As Managing Partner at Optiv, Samitha primarily focuses on Financial Services and large enterprise clients. Samitha combines his cyber experience with his knowledge of the business, technology, risk management, and regulatory requirements of Financial Services organizations.
Samitha brings over 20 years of demonstrated success at strategy, implementation, and operating cyber security programs at leading Financial Services organizations. Samitha has experience partnering with all levels of the organization from the board of directors to engineers. Samitha’s areas of focus include:
· Security program and strategy
· Third Party risk management
· Identity and Access Management
· Data protection
· Incident response and recovery
· Cyber Resiliency

Andre Benguerel is a California Bay Area native whose career in technology started after high school when he joined the United States Air Force. His Air Force career provided excellent training while working in very diverse, austere and highly secure environments. This provided a solid foundation for IT systems in general with a security mind-set. In 2007 he joined Riverbed Technologies and covered the Bay Area in the heydays of WAN optimization. Towards the end of his 6.5 years there he cut his teeth on file systems, storage and the early days of cloud gateways. Seeing a new market emerging for cloud-backed global file systems Andre made the jump to Nasuni early in the company’s history. 2023 marks Andre’s tenth year at Nasuni where he has seen the market and company grow and expand rapidly. Today Andre serves as a Technical Consultant covering the West Coast and Nasuni’s largest customers under the Strategic Accounts team.

Amie has more than 20 years of experience in labor relations, human resources, and investigations across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She has been with the Department of Industrial Relations since 2009. Throughout her career, she has worked with apprenticeship and workforce initiatives, including collective bargaining for apprentices, creating and promoting apprentice programs in collaboration with public sector labor representatives, and enforcing apprentice prevailing wage ratios and wage rates on publicly funded construction projects. She also has experience with workforce and training development for diverse and underserved populations in the non-profit sector. Amie is a Certified Mediator with extensive experience negotiating labor and employment disputes. She holds a Master of Labor Relations and Human Resources from the University of Rhode Island.

Phil Bertolini is a senior vice president for Government Technology, the premiere event and thought leadership content provider for state and local government technology professionals. Previously, he served as deputy county executive and CIO for Oakland County, Michigan. During his 31-year tenure, Phil built a world-class IT organization in the second-largest county in Michigan, just north of Detroit. As Oakland County CIO, he oversaw more than 150 employees serving over 1.2 million residents. In 2005, he was also promoted to deputy county executive, holding dual positions until his retirement. Phil’s efforts earned the county national attention, winning numerous awards for technology innovation and excellence. He was named Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year and Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers. He was also honored by the President Obama White House as a Champion of Change.

Jerald Carter is a Partner and Global Leader for Wipro’s ServiceNow Security Operations and Operational Technology Practices. The Wipro team of over 100 consultants focuses on delivering workflow enabled solutions to rapidly increase visibility to threats and reduce overall cybersecurity risk. He has over 20 years of consulting experience in roles that include IT, Application Development, Governance Risk and Compliance, and Cybersecurity serving clients in State and Local Government, Financial Services, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, and Oil & Gas.

Dr. Keith Clement is Professor of Criminology at California State University, Fresno. Dr. Clement Chairs the Workforce Development/Education Subcommittee of the California Cybersecurity Task Force led by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and California Department of Technology. Professor Clement authored the California Cybersecurity Workforce Development and Education Strategy and Framework (2020) and implementing the California Cybersecurity Career Education Pipeline and Pathway Project (C3EP3) to prepare 50,000 cybersecurity professionals for statewide employment. He also co-authored the California Cybersecurity Essential Workforce Youth Pre-/Registered Apprentice Talent Model Framework/Strategy. He co-organized the 2020 California Cybersecurity Industry Convening Meeting (virtual) and hosted the 2022 CSU Systemwide Virtual Cybersecurity Roundtable Meeting. Professor Clement Chairs the Information Technology Subcommittee of the California Interagency Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships (IACA). In terms of previous service, Dr. Clement received a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Early Career Scientific Leadership Award (2008).
Dr. Clement facilitates and enhances IT-Cybersecurity collaboration with industry, education/higher education, and public sector. The common purpose is developing strong partnerships and resilient cyber communities through alignment and linkage of statewide education career pipelines/pathways. Pipelines prepare all segments of the cyber talent pool, contribute significantly to California cybersecurity posture, and serve as engine for transformative and equitable economic growth.

