Josh Baron

Josh Baron is the Senior Program Officer responsible for the HBCU Digital Learning Infrastructure (DLI) initiative which was launched last year as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s postsecondary success strategy within the U.S. Programs. Prior to joining the Foundation, Josh was Executive Director for Partnerships at Lumen Learning, a digital courseware provider whose mission is to reduce the cost of education while also improving student outcomes. Before joining Lumen, Josh spent much of his 25+ year career working at colleges and universities which included serving as the Assistant Vice President for Digital Education at Marist College where he played a leadership role on the President’s Cabinet. While at Marist Josh also served on the Sakai and Apereo Foundation Board of Directors, including as Board Chair, and was Principal Investigator on the Open Academic Analytics Initiative (OAAI), which was supported by a Next Generation Learning Challenge grant funded, in part, by the Foundation. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan with a BS in Aerospace Engineering and holds a MS in Educational Technology Leadership from The George Washington University.