Cuevas, Luthra, Ramsden recognized with the association’s top honor
The Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS), the only professional association for independent school technology directors, announced the recognition of three highly accomplished professionals as 2021 ATLIS Pillar Award winners:
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Hiram Cuevas, Director of Information Services and Academic Technology, St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, Virginia
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Dr. Shabbi Luthra, CEO and Founder, Consilience Education Foundation, New Delhi, India
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Jason Ramsden, Chief Information Officer, Ravenscroft School, Raleigh, North Carolina
Established in 2018, the ATLIS Pillar Award program was initiated to bring attention to those often unsung heroes who exemplify the pillars of the ATLIS mission—to empower schools to thrive through technology leadership.
“We’ve been honoring some of the stand-out thought leaders in the independent school technology space for several years, and this year’s Pillar Award winners are particularly meaningful given the seismic changes that took place in education in the past year,” said Dawn Klus, ATLIS Board Chair and Accreditation Director for ISACS, Chicago. “Hiram, Shabbi, and Jason have built notable careers as leaders in our community, and each is well known for being a selfless contributor to our profession. We are fortunate to have this opportunity to recognize them for all they’ve done to serve the community.”
About the honorees:
Hiram Cuevas
Hiram Cuevas joined St. Christopher’s, Richmond, Virginia, in 1991 as a middle school science teacher, advisor, and coach. During his tenure, he also served as the Middle School Technology Coordinator, the Director of Summer Programs, and he is currently the Director of Information Systems and Academic Technology where he holds the Charles S. Luck II ‘51 Chair of Academic Technology.
Cuevas and his team successfully integrated technology into the curriculum and led the deployment of the school's student information system, 1:1 BYOLaptop program, and website. He was also instrumental in earning recognition for St. Christopher's School as the Spotlight School at the Lausanne Learning Conference in 2015.
In addition to being a Google Certified Teacher, he is also the Executive Director of Blackbaud’s K-12 Advisory Board, a senior collaborator with Educational Collaborators, has served as the chair of the VAIS Technology Committee, and has presented at ATLIS, NAIS, VAIS, the Lausanne Learning Conference, and Blackbaud’s K-12 User’s Conference. Cuevas has also served as a mentor for the ATLIS Leadership Institute and on ATLIS’s conference planning committee.
Cuevas holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in education from the College of William and Mary and is a member of the College’s Athletics Hall of Fame in Track and Field. He and his wife Grace, a teacher at Saint Gertrude High School, have three children: Gracie, Joey, and Aubrey.
Dr. Shabbi Luthra
Dr. Shabbi Luthra has worked for more than three decades in various teaching and leadership roles in the field of educational technology and innovation leadership in independent international schools. Her expertise includes envisioning, deploying, and providing guidance in the areas of technology integration programs, staff development, building technology leadership at all levels of a school, and innovation leadership and management in schools and organizations.
Her work is focused on the development of stakeholder ownership, and on the creation of learning environments that support students’ acquisition of skills for their future. She has led research in laptop learning programs and started the International Research Collaborative, a consortium of international schools that research and study their laptop programs. She presents workshops and seminars at conferences around the world and provides consultative advice to schools on technology planning, technology integration, and innovation leadership. She has served as director of Research and Development at the American School of Bombay and has led educators to study, design, prototype, and research new designs of schooling and sustainable innovation for relevant learning.
The co-author of R&D Your School: How to Start, Grow, and Sustain Your School’s Innovation Engine, she has also led the publication of seven volumes of Future Forwards, a research publication that captures the innovation ideas and prototypes at the American School of Bombay and beyond. She is leading the use of data to inform learning in schools through the design of learning analytics and data visualizations in the Learning Analytics Collaborative. One of her graduate degrees is a master’s degree in education (curriculum and instruction) from the University of Houston. She also holds a doctorate in educational media and technology from Boston University.
Jason Ramsden
Beginning his career in 1990, Jason brings 31 years of experience to his role as Chief Information Officer for Ravenscroft School. For the last 24 years, Ramsden has dedicated his career to improving technology in independent schools both on the instructional, infrastructure, and informational levels.
A sought after speaker and presenter, Ramsden has given more than 30 presentations on topics that have included leadership, data and research, enrollment management, technology, and social media for organizations including: National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), National Business Officers Association (NBOA), Enrollment Management Association (EMA), Association for Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS), Mid-South Independent School Business Officers (MISBO), Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS), and the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools (NCAIS). A co-author of Communicating and Connecting with Social Media from Solution Tree, Ramsden has also contributed thought leadership articles to a wide variety of industry publications.
Ramsden has been an ATLIS board member since 2016, and was the first non-founder Board Chair to lead the organization. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Loyola University and a master’s degree in education, administration and supervision, from Fordham University.
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) was founded in 2014 as the only national professional association addressing the unique challenges of independent school technology directors. ATLIS includes more than 200 member schools and more than 1,000 individual members throughout the United States. Serving both the instructional technology and information technology professionals, ATLIS offers programming, community, and resources.