Meet the Team
Educators, practitioners, storytellers, and technologists.
Vara is built by people who have taught the material, done the work, and told the story — and who think education can ask more of all three.
Amy Kardell, PhD
Founder and CEO, Vara Summit Studio Inc.
Former Dean of the College of Strategic Intelligence at National Intelligence University, with 20 years of federal service and higher-education leadership. A professor, sociologist, entrepreneur, and education innovator committed to reimagining how people learn and develop human capability.
Dwayne A. Clark, Ph.D.
Dwayne A. Clark, Ph.D., is an intelligence officer, educator, and learning strategist with more than 22 years of service in the United States Air Force. As a Colonel, his career spanned operational intelligence, professional military education, and graduate-level instruction, including leadership roles at Air University and at the National Intelligence University, where he taught intelligence reasoning, research methods, and critical thinking.
Dr. Clark holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Auburn University and is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School. His work focuses on intelligence analysis, learning science, and the integration of artificial intelligence to enhance critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and decision-making across the national security enterprise.
Julie Mendosa, EdD
Julie Mendosa, EdD, is an organizational learning consultant who leads the creation of new capacities in individuals and teams so they can meet new challenges. Her experience includes extensive learning cultivation of US federal intelligence professionals across the national security realm. Julie taught intelligence community professionals at the National Intelligence University (now the National Intelligence College) in the Washington, DC area for over 10 years. During that time she was also program director for undergraduate and master’s degree programs in intelligence. Her prior experience was in leading intelligence programs in the Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds a doctor of education degree in human and organizational learning from the George Washington University, and a master’s degree in strategic intelligence from what is now the National Intelligence College, both in Washington, DC.
Mr. Van Ram
Mr. Ram is a recently retired Senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer. He had nine overseas diplomatic assignments in Africa, South and East Asia, Europe, Russia and the Middle East. He was the U.S. Department of State Chair at the National Intelligence University. He has also served as a Deputy Chief of Mission and as the Director of Regional Security and Arms Transfers in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Ram did a tour at the National Intelligence Council, where he served in the Office of Military Affairs and in the Europe office. Mr. Ram has been a full-time professor at NIU and an Adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Mr. Ram holds the academic titles of Associate Professor & Professor of Practice. Mr. Ram is a former U.S. Army Military Intelligence officer and a veteran of Desert Storm. Mr. Ram holds graduate degrees from Boston University and the National Defense University. His foreign languages include German, Persian-Farsi, Arabic and Russian. Mr. Ram currently resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife.
We are still adding to it.
If building learning that reaches beyond the traditional classroom is the kind of work you want to be doing, we would like to hear from you.