Pete’s local government work began in Columbus OH, where he was the city’s first CIO and established a local CIO networking group. As CIO for the City of Fort Worth he supervised the implementation of an ERP system which replaced over 50 separate systems. Pete’s local government career also included over ten years in Public Transit CIO positions for the Columbus and Cleveland transit agencies. His most extensive volunteer commitment was serving on a large food bank board for seven years (including as President).

Hershel Becker, a seasoned expert in government contracting, brings over 35 years of experience across both public and private sectors. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and co-founder of Signature Advisory Partners, a procurement advisory firm based in Texas.

Jack Belcher comes with over forty years of public service background. Beginning at the US House of Representatives where he introduced Internet Email, to US Securities Exchange Commission, then to the International Monetary Fund and recently at Arlington County Government where he established the first Emergency Operations Center on September 10, 2001. His achievements were to establish ConnectArlington community broadband and major system releases involving ERP, ERMS, and VoIP. His recognitions include Federal Computer Week Top 100, CIO Magazine Top 100, Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers 2021, and recognition as the Number One Digital County for its size five of six years.

Bob Bennett is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and the founder of B2 Civic Solutions, an international smart cities consultancy firm based in Parkville, Mo. From 2016 to 2019 he served in Mayor Sly James’ administration as the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Kansas City, Mo. During his tenure, he oversaw the city’s smart city initiatives including a 54-block total digitalization pilot, strategy development for the city and P3-based expansion plans.

Ronald M. Bergmann most recently served as Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Lehman College/CUNY. At Lehman, Ron and his team pioneered the use of analytics, automated major business processes, enhanced classroom technology, and opened the first virtual reality lab in the region. Lehman was cited as an exemplar in the 2018 Horizon Report for its innovative Lehman 360 digital platform. Ron is a fellow of the EDUCAUSE/CLIR Frye (now Leading Change) Institute and was named in 2017 as one of the nation’s top technologists, transformers, and trailblazers by the Center for Digital Education. Ron previously served as first deputy commissioner of New York City's information technology agency where he was selected by Government Technology Magazine as one of the nation's leading individuals redefining and advancing technology's role in government. 

Justin Brown served as Oklahoma’s Cabinet Secretary of Human Services and Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services from 2019 to 2023. In July 2023, Brown stepped away from state service with confidence in the transition strategy and with a deep desire to continue human services transformation across America through independent consulting.

Paul Clanton has devoted his career to helping local governments be on the forefront of using technology to increase value delivered to the public. He has over 30 years in various Information technology roles in both the public and private sectors including 20 years leading Information Technology departments. He now helps local governments get the most value from their significant investment in people, process, and technology.

Barry has worked in the IT field for over 37 years holding a wide range of technology leadership positions in the public and private sectors and was most recently the CIO for Chesterfield County, Virginia where he pursues initiatives based on digital transformation, open government, and citizen centricity. Under his leadership Chesterfield County Va was four times recognized as the #1 digital county in the USA. Barry holds a masters degree in public leadership with a minor in economics from Virginia State University and a bachelors degree in computer science from DeVry University. He has been adjunct faculty for Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently adjunct faculty for the Public Technology Institute in the certified government CIO program. Barry has been an active NACo contributor, a gubernatorial appointee to the Virginia elections security standards workgroup and a two-time president of the Virginia Local Government IT Executives (VALGITE) organization. He is a certified government CIO (CGCIO), a certified information security manager (CISM) and a national top 25 Doer, Dreamer & Driver. He likes to teach, research technology, write code and blog about technology leadership from his home in Moseley, Virginia.

Kristen Cox is the world's leading authority on how to apply the Theory of Constraints to governments and non profits. She is perhaps best known for her work as the former Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) for the State of Utah where she orchestrated a 35 percent improvement across Utah's $20B executive branch.

Brenda Decker most recently spent five years with IBM as a Director for Global Government Industry services. Prior to IBM, Brenda served in Nebraska state government for 37 years, 10+ years as the state's chief information officer with responsibility for state government computing, telecommunications, public safety radio, and video conferencing. Her expertise leading, transforming and managing large IT organizations has created high-performing teams and partnered cross functional public and private organizations. Her work has garnered both local and national recognition for her contributions to government technology.

Matt Federoff served as the Chief Information Officer for the Vail School District in Vail, Arizona for 22 years. He helped open 18 new schools, and was the first IT leader in his state to provide comprehensive wifi, 1-1 student laptops, and all digital content for instruction. Before Vail, Matt taught high school science for eight years, where he was named an Apple Distinguished Educator. Retired in 2021 after 30 years in public education and numerous awards and recognitions. Matt lives with his wife and children in Steubenville, Ohio.