John Cleveland is California’s Deputy State Chief Information Security Officer with the California Department of Technology (CDT). 
Prior to his current position, John was manager of CDT’s Statewide Security Operations Center. His other positions included security operations chief at the Employment Development Department, chief information security officer at the Department of Child Support Services, and chief technology officer at the Contractors State License Board. He has been instrumental in his previous roles devising and implementing security operations strategies and has built security controls for some of the state’s largest benefit-based systems.
John brings over 20 years of private sector information security and technology management experience, including roles as service delivery manager for Banyan Systems, consulting manager and security practice manager at Lucent Worldwide Services, and principal consultant and owner of his own security consulting business. 
He is an Iraq war veteran with over 10 years of military service.

William “Chip” Crane worked for a global Fortune 500 company in a deputy role reporting directly to the CISO. Prior to joining IBM, Chip was also the CIO of Park Seed Company - one of America's oldest and largest mail-order seed and plant companies founded in 1868 by a 15-year-old George W. Park. Overall he has 20 years + of IT Security leadership and technical experience. Chip now serves as the Security Technical Sales Leader for IBM Americas where he meets with CISOs and CIOs from large and small organizations throughout the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Mike Driessen joined Government Technology in 2021 as the VP of Subscription Services, where he is responsible for managing execution, strategy and operations for all recurring revenue services. He also oversees Navigator, a market and sales intelligence tool for private-sector SLED teams, and Techwire and Industry Insider – Texas Edition, each of which provide daily news and insights into the California and Texas GovTech markets.
Mike brings over 25 years of experience in the IT consulting and systems integration industry with firms like Accenture, Grant Thornton and Hitachi Consulting. His experience covers Sales and Marketing leadership, advising on Digital Strategies, and managing Enterprise Application alliances and implementations. He has managed large global teams and led start-ups. Mike lives in Los Angeles, although he grew up in the Midwest, and graduated from Marquette University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Business Administration.

Mr. Ford is 25-year veteran in cybersecurity, incident response, and intelligence led cyber operations in both government and commercial sectors. Prior to joining Mandiant, Mr. Ford served in executive leadership roles for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Ford served as the responsible executive to the U.S. Cryptologic Centers for strategic and tactical oversight of global cyber operations and key asset protection. In these roles. Mr. Ford developed the framework used by the U.S. Government to manage risk of cyber threats supporting government and critical infrastructure capabilities receiving recognition by the White House National Security Council and the United States Congress.
Currently, Mr. Ford serves as the Senior Executive to Mandiant’s multi-lateral partnerships and Pinnacle clients. Mr. Ford leads operations, strategy and solutions for our global partners, and globally leads Mandiant’s Insider Threat risk offerings. Mr. Ford coaches’ boards and executives on how to measure and manage enterprise risk, regularly speaks at industry conferences. Mr. Ford is a member of the Geneva Dialogue on Responsible Behavior in Cyberspace and the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise. Mr. Ford is the founder of Mandiant’s
Elevate program to advance women in IT security into senior leadership and Board positions.
Mr. Ford serves as an adjunct professor teaching advanced curricula on cybersecurity and risk frameworks at St. Mary’s University. Mr. Ford is a graduate of Harvard, John F. Kennedy School on Cybersecurity Policy; a graduate of Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business in Strategic Change Leadership; and a graduate of Carnegie Melon University’s series on Insider Threats. Mr. Ford is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), and a Leadership Professional in Ethics and Compliance (LPEC) professional. Mr. Ford also holds several Global Information Assurance Certifications (GIAC). Mr. Ford is the recipient of the Director of National Intelligence
Certificate of Distinction and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Tommy Gardner is HP’s Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, spanning the US Federal Agencies, Higher Education, K-12 Education, State and Local government customer segments, as well as Federal Systems Integrators. His current responsibilities include technology leadership, strategic technology plans, product and technology strategies, sales force technical support, and customer and partner relationships.
Previously, Tommy has served as the Chief Technology Officer for Jacobs Engineering, Scitor, and ManTech. Earlier in his career he was a senior technical executive at Raytheon. In the U.S. Navy he served as the Deputy for Science and Technology for the Chief of Naval Research. He oversaw the Navy’s Deep Submergence Program as well as its Advanced Technology Program. He also commanded the nuclear submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751).
Tommy’s educational background covers multiple disciplines and fields of interest including: cybersecurity, data science, blockchain, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, high performance computing and systems integration.
Tommy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, an M.S. in Management of Technology from MIT and a Ph. D. in Energy Economics from George Washington University. He is a Professional Engineer, an ASME Fellow, and serves on the ASME Board of Governors, the ANSI Board of Directors and the U. S. Council on Competitiveness as the Co-chair of the Advanced Computer Roundtable.

