Bryan Seely is a world-famous hacker, cybersecurity expert, author, international keynote speaker and former U.S. Marine. Seely became one of the most famous hackers in 2014 when he became the only person to ever wiretap the United States Secret Service and FBI. Shockingly he told the 2 agencies before he was caught, and instead of being sent to maximum security prison, the Secret Service called him a hero and praised his courage and integrity.
He has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington as well as television appearances on Closing bell on CNBC, CNN, FOX News, ABC, NBC and TMZ with Harvey Levin. Bryan is passionate about fighting for consumers rights, privacy and educating the public about how to stay safe in a constantly changing technology landscape.
Bryan also co-founded the Blackhat MEA Hacking conference in Riyadh in 2021, and currently lives in Seattle where he is a full-time single parent of 2.

Snehal Antani is co-founder and CEO of Horizon3.ai. Prior to Horizon3.ai, he was a CTO in the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the CTO of Splunk, and a CIO within GE Capital. Snehal holds 18 patents granted by the USPTO in data processing, cloud computing, and virtualization. He regularly participates in keynote speeches and often writes articles on leadership, innovation, digital transformation, data security, and cloud security.

Abubakar is a Product Marketing Manager at Entrust, specializing in the Identity portfolio. He leads GTM strategies for Entrust IAM, with a strong focus on workforce, consumer and citizen identity use cases. He is dedicated to helping organizations secure their digital identities and stay ahead of evolving digital threats.

Major General Matthew P. Beevers was appointed as The Adjutant General of the California Military Department by Governor Gavin C. Newsom on 26 May 2023. General Beevers was commissioned through the Early Commissioning Program at New Mexico Military Institute in 1983. He served as a Tank Platoon Leader, Armor Company Executive Officer, Battalion Support Platoon Leader, Delta Company Commander and Headquarters and Headquarters Company Commander with 1st Battalion, 149th Armor, and 3rd Brigade, 40th Infantry Division (M). While commanding D/1-149 Armor, he participated in Operation GARDEN PLOT, the response to the Rodney King verdict civil unrest in Los Angeles.
After completion of Armor Officer Advanced Course, General Beevers served as the Assistant Brigade S3 with 3rd Brigade, 40th Infantry Division (M). He then served as Operations Officer with the 69th Press Camp Headquarters, deploying with the 69th Press Camp Headquarters to Bosnia-Herzegovina in support of Operation JOINT FORGE. General Beevers continued to serve in the 69th Press Camp Headquarters as Executive Officer and later as Commander, deploying to Hungary with Task Force Warrior to train and equip the Free Iraqi Forces in the run up to Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Upon his return, he was assigned as Executive Officer, 100th Troop Command and later deployed as the Director of Strategic Communications, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. General Beevers returned to the 100th Troop Command as Executive Officer and later served as Assistant Chief of Staff, California Army National Guard. Upon completion of Senior Service College, he was assigned as Director, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems, J6 and later as Director of Operations, J3. General Beevers went on to command the 100th Troop Command, California Army National Guard. On 16 April 2011 Governor Edmund G. Brown appointed General Beevers as the Deputy Adjutant General of the California National Guard.
General Beevers holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from San Jose State University and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.
General Beevers’ military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star and the Combat Action Badge.

Tom has spent the past 10 years designing, developing, and managing infrastructure solutions to deliver business and security outcomes across DoD, State Government, Elections and Utilities. Throughout that time, he gained an appreciation for how operational complexity can be an inhibitor when trying to deliver on Risk Management, Compliance and Incident Response objectives. Before coming to Nutanix he was part of a team that built and certified infrastructure that excelled under scrutiny on national and worldwide stages surrounding the 2020 Election. Now in his role as Systems Engineering Manager of Public Sector at Nutanix he provides direction for a team of Engineers focused on delivering operational simplicity with a platform that encourages collaboration between service delivery and security.

Beau Broker leads the security consulting practice nationally for Secure Architectures which includes Identity and Access Management. Working with clients in Public Sector and Private across the US, his expertise and focus is driving client outcomes that modernize IAM and how anchoring an approach to your security practice can drive the effort. He brings two decades of experience in diverse roles. Serving in the US Navy he worked to build secure architectures for Navy medicine and as part of the initial Computer Incident and Response Team (CIRT). Beau worked as CISO and as datacenter manager for Johnson & Johnson operating companies with production and security responsibility for the west. At Logitech he owned datacenter security and operations for North America.

