Management Team

John Ramo, M.Ed. is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Directions. Mr. Ramo has over 25 years experience in educational technology and distance learning. Mr. Ramo founded and built a successful Washington D.C.-based, educational software company in 1979, and engineered a profitable IPO in 1997 on the NASDAQ. He is an award-winning producer of educational multimedia software for clients such as The Smithsonian Institute, Philips Media, Simon & Schuster, Jean Michel Cousteau and Jodie Foster. He received a large grant from the National Science Foundation and worked with the American Association for the Advancement of Science to develop the first multimedia encyclopedia of the environment “Earth Explorer” for middle school students. Mr. Ramo is a former Special Ed Teacher. He holds a Masters in Education; fellowship awarded from American University.

Barbara Freeman, M.B.A. is Chief Operating Officer and HELP Project Director. Ms Freeman currently sits on Colorado’s English Language Acquisition/No Child Left Behind Policy Advisory Council and is an advisor to the Colorado Mentoring Institute for Latino Leaders. It is from Ms. Freeman’s initial research that the HELP concept and program was created. Ms. Freeman has over 25 years of domestic and international experience in risk management and technology consulting, research and analysis, and business development. She has managed global client engagements and implementation teams on projects valued up to $40 million and affecting 5,000 employees, and created sustainable businesses for Blue Chip clients and government agencies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Ms. Freeman started her career on Wall Street. She holds an M.B.A. from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership and Change at Fielding Graduate University, California.

Michael Willis, M.S. is Head of Production of Digital Directions. With over 25 years experience in the field, Mr. Willis is a pioneer in the use of technology in online education. He has held senior executive positions with Paragon Solutions, Digital Creators—where as President and COO he led a successful acquisition of the company in 1998—Philips Interactive Media, and Jones Intercable. Mr. Willis is executive producer of over 250 leading-edge interactive CD-I and CD Video programs for national and international markets and an executive producer of over 1,000 hours of national cable network programs. Mr. Willis is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver . He has been an Adjunct Professor and lecturer at several universities throughout the country, teaching courses in multimedia, technology, and entertainment. He holds an M.S. in Mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University.

Joanne Wagner, B.A. is School Implementation Specialist and Head Customer Support for HELP MATH.  She brings to the HELP Program a distillation of customer service skills, online courseware development, and experience with socially intelligent automated help. For more than a decade, Joanne has provided the friendly-knowledgeable- and-helpful face for a number of cutting-edge service providers; Paragon Solutions, Digital Creators, NetSage and Finali.