Kurt Madden

Kurt Madden
Chief Technology Officer, Fresno Unified School District

Kurt Madden is the Chief Technology Officer for Fresno Unified School District, the fourth largest district in California.  He leads the Information Technology department, which is responsible for the strategy, development and implementation of business and educational technology for the district of 71,000 students and 7,000 teachers, administrators and staff.

Prior to his current position, Kurt was the CEO of One by One Leadership, a local community development organization. Before One by One he held several leadership positions including Corporate VP for a Fortune 1000 technology firm and President and Founder of two local technology companies. He is the author of Synergetic Follower: Changing Our World without Being the Leader, published in 2010 and speaks on followership.

Kurt has been an adjunct professor for the Information Systems Department at the Craig School of Business at Fresno State University since 1994.

Kurt is the Board Chair for ValleyPBS and Co-Chair of the Microsoft K-12 Advisory Council. He is also a Board member of the Fresno Business Council Board, the Fresno County Workforce Investment Board, the Fresno First Steps Home Board, and the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation Board. He attended Fresno Unified schools, graduated from Fresno State University, has been married to his wife, Katy, for 36 years and has three kids he loves who are now young adults.

[quote]There are two issues that I care deeply about in our community, education and employment. In the area of education, I have specifically been focused on children reading at grade level by third grade. Reading by 3rd grade has a significant impact on a student’s future academic achievement and then on their future career. In addition, I believe in the power of employment and have worked on economic development to increase the economic opportunities in our community. However, we won’t have the level of employers or employees or the economic engine that we are seeking unless our children grow up into adults that can read. Community change isn’t the result of programs or events, it happens through people – both leaders and followers. In city after city across the country, community change is the result of a small group of individuals who set aside their self-interests and work together for the common good.”[/quote]