Brenda Bridges Cruz was appointed by Governor Newsom in November 2022 as the Deputy Director over Special Projects at the California Department of Technology. She is part of the CDT Directorate and works on various initiatives that require statewide departmental collaboration and involvement as well as CDT internal strategic initiatives.
Ms. Bridges Cruz has 26 years of technology and management experience in the private and public sectors combined. She worked at multiple state departments on large integration projects around legacy modernization, and enterprise initiatives related to application development, quality assurance, data management and analytics, project management, strategic planning and organizational change management.
Ms. Bridges Cruz holds a B.A. in Political Science from Valdosta State University, Georgia along with numerous IT certifications. She is a graduate of the Sacramento State Continuing Education Leadership for the Government Executive (LGE) program and is a CIO Academy IT Leadership Award recipient.

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.

Chris Cruz is the Chief Information Officer for Public Sector at Tanium with more than 31 years of IT and business experience in the government sector spearheading innovative organizational and cybersecurity change across complex IT environments. In his role, Cruz works directly with sales and technical teams to drive value for customers to achieve their strategic missions.
Prior to joining Tanium, Cruz held several key technology leadership roles across the State of California, including Director and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the San Joaquin County Information Systems Division, Deputy CIO and Chief Deputy Director for the California Department of Technology, CIO for the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and CIO for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
Cruz’ leadership has him earned several recognitions, including StateScoop’s 2024 Industry Leader Award, Forbes’ 2023 CIO Next List, StateScoop’s 2020 County Executive of the Year and 2016 Top Government IT Leader awards, and NASCIO’s 2018 State Technology Innovator of the Year award, among other honors.

With more than 30 years of experience in information technology (IT) and cybersecurity, Kathy is a five-time Chief Information Officer (CIO) with a background across all IT and business domains. As a Mandiant Consulting Practice Leader Ms. Cruz helps clients assess, design and build effective security programs focusing on threat intelligence, defensive posture, proactive cyber management, security validation, incident response and incident preparedness.
Ms. Cruz is the recipient of the Silicon Valley YWCA Tribute to Women in Industry (TWIN) Award, is a past Board member of the Gentle Barn Foundation headquartered in Santa Clarita, CA, a past Board Member of the Career Action Center in San Jose, CA, and a former member of Golden Gate University School of Technology and Industry Executive Advisory Board. She previously served as an Ensign in the California State Guard, Cyber Operations Detachment.

Mr. Fogleman has over 30 years of Information Technology and Information Security Experience. He is both alumni and retired adjunct faculty in Computer Science and Information Security at California State University Sacramento, Los Rios Community College District, and Sierra College.
Mr. Fogleman’s career in Information Technology and Information Security spans the globe. As the Director of Global WAN Implementation with Lucent Technologies, Mr. Fogleman and his team were responsible for the deployment and securing of the broadband carrier networks for more than 25 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Prior to beginning his career in the State of California in 2006, Mr. Fogleman was the Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and owner of three successful Information Technology and Information Security businesses, one of which operated the largest private wireless internet service provider in the United States.
Prior to his current role as the Information Security Officer for the Department of Technology where he and his team are responsible for the security of the enterprise network and data centers for many of the mission critical systems for the State of California, Mr. Fogleman was the Statewide Information Security Architect and has been a confidential advisor for three State of California departments. Mr. Fogleman is the recipient of numerous Director’s Awards, Superior Achievement Awards, private sector acknowledgments and media articles, a graduate of the State of California Information Technology Leadership Academy and is a regular contributor to the State of California Information Security Leadership Academy.

David Gierke is a cybersecurity expert with extensive experience in safeguarding public sector organizations, including judicial systems, from evolving cyber threats. Currently working at Cisco David as a Security CTO, he specializes in developing and implementing security strategies that enhance organizational resilience. With a passion for innovation, they have successfully led initiatives to protect critical infrastructure and support digital transformation efforts within government entities. A recognized leader in the cybersecurity field, David brings a wealth of knowledge on emerging threats and defense mechanisms tailored to today's ever-changing technological landscape.

