Brendan Daley has over 20 years’ experience working on sustainability and strategic policy initiatives in local government. Brendan currently manages the strategic direction of the Chicago Park District. He also manages sustainability initiatives across all 600 parks in the city. Before working at the Park District, Brendan worked at the Chicago Department of Environment, most recently at the Deputy Commissioner overseeing energy and air quality projects.
Brendan holds a BA in Political Science from Roosevelt University, an LLB in Law from Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a Certificate in Civic Leadership from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He is a LEED accredited professional with the US Green Building Council and a Certified Park and Recreation Professional through the National Recreation and Parks Association.
Brendan wants to live in a world where teachers are paid more than CEOs, honey bees are abundant, and kids play outside as often as possible.
As a sustainability and strategy implementer, Brendan has been a guest lecturer at Chicago universities, park conferences, writer for various publications, and an accomplished speaker on the environment. When Brendan is not reducing, reusing, composting, or recycling, you can find him making pie, gardening, caring for backyard chickens, or telling really bad dad jokes to his kids.

In the role of Principal Architect Dan works with State and Local Government agencies integrating their long term plans with Information Technology industry direction. Dan has 20 years of experience at AT&T in a variety of roles supporting Public Sector and Enterprise clients in their efforts to innovate and deliver what is possible within their organizations. He holds an MBA from Lawrence Technological University. Dan currently resides in Redford, Michigan with his wife, Heidi, and their 3 sons. Outside of work Dan enjoys travel and DIY projects around the house.

Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer for e.Republic. As Chief Innovation Officer, he has a strategic role to help shape the company’s products, services, and future direction. Primarily, he leads e.Republic Labs, a market connector created as an ecosystem to educate, accelerate, and ultimately scale technology innovation within the public sector. Dustin began he career at a very young age as the finance director and later CIO for Manor, TX, a small city outside Austin. He quickly built a track record and national reputation as an early innovator in civic tech, for which he was named a Government Technology Top 25 Doer, Dreamer and Driver in 2009. A member of Code for America’s original steering committee, Dustin pioneered government use of commercial technologies not before used in the public sector – including Quick-Response (QR) barcodes, crowdsourcing, and gamification. Dustin went on to the private sector to help broaden the adoption of these and other civic innovations. His work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, Inc., and the Today Show on NBC. An in-demand speaker, he has given two TEDx speeches – one on Disrupting Government (TEDxAustin) and the other on Disrupting Education (TEDxLivermore).

Brian Kelley is the Chief Technology Officer for the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission where he is responsible for the Commission’s overall technical vision and technology operations. Prior to arriving at the Turnpike, Brian spent 27+ years as CIO for Portage County, Ohio. He also served as a commissioned Portage County Special Deputy Sheriff for 15 years investigating cybercrimes. Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Sociology and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Kent State University. He is a graduate of the Certified Government Chief Information Officer Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He teaches public sector IT management, electronic governance, and strategic online graduate courses and undergraduate criminal justice courses at Kent State University. He is also a senior lecturer at the University of Akron where he teaches an undergraduate course in computer and information security. Brian was recognized as one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers in Public Sector Innovation in 2012.

As the CMS Director, Carlita Mendez is responsible for Bremerton Housing Authority’s Performance-Based Contract Administration (PBCA) and Business Development department known as CMS. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Master of Business Administration from Western Governor’s University. Through her multiple key positions with housing authorities and non-profits, she has been specializing in subsidized housing continuously since 1998. She has experience with a multitude of HUD, state, and federal programs and, through her current role, ensures over 140,000 families in Nebraska, Utah, and Washington State receive decent and affordable housing. She is also on the board of the YWCA of Kitsap County, NLHA, and the NAHMA Educational Foundation and often volunteers her time supporting low-income residents in the Kitsap County community.

Ms. Salazar assumed the role of RTD’s Chief Executive Officer in January 2020 with over 28 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.
Because of Ms. Salazar’s business acumen, RTD has consistently delivered balanced budgets without incurring long-term commercial debt. In her first year as CEO, she led her team to thoughtfully and significantly adjust the operating budget and service to minimize the impact of COVID-19 to the organization while preparing RTD for recovery and sustainability. Informed by her prior finance experience, Ms. Salazar designed effective business processes and implemented robust systems, such as initiating a financial reporting system that has earned RTD a Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) award for 17 consecutive years.
A graduate of Leadership APTA and a participant in two international mission studies, Ms. Salazar currently serves on the California Transit Finance Corporation (CFTC) board and teaches for University and the Pacific and previously for Willamette University for their Transit/Paratransit Management Certificate Program. In 2017, Ms. Salazar was also honored by the Central Valley Asian Chamber of Commerce for breaking through the glass ceiling in her leadership and community service. In 2016, she was also selected by her peers at RTD to receive the John Lopez award for her inspiring leadership. Ms. Salazar has been a featured speaker at various conferences as well as for high school and college students.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Ms. Salazar finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, magna cum laude. She left behind an already illustrious career as a Certified Public Accountant in 1987 to come to the United States. Rising through the ranks at various firms while completing a Master in Business Administration Degree, she also passed all parts of the Uniform CPA exam in the first sitting.

As Executive Editor at e.Republic, Steve is responsible for the coordination of editorial strategies and standards across all the firm’s media platforms. He directs the editorial teams that produce Government Technology, Emergency Management and Digital Communities and their respective Websites, in addition to developing and maintaining corporate policies and standards for editorial. Steve has over 20 years of writing and editing experience including more than 17 years covering technology in the state and local government market.
Steve joined e.Republic in 1996. During his tenure, e.Republic’s print and electronic media have received many awards for editorial excellence, including “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Emergency Management in 2013, “Best New Web Site” from ASBPE for emergencymgmt.com in 2009, ”Best Overall Publication” at the Maggie awards for Government Technology in 2008 and “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Public CIO in 2007.

Devon Winthrop has been with AT&T for 20 years and is currently a Principal Architect with the State, Local Government and Education organization in AT&T’s Global Public Sector. Devon supports local government and education in California, Nevada and Hawaii.
As a Principal Architect, he is involved with innovation strategy and technical architecture for AT&T. Devon collaborates with Enterprise Architecture and IT leadership teams to drive strategic roadmaps that align with your technology and business objectives. He works within the innovation spaces at AT&T to forward emerging and evolving technologies. He recommends technology standards, principles and best practices, while integrating market trends and industry insights to drive forward-looking solutions.
Devon began his career as an Outside Plant Engineer, designing T-1 networks and developing AT&T’s original fiber switched Ethernet WAN services. He has over 14 years experience as an industry consultant; developing complex solutions involving traditional and emerging services in the areas of networking, voice transformation, security, mobility, IoT and Smart Cities, and network integration.
Devon also volunteers in his community with the Folsom High Music Boosters supporting the music arts in his home city of Folsom California.