Digital and Online Learning Advisory Board
The Digital and Online Learning Advisory Board brings together a diverse group of educators, technologists, and institutional leaders dedicated to shaping the future of digital education. Our mission is to provide strategic guidance, foster innovation, and support the development of high-quality, accessible online learning experiences. Through collaboration and thought leadership, we aim to ensure that digital education meets the evolving needs of students, faculty, and institutions.
Julie Curtis is a strategist and storyteller with a versatile skill set honed through rich edtech industry experience. Currently she serves as VP Growth & Strategy at Pressbooks, a digital publishing platform used widely to create, adapt, and localize learning materials. Throughout her career, Julie has worked at the intersection of learning and technology to build teams, brands, and products that become indispensable partners to the organizations they serve. Prior to Pressbooks, Julie worked with courseware pioneer Lumen Learning, where she directed successful pilot programs and product launches in multiple categories associated with evidence-based teaching and learning. With Ellucian, working in higher education enterprise software, Julie led brand marketing, strategic communications, market intelligence, and analyst relations. Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in English Composition from Brigham Young University and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Evidence-based teaching and learning strategies are of particular interest, as well as student engagement, creating a sense of belonging in the educational environment, and the intersection of AI, education, and the workplace. I have significant experience in the areas of digital courseware, open education, digital publishing, and professional learning for faculty.
Mary Jane Pettola is an accomplished customer success and technology leader with over a decade of experience driving client retention, revenue growth, and the strategic adoption of SaaS and EdTech platforms. She is best known for building and leading high-performing, cross-functional teams, with a specialization in customer lifecycle management, onboarding excellence, and cultivating long-term enterprise relationships.
In her role as a Senior Manager of Client Success, Mary Jane leads initiatives that help organizations maximize the value of their technology investments while improving satisfaction across entire systems. She has successfully developed and implemented scalable onboarding, training, and engagement processes that ensure client goals are met and long-term adoption is achieved.
Her background includes leadership roles at Echo360, Portfolium, Parchment, and Turning Technologies, where she managed strategic partnerships across educational institutions, corporations, and public sector entities.
Certified in Success Coaching and Customer Success Management, Mary Jane brings a consultative, results-driven approach to organizations seeking to align technology with the evolving needs of learners, faculty, and administrators. She is well-versed in change management and cross-departmental collaboration.
A multiple-time Customer Hero award recipient, she has been featured as a conference presenter, panel leader, and guest lecturer. Her goal is always to bring thought leadership and executional excellence to every engagement.
Mary Jane is passionate about helping organizations not only achieve ROI, but also ROE, Return on Education, by aligning technology with strategic goals that drive lasting impact.
Dr. Nicole Pride serves as the Program Performance Officer for UNCF, where she leads digital and online learning strategies across Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), including HBCUv a shared digital learning & community engagement platform designed by HBCUs for HBCUs to improve student outcomes, expand enrollment, bolster faculty and staff capacity, and increase institutional health and sustainability.
Pride has held various executive positions where she utilized her diverse skillset to engineer strategies to overhaul brand perception; enhance operational excellence; increase student success; mitigate crises; and advance mission-driven organizational change. She has served as a university president, chief of staff, chief communications officer, vice provost for academic strategy and operations, vice chancellor of university advancement, and associate vice chancellor for university relations. Prior to her service in these roles at West Virginia State University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Pride served as vice president for development and communications at Child Care Services Association in Chapel Hill, N.C. She also served in numerous capacities at IBM including marketing program manager, corporate learning division and manager of corporate community relations and public affairs for nearly a decade.
Pride’s honors include the Triad Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business award, North Carolina A&T Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and PR News’ Top Women in Public Relations — the prestigious award that recognizes women at the forefront of public relations across the U.S. who have made bold advances in developing brand messages, as well as protecting and building brand reputations among other things. Pride earned bachelor’s degrees in business management and economics from North Carolina State University, a master’s in corporate and public communications from Seton Hall University, and a doctorate in leadership studies from North Carolina A&T State University. She is married to Brian Jay Bulluck, a mother to three grown sons, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.