You worked hard to get here. You studied and worked. You made decisions that allowed you to enjoy success. And you made some choices that did not turn out as planned, but you met those challenges and learned what would be better for next time. But the work we do is bigger than any one person, even you! Mentoring allows you to share this knowledge with others and support their growth on their own path to success. Learn to guide those around you and amplify the impact of our work beyond what one person can achieve alone.
Retired CTO/Indiana CTO Council CTO2B Co-Leader, Indiana CTO Council
Adela retired as the Chief Technology Officer for Northwest Allen County Schools in Fort Wayne, with the district for 34 years. She served on the boards of Indiana CTO Council, HECC, ICE, UNITE, and IPSUG. She continues to work with the Indiana CTO Council's CTO2B mentorship program... Read More →
In today?s digital-first education environment, school districts rely heavily on cloud platforms like Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365 to power communication, collaboration, and learning. But what happens when critical data is accidentally deleted, maliciously altered, or lost due to ransomware or system failures?
This session explores the growing importance of independent cloud backup and data protection strategies for K-12 institutions. Attendees will learn why native protections from Google and Microsoft are not enough to safeguard against real-world risks such as accidental deletions, insider threats, ransomware attacks, and compliance requirements.
Through real-life case studies from school districts, we?ll demonstrate how organizations have successfully recovered from major data loss incidents?including large-scale account deletions, ransomware infections, and unintended domain cleanups?without disrupting operations. These examples highlight the critical role of having secure, air-gapped backups and rapid recovery capabilities in place.
We will also dive into how modern backup solutions go beyond simple data storage by offering advanced features such as ransomware detection, global search and eDiscovery, sensitive data monitoring (FERPA, HIPAA, PCI), and Google Classroom backup?an increasingly vital need in today?s learning environments.
Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of:
The shared responsibility model and why SaaS providers don?t fully protect your data The most common causes of data loss in K-12 environments Best practices for implementing a comprehensive backup and recovery strategy How to ensure business continuity and meet cybersecurity and insurance requirements
Whether you're an IT leader, administrator, or technology decision-maker, this session will provide practical insights and actionable steps to better protect your district?s most valuable asset?its data.
Schools are investing more than ever in dashboards, reports, and data systems, yet too many of these tools sit unused, collecting digital dust. In this session, participants will explore practical frameworks and principles for designing data products that staff, administrators, and teams actually want to use. Through presentation and group discussion, participants will examine what separates adopted tools from abandoned ones, and walk away with actionable approaches for building custom data products that connect to real decisions and drive outcomes.
