Sarah Alt is an accomplished professional in ethical artificial intelligence with extensive information technology expertise working for and consulting with large companies, professional services firms, institutions of higher education, startups, and nonprofits. As the Chief Process & AI Officer for Michael best, Sarah spearheads the integration of AI technologies and strategies to drive innovation, excellence and client value.

Sarah is a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and events, where she shares her knowledge and experiences of designing, developing, and deploying AI responsibly. In addition to her contributions to the EU's AI Alliance, Sarah recently completed her nomination for the 2024 Wisconsin Legislative Council Study Committee on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence. Sarah has also contributed to and is a practitioner of the ethical guidelines and standards for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Sarah was named one of Relativity's 2023 AI Visionaries, featuring early adopters in legal, compliance, and risk who are playing a seminal role in advancing the use of artificial intelligence in their organizations. Her dedication to leveraging AI ethically and responsibly while optimizing business processes cements her reputation as trailblazer in the intersection of law and technology.

Complementing her role at Michael Best, Sarah serves as a Fellow with the Ethical AI Consortium (EAIC), a non-profit organization she founded in 2018 to educate and create awareness about the ethics and responsibility of advanced algorithms, automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence.

Jon focuses his practice on assisting business, education and healthcare clients through complex labor and employment matters such as leadership transitions, collective bargaining, policy and personnel administration. He also helps clients proactively comply with local, state and federal regulations including Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and Americans with Disabilities (ADA), and resolve discrimination and wage/hour claims when they occur.

Clients appreciate Jon's deep experience in collective bargaining matters, mediation proceedings, grievance arbitrations, hearings and National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) issues in both union and non-union settings, and his ability to advocate, negotiate and reach effective agreements that work for all parties even in the toughest settings.

Jon understands that every industry has unique labor and employment challenges. In education and healthcare, where labor and service delivery is at the forefront, it is crucial to anticipate and address legal details before they become a problem. Jon enjoys the challenges of resolving labor and employment issues for clients so they can get back to the business of educating students and caring for patients.

Jon serves as the Office Managing Partner for Husch Blackwell's Madison office.

Christopher L. Ashley is the Research Foundation's General Counsel and Secretary and serves as chief legal counsel to the Research Foundation, its board of directors, and its committees. Besides representing the corporation and advising Research Foundation officials in all legal matters, Mr. Ashley is responsible for supporting the board's activities and leading the Research Foundation's legal function. He is an officer of the company and a Research Foundation senior leadership team member.

Mr. Ashley has more than 30 years of public and private sector legal experience in various areas and disciplines.

Mr. Ashley joined the Research Foundation after 14 years with the University of Wisconsin System, where he served as senior counsel and as deputy general counsel. While there, he also taught graduate-level courses in higher education law and privacy law. Before working with the UW System, he was assistant general counsel for the National Science Foundation, where he handled a broad portfolio of legal and policy issues in federally sponsored research. Mr. Ashley also worked on legal ethics matters as a staff attorney in the White House Counsel's office and was in private practice for four years in the labor and employment section of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Ashley earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Swarthmore College and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is admitted to the Wisconsin, Maryland, and District of Columbia bar associations and is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys.

Blaze Bowers, Regional Director of Client Relations & Engagement for Grand River Solutions, serves the Midwest, Southwest, and Southeast regions and all ADA/504, Digital Accessibility, and Clery/SCHA clients. Blaze is an experienced executive student affairs and compliance practitioner who has worked as a chief student affairs officer, senior Title IX and EEO coordinator, and faculty member. His research and practice focus on civil rights, student affairs, risk management, and constitutional law in education. Blaze previously served as an assistant vice president for student affairs and compliance at Lincoln Memorial University, a Pressnell Fellow for TICUA's Executive Leadership Institute, and a Teaching & Research Fellow for the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law & Policy at Stetson Law. Blaze's writing and seminars have been featured in Student Affairs Today, Higher Ed Dive, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, and Stetson's Conference on Law & Higher Education, among others. He continues to facilitate Title IX and equity trainings and conduct client Title IX and EEO consults. He also serves as a Lecturer of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, teaching higher education law and policy courses, and is pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Blaze earned his Juris doctor from Stetson University College of Law.

