Lisa Olinger was a board member of Fort Wayne Community Schools, FWCS and a classroom teacher.

She believes that parents are students’ first teachers and that schools and teachers are a part of the team that enhances the foundation that parents provide their children. She is interested in improving the education environment to provide students with schools that are safe, academically challenging, relevant, and fiscally sound.

Through her many years of experience in the education field, teaching K-12 with Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend; where she began as a technology coordinator and instructor in two buildings and eventually occupied the district technology director position, responsible for 44 schools. At the University of Saint Francis, she developed undergraduate and graduate courses that encouraged teachers to incorporate technology within the fabric of curriculum.

 She has worked with technology companies like Apple and Palm to help develop curricular connections, educational training materials, corporate advocacy programs, and customer focus marketing.

Due to her extreme interest in history and culture, Lisa became a museum director. An association with the Karpeles Manuscript Library,  headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, resulted in a division of this fascinating institution, lead by Lisa, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.