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ATLIS Announces 2022 Pillar Award Winners

By Kelsea Watson posted 03-22-2022 09:13 AM

  

ATLIS Pillar Award Winners Ally Wenzel, Sarah Hanawald, Alex InmanATLIS Announces 2022 Pillar Award Winners

Hanawald, Inman, Wenzel recognized with association’s top honor


March 22, 2022—The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS), the only professional association for independent school technology directors, announced today the recognition of three highly accomplished professionals as 2022 ATLIS Pillar Award winners:

  • Sarah Hanawald, Senior Director of Academic Leaders
  • Alex Inman, Chief Academic Officer, STS Education 
  • Ally Wenzel, Director of Technology, Stevenson School (California) 


Established in 2018, the ATLIS Pillar Award program was initiated to bring attention to those often unsung heroes who exemplify the ATLIS mission—to empower schools to thrive through technology leadership.

“The Pillar Awards mean a lot to the ATLIS community every year, but this year’s class of honorees stands out in a particularly meaningful way,” said Dawn Jenkins Klus, ATLIS Board Chair and Accreditation Director for ISACS, Chicago. “Sarah, Alex, and Ally all played instrumental roles in the early days of ATLIS, contributing selflessly to establishing the organization in a manner that paved the way for future growth and success. Each is a visionary thought leader and even their quietest contributions have made a lasting impact on our profession. We are honored to call attention to their efforts and recognize their service to ATLIS.”


About the honorees:

Sarah Hanawald 

Sarah Hanawald has worked in four different independent schools, three in North Carolina, and one online, where she's been a teacher, advisor, technology director, dorm parent, and academic dean. She's covered a lot of variety within those schools, working in day/boarding coeducational/all-girls, K-12, and high school. She has worked in association leadership for the past several years, previously at ATLIS, the One to One Institute, and most currently is with the Association for Academic Leaders.  She joined One Schoolhouse in February 2020 (yes, that's the date) to lead professional learning.

Outside of school, Sarah lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her spouse and two teenagers. She enjoys running (slowly) and reads omnivorously. She shares that, like a lot of families, she's been cooking at home a lot more lately, but can't wait to get back out on the road, traveling for One Schoolhouse and with her family.


Alex Inman

Alex Inman has dedicated his career to advancing educational technology by pulling together the "doers" in the industry -- even before "the edtech industry" existed. Very early in his career, he was given the choice of a debate director position at a prestigious school in the northeast or a newly created technology director position at University Lake School, a rural school in Wisconsin. He chose the latter and launched one of the earliest student 1:1 programs in the country and the first in the state. While serving as the Director of Technology and Library Services at Whitfield School, Alex launched one of the biggest Linux 1:1 programs in the world, where his students contributed to global open source projects. While there, he founded Educational Collaborators, an international consulting and professional development organization of more than 140 education experts, including numerous previous Pillar Award recipients. Believing in the power of “doers,” Alex continued in tech leadership at Whitfield and then Sidwell Friends School before committing to Educational Collaborators full-time in 2015. In 2021, Education Collaborators was acquired by STS Education, where Alex continues his progress-driven collaboration and serves as Chief Academic Officer. Alex earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in communication and education from Marquette University and is active in multiple nonprofits that address the unique needs of children and adults with autism and epilepsy.


Ally Wenzel

Ally Wenzel serves as the Director of Technology at Stevenson School, a PK-12 day/boarding school with 750 students and 30 buildings on 50 acres of land and two campuses, in Pebble Beach and Carmel, California. Ally holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a master’s degree in Instructional Science and Technology from California State University. With more than 10 years experience in industry and 20+ years in independent education, Ally brings a wealth of experience leading and managing all aspects of an enterprise network including business processes, data workflow, all levels of physical infrastructure, database integration, authentication, access control, cloud technologies and cyber security. Ally currently serves on the faculty of the ATLIS Leadership Institute program for aspiring technology leaders, presents at annual conferences and consults with schools across the globe to share best practices from her lived and learned experience.


For more information and to learn more about previous Pillar Award winners, visit the Pillar Award page.


About ATLIS

The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) is a growing association of more than 250 independent schools dedicated to empowering schools to thrive through technology leadership. Founded in 2014 to address the unique challenges of independent school technology directors, the organization has now expanded to support all aspects of technology at schools, ensuring that they are equipped for the future. Across all dimensions of its practice, ATLIS is also dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive association. Learn more at theATLIS.org. 

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05-05-2022 04:46 PM

Congrats Sarah, Alex, and Ally!

03-23-2022 12:24 PM

Congratulations Sarah, Alex, and Ally! I feel so grateful to have benefited from your leadership, inspiration, and knowledge. Well-deserved and I understand the hard work it takes to achieve all that you accomplish. Thank you for everything you do for us in the EdTech/technology community!

03-23-2022 08:28 AM

Congrats !