Christine Halvorsen is Okta's Public Sector Chief Technology Office (CTO), helping public sector customers achieve their mission with modern Identity solutions that simplify their processes and secure their IT infrastructure. Chrstine applies her deep industry insight to ensure Okta's industry-leading innovations meet security and compliance requirements while offering an optimal user experience for the company's more than 24 million federal, state, local, education and healthcare users.
Christine has a 20+ year background in government service, where she led teams focused on digital infrastructure modernization, cybersecurity, cyber actors and intrusion investigations, accident reports, counterterrorism and law enforcement. She served as the Assistant Director and Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer of the Counterterrorism and Criminal Justice Information and Services Divisions of the FBI. Her private sector experience spans public sector technology and AI-focused leadership positions at AWS and most recently, the role of Managing Director at Protiviti. 
Christine is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in the areas of cybersecurity and Digital Transformation as well as recently graduated from their MBA program. Christine is a member and frequent contributor to the Forbes Technology Council. 
Christine holds and MBA from Georgetown University, a master's degree in Computer Information Security from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. 

John Hanafee is the Chief of the Advisory Services Program within the Office of Information Security at the California Department of Technology.  He joined CDT as the founding manager of the Advisory Services Program in 2017 and over the years has built the program into a highly successful team that assists state entities with improving their information security and privacy programs and practices.  He has 32+ years of service with the state, including 9+ years as the IT Infrastructure Manager at the Secretary of State, 12+ years in systems administration/engineering with several departments.  He has also worked in budget, program and fiscal policy areas.  He earned a BA in Political Science and Master of Public Administration from CSU East Bay.  He is CISSP, CDPSE and ITIL certified.

Micah Heaton is an author, certified security technologist, and university educator with over two decades of experience spanning IT operations, security engineering, and strategic enablement. As a global leader for SOC readiness assessments at BlueVoyant, he has pioneered data-driven methodologies that highlight actionable improvements rather than slide-deck theory. His work, informed by frontline NOC and helpdesk experience, bridges the gap between technical capability and the human element of security operations, guiding commercial and public sector clients toward measurable, high-fidelity outcomes.
A Microsoft Certified Trainer and Alumni of the National Forensics League, Heaton also taught high school debate and summer communications university courses, bringing an educator’s mindset to cybersecurity. With a background as a public sector practitioner and field account manager for special-access clients in the Washington, D.C. metro area, he mentors emerging technologists, authors industry-shaping e-books such as Microsoft Cloud Security for Dummies and An Introduction to Microsoft Copilot for Security, and drives global enablement initiatives for Fortune 2000 clients that deliver clarity, practicality, and tangible value to organizations worldwide. 

IT industry experience spanning 30 years, including end user support, field repair, Services new product introduction, Sales tool management and Product management. I have worked with individual end users, IT management and up to CTOs. I enjoy helping people and solving problems.

Crystal Holcomb is the Deputy Director for the Office of Professional Development at the CA Department of Technology (CDT). With over 24 years of state government experience, and more than 20 years in technology, Crystal has led multiple high performing teams always focused on providing top notch customer service. Her leadership experience includes workforce development, customer engagement, change management, project management, application development, Service Desk, and IT procurement. She is passionate about making a positive impact on California and serving others.
Crystal has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the CA State University, Sacramento. She is also a proud graduate of ITLA Class 22. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family at sporting events, or anything outdoors.

