- eCampus News - https://www.ecampusnews.com -

Speakers Announced for Ellucian Live: Founders of Life is good® and Back On My Feet Will Address Annual User Conference

FAIRFAX, Va. – January 14, 2013 – Two successful entrepreneurs with optimistic visions will open and close the Ellucian Live user conference April 7-10 in Philadelphia, Pa.

Approximately 8,500 participants from 2,400 higher education institutions around the world are expected to attend Ellucian Live with a common purpose: to embrace new ideas, develop new insights, and design new approaches to help education move forward.

Bert Jacobs, co-founder and chief executive officer of Life is good will deliver the opening keynote. In 1994, Bert and his brother John printed 45 T-shirts with a smiling stick figure and the words, “Life is good.” They promptly sold out, and today the Life is good Company is a $100 million apparel enterprise. Jacobs will talk about the company’s deeper purpose: the Life is good Playmakers program that helps kid overcome poverty, violence, and illness by spreading optimism and using the power of joyful play to help them heal and build strength. The program has certified more than 3,500 child care professionals and consistently receives high praise for its joyful and transformative training.

Anne M. Mahlum, founder and chief executive officer of Back on My Feet (BoMF), will close the conference by sharing her experiences in building confidence, strength, and self-esteem among the homeless and other underserved populations. BoMF is a national, privately-funded, nonprofit organization that engages these populations in running as a means to develop equality, respect, discipline, teamwork, and leadership. Fifty percent of its members successfully move from dependency to an independent lifestyle.

Other notable speakers at the conference include:
• Paul DePodesta, vice president of player development and scouting for the New York Mets, entrepreneur, and subject of the 2011 movie, “Moneyball”. DePodesta’s work has been recognized in various publications including Fortune magazine where he was named one of the “Top Ten Innovators Under 40”.

• Warren Arbogast, founder of Boulder Management Group. An artist, writer, and communications expert, Arbogast has consulted leaders of prominent organizations, including Nike and Pfizer, as well as institutions of higher education including Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania. He helps audiences see the world differently, more clearly, and more creatively, enabling them to clarify their goals, develop meaningful commitment strategies, create relevant accountability structures, and continue helpful self-evaluation processes.

• Deborah Santiago, co-founder and vice president of policy and research for ¡Excelencia in Education!, an organization that aims to accelerate higher education success for Latino students. Santiago has spent more than 15 years leading research and policy efforts at the community and national levels to improve educational opportunities and success for all students.

For more information, visit http://www.ellucian.com/EllucianLive/

About Ellucian
Ellucian helps education institutions thrive in an open and dynamic world. We deliver a broad portfolio of technology solutions, developed in collaboration with a global education community, and provide strategic guidance to help education institutions of all kinds navigate change, achieve greater transparency, and drive efficiencies. More than 2,400 institutions in 40 countries around the world look to Ellucian for the ideas and insights that will move education forward, helping people everywhere discover their futures through learning. Visit ellucian.com.

Visit Ellucian at www.ellucian.com, follow Ellucian on Twitter (@EllucianInc), and like Ellucian on Facebook (/EllucianInc).

For More Information
Ellucian
Laura Kvinge
Tel: 801.257.4158
laura.kvinge@ellucian.com

Ellucian™ is a trademark of Ellucian Company L.P. or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.