Dave Fletcher served as Chief Technology Officer of the State of Utah for 17 years. Dave oversaw the State’s digital government initiatives and coordinated the introduction of emerging technologies, as well as the state’s technical architecture program. David has a long history of involvement with technology initiatives, having previously served as director of the state’s Division of Information Technology, Deputy CIO over egovernment, and Deputy Director of the Utah Department of Administrative Services.

Dr. Ann Lee Flynn, CEO of Flynn Strategies, LLC, provides research, planning, and event management to education companies and non-profit organizations. For 27 years, K-12 education and district leadership were Dr. Flynn’s focus as Director of Education Innovation for the National School Boards Association. Dr. Flynn established NSBA’s “20 to Watch” for emerging ed tech leaders and the Technology Innovation Showcase for start-up firms; hosted more than 75 school district site visits; conducted management audits; developed online courses; directed the T+L Conference and represented the association at global gatherings including WISE in Doha, Qatar. She is a published author and continues to serve on NCTET as a past-Chair for the organization. Dr. Flynn earned her doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Virginia and her BSE and M.Ed. from the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Monica Goldson is the retired Chief Executive Officer for Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) after 32 years of service. Dr. Goldson holds three degrees from HBCUs – a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Florida A&M University, a master’s degree in Elementary and Secondary School Administration from Bowie State University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy from Howard University. Beyond the schoolhouse, Dr. Goldson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.

Bruce High served as the Executive Director of Universal Services and CIO of Harris County from 2009-2020. Harris County, Texas is the third largest county government in the United States serving the needs of over 4.2 million citizens covering a 1,780 square mile area and 270 locations.

Eric Holdeman is a nationally known emergency manager. He has worked in emergency management at the federal, state and local government levels. Today he serves as the Director, Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (CRDR), which is part of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER). The focus for his work there is engaging the public and private sectors to work collaboratively on issues of common interest, regionally and cross jurisdictionally.

Carole Hussey is a Senior Fellow for the Center for Digital Government. Carole is the Founder of Evolv Strategy Group, an Health and Human Services (HHS) market strategy firm. As a seasoned HHS advisor, Carole has more than twenty years of experience providing consultative services to state and local government agencies. Her depth of expertise is oriented toward transformation of cross-programmatic service delivery models, enabled by modern technology solutions. Prior to starting Evolv Strategy Group, Carole served in a number of leadership positions in national consulting firms serving the HHS market. She is on the Board of Directors for the Human Services Information Technology Advisory Group (HSITAG) and volunteers with several non-profit organizations in support of transition aged youth. Carole is a graduate of Duquesne University.

Jim Jorstad is Senior Fellow for the Center for Digital Education and the Center for Digital Government. He is a retired emeritus interim CIO and Cyber Security Designee for the Chancellor’s Office at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He served in leadership roles as director of IT client services, academic technologies and media services, providing services to over 1,500 staff and 10,000 students. Jim has experience in IT operations, teaching and learning, and social media strategy. His work has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Forbes and NPR, and he is a recipient of the 2013 CNN iReport Spirit Award. Jim is an EDUCAUSE Leading Change Fellow and was chosen as one of the Top 30 Media Producers in the U.S.

Jennifer Kent has more than fifteen years of extensive health administration and policy experience in California that spans over three gubernatorial administrations and encompasses both private and public delivery systems. As Director, Kent oversaw the second largest public healthcare system in the nation with an annual budget of over $100B and serving approximately 13 million Californians. She oversaw the administration of twenty-four managed care plans as well as 56 county behavioral health plans. Kent has also held leadership roles in the Health & Human Services Agency and Governor’s offices as well as experience in the private sector as a lobbyist, consultant and association executive.

Bryan J. Langley serves as the senior vice president of defense development at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, where he is responsible for developing a strategic plan for long-term state investment in the defense marketspace, with the goal of tripling federal defense investments by December 2024. Bryan served as executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Advisory (HSA) for US DHS. He previously served as global security manager at Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) and as a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton Consulting. He also worked in the White House as the U.S. assistant chief of protocol under the George W. Bush administration.

Michael G. Leahy is an experienced Senior Executive, Attorney and Regulator with extensive public and private sector contributions leading organizations, solving complex problems, and applying process management, technology and common sense successfully.