Chance Grubb serves as the Government Engagement Director for StateRAMP. Chance possesses over 17 years of state government experience in procurement, information technology and cybersecurity. During his time at the State of Oklahoma, he oversaw several statewide programs that included establishing a vendor management program, sharing of cyber threat intelligence through the OK-ISAC and maturing a third-party security program.

James (Jim) has over 20 years of consulting experience in the architecture, development, and testing of large-scale software implementations for over twenty state and county government departments, universities, and private companies. Jim has provided consulting services to more than 15 California state agencies performing Application Security Assessments on more than 200 web applications ranging from a few pages to over 600 pages of complex functionality.

Jennings has over 23 years of experience in the K-20 sector, as well as 21 years of experience in the FCC E-rate program. He is an accomplished leader of sales, marketing & compliance/support teams. He brings to Fortinet extensive expertise in SLED, EDU, K-12, Education technology, funding, purchasing practices, e-rate federal funding consulting/compliance and strategic planning. He has proven to be successful in providing consultative services to local government & local education agencies (LEA’s) as well as school districts and state agencies.

Johnson is the VP of Federal at Lookout, where he is a visionary and servant leader who brings years of experience designing strategies to lead organizational development, facilitate digital transformation and build high-performing teams centered around a common vision.
Prior to joining Lookout, Johnson was the City of Baltimore’s Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer. As a former “ransomware battle-tested” CIO, he is now focused on helping others in all aspects of cyber security. Providing cyber thought leadership and best practices as an Ambassador of the Cybersecurity Collaborative – a member organization for CISOs by CISOs.
Across his career, he’s been involved in a massive technological shift from the early days of PCs and servers to the digital economy of today where technology has become not just a tool, but a truly pervasive strategic enabler for competitive advantage.

Karl Kopper has been aggressively closing significant gaps in the Caltrans security landscape through securing additional funding and cybersecurity positions. New technologies such as Autonomous Vehicles, Vehicle to Vehicle and Vehicle to Infrastructure are sweeping across the Transportation Industry and need to be secured to provide a safe transportation environment. Karl has been working to secure these new technologies and the convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) in alignment with the Governor’s Five Year Cal-Secure strategy.

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.

Joe Maio is an Information Security Officer and the Security Operations Manager for the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA). Armed with a degree in Criminal Justice, with a specialization in Information Security and Cyber Forensics from CSU Sacramento, Joe brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role. He is entrusted with the critical task of safeguarding the CNRA's expansive security operations, which include the protection of California's natural resources, along with ensuring the security of over 32,000 employees and their vital technologies.
Joe's career trajectory also includes serving as the Information Security Officer for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. In this role, he not only ensured the security of the department but also lent his expertise to law enforcement in cyber investigation activities. Before that, Joe contributed to the California Department of Justice, where he played key roles in electronic discovery, cyber forensics, and investigations. His diverse skillset encompasses information security, privacy management, database administration, eDiscovery, cyber forensics, server administration, application development, and project management.
A true lover of security and information technology, Joe Maio is on a mission to safeguard California's natural resources and defend the State against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. His ultimate ambition is to provide tailor-made security solutions and unwavering support to empower organizations, ensuring they can operate securely and autonomously.

With 20 years of cybersecurity experience, Steve Meyer has a proven track record of success in building teams and relationships, communicating vision, developing risk mitigation strategies and leading teams that respond to crises with calm confidence.
As a Senior Security Consultant with World Wide Technology, Mr. Meyer provides enablement with cybersecurity solutions for multiple teams across state and local governments, as well as both K-12 and higher education. He serves as a subject matter expert and provides guidance by leveraging knowledge across multiple practices. Understanding customers' needs and demonstrating how security products and services can strategically empower business is at the core of his practice.
Before WWT, Mr. Meyer was a 21-year civil servant with the State of Missouri, with his most recent position being CISO. While there, he was instrumental in establishing the Security Operations Center, implementing the security awareness program, developing comprehensive security strategies, and reducing operational risk.

Eric Nehls is a California native and life-long resident. His career in technology and strategy development grew through a unique mixture of military, industry, and government service. His military career began with four years on active duty in the Marine Corps, then a short break followed by 18 years in the Air Force Reserve soon after 9/11. He served much of his reserve commitment on active duty including an Iraq tour in 2009. For the last 14 years of his military career before he retired, he was an all-source intelligence analyst including four years active duty with U.S. Cyber Command, focused on support to strategic plans. He developed subject matter expertise in cybersecurity, cyberwarfare, and space/counterspace systems. In between military stints, he learned the information technology trade at a fortune 500 tech company and a small regional bank. With IT as a bridge, he was mentored into the information security domain at a San Francisco e-commerce management startup during the dot-com boom. After earning a B.S. in Computer Science at UC Davis, he leveraged his military experience to become a DoD IT contractor and eventually a DoD intelligence contractor and U.S. Space Command J2 plank holder. Finally, he joined California state government service as the California Cybersecurity Integration Center’s first Cyber Policy & Strategy Planner.