Erwin Chemerinsky is Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law.  Prior to assuming this position he was the founding dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, and a professor at Duke Law School, University of Southern California Law School, and DePaul Law School.  He is the author of 20 books and over 200 law review articles.  His most recent major book, No Democracy Lasts Forever:  How the Constitution Threatens the United States, was published in August 2024. He frequently argues appellate cases, including in the United States Supreme Court.  In 2022, he was the President of the Association of American Law Schools.

Molly has been at the decision-making table during some of Wisconsin's biggest changes in the public sector and higher education. Before joining KW2, her positions included Policy Initiatives Advisor and Communications Director for the Office of the Secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Administration, gubernatorially appointed Director of Strategic Communications at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Special Assistant to the UW System Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Chief of Staff and Executive Director for External Relations for UW-Extension and UW Colleges, and other communications and policy leadership roles.

Jonathan Fansmith directs ACE’s comprehensive efforts to engage federal policymakers on a broad range of issues including student aid, government regulation, scientific research, and tax policy. His work involves representation before the U.S. Congress, administrative agencies, and the federal courts. As an expert voice on behalf of colleges and universities, he is quoted widely in national and international media on higher education issues.

Fansmith plays a central part in developing public policy positions that impact all colleges and universities, furthering ACE’s historic role in coordinating the government relations efforts of approximately 60 associations in the Washington-based higher education community.

Fansmith and ACE’s Government Relations and Public Affairs team, under the direction of then Senior Vice President Terry W. Hartle, received the 2021 Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education Award from NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education in recognition of their public policy advocacy on behalf of the entire higher education community, particularly in response to the crisis the COVID-19 pandemic has posed for institutions and students.

Fansmith coordinates the efforts of the Student Aid Alliance, a coalition of over 80 higher education organizations. He is a member of the Think College National Coordinating Center Accreditation Workgroup, which was created as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. He also serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for Education Investment and the advisory board of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. Fansmith was formerly the president and an executive committee member of the Committee for Education Funding.

His writing has appeared in publications ranging from The Washington Post to The Journal of College and University Law, and he has appeared in The Associated Press, The Washington Post, Politico, Roll Call, Bloomberg, The Chronicle of Higher Education, National Public Radio, USA Today, National Journal, and Inside Higher Ed, among other media outlets. In addition, he co-hosts ACE’s dotEDU podcast. Fansmith regularly contributes to other higher education podcasts and webinars, and he is a frequent speaker for association, academic, and corporate audiences.

Fansmith earned a BA in history from Georgetown University and an MA in government from Johns Hopkins University.

Peter Lake is professor of law, Charles A. Dana chair and director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law. He has spent nearly 35 years in higher education as a teacher and administrator. Prior to joining the Stetson Law faculty in 1990, Professor Lake practiced law in New York City at Cahill Gordon & Reindel and is a current member of the New York State Bar Association.

Professor Lake teaches and writes in the areas of torts, higher education law and policy, insurance, and jurisprudence, and has won several awards for his teaching and scholarship. He is an internationally-recognized expert on higher education law and policy and has been quoted or referred to in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Sun Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Time, Newsweek, Cosmopolitan, various reported legal decisions including the supreme courts of Iowa, Rhode Island, Virginia, California, Massachusetts and Florida, and the most recent Restatement of the Law of Torts. He has appeared on several major media networks including NPR, ABC and CNN.  Professor Lake has authored numerous law review articles, books, and other publications. He is a highly sought after speaker and he has served as a presenter or keynote speaker at several hundred international, national, regional, and local meetings.  Professor Lake has trained thousands of campus personnel on student safety and other issues, including student mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, Title IX and sex discrimination, and First Amendment issues. 

Professor Lake also serves as a part-time Higher Education Consulting Attorney for the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, as a consultant for AGB Consulting (Association of Governing Boards), and as an expert witness through his private consulting business.

Professor Lake is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Matthew J. Lind, Senior Legal Counsel, joined University of Wisconsin System's Office of General Counsel in September 2010. He received a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and joined the Wisconsin bar in 2010. During law school, he worked as a law clerk for the Office of General Counsel. He was also a member of the Wisconsin Law Review and the Moot Court Board. Before law school, he taught elementary and secondary Spanish and Latin for seven years at a private school in Charlottesville, Virginia. He received a M.Ed. in Foreign Languages from the University of Virginia in 2007 and a B.A. in Classical Languages from Calvin Collège in 2000.

