NTDI Executive Qualifications

“We will get there one school district, one school, one school administration, one community, one child at a time.”
– Rich Calhoun, President

Mr. Calhoun is currently a Project Director for the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) in Atlanta, GA where he directs the state’s Wireless Communities Georgia – Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) program. Prior to GTA, he worked for the Office of Homeland Security – FEMA providing community outreach to victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. He retired from AT&T Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies. He developed switching and wireless technologies for large and midsize firms. He is an alumnus of Bloom High School class of 1977 and has a Master of Science from Clark-Atlanta University and an MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Rich also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from Benedict College.


· "Education is vital in the preparation for young people to achieve success in all endeavors set before them. Multicultural broadband access is vital to education."
– Sara Medrano, Vice President


Ms. Medrano has over 20 years of experience as a multicultural awareness educator and holds a Masters of Arts in Special Education from Canisius College and bachelors Degree for Buffalo State College. She has a minor in Spanish Literature and is an amateur Fiction writer. While residing in Buffalo, New York, she taught Spanish and English at Herman Badillo Elementary and Grover Cleveland High School; taught English as a Second Language in the Adult Education Center, and counseled abused women at the Hispanics United of Buffalo and Belmont Shelter. She served as consultant to the City of Buffalo School Board in the progressive use of Distance Learning in Higher Education. Ms. Medrano is an expert in the application of modern pedagogical techniques.
· "The Internet is the resource center for students to complement learning activities. Its universal access is the 21 Century Digital Integration challenge.”
– Julio Medrano, Treasurer

Mr. Medrano is an expert in Computing Information Technology with over twenty years of experience and Masters of Science in Telecommunications and Computing from Polytechnic University, Masters of Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University; and Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Buffalo. He served in the Boards of the Hispanics United of Buffalo, Niagara Frontier Industry Education Council and Junior Achievement. He received the Hispanic Community Service, Verizon Excellence, Corporate Achiever, and Diversity Salute Awards. He volunteered to refurbish houses with Habitat for Humanity. He taught computer training at the Buffalo Workforce Development Center and trained computer skills to Welfare to Work Program People.
He taught Applied Economics as a volunteer at Grover Cleveland High School. He mentored adult students in Math and English as a second Language in the Adult Education Center. He graduated from the Empire State Military Academy as a Commissioned Officer and served in United States Marine Corps. Mr. Medrano’s major corporate accomplishments include: Lead the Post 9/11 Disaster/Recovery Team for Manhattan Digital Network, Directed the largest telecommunications infrastructure in Western New York, deployed the largest Distance Learning Network in the Northeast, managed a $1.2 Billion nationwide Wi-Fi project, and engineered the world’s longest undersea fiber cable.