{"id":540,"date":"2017-04-10T14:33:03","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T18:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/?page_id=540"},"modified":"2025-09-16T16:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:21:07","slug":"eirs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/about\/eirs\/","title":{"rendered":"Our experts in residence"},"content":{"rendered":"

BU Spark!, through the Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, hosts distinguished individuals and alumni as part of its Experts in Residence Program. Experts in residence get deeply involved with Spark! by leading initiatives, providing strategic counsel to the Spark! team, and directly engaging with and supporting students. They also pursue projects with support from student teams. Learn more about the Experts in Residence Program<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Jesse Belanger<\/span><\/h2>\n

Engineering Manager, ezCater<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesse<\/a> is an engineering manager and active BU alum. He currently leads teams at ezCater – a Boston-based \u201cFood for Work\u201d startup – where he focuses on ML and AI-powered products. A 2016 graduate of Boston University\u2019s College of Engineering, he earned a BS in Computer Engineering with a concentration in Technology Innovation. In addition to volunteering with Spark!, Jesse has served on the BU Young Alumni Council and now continues his engagement as a member of the Alumni Council.<\/span><\/p>\n



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Ayora Berry, Ed.D.<\/span><\/h2>\n

VP – AI Product Management, PTC\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ayora<\/span><\/a> is a software product leader and educator with experience in academic, non-profit, and corporate sectors. He takes a holistic approach to problem solving that blends business, design and technology frameworks.\u00a0He is Vice President of AI Product Management at PTC, an engineering software company with 37,000+ customers worldwide. Ayora holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Bachelor of Science in Biology, a Master of Teaching, and a Doctorate in Education. He lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Stephen Ellis<\/span><\/h2>\n

Director of Analytics, BU Sustainability<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stephen<\/a> oversees data collection, analysis, and reporting for BU Sustainability on a range of topics such as energy, waste, green buildings, and transportation, and key reports such as BU\u2019s GHG (greenhouse gas) inventory, and STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System). BU serves as a Committee Member, STARS Steering Committee, and an Advisory Council Member, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).<\/p>\n



\"Picture<\/p>\n

Adam Friedman<\/span><\/h2>\n

Founder and CEO, Civera<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adam<\/a><\/span> is an entrepreneur, political organizer, and full-stack software engineer. He is founder and CEO of Civera, a small software consultancy in Cambridge, whose mission is to liberate public data and improve government transparency. Civera\u2019s flagship product is ElectionStats, a publishing platform used by seven states to make election results and voting statistics far more accessible to the public. Adam has also served as a leading advocate for ranked choice voting. He co-founded Rank the Vote in 2020 and co-founded ranked choice voting organizations in over 20 states, training up volunteer leaders on the grassroots capacity growth model he built and executed as the founder and Executive Director of Voter Choice Massachusetts (VCMA) between 2016 and 2019. VCMA transformed into the YES on 2 ballot measure campaign of 2020 and became the largest statewide movement for ranked choice voting in US history. Adam has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Boston University and resides in Somerville, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

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Kevin Hatchoua<\/span><\/h2>\n

Senior User Experience Designer, Red Hat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since moving to the United States from Cameroon as a child, Kevin<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has always wanted to work to empower children, expand opportunities, and reduce disparities between communities. While working with Mass.gov, Kevin<\/span> focused on helping improve constituent interactions with their government online, making processes easier and more accessible.\u00a0<\/span>As a Senior User Experience Designer, Kevin<\/span> works with Red Hat to improve the discover, learn, try, and onboarding experiences across the open hybrid cloud.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He sits on the board of directors of Virtual Activism and Afrihope, non-profit organizations that focus on strengthening marginalized communities through the use of information and communication technologies and linking them to human rights, development, and sustainable development goals. He also contributes to the PatternFly design system and the Red Hat B.U.I.L.D (Blacks United in Leadership and Diversity) group.<\/span><\/p>\n



\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Hopper<\/span><\/h2>\n

Director, Center for Housing Data at MHP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tom<\/a><\/span> (he\/him) is a housing policy professional and data scientist focused on making complex data sets and policy topics more accessible to a general audience using interactive tools and visualizations. Tom has over 15 years of experience in the affordable housing field, including developing database systems, designing metrics, and creating data tools and analytical reports that provide insight into issues facing affordable housing developments. He has also led public policy research efforts on topics such as transit-oriented development, housing production, affordability, land use, and housing stability. Tom has a bachelor\u2019s degree in economics, a master\u2019s degree in city planning from Boston University, and a master\u2019s degree in urban informatics from Northeastern University.<\/p>\n



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Michelle Johnson<\/span><\/h2>\n

Associate Professor Emerita, Boston University<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michelle<\/span><\/a> is an associate professor emerita at the Boston University Department of Journalism. She retired in 2022, where she taught a variety of courses focused online journalism and media storytelling. She is a former editor of the Boston Globe and Boston.com. A graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, Michelle was awarded the school’s distinguished alumni award<\/a><\/span> in 2020. In 2022, she was the recipient of the <\/span>Online News Association\u2019s Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award<\/a><\/span>, which honors \u201ca senior-level individual who has significantly advanced or made lasting contributions to the field of digital journalism.\u201d She was also inducted into the <\/span>Association of LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame<\/a><\/span> in 2022. Michelle was named 2013 Educator of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists<\/span><\/a>. She served as the very first Academic Representative on the board of the National Association of Black Journalists from 2015 to 2018. She\u00a0writes and edits AI Insider<\/a><\/span>, a newsletter that tracks the latest developments in artificial intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jenna Jordan<\/span><\/h2>\n

