Meet the team
Who we are
The Generation YES staff is made up of students and teachers who have years of experience with real schools and classrooms. Not only are we dedicated to giving you the very best project-based learning management system and tech literacy certification for students, but we each use our unique skills, talents and perspectives to make our nonprofit grow.
Dennis Harper, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO of Generation YESDr. Dennis Harper is widely recognized as one of the world’s eminent leaders in the field of technology in education. Dr. Harper has been instrumental in bringing computers and the Internet into thousands of schools in more than thirty nations.
Dr. Harper first began his work in instructional technology in 1967 at the secondary level in Los Angeles, Australia, Germany, Spain, and Liberia before completing his Ph.D. in International Education at the University of California in 1983. After acting as the Supervisor of Math, Science, and Technology Education at the University of California Santa Barbara for four years, Dr. Harper came to Singapore’s Institute of Education. and then moved on to Helsinki University in Finland before moving to the University of the Virgin Islands where he established the Caribbean’s first university degree in educational computing and distance learning network.
Dr. Harper then returned to his native country where for the past 21 years he has developed the Generation YES model of technology infusion. The first five years this model’s development was funded by a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to the Olympia School District. Dr. Harper then founded the nonprofit Generation YES organization in 1999. Generation YES programs are based on constructivist pedagogy, authentic assessment, and strong participation of students in reforming schools.
Awards and Accolades: ISTE's Making IT Happen (2012), Distinguished Educator of the Year by Technology and Learning Magazine, Shaper of the Future by Converge Magazine, Technology Advocate for the United States by District Administrator Magazine, and one of George Lucas Education Foundation's Daring Dozen Educators for 2008. In January 2010, Dr. Harper was chosen by Tech & Learning Magazine as one of the thirty most influential technology educators over the past 30 years.
His creation of GenYES has also led to wide acclaim throughout the education industry. Here are Five Things he's learned from working with kids.
Robert Miller
Project DirectorRobert has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from The Evergreen State College. He also has an Associates of Applied Science degree in Network Administration from South Puget Sound Community College. He has worked at Generation YES for ten years beginning as a freshman in high school. He works as the Project Director for technology projects at Generation YES and is in charge of overseeing iOS and Android app development, website testing and website development.
Marc Turnbow
Network SpecialistMark works both as a network administration teacher at Olympia High School as well as being responsible for Generation YES's servers, email, backups, Internet connectivity and networking. Mark has been with Generation YES since its inception in 1999 and continues to identify talented high school students to work for the nonprofit.
Victoria Bawn
Customer Support DirectorVictoria provides customer support for the U.S. and Canada. She is a certified trainer for Generation YES's workshops around the country. Victoria is also Generation YES's Senior Graphic Designer. For six years, she has created logos, brochures, flyers, posters, and other print media for Generation YES. Victoria specializes in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Muse, Illustrator, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers.
Shareen Mckee
Customer SupportShareen Mckee is a recent graduate from the Evergreen State College, where she majored in business and human resource management. Prior to that she received her Associates in Fine Arts and Arts Management from Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore. She is a gifted artist and is in the process of integrating into the artist community in Olympia. She has been working for GenYes since June '13, and handles customer support as well as creating the company's various animations.
Steve Hicks
Deputy DirectorSteve received his master’s degree in non-profit management from The Evergreen State College and has a decade’s experience in international education and development. Steve has been with Generation YES since 2008 and was the overseas project manager for Malaysian Student Technology Leaders program in Kuala Lumpur from 2011-13. Steve’s expertise includes change management strategies, organizational development in education, and project management.
Idean Labib
ProgrammerIdean Labib is a junior at Olympia High School. He works on fixing bugs and adding features to the site. He uses Rails, Javascript, JQuery, CSS, SQL and HTML for GenYES and TechYES.
Saba Noorassa
ProgrammerSaba Noorassa is a junior at Olympia High School. He works on fixing bugs and adding features to the Generation YES site. In order to accomplish this he uses JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, HAML, CSS, jQuery, and SQL.
Darrell Havens
Website Analyst & TesterDarrell received a B.S. in Biology and Computer Science from The Evergreen State College. He uses Ruby on Rails, RSpec, Capybara and Selenium WebDriver to manage the test suite.
Looking for our Board Members?
You can find our Board Members and Advisory Board Members on the Board Members page.