Mac Admins Foundation Awards Charles S. Edge New Speaker Grants for MacAdmins at Penn State

The Mac Admins Foundation is pleased to announce Katie Due and Jonathan Blansingame as recipients of the 2026 Charles S. Edge New Speaker Grant for the MacAdmins Conference at Penn State taking place July 7-10, 2026. This grant supports emerging speakers in the Apple system administration community, helping them share their expertise at conferences worldwide.

Katie Due will speak on Managing the Unmanageable: Rolling out Managed Apple Accounts at MacAdmins, walking the community through how her team designed and implemented federation and Managed Apple Accounts in an environment where more than 1,000 engineers were already using thousands of Personal Apple Accounts, and moved to a fully automated Okta-integrated lifecycle.

Katie is an IT Endpoint and Management Leader with nearly 10 years of experience supporting Apple platforms at enterprise scale. Her work has centered on building thoughtful, scalable systems that reduce friction for end users while maintaining strong security and operational standards. 

Jonathan Blasingame will present his talk Jamf as Code: Managing Scripts and Extension Attributes with GitLab CI, demonstrating how he scales scripts and extension attribute management in Jamf Pro by treating Jamf objects as source-controlled code and syncing them via Git using GitLab CI and the Jamf API.

Jonathan is a systems administrator focused on Apple device management and automation. His work emphasizes treating infrastructure and management content as code to improve reliability, auditability, and long-term maintainability.

The Charles S. Edge New Speaker Grant, named in honor of Apple community veteran Charles Edge, is designed to help speakers gain the opportunity to present at major conferences, covering travel, lodging, registration, and mentorship, and is intended to further’s MAF’s mission fostering knowledge sharing and professional growth within the Apple IT ecosystem.

“The Charles Edge New Speaker Grant exists to elevate new voices like Katie’s and Jonathan’s, and ensure that those new voices are heard,” board secretary Rebecca Latimer said. “Bringing new people, experiences, and perspectives to the table keeps conferences vital and makes the community better.”

About the MacAdmins Conference at Penn State

MacAdmins is the premier East Coast conference for anyone who deploys and manages devices in the Apple ecosystem. The multi-track conference presents over 60 sessions and workshops over four days, offering an incredible value and opportunity for Mac Admins to network with fellow professionals.

About Charles S. Edge

Charles S. Edge Jr. was a respected published author of technical works around Apple systems administration, co‑host of the Mac Admins Podcast, host of the History of Computing Podcast, and a veteran of Jamf Software, 318, and Bootstrappers.mn. A passionate Mac Admin, Charles championed new voices within the community,enc ouraging others to speak, publish, and share their expertise. Charles passed unexpectedly in 2024; his gregarious and inclusive voice is deeply missed by his community of friends around the world.

About the Mac Admins Foundation

The Mac Admins Foundation exists in order to advance the global community of people who manage Apple devices at large and small scales. It does this by fostering connections among Mac Admins around the world, sharing knowledge for the community’s ongoing growth, providing community tools such as the Mac Admins Slack, and protecting the independence of the community. The Mac Admins Foundation accomplishes this via the generosity of its community members and strong support from corporate sponsors.

For more information on the Mac Admins Foundation, or to explore sponsorship opportunities, please visit macadmins.org or email giving@macadmins.org.

Risotto Levels Up: AI Support Platform Joins Mac Admins Foundation as a Major Sponsor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — MAY 17, 2026 — Risotto, the AI-powered IT support platform, is upgrading to a Major Sponsor of the Mac Admins Foundation (MAF). The move expands a partnership that began in early 2024 and reflects Risotto's growing belief in the Foundation's mission and in the people who make this community what it is.

It’s a fitting moment for both organizations. The Mac Admins Foundation is in the middle of a pivotal year: expanding its board, modernizing its operational practices, and scaling the programs that directly serve its nearly 85,000-person community. That includes sponsoring conference travel and underwriting first-time speakers (with several more cohorts planned this year), refreshing and supporting the volunteer administrators who keep the Mac Admins Slack workspace running, and funding the platform behind 30+ active mentor-mentee relationships around the world. 

“Risotto has shown up for this community in ways big and small since day one,” said John Mahlman, Fundraising chair of the Mac Admins Foundation. “Watching them grow alongside us, and now choosing to invest even more deeply in the work we do together is exactly the kind of partnership we hope to build with every sponsor. We’re genuinely excited about what this next chapter looks like.”

Risotto, meanwhile, has had a transformative year of its own. In January, the company raised a $10 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from 645 Ventures, Y Combinator, Ritual Capital, and SurgePoint Capital—cementing its emergence as a serious, IT-and-Operations-aligned platform built squarely for the teams it serves. Both organizations are growing rapidly, in parallel, and toward the same audience.

“The Mac Admins Foundation has been a real part of our story, and the community it serves is full of the people we build for every day. Stepping up as a Major Sponsor isn’t just a thank you, it’s a commitment to keep showing up as this community grows.”

— Aron Solberg, Co-founder and CEO, Risotto

The Mac Admins Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that exists for one reason: to make life better for the people who manage Apple devices. That work shows up in a lot of places—the Mac Admins Slack workspace, local meetups around the world, speaker series and scholarships that lower the barrier to entry, and the open-source tools the community relies on. Major Sponsorships fund the infrastructure that keeps all of it going.

About Risotto (tryrisotto.com)

Risotto is the AI-powered IT support platform that meets employees where they work. By combining intelligent triage, knowledge-base integration, and self-service automation across tools like Slack, Okta, and leading device management platforms, Risotto helps IT teams triage tickets, resolve issues faster, and focus on the work that matters. Learn more at tryrisotto.com.