Senior Analytics Engineer, Ratio PBC<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a mission-driven data engineer in civic tech,\u00a0Jenna Jordan<\/a> advises public sector clients on data & analytics engineering best practices. Jenna grounds her data engineering work in information science principles and brings a data librarian\u2019s perspective to modern data teams. As a Senior Analytics Engineer with Ratio PBC, Jenna builds data systems that support public health initiatives and Health & Human Services organizations. She has previously worked for Analytics8 as a Senior Data Management Consultant and the City of Boston Analytics Team as a Data Engineer.\u00a0<\/span>As a data engineer, Jenna has expertise in dbt, Python, data modeling, database & data warehouse design, ETL pipelines & orchestration, CI\/CD, data testing, and more. Jenna has a Master\u2019s in Library & Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a BA in Journalism & Political Science from UNC Chapel Hill. Jenna lives in Asheville, NC, with her rescue pup, Bella. You can schedule office hours with Jenna <\/span>here.<\/a><\/p>\n



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Stamatios “Stamati” Liapis<\/span><\/h2>\n

Co-founder and CTO, Enlaye<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stamati<\/a> is the Co-founder and CTO of Enlaye, the AI-native Risk Lifecycle Management™ platform for the build world. He and his team are on a mission to help all actors in the built environment \u2013 contractors, owners, and developers \u2013 build better together. As CTO, he is responsible for the development of Enlaye\u2019s Risk AI, designed to identify, assess, compare, and manage risk at all stages of the project lifecycle. Before launching his venture, Stamati received a PhD in computational neuroscience from Boston University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focused on bridging the gap between human and artificial intelligence, with a special emphasis on learning, memory, and decision-making. His expertise lies at the intersection of AI\/ML, mathematics and graph theory, and cognitive neuroscience. Based out of the Harvard Innovation Labs in Boston, Stamati is passionate about applying AI to solve real-world problems and mentoring the next generation of tech innovators. He is also an avid runner and foodie.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


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Jack Lull<\/span><\/h2>\n

Principal Scientist, Adobe + Program Lead at Launch Lab<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jack<\/a> is a longtime veteran of the software industry in the Boston area and has served in both technical and senior management roles at four successful startups. He’s currently a Principal Scientist at Adobe, primarily focused on architecture for large-scale software-as-a-service products. Jack is a three-time graduate of Boston University with a BS\/MS in Computer Science and an MBA. He currently resides in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.<\/span><\/p>\n


\"Paul<\/h2>\n

Singer\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Senior Editor, Equity & Justice, GBH News<\/strong><\/p>\n

Singer is the Senior Editor, Equity & Justice at GBH News, leading a team of four focused on amplifying voices and communities in the Boston area that have long been overlooked. Singer previously served as Investigative Editor for the GBH News Center for Investigative reporting, where he spearheaded GBH\u2019s\u00a0Life After Prison\u00a0<\/b><\/a>series documenting the challenges faced by thousands of people in Massachusetts who return from incarceration each year. With a group of Boston University students, Singer also led the creation of the interactive project “\u00a0Mapping the Enslavement History of the Freedom Trail.\u00a0<\/b><\/a>” <\/span>Prior to moving to Boston in 2018, Singer served as Politics Editor for USA Today, White House Correspondent for the UPI wire service, and stage manager\/roadie for the National Folk Festival in Lowell (and other cities).
<\/span><\/p>\n

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Russ Wilcox<\/span><\/h2>\n

Founder and CEO, ArtifexAI<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Russ<\/a> is a leading expert in artificial intelligence and smart city technology, specializing in data-driven urban governance solutions. As Founder and CEO of ArtifexAI, he designed advanced AI systems that transform fragmented municipal data into unified intelligence platforms for smarter city management and infrastructure planning. A physics honors graduate from Boston University with advanced AI certification from MIT, he served as an expert witness in U.S. Federal Courts and the State of California on matters of artificial intelligence and data science. He regularly advised state and federal policymakers on AI implementation and has been featured in Forbes for his contributions to smart city innovation. His insights have been shared at venues including MIT’s Imagination in Action and Davos side events. He is a Distinguished Member of the American Society for AI and a member of Lives Amplified, where he engages with global leaders on initiatives that bridge AI, policy, innovation, and social impact.<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/p>\n

Carl Williams<\/span><\/h2>\n

Associate Clinical Professor, Cornell Law School
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carlton<\/a><\/span> (he\/him) is an associate professor of clinical law at Cornell Law School. He is a movement lawyer and organizer dedicated to building and supporting liberation struggles. He has practiced criminal and civil rights law in Massachusetts for many years. He began his legal career as a criminal attorney with the Roxbury Defenders and later served as a racial justice attorney with a national civil liberties non-profit. Carlton has been an advocate on issues of war, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, and Black and Palestinian liberation. He is a member of the National Lawyers Guild and has served as the chair of its Massachusetts board of directors. He was part of the legal defense for the Occupy Boston movement, providing legal, bail, and court support and training to the thousands of participant-organizers. In 2015, he served on the working group that organized the inaugural Law for Black Lives convening and was a featured speaker in its RadTalks event. He has taught issues of social justice and the law at Northeastern University School of Law and Yale Law School. Carlton was the executive director of the Water Protector Legal Collective, defending and supporting Indigenous environmental justice and sovereignty. <\/span><\/span>He is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, the Pre-Law Summer Institute for Native Americans, and the University of Wisconsin Law School.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BU Spark!, through the Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, hosts distinguished individuals and alumni as part of its Experts in Residence Program. Experts in residence get deeply involved with Spark! by leading initiatives, providing strategic counsel to the Spark! team, and directly engaging with and supporting students. They also pursue projects with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8550,"featured_media":0,"parent":12,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8125,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540\/revisions\/8125"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}