Children’s Learning Institute named Amazon Web Services Champion
Brian Herod (left) and Obinna Agbara (right) of the Children’s Learning Institute celebrate with the Amazon Web Services Champion Award (Photo by the Children’s Learning Institute).
The Children’s Learning Institute at UTHealth Houston has been honored as a 2025 Amazon Web Services Champion by the Center for Digital Government and the Center for Digital Education, recognizing the institute’s pioneering use of cloud technology to improve education in Texas.
At the institute, Amazon Web Services is being used to streamline the professional development process for educators. By leveraging tools such as text extraction and large language models, they have dramatically reduced the time Texas teachers spend uploading and entering data. This innovation ensures educators can focus less on paperwork and more on student success.
National recognition for innovation
The Amazon Web Services Champions Awards are presented annually to public sector and education organizations that demonstrate exceptional leadership in using cloud computing to deliver better, faster, and more inclusive services.
“Amazon Web Services Champions represent innovative thought leaders in the public sector, where visionary leadership meets cutting-edge cloud technology,” said Kim Majerus, vice president of education and state and local government at Amazon Web Services. “These organizations aren’t satisfied with incremental improvements, they’re fundamentally reimagining how institutions can better serve their communities. Their achievements inspire others and showcase what’s possible.”
With this recognition, the Children’s Learning Institute joins a distinguished group of institutions nationwide that are shaping the future of digital government and education through innovation.
Leadership and collaboration
The integration was spearheaded by Brian Herod, director of operations for the institute. Working closely with technical partners, Herod’s team brought the vision to life for teachers statewide.
“Brian had the foresight years ago to move this system to the cloud, so that we could flex capacity during busy seasons, and I’m glad he did,” said Amar Yousif, MBA, vice president and chief information officer at UTHealth Houston. “His team partnered with our IT department to bring that vision to life, and in the process, we not only executed successfully but also upskilled and transformed IT into a truly cloud-smart organization.”