the nation’s top technologists, transformers, and trailblazers by the Center for Digital Education.
Ron previously served as first deputy commissioner of New York City's information technology agency where he was selected by Government Technology Magazine as one of the nation's leading individuals redefining and advancing technology's role in government. 

Marcus is the Vice President for Finance and Administration at Massachusetts Bay Community College, overseeing the college’s finance, administration, budget, and audit operations. He began his tenure at the college in 2016 as the Assistant Controller, following a seven-year stint as Director of Finance and Administration at Quebec Labrador Foundation. During his career at Massachusetts Bay Community College, Marcus has advanced through roles including Assistant Controller, Controller, Interim Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration, and Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration.
Before joining Quebec Labrador Foundation, Marcus worked as an auditor at RSM US LLP for three and a half years. He is a product of the Massachusetts Community College and State University systems, earning a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2005 and 2009, respectively. Additionally, he obtained an Associate of Science in Accounting and Business Transfer from Northern Essex Community College in 2003. Marcus has been a licensed CPA in Massachusetts since 2009.

Charles Elliott is a Field CTO and Practice Lead within Google Cloud dedicated to empowering state, local, and education customers with cutting-edge AI solutions. His expertise lies in leveraging Google Cloud's vast capabilities to transform public services, accelerate research and scale development teams. With over 15 years of experience in Big Data, Analytics, and AI, Charles has a proven track record of helping clients design and implement innovative cloud-based solutions that streamline government operations, enhance community engagement, and optimize workloads.  Charles is also a trusted technical advisor to research institutions and actively champions the integration of cloud technologies in government and academic advisory boards.

Patrick Laughran is an experienced information systems professional, entrepreneur, and educator. He is the current Chief Information Officer at Framingham State University with experience as a practitioner working at the intersection of information systems management, digital product and service design, and business strategy accumulated during an extensive career that includes executive level positions at for profit and non-profit institutions where he led numerous large-scale initiatives, product design and development teams, and service organizations:
• 20+ Years of Experience as Chief Information Officer
• 5 Years of Experience as Founding Chief Technology Officer (Combined for 2 Start-ups)
• 30+ Years of Experience in Information Systems Management
Mr. Laughran is the former founding Chief Technology Officer of two successful entrepreneurial ventures; WebCT which was sold for $180 million in 2006 and TechTarget which went public with a $100 million IPO in 2007 (NASDAQ: TTGT).
Patrick is also a part-time lecturer for Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business and Washington State University’s Carlson College of Business where he has taught graduate, undergraduate, and certificate program courses on entrepreneurship, information systems, and business analytics. His current areas of interest include the transformational capabilities of evolving technologies, the interrelationships between human beings and information systems, and innovation as a driver of enterprise growth.
Mr. Laughran earned his B.S.B.A. in Management Information Systems from Northeastern University and then went on to obtain an M.B.A. in Marketing from the F.W. Olin Graduate School at Babson College.

Ray Lefebvre is Vice Chancellor of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at UMass Boston. With 40+ years’ leadership and information technology experience – the last 17 within higher education, including UMass Boston, Bridgewater State University and the UMass Medical School – Mr. Lefebvre, together with his teams, have enriched student learning, increased efficiencies and enhanced communications while reducing costs, improving service delivery, and strengthening regional partnerships.
Throughout his career, Mr. Lefebvre has directed his considerable expertise and energy to improving and enhancing delivery of technological services and applying his influential leadership style to inspiring, energizing and empowering each and every member of his team to “own” his/her piece of a shared vision for the future by focusing on getting the right work done right, on time, on budget, with pride and purpose.

Eric V. LePage is the Executive Director of the Teaching & Technology Center (TTC) at Bridgewater State University. Under his leadership, the TTC empowers Bridgewater State's faculty and librarians by providing training, instructional design, and support services for enhancing teaching and learning using academic technologies in traditional and online classes. Eric collaborates with regional partners on academic technology initiatives, oversees the provision of academic technology consultation services, academic technology research, the promotion of academic technologies and associated pedagogical practices, and the administration of the Blackboard Ultra Learning Management System. Eric has worked in Information Technology at Bridgewater State since 1999. Eric has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses at Bridgewater State since 2006.

