Bill Fitzgerald is the Director of Research and Development for AERDF. Prior to joining AERDF, Bill was a privacy researcher in the Digital Lab at Consumer Reports, where he worked on cross functional teams designing research frameworks and building tools to simplify and streamline privacy and security research and reporting.

Bill’s first job was a K12 teacher and technology director, where he taught students English, History, and Technology. Bill planned and supported 1:1 laptop initiatives in the late nineties and early aughts. Because of this work, Bill was able to observe and develop innovative uses of technology in his own classes with students who were not shy about providing direct feedback about what worked and what didn’t.

After teaching for 16 years, Bill founded an open source software development company that worked primarily with educational and non-profit organizations. His company supported organizations committed to building communities of learners, authoring and distributing openly licensed content, and respecting learner privacy.

When Bill is not online, he can often be found grilling delicious food, drinking good coffee, or riding his bicycle.