{"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":"2026-07-09T13:11:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T17:11:37","slug":"eirs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/about\/eirs\/","title":{"rendered":"Our experts in residence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

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.<\/p>\n

About the EIR Program \u2192<\/a>Become an Expert in Residence \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Jesse<\/p>\n
\n
Jesse Belanger<\/div>\n
Engineering Manager, ezCater<\/div>\n

Jesse<\/a> is an engineering manager and active BU alum. He currently leads teams at ezCater \u2013 a Boston-based \u201cFood for Work\u201d startup \u2013 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Ayora<\/p>\n
\n
Ayora Berry Ed.D.<\/span><\/div>\n
VP \u2013 AI Product Management, PTC<\/div>\n

Ayora<\/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. He 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Stephen<\/p>\n
\n
Stephen Ellis<\/div>\n
Director of Analytics, BU Sustainability<\/div>\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). He serves as a Committee Member on the STARS Steering Committee, and an Advisory Council Member on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Adam<\/p>\n
\n
Adam Friedman<\/div>\n
Founder and CEO, Civera<\/div>\n

Adam<\/a> 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 ranked choice voting organizations in over 20 states, and was founder and Executive Director of Voter Choice Massachusetts (2016\u20132019), which 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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Kevin<\/p>\n
\n
Kevin Hatchoua<\/div>\n
Senior User Experience Designer, Red Hat<\/div>\n

Since moving to the United States from Cameroon as a child, Kevin<\/a> has always wanted to empower children, expand opportunities, and reduce disparities between communities. While working with Mass.gov, Kevin focused on improving constituent interactions with their government online, making processes easier and more accessible. As a Senior User Experience Designer, Kevin works with Red Hat to improve the discover, learn, try, and onboarding experiences across the open hybrid cloud. He sits on the board of directors of Virtual Activism and Afrihope, non-profits that strengthen marginalized communities through information and communication technologies, and contributes to the PatternFly design system and the Red Hat B.U.I.L.D. group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n
\n
Tom Hopper<\/div>\n
Director, Center for Housing Data at MHP<\/div>\n

Tom<\/a> (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. He has also led public policy research on transit-oriented development, housing production, affordability, land use, and housing stability. Tom has a bachelor\u2019s degree in economics, a master\u2019s in city planning from Boston University, and a master\u2019s in urban informatics from Northeastern University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Michelle<\/p>\n
\n
Michelle Johnson<\/div>\n
Associate Professor Emerita, Boston University<\/div>\n

Michelle<\/a> is an associate professor emerita at the Boston University Department of Journalism. She retired in 2022, having taught a variety of courses focused on online journalism and media storytelling. A former editor of the Boston Globe and Boston.com and a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, Michelle received the school\u2019s distinguished alumni award in 2020 and the Online News Association\u2019s Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award in 2022. She was inducted into the Association of LGBTQ Journalists Hall of Fame in 2022 and named 2013 Educator of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists, where she served as the first Academic Representative on its board. She writes and edits AI Insider, a newsletter tracking the latest developments in artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Jenna<\/p>\n
\n
Jenna Jordan<\/div>\n
Senior Analytics Engineer, Ratio PBC<\/div>\n

As a mission-driven data engineer in civic tech, Jenna<\/a> advises public sector clients on data & analytics engineering best practices, grounding her work in information science principles and a data librarian\u2019s perspective. As a Senior Analytics Engineer with Ratio PBC, she 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. Jenna has expertise in dbt, Python, data modeling, database & data warehouse design, ETL pipelines & orchestration, CI\/CD, and data testing. She holds 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, and lives in Asheville, NC, with her rescue pup, Bella.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Stamatios<\/p>\n
\n
Stamatios \u201cStamati\u201d Liapis<\/div>\n
Co-founder and CTO, Enlaye<\/div>\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 help all actors in the built environment \u2013 contractors, owners, and developers \u2013 build better together. As CTO, he leads 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. 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n
\n
Jack Lull<\/div>\n
Principal Scientist, Adobe + Program Lead at Launch Lab<\/div>\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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Carl<\/p>\n
\n
Carl Williams<\/div>\n
Associate Clinical Professor, Cornell Law School<\/div>\n

Carlton<\/a> (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, and 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. A member of the National Lawyers Guild and former chair of its Massachusetts board, Carlton was part of the legal defense for the Occupy Boston movement and served on the working group that organized the inaugural Law for Black Lives convening. He later served as executive director of the Water Protector Legal Collective. 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\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":55,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8699,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/spark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540\/revisions\/8699"}],"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}]}}