CISDD Staff

Ted Brown
Executive Director
Professor in the Computer Science department at Queens College and Executive Officer of the Doctoral Program in Computer Science.

Dr. Brown oversees CISDD, develops relationships with the software industry, develops software ideas and applications, facilitates CISDD's role in CUNY and determines the mission and goals of the Software Institute. As Chair of the Computer Science department at Queens College, Dr. Brown engineered a great deal of change, including overseeing an ever-changing curriculum and implementing Java as the language for all students to learn. Dr. Brown is also on the Executive Board of the New York Software Industry Association.

Kara Heffernan
Managing Director
Kara is responsible for managing CISDD's programs and grants on a daily basis and developing new ideas and programs for CISDD. Kara's background includes time in both the non-profit and private sectors working in a range of capacities in fields and industries that include philanthropy, community development, internet publishing and software product development. Most recently, Kara was responsible for fundraising and communications for the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a non-profit Chicago-based urban sustainability leader. Kara has a BA in political science from Boston College and MA in urban planning from UCLA.

Joyce O'Brien
Project Director
Joyce O'Brien is a graduate of Kingsborough Community College and Long Island University. Before joining CUNY, Joyce pursued a career in publishing, both online and print. Now the project director for the CITY Program at CISDD, Joyce places CUNY students in internships with city agencies and public schools. In addition to placing students in positions and maintaining each agency.s and intern.s account, Joyce is responsible for active recruitment of qualified CUNY students through the CISDD.org site and through on-campus job fairs.

Qinghong (Kim) Wang
Education Director
Ms. Wang is responsible for overseeing the activities of the Human Resources Administration Internship Program (HRA IT Specialists Program) within CISDD. Ms. Wang is also in charge of organizing training classes for current CUNY students. Ms. Wang received a M.S. from the City University of New York, Lehman College.