Laura Breeden
Director
America Connects Consortium, Education Development Center

Laura Breeden is the director of the America Connects Consortium (ACC), based at Education Development Center, Inc. in Newton, MA. ACC was established by the U.S. Department of Education in 2000 to strengthen community technology centers across the nation, by providing training, information, tools, and other resources that build organizational effectiveness.

From 1996 to 2000, Ms. Breeden was an independent consultant focusing on Internet strategies and organizational development, based in Menlo Park, California. Her clients included SRI International (Menlo Park), the Morino Institute (Reston, VA), the James Irvine Foundation (San Francisco), and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), as well as other leading institutions that study, develop, and promote the use of network technologies.

From 1994 to 1996, Ms. Breeden was director of a highly competitive, multi-million dollar federal grant program (now known as TOP) designed to demonstrate the benefits of the "information superhighway" in the public sector. Under her leadership, more than 200 organizations received a total of $60 million for innovative community projects, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Ms. Breeden also spent eight years in industry, developing Internet services for educational and research organizations.

Born in Kentucky, she is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Back to participants>>