Council Board Names Four Newest Members

Four new members were appointed to the Arizona Technology Council board of directors at its quarterly meetings in the first half of 2022.Nathan Harris, CEO of Ease, and Robin S. Reed, co-founder and principal of EmFluent, were named at the Jan. 27 meeting, while Ivonne May, portfolio director for the Advance Air Dominance programs for the Advanced Technologies Mission Area at Raytheon Technologies, and Kurt M. VandenBussche, vice president for Technology Strategy and Innovation in Honeywell Aerospace’s Corporate Technology Organization, joined the board at the April 28 meeting. All have three-year terms.“We’re thrilled to welcome their expertise to our board as we continue to bolster Arizona’s innovation economy and transform this community into one of the nation’s leading technology hubs,” says Steven G. Zylstra, the Council’s president and CEO.

Harris has led Ease to become the Phoenix Minority Business Development Agency’s Minority Emerging Technology and Industries Firm of the Year in 2021. The Ease technology and processes reduce hiring bias by providing companies with an AI-enabled way to attract, vet and upskill often-overlooked talent.

Reed’s EmFluent is a corporate coaching and consulting company that focuses on leadership strategy, talent optimization and sales arbitrage. He is also president and CEO of the Black Chamber of Arizona, and president of Occam Sustainability Partners (OSP), an international sustainability solution consulting firm that provides energy-saving strategies.

Kurt M. VandenBussche

Ivonne May

Robin S. Reed

Nathan Harris

Previously at Raytheon, May led Griffin®, HARM® and Maverick®, where she was responsible for the growth, production, improvements and development of new variants and sustainment of the missiles in the portfolio. 

In his Honeywell unit, VandenBussche oversees the development and implementation of long-term technology strategies, as well as relationships with academic institutions and venture ecosystems on a worldwide basis.

The board of directors serves an advisory and fiduciary role by representing the interests of the state’s technology sectors in the Council’s strategic planning and ongoing operations. The other companies and organizations represented by the directors are Arizona Commerce Authority; AccountabilIT; Alerion Capital Group; Alliance Bank of Arizona; American Express; Arizona State University; Avnet; Ballard Spahr; Benchmark; Encora; Ernst & Young; IBM; Ideas Collide; ILLUME Advising; Insight; Intel; Iron Mountain; Keap; KEO Marketing Inc.; Lyft; MSS Technologies; PADT, Inc.; PayPal; Phoenix Business Journal; Quarles & Brady; Rincon Research; Solugenix; and Tech Parks Arizona.