Professional IT problem solver for over three decades. Highly effective and driven higher education IT executive, project manager and solutions engineer. Accomplished IT consultant for several managed services firms, servicing a wide array of industries. Passionate educator, lifelong learner, mentor, and faculty member. My goal is to build the best IT operations and teams in higher education.

Kathleen Kirleis has served as the Vice-Chancellor for Administration and Finance at the University of Massachusetts Boston since April 2017. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Vice-President of Finance and Administration at MassBay Community College from 2014-2017. Before entering higher education, Kathleen served for 14 years at the City of Boston as the Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Finance at the Boston Fire Department from 2005-2014 and Chief Financial Officer of the Boston Public Library from 2000-2005.
Kathleen’s greatest passion during her 35-year career is building the necessary financial and administrative infrastructures to empower organizations to thrive financially so that they can more closely focus on their core missions. As a member of UMass Boston’s leadership team, she has played a major role in implementing the university’s Strategic Plan, For the Times, whose top strategic priority is student success.
Kathleen received a B.S. from the State University of Plattsburgh in Accounting and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. She is a CPA and attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Don Vescio co-chairs the Massachusetts Artificial Intelligence Council for Higher Education (MACH), a collaboration of state universities and community colleges. He is a Professor of English at Worcester State University, where he also leads IT, professional development, and strategic planning initiatives. Previously, he served as the university's Vice President of Information Technologies and later as its first Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing, where he introduced advanced data analytics. Don consults in both the private sector and higher education, finding that his liberal arts training complements his expertise in information systems, offering a unique perspective on navigating rapidly evolving digital environments.

Purpose, pride, and passion define Steve Zuromski’s 20 years of leveraging technology to meet the ever-increasing challenges fundamental to higher education. As Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Bridgewater State University, he is responsible for developing and communicating IT strategy and leading his team to successful completion of stated objectives.
Guided by his philosophy of value-based leadership, Mr. Zuromski took a leading role to bring an enterprise cyber range and expanded cybersecurity educational programming to the university while in parallel working with local and state officials to help foster an advanced cyber ecosystem for the state of Massachusetts. As a result of these and other efforts, Bridgewater State University is recognized as a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence by Cyber Trust Massachusetts, a consortium of university members in the region. Mr. Zuromski served as the inaugural chair of the Higher Education Cybersecurity Coordinating Committee, a recommending body designed to strengthen the overall cybersecurity readiness and resiliency of the public higher education institutions in the Commonwealth.
Mr. Zuromski’s responsibilities include overseeing all of the university’s critical business applications, technology infrastructure, cybersecurity, and service management functions. Additionally, he is co-chair of the BSU’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee and the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee.
Hired in 2004 as a Technical Support Specialist, he assumed increasing responsibilities from Assistant Director of Networking to Assistant Vice President of Infrastructure, Associate Vice President of Information Technology to his current position as Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, a well-earned progression in Mr. Zuromski’s professional journey.
Innovation and collaboration, combined with purpose, pride, and passion drive Mr. Zuromski’s service-minded approach to forging strategic partnerships with members of the university community and beyond. IT’s vision statement – “Fearless pursuit of service excellence through strategic technology partnerships and innovative digital transformations” – is a daily mantra for Mr. Zuromski, not a vague promise. He is not only committed to bringing value to the institution by way of cutting-edge technology solutions, but also at the same time, generating additional revenue through diverse relationships and skillful management of vendor contracts.
Mr. Zuromski is a true son of Bridgewater, having earned his bachelor’s degree in management information systems and his master’s degree in Technology Management from BSU. He holds multiple industry certifications from ITIL (Foundations & Practitioner), Cisco, and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.
He appreciates the personal nature of the campus, understands the culture of the institution, and has an authentic interest in ensuring the success of all students, faculty, and staff.