About
Richard Culatta
Richard Culatta is an internationally recognized innovator and learning designer. His work centers around using Artificial Intelligence to empower people and accelerate problem solving. As the CEO of ASCD/ISTE, Culatta is focused on preparing education changemakers to create amazing learning experiences for all students around the world.
Prior to joining ASCD/ISTE, Culatta served as the Chief Innovation Officer for the state of Rhode Island. In this role, he designed a program to make Rhode Island the first state to offer computer science in every K-12 school and created a state vision for personalized learning.
Culatta was appointed by President Obama as the Executive Director of the Office of Educational Technology for the US Department of Education. In that capacity, he led efforts to expand connectivity to schools across the country, promote personalized learning and develop the National Education Technology Plan focusing on increasing equity and effectiveness of learning. He also pioneered new opportunities for engagement between the Department and educators and tech developers, including bringing top game designers from around the world to the White House to help re-design testing and learning materials. Prior to his role with the Department of Education, Culatta served as an education policy adviser to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
Richard’s book Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World (Harvard Business Publishing) uncovers the challenges with our current approaches to preparing young people to be effective humans in virtual spaces and presents a path to a healthier and more civil future digital world.
Culatta began his career in the classroom as a high school teacher and has coached educators and national leaders around the world on making learning more effective and equitable. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish teaching and a master's in educational psychology and technology, from Brigham Young University.