Until September 2007, Bill served as chief of staff to Governors Kaine and Warner of Virginia. As chief of staff, Bill served as the chief operating officer of the commonwealth. In 2005, Governing Magazine named Virginia the “Best Managed State in the Nation” and in 2007, Governing Magazine named him one of the nine “Public Officials of the Year.”

Ron Littlefield, a former mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn., is a senior fellow with the Governing Institute and its lead analyst on the City Accelerator initiative. A city planner by career, he also consults to government through Littlefield Associates.

Daniel J. Lohrmann is an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist, keynote speaker and author. He led Michigan government’s cybersecurity and technology infrastructure teams from May 2002 to August 2014, including as enterprise-wide chief security officer (CSO), chief technology officer (CTO) and chief information security officer (CISO). During his distinguished career, he has served both the public and private sectors in a variety of executive leadership capacities including advising senior leaders at the White House, National Governors Association (NGA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Throughout his career he has received numerous national awards including CSO of the Year, Public Official of the Year and Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader.

Justin Marlowe is a research professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. His research and teaching are focused on public finance, and he has published five books — including the first open-access textbook on public financial management — and more than 100 articles on public capital markets, infrastructure finance, financial disclosure, public financial technology, and public-private partnerships. He is an admitted expert witness in federal and state courts, and has served on technical advisory bodies for the state of Washington, the California State Auditor, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, the National Academy of Sciences, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and many other public, private and nonprofit organizations. Prior to academia, he worked in local government in Michigan. He is a Certified Government Financial Manager and an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and he holds a Ph.D. in political science and public administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Dr. Michael J. Martirano is a Senior Fellow for the Center for Digital Government. He is a seasoned educational leader, serving over 40 years in the public education sector. He has served as a science and math teacher, a principal and assistant principal at the elementary, middle and high school levels, a central office administrator, a local superintendent in two counties in the state of Maryland and as the state superintendent of schools for the great state of West Virginia.

In 2006, Scott accepted the appointment as CIO for the Florida House of Representatives. Scott guided the development of the legislature’s first “app,” which debuted in March 2013, and garnered 5-star reviews and more than 3,500 downloads before being decommissioned in 2017. Scott served in this role until his retirement in August 2022.

Sean McSpaden is an executive level information technology professional with over 30 years of experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. His background includes the start-up and management of several small businesses and he has served on the Board of Directors or in Executive Director positions for several 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Sean’s public service experience includes progressively responsible positions as an IT analyst, and in statewide coordination, management and leadership positions within the Executive and Legislative branches of Oregon state government. From June 2008 to September 2013, served as the state of Oregon’s Deputy State Chief Information Officer.

Ralph is currently CEO of ARKS GROUP LLC established in 2021 to help people and businesses succeed in a “sea of opportunities.” His activities generally revolve around aviation, roadway, maritime, rail & bus organizations, and industries. His past positions include Executive Director – Global Transportation Industry Solutions, Oracle Corporation; Transportation Domain Leader, KPMG; and VP/CIO positions at JP Morgan Chase Bank, General Motors, Saint Gobain, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).

Russ Nichols’ public service spanned over 32 years and included management and executive positions with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California State Controller’s Office, and the Employment Development Department.

Dr. Orgeron has extensive information technology experience in both the private sector and the federal and state level of the public sector. Currently, Dr. Orgeron is Professor of Management Information Systems in the Else School of Management at Millsaps College. After beginning his career as a communications-computer systems officer in the United States Air Force, he served as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) and Chief Information Officer for the State of Mississippi. In this role, Dr. Orgeron provided statewide leadership in the provision of services that facilitated cost-effective information processing and telecommunication solutions for Mississippi government agencies and institutions.

After earning his PhD at Stanford in '82, George Otte spent over 4 decades in higher education, most of that at the City University of New York. In 2001 he was named Director of Instructional Technology for CUNY; the title changed to University Director of Academic Technology in 2008, the same year he became chief academic officer of the CUNY School of Professional Studies, the home of the University's first online degrees. He oversaw the development of so many (by 2022 more than two dozen) that he gave up his position with CUNY Central (as AT director) in 2018. In 2022, he stepped down as the CAO of CUNY SPS.