Deputy Director Osborne was appointed by Governor Newsom and joined the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) in November 2019. Deputy Director Osborne provides direction and oversight to the newly formed Cal OES Homeland Security Division. In this role, Deputy Director Osborne is responsible for the State Threat Assessment System (STAS), the California Cyber Security Integration Center (Cal-CSIC), and the following homeland security programs: the Governor’s Homeland Security Advisory Committee; the Governor’s Creating Safer Communities Task Force; the Governor’s Cybersecurity Task Force; Port and Maritime Security; Chemical Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive material (CBRNE) Protection and Preparedness; Event Planning Security; Critical Infrastructure Protection; Statewide School Safety; and the BioWatch System. Moreover, Deputy Director Osborne provides administrative oversight to the application of California’s homeland security grants, known as the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) — funding that totaled $197,911,000 in FY2019 and received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Prior to joining Cal OES, Deputy Director Osborne spent nearly 24 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Special Agent, specializing in national security threat issues. Assigned to the Sacramento Field Office, his final assignment at the FBI was an executive management role as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) overseeing the National Security and Administrative Branches, where his responsibilities included International and Domestic Terrorism, Counterintelligence, Cyber, Critical Incident Response, Surveillance, Training, FBI National Academy, security, facilities, and oversight of all professional staff employees. Deputy Director Osborne also spent over a year in Washington, D.C. as Unit Chief of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Internet Targeting Unit.

Vitaliy Panych is the Chief Information Security Officer for the State of California at the California Department of Technology. He was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in February 2021 after serving in an acting roll for nearly two years.
Before landing at CDT in 2019 as the deputy state chief information officer, he was the agency information security officer for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from 2016 through 2019. He joined the Employment Development Department in 2009 serving as its security and compliance manager. Prior to that, he was at the Franchise Tax Board in 2007, where he became a system software specialist and was later named Information security vulnerability management lead, a role he held until moving to the EDD. A veteran of government service, Vitaliy began his state career as a network engineer at the state’s Teale Data Center in 2003.
He earned bachelors’ degrees in computer science and political science from California State University at Sacramento. His professional portfolio is full of accreditations and distinctions, including several Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) credentials.

Kyle is a Cyber Senior Manager at Deloitte and is one of the national leaders of Deloitte’s IT Asset Management service offering. Kyle has over sixteen years of experience and serves clients within Deloitte’s Government and Public Sector practice, concentrating specifically on State, Local, and Higher Education. In addition to his work in the US, Kyle spent two years in Brussels, Belgium managing Deloitte’s IT Asset Management program across Scandinavia. Kyle is currently based in Seattle, WA, where he can be found enjoying the outdoors in the PNW with his family.

Maria S. Thompson is the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Lead for Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this role, she brings over 20 years of experience in information technology, strategic planning, computer network defense and risk management. Prior to her role with AWS, Maria served as North Carolina’s first State Chief Risk and Security Officer. There she was instrumental in establishing the Whole of State Approach to Cyber. This included the development and implementation of the state’s first Cyber Disruption Plan, and the Joint Cyber Task Force (JCTF). Maria also served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps and retired as the cybersecurity chief/information assurance chief for the Marine Corps. Other security roles held includes certification and accreditation (C&A) lead for the Multi-National Forces – Iraq and senior security engineer in a joint military organization and Security Operations Center lead for a federal agency.

Johnny Wong is the Sr. Director of Pre-sales Veracode. He oversees the Solutions Architecture teams for Public Sector, Enterprise, and Channel as well as the SA Operations team. Johnny has been in security his entire career. The first part of his career, he was focused on identity and access management. Johnny started his career as a software developer and after nearly five years of creating insecure code, he was offered an opportunity to not be a software developer and to join the world of pre-sales. He has been with Veracode for over eight years.
Johnny received a BS in Computer Engineering from Tufts University. He and his family reside in Boston and he has no plans to ever leave because of the Boston Celtics! He loves to travel specifically to find and eat at the best restaurants across the world. At this point, the only animal he hasn’t eaten are the endangered or extinct ones.