Christian Pantel

Christian was appointed Chief Product Officer in 2024. He leads global Product Strategy, Product Management, Product Design, User Experience Research and Accessibility at D2L. Christian first joined the company in 2015 and has expanded his leadership in product, design, and engineering. He has extensive experience in Education Technology and knows D2L customers well. With deep empathy for diverse learners and educators, Christian has led D2L to develop products with a world-class user experience. 

Christian has over 25 years of leadership experience building software at notable enterprise software companies including Workday, Infor, and PeopleSoft. Christian earned a Master of Science in computing science from Simon Fraser University, specializing in human-computer interaction and Web-based learning environments. He also holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) from the University of Manitoba. Christian lives in Winnipeg with his wife and four children.

Dr. Cristi Ford

Dr. Cristi Ford serves as the Chief Learning Officer at D2L. She brings more than 20 years of cumulative experience in higher education, secondary education, project management, program evaluation, training and student services to her role. In this role, she offers thought leadership and direction to the academic affairs unit of the organization. Her previous roles have allowed her to have impact in education from secondary and higher education settings within North America and as part of the international landscape. Her reach has allowed her to focus on building online education in the US and in Africa.

In addition to her experience building new online learning programs and research related to online teaching and learning, Dr. Ford possesses significant experience in the design and delivery of integrated educational support, training and transition services for young adults and children with neurodevelopment disabilities.

Dr. Ford was selected by the Online Learning Consortium as the 2022 OLC Fellow (the highest professional distinction offered by the association). She is a tireless advocate for quality online education and has leveraged her passion and expertise in many realms in the education space. She is known for utilizing her leadership in extraordinary ways to help institutions build capacity to launch and expand online programming through effective faculty development, instructional design and pedagogical practices.

Dr. Ford holds a PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Missouri-Columbia and undergraduate and graduate degrees in the field of Psychology from Hampton University and University of Baltimore, respectively.

Jeremy Auger

Jeremy drives D2L’s strategy, public affairs, strategic communications, D2L Labs, new ventures, IP strategy, and philanthropy.

Jeremy has been actively involved in starting and running transformative tech companies for over 20 years and was part of the founding team at D2L. Since D2L’s founding, he has served as the COO and CTO, and continues to take a leadership role in driving the organization’s success as its chief strategy officer.

Beyond the tech sector, Jeremy has helped advise policymakers in a variety of ways—most recently as a member of the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Council, where he advised on a national strategy on the future of skills, work, and learning. He is also an advisor on ISTE’s Education Industry Advisory Council and is a national board member for TECHNATION—Canada’s Technology Industry Association. He is a past chair of the Economic Development Advisory Board for the city of Kitchener, Canada, and a former board member for the IMS Global Learning Consortium.

Dr. Jermaine Whirl

Dr. Jermaine Whirl is the 15th President of Savannah State University, Georgia’s oldest public Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

Whirl, an Aspen Fellow, most recently served as president of Augusta Technical College (ATC), a role he held since November 2020 – March 2025. Whirl’s career includes nearly 20 years of service as a faculty member and administrative leader at public colleges and universities in his home state of South Carolina and in Georgia. He previously worked at several institutions, including Greenville Technical College (GTC), Savannah Technical College (STC), Georgia Southern University (GSU) and East Georgia State University (EGSU).

He has received many awards for his work, including GSU’s 2024 George and Lucy Armstrong Alumni Award, the Leadership Award from the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce, the Paragon Award for new presidents from Phi Theta Kappa and the Soul Awakening Award of Excellence from Perry Broadcasting of Augusta. Whirl is a member of the Georgia Titan 100 2025 Hall of Fame class. Georgia Trend also recognized him as a Notable Georgian honoree in 2025 and listed him on its 2024 40 Under 40 list of the state’s most successful and civic-minded people under age 40.

John Baker

John founded D2L in 1999, at the age of twenty-two, while attending the University of Waterloo. He strongly believes that learning is the foundation upon which all progress and achievement rests.