Sergio Paneque has led some of the largest government procurement organizations, most recently as the chief procurement officer for the state of New York. In this role, Sergio managed a portfolio of more than 1,400 contracts valued at over $16 billion. Prior to his tenure in Albany, Sergio was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg as the chief acquisition officer for the city of New York and also served as the director of procurement in Michigan’s Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

Joe Panora has over 34 years of state public service with 14 years serving in correctional safety/public safety law enforcement as IT director/chief information officer (CIO). Panora was appointed by California Gov. Schwarzenegger and later by Gov. Brown to serve as director of Enterprise Information Services (EIS) for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) since January 2008. During his career, Joe has also served for the following departments: Caltrans, Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Department, State Controller’s Office and California Youth Authority. Joe retired from state service as the director of EIS for CDCR in December 2014. In January 2015, Joe formed Panora Associates Inc.

Lydia Payne-Johnson is a dynamic, multi-talented executive with more than 40 years’ experience in compliance, cybersecurity risk, data governance, and consumer marketing. She is passionate about helping women adopt strategies that will drive them to embrace their true capacity for self-love and acceptance in order to find their voice in the workplace. Lydia is a published subject matter expert, noted industry panelist, speaker and has been a mentor with the Executive Women’s Forum.

For 15 years, Dugan Petty served in Oregon state government. His goal was to improve its effectiveness at the enterprise level. He served as the state’s chief information officer for six years. His collaborative leadership led to a new e-government delivery system, open government applications, strengthened security, and improvements in IT governance.

Kecia is a strategic thinker and a proven leader in K-12 transformation. Her career includes designing technology within the Frist Art Museum and directing technology research through Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Science Outreach programs. She was appointed as a turnaround agent by the Tennessee Commissioner of Education and established award-winning instructional technology programs recognized by the USDOE and Harvard University while in that role. Dr. Ray was named "20 to Watch" by the National School Board Association, an ISTE Making IT Happen recipient, and most recently a Top 100 EdTech Influencer by EdTech Digest.

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D., is a professor and associate director (department chair) of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement IT and Cybersecurity Program. He focuses on continually delivering and updating the program curriculum based on innovative and emerging technologies. Before transitioning to academia and higher education, he had a diverse gov tech career delivering value to state agencies, local governments, and law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Mississippi.

With over 40 years of a wide variety of experience in technology and management, Bill Ryan has dedicated his career to Anne Arundel County, Md. Most recently, as chief information officer, Bill was responsible for all operational and strategic information technology functions for the county, providing services to county, library, school board and community college employees at over 300 facilities. One of Bill’s primary and highly visible tasks was ensuring that all county government entities and citizens received the full benefits of a multi-year, robust fiber-optic network implementation — owned and operated by the county.

Tom Ryan has recently retired from Santa Fe Public Schools, in New Mexico, as Chief Information and Strategy Officer. He has co-founded, K12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group, to assist district leaders deliver educational success with technology, which is led by experienced school technology leaders. He has expertise in strategic planning and leadership, designing digital learning environments, technology infrastructure reviews.

Ms. Salazar retired as San Joaquin Regional Transit District’s (RTD) Chief Executive Officer in March 2022, leaving with 30 years of experience in the transit industry. Her leadership as Deputy CEO/CFO for 18 years greatly contributed to RTD receiving the coveted Outstanding System of the Year Award by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in 2018. In 2022, RTD was awarded District of the Year for innovation by the Center of Digital Government. The same organization also gave a leadership award to Ms. Salazar.

Sonny recently retired from the position of CIO of Montgomery County, Md., where he led digital transformation efforts for almost eight years. He leveraged the county’s 300 technology staff and annual technology budget of over $200 million to successfully develop and implement strategies that enabled the digitalization of many of the county’s 350 services in almost every functional area from public health and transportation to telecommunications and public safety. He was also responsible for justifying capital budgets for large modernization efforts in key constituent service areas. During his tenure as CIO, many of Montgomery County’s technology programs were consistently nationally recognized.

Jabari Simama, Ph.D., is a seasoned educator, executive, and former elected leader, having served for decades in Georgia and as its liaison in Washington, D.C., and demonstrating a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and cultural competence. Educated at Harvard, Emory and Atlanta universities, Dr. Simama is the former president and CEO of Georgia Piedmont Technical College and chief of staff and deputy COO of DeKalb County, Ga. Earlier in his career, Simama was elected to the Atlanta city council where he served as a councilman from 1987 to 1994. He also worked as a professor, instructor, educator, and producer in academic and industry settings during those years. A prolific writer, he produced and presented a steady catalog of books, journal articles, conference presentations, sponsored publications, and magazine articles. Simama is currently a columnist for Governing.