Mike Martynowicz, PhD is an educational psychologist and serves as the Research Lead in the Education Sector at Vector Solutions. He spent 18 years as an educator at the secondary and postsecondary levels prior to joining the Vector team. Mike is most interested and experienced in education and research related to student mental well-being, bust has also conducted research related to metacognitive processing, self-efficacy, learning strategies, undergraduate retention, and the intersection of all these with academic performance. Mike has advised multiple student organizations at all levels of education, including peer counseling, peer mentoring, and suicide prevention groups. In addition to his work as a professor and researcher in higher education, Mike worked concurrently at the administrative level, overseeing a Division which included multiple graduate programs in psychology and mental health counseling. Due to his unique and extensive professional experience, Mike brings a holistic view to education and research that emphasizes improving quality of life for all people.

With 25 years of marketing and advertising experience, Jennifer leads the team at KW2 as CEO and co-owner of the agency. Outside of agency operations, she heads out marketing research, planning, and strategy teams and plays a key role in developing research plans for our higher education clients, uncovering perceptions, and providing strategic direction to support initiatives. Prior to joining KW2, Jennifer worked with national brands like Microsoft, T-Mobile, HP, and Boeing.

Joseph Storch is the Senior Director of Compliance and Innovation for Grand River Solutions. He develops guidance and builds systems to simplify compliance and improve response, so we can invest in prevention. A nationally recognized expert on Title IX, the Clery Act, campus climate surveys, and state laws covering violence and harassment, he twice testified before the U.S. Senate (Armed Services, 2019; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 2016), drafted legislation and regulations including New York's groundbreaking Education Law Article 129-b, served as an expert consultant on data and prevention for the Department of the Navy, and provides guidance and analysis for national associations and institutions across the country. He is the author of over 90 articles and book chapters, regularly presents at conferences and on campuses, and has led development of innovations that are in use at institutions collectively serving millions of students. Joe is a graduate of SUNY Oswego, has a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Albany and a law degree from Cornell Law School. He received the First Decade Award from NACUA, the Unsung Hero Award from the One Love Foundation, the Straight But Not Narrow Award from the Pride Center of the Capital Region, and was selected by City and State in 2020 as one of the 40 Under 40.

With over 15 years of experience in higher education, Charity Stutzman recently served as Assistant Dean of Students, overseeing prevention, advocacy and intervention programs. She served as Chair of the Behavior Intervention Team, and provided leadership and supervision for key student programs, including Student Conduct, the Relationship Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention (RVSP) Program, the LGBTQ+ Program, and an Emergency Assistance Fund. In her early work in Student Affair, she served as a Campus Advocate, building out violence prevention programs for the campus. She is committed to strategically supporting campuses in building programs and developing policies that foster a safe and supportive campus environment. She has chaired budget committee, university wide strategic planning committees and student advisory boards. Charity holds a Master of Science in College Counseling and Student Development from Asusa Pacific University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of San Diego. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Higher Education Strategy at Vector Solutions, ensuring we meet the needs of our campus partners in addressing critical issues on campus and developing high impact prevention programs that reflect best practice.

Christine began her legal career as a litigator who became increasingly interested in alternative forms of dispute resolution: more than ten years in the courtroom convinced her that litigation was rarely beneficial for either party, and she enrolled in the University of Missouri's LL.M. program to gain a more thorough understanding of dispute resolution options. Her new degree led to a teaching position at Marquette University, and she was then offered a role as the university's Title IX coordinator.

Enthusiastic about how much higher education offers to students and energized by the campus environment, Christine pivoted her practice to a focus on civil rights compliance. She went on to direct institutional equity and compliance at Wichita State University and to serve as institutional equity officer, equal opportunity officer, and Title IX coordinator at the University of Oklahoma. Her work at the universities included leading civil rights, Title IX, ADA, and Clery Act compliance; implementing and overseeing trainings; and authoring university-wide policies and procedures.