About the Mac Admins Foundation (macadmins.org)

The Mac Admins Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the global community of Mac administrators through education, advocacy, and resources. By providing awareness, knowledge, and financial support, the Foundation seeks to uplift Mac admins in all sectors, helping them navigate the challenges of managing Apple devices in enterprise, education, and beyond. To learn more about the Foundation’s work—or about becoming a sponsor, visit macadmins.org.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Chris Dawe, Co-Chair
Mac Admins Foundation
Email: info@macadmins.org

Aron Solberg, CEO and Co-Founder
Risotto
Email: aron@tryrisotto.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aronsolberg

Apply for the 2026 MacAdmins Community and Conference Attendee Grant

The Mac Admins Foundation is pleased to open applications for the 2026 Community and Conference Grant supporting attendance at the MacAdmins Conference at Penn State University. The Community and Conference Grant aims to broaden the experience of deserving individuals with the intent to foster their development as part of the next generation of technical professionals.

The 2026 MacAdmins Conference Grant will provide recipients with:

• Registration for the MacAdmins Conference at Penn State University, scheduled for July 7-10, 2026 in State College, Pennsylvania.

• $2,500 (USD) to cover applicable expenses including travel and accommodation.

The Mac Admins Foundation targets this grant at those with financial need or who may otherwise lack the means or opportunity to attend an event of this caliber. Grant program applicants should self-identify with one or more of the following criteria:

• You are early in, or starting, your career in technology.

• You have not previously been able to attend an event or conference of this type.

• You are currently unable to self-fund, or secure institutional funding for event attendance.

The Community and Conference Grant does not require formal submission of work or financial credentials. The Foundation designed the program to support individuals who are passionate about advancing their technical skills and knowledge and who would benefit from the opportunity to connect with experts and leaders in the field.

Interested candidates must submit an application that includes responses to several questions related to their experience and goals in the technical field. Applications will be reviewed by the grant committee, who will evaluate each response based on factors such as relevance, depth, clarity, specificity, and originality.

We encourage all interested individuals to apply for this grant and to share this opportunity with others who may benefit. The deadline for applications is 5pm PST on May 18, 2026, and successful applicants will be notified on or about May 25, 2026..

Please review the FAQ and contact the Mac Admins Foundation at scholarships@macadmins.org or #macadminsfoundation with any questions.

Honoring a Mac Admin Life: Anthony Reimer

Join the Mac Admins Foundation and the Mac Admins Podcast virtually or in-person May 8, 2026, as we come together in Calgary and online to honor the life and work of community stalwart Anthony Reimer, with details to come.

Many Mac Admins know and love Anthony, AKA @jazzace, and his work as a Mac Admin, especially his dedication to community, his focus elevating Mac Admin skills, running the local MacDeployment conference in Calgary, speaking at MacAdmins at Penn State, and his blogging on both technical and career development topics. Anthony published his post Recognition, Retirement, and Remembrance in the early stages of the Covid pandemic, and it resonated strongly with a community in the midst of its own generational transition.

2025 brought Anthony serious health issues that he detailed in I Hit a Wall, providing his  account of his experience venturing into the territory of serious illness. Even in the face of this crisis, Anthony has retained and extended his commitment to community, continuing to blog on topics both professional and personal, and working with the Mac Admins Foundation to institute new community awards that honor the Mac Admins whose work brings the community to life. During the development of this project, the Mac Admins Foundation realized that if it will be honoring community work, Anthony is the natural first recipient.

Mac Admins Podcast Host Tom Bridge and MAF Co-Chair Chris Dawe will travel to Calgary to honor Anthony and further the process of documenting and celebrating a pillar of the Mac Admins community whose life has encompassed that community and vastly more, and the community is invited to join us in person or virtually. Details to come. 

We look forward to honoring Anthony’s contributions to a grateful community, and encourage all who can attend to do so, virtually or in Calgary. Those who wish to attend should RSVP for further details.

Mac Admins Foundation Announces Scalefusion as a Major Sponsor

The Mac Admins Foundation, the leading nonprofit organization supporting people who manage Apple products in the workplace, is proud to announce that Scalefusion has joined the Foundation as a Major Sponsor.

Headquartered in Pune, India, Scalefusion serves IT teams worldwide with a unified platform for managing and securing endpoints across macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, ChromeOS, and Linux.

“We are excited to welcome Scalefusion as a Major Sponsor,” said Chris Dawe, Co-Chair of the Mac Admins Foundation. "Partnerships like this one strengthen our global community and create new opportunities for education, connection, and collaboration across the Apple administration ecosystem."

"The Mac Admins community has long been at the forefront of supporting innovation in Apple device management. We’re proud to partner with the Mac Admins Foundation and support a global network of professionals shaping the future of modern IT,” said Sriram Kakarala, Chief Product Officer at Scalefusion.

About Scalefusion
Scalefusion provides a comprehensive suite of products engineered to simplify endpoint, user, and access management for IT teams. The lineup includes Scalefusion UEM for streamlined device management, Scalefusion OneIdP for secure zero-trust access, and Scalefusion Veltar for advanced endpoint security. Trusted by more than 12,000 businesses in 120 countries, Scalefusion helps organizations stay ahead of modern IT demands.
Learn more at https://scalefusion.com 

About the Mac Admins Foundation
The Mac Admins Foundation supports people who manage Apple devices in the workplace through collaboration, professional development, and community initiatives.
Learn more at https://www.macadmins.org