Grace Simrall is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Government and the founder of iGlass Analytics, an innovation, data and analytics services company based in Louisville, KY. She served as the Chief of Civic Innovation and Technology of Louisville Metro Government from 2016-2023. Under her leadership, the city has been the most widely recognized civic innovation team in the country including awards in 2017 Center for Digital Government - Most Innovative City, 2018 and 2021 Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge Champion City, 2018 Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge awardee, 2019 Microsoft Future of Work Initiative, 2020 What Works Cities Platinum certification status, and 2023 US DOT SMART Phase I grant awardee.

Deb is an accomplished C-level executive, influencer and educator who has dedicated her career to improving state and local government services through policy and technology innovation. She has a broad range of experience in government programs, policy, cybersecurity, privacy and information technology. She formerly served as New York state’s chief information security officer, where she led the state’s cybersecurity programs and directed the NYS Cyber Command Center. She works with organizations and universities to strategically strengthen cybersecurity programs, defenses and preparedness, and to create and inspire the next generation of cyber leaders.

Gaby Rowe is the CEO and Managing Principal of Grow Associates. Gaby was born into a family of educators on the Upper West Side of New York City. While her circuitous career has taken her from investment banker to school principal to technology innovator to public policy and implementation consultant, Gaby’s focus has always been on high impact projects that serve to transform the lives of young people and enable economic empowerment, digital equity and opportunity.

Mark Weatherford is a globally recognized information security professional with experience at some of the world’s largest public- and private-sector organizations. He was appointed as the first deputy under secretary for cybersecurity at DHS in the Obama administration and was chief information security officer for the state of Colorado and for the state of California under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Scott Wilcox recently retired from the New York State Police after a thirty year career. At the time of his retirement, he was a Lieutenant Colonel and a member of the agency’s executive committee. One of Scott’s primary responsibilities was developing and managing the agency’s technology strategy. To accomplish this, he built and led high-performance teams that provided the agency’s technology governance, project management, service delivery, support, vendor management, portfolio management and information security. During his tenure, the agency initiated multi-year projects to replace its Records Management System (RMS), overhaul in-car technology and adopt body worn cameras. Scott also participated in the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) governance process as the CJIS Systems Officer (CSO) for New York state and as a member of the FBI’s Advisory Policy Board (APB). As CSO, he also worked closely with New York state IT and criminal justice partners to govern and ensure the delivery of shared criminal justice information services in New York state. Scott has also served as an Information Security Officer for the New York State Police and for the FBI CJIS process in New York state.

Curt most recently served as the Technology Services and Security Cabinet Secretary and Chief Information Officer for Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, leading the Commonwealth’s digital and cyber security transformation. Prior to his Cabinet appointment in 2018, Mr. Wood served 8 years as the Public Safety Undersecretary for Forensic Science and CIO overseeing major public safety and justice operational and technology modernization efforts. He began his government career in 1975 and has served in multiple roles.

Bob was the chief technical architect for the state of Utah’s Department of Technology Services, including the development of the state’s Utah.gov portal. Utah has been widely recognized in these areas with numerous national awards. He has also been a technical lead and RFP writer for the WSCA/NASPO Cloud and Data Communication Procurements. He has experience with state, county and higher education employee skill assessments and technology upgrade implementations, including large-scale database migrations from RDMS to NoSQL platforms. He has extensive private-sector experience with Microservices Architecture implementation and DevOps using hybrid cloud deployment patterns.

Morgan is an internationally recognized expert on cybersecurity strategy, cyberterrorism, national security and intelligence. He currently serves as Chief Security Advisor for SentinelOne, and is the chief technology analyst for several major cable news organizations. Morgan's landmark testimony before Congress on Healthcare.gov changed how the government collected personally identifiable information. Previously Morgan was a Senior Advisor in the US State Department Antiterrorism Assistance Program, the Senior Law Enforcement Advisor for the 2012 Republican National Convention, taught behavioral analysis at the National Security Agency and spent a year teaching the FBI how to conduct internet investigations. In addition to 18 years in state and local law enforcement as a highly decorated state trooper and detective, Morgan has developed solutions in defense, justice and intelligence for the largest technology companies in the world including Cisco, SAIC, Unisys and Alcatel-Lucent/Bell Labs.

Greg has extensive experience as a technology executive with state government and the US military. Serving in the US Air Force (USAF) for 25 years and in Idaho government for nearly 20 years, Greg focused his career on building organizations and developing individual leaders to effect positive change.

Steven Zink is an emeritus faculty member at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he served as the university’s first vice president of information technology. From 2011 to 2016, he served as vice chancellor for the Nevada System of Higher Education, the coordinating body for all public institutions of higher education in Nevada.