He is a member of the Business Council of Canada, board member of the Business Higher Education Roundtable, member of the Industry Strategy Council in Canada, Chair of the Digital Economic Strategy Table in Canada, has served on the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is the Past Chair of the board of Communitech, and is a board member of Canada’s National Ballet School.

John was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Ontario for Software and Technology), Young Alumni Achievement Medal from University of Waterloo, and Intrepid Entrepreneur of the Year in Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

John graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Honours B.A.Sc. in Systems Design Engineering, with First Class Honours and an option in Management Sciences.

Kristen Fox

Kristen Fox joined BHEF as CEO in January 2024 and is focused on expanding the impact and reach of BHEF. She brings 20 years of leadership experience working at the intersection of education, digital learning, and workforce development and has advised foundations, institutions, and companies on the design and implementation of successful strategies that drive impact, growth, and sustainability.

As managing director at a leading strategy consulting firm, Fox led organizational growth and advised leaders of foundations, companies, and institutions in the education and knowledge sector. In her work she brought university and employer executives together to design regional workforce development pathways, led university-wide strategy and revenue sustainability engagements, informed the development of equity-centered products and go-to-market strategies for edtech firms, and published nationally regarded research on the impact of the pandemic on teaching, learning, and equity in higher education.

Fox previously worked as a special advisor at Northeastern University, where she led initiatives focused on building new models to scale experiential and work-based learning, developing alternative credentials, scaling career services, and creating new pathways to recruit underserved students into high-demand fields. Prior to that, Fox was a managing vice president at Eduventures, where she built high performing teams and worked with hundreds of institutions to develop strategy and track market trends and innovations. Early in her career, Fox taught undergraduate global history and writing courses at the University of California, San Diego.

Fox has a BA in international relations and Chinese from Colgate University and a MA in international affairs and economic development from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego.

Laura Zarrow

Laura Zarrow is a data-driven innovator who helps organizations thrive in times of rapid change.  

Currently serving as the Executive Director of the Wharton Generative AI Labs (GAIL), she leads their efforts to combine research and prototyping to create AI applications that change how people work and learn. Prior to her work at GAIL, she was the founding executive director of Wharton People Analytics, where she led the flagship People Analytics Conference, managed their research portfolio, and created the Moh Foundation Applied Insights Lab,  facilitating dynamic, practical collaborations between organizations, scholars, and students. As Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative, she launched the Wharton Healthcare Analytics Lab.   

Laura also hosted the Gracie-Award-winning radio show “Women@Work” for ten years on SiriusXM Business Radio, and established Wharton’s Lifelong Learning program, which serves Wharton’s 100,000+ alumni worldwide. Prior to her time at Wharton, she served as Dean of the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and Associate Provost at The University of the Arts, where she led the comprehensive digitization of the curriculum and campus. Laura holds a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts and an M.S.Ed. in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania.  

London Murray

Dr. London Murray is a leading organizational change management (OCM) practitioner and trusted advisor known for her forward-thinking approach to leadership development, culture transformation, and learning strategy. With a career spanning global industries including financial services, retail, chemicals, and academia, she brings a uniquely holistic and inclusive lens to enterprise change and talent development.

Previously serving as Vice President of Learning & Culture at JPMorgan Chase, Dr. Murray led transformative learning and engagement initiatives for a global UX organization, spearheading executive development programs and large-scale cultural shifts that drove measurable business outcomes. Her work increased training adoption by 40% and elevated employee engagement through data-driven strategies.

Today, Dr. Murray serves as a full-time OCM strategist and thought leader, helping organizations navigate complex change with agility and purpose. She advises executive teams, facilitates leadership development experiences, and creates scalable learning frameworks that align with strategic business goals. A certified Prosci ADKAR practitioner, she has led change management efforts for global technology rollouts that have impacted over 350,000 employees.

Dr. Murray holds a Doctorate in Organizational Learning and Innovation from Wilmington University, where her research centers on executive development and minority mentorship. She also earned a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Temple University. As an advisory board member of The Corporate Learning Network, Dr. Murray shares her insights through keynote addresses, publications, and podcasts on the future of learning and work. She spends much of her time traveling internationally, bringing a global mindset and a passion for people to every engagement.