Currently Mr. Indig serves as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General (CADOJ). The CISO, provides direction and policy guidance on information security and privacy, across all of the CADOJ’s programs and services. The CISO is charged with protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and integrity of CADOJ’s information, while ensuring compliance with state and federal information security requirements. In addition, the CISO oversees information security policies and agreements, threat mitigation, vulnerability assessments, and responses to information security incidents. In furtherance of this work, the CISO manages CADOJ’s Research Services, Information Security Branch, and the Security Risk Management Unit.
The CISO also serves as the CADOJ’s FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) CJIS Systems Agency Information Security Officer (CSA ISO). The CSA ISO responsibilities include serving as the security point of contact to the FBI CJIS Division ISO, documenting technical compliance with the CJIS Security Policy with the goal to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of criminal justice information to the user community throughout the CSA’s (CADOJ is the CSA is responsible for establishing and administering an information technology security program throughout the CSA’s user community, including local law enforcement agencies (LEAs). In addition, the CSA ISO documents and provides assistance for implementing the security-related controls and establishes a security incident response and reporting procedure to discover, investigate, document, and report to the CSA, the affected criminal justice agency, and the FBI CJIS Division ISO major incidents that significantly endanger the security or integrity of CJI.
Prior to joining the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Mr. Indig served as the Agency Information Security Officer (AIO) for the California Health & Human Services Agency (CalHHS), which oversees 19 state entities that support California’s most vulnerable. These entities provide a range of health care, social, mental health, alcohol and drug, public health services, and income assistance to Californians from all walks of life. The CISO provided enterprise management and oversight for the CalHHS entities and established and implemented CalHHS wide cybersecurity strategy, information security and privacy programs, architecture, policies, standards, process, risk, governance, incident response, state, federal, and other applicable regulatory and statutory compliance, staff, and budgets.
Mr. Indig also served as the Information Security Officer, Privacy Officer & HIPAA Coordinator for the California Department of Social Services. Prior to state service Mr. Indig worked in private industry in a variety of roles including technology and financial compliance as well as information technology consulting.

Marcie Kahbody is the Deputy Secretary of Technology, Agency Information Officer (AIO) for the California State Transportation Agency as well as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Caltrans. As AIO, Marcie leads collaboration across California transportation entities to increase innovation and successful information technology (IT) project delivery. Marcie is responsible for developing policies and procedures to govern business processes, security protocols, operational programs, and IT resources across the agency. As Caltrans CIO, she also has direct responsibility for Caltrans information technology programs, projects, and people. She ensures that resources are deployed efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with statewide mandates and department priorities.
Marcie has held Information Technology positions within the State of California for over 32 years including the role of Agency Information Officer at CalSTA since 2015. Prior she was an IT Chief for the Department of Health Care Services and worked in similar positions for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Department of Technology. Marcie spent the bulk of her career – nearly 20 years – at the Department of General Services as an Information Technology Manager and network administrator.
Marcie earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from California State University Sacramento and was a participant in the state’s Information Technology Leadership Academy in 2012. She is a Certified Microsoft Engineer and is part of Sac State’s Leadership for the Government Executive program. In 2023, Marcie received the esteemed ‘Women Who Mean Business Award’ from the Sacramento Business Journal.

Bob has been intimately involved for the past few decades in developing IBM’s overall strategy for its comprehensive security-related investments, and currently leads IBM’s global cybersecurity programs. He has held a number of leadership positions in product management, sales, pre-sales, product development, business development and marketing management.
He is a frequent international speaker on the relationship of business with cybersecurity, risk management, hybrid cloud and Artificial Intelligence, and has had numerous papers and articles published on these topics. He also holds a United States Patent related to secure distributed computing software.
Bob received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Organizational Change and Development from Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Bob also holds a certificate in strategic marketing planning from the Indiana University Graduate School of Business.
Bob is Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), as well as a Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) by ISACA and is Certified on the Open FAIR Model for risk quantification from The Open Group.
He has served on the Cybersecurity Advisory Board for Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is an active member of the Industry Advisory Boards for both the Department of Cybersecurity and the School of Performing Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York; the Darwin Deason Institute for Cybersecurity in the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas; the Cyber Collaborative at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California; and the Committee on Cybersecurity for Executive Education at the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.
Bob is also a highly active musician in Austin, Texas, where he fronts several groups, spanning jazz, rock, funk, blues and worship styles.

Phil Laird is the General Counsel at CPPA. He previously served as the Deputy General Counsel at the California Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, where he provided legal advice and guidance to eleven state departments and boards. Prior to that, he served as Staff Counsel at the California Horse Racing Board, working on rulemaking and enforcement matters, and also as a Special Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice, advising on education law and policy. He holds a B.A. from UC Santa Cruz and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco.

Albert Lam is the Cyber Defense Advisor for the California Health and Human Services Agency. Lam has over 16 years of Information Technology (IT) experiences in public and private sectors, with more than 7 years in cybersecurity. He also has over 5 years of experience in real estate investment valuation.
In his current role, Lam focuses on enabling a “Healthy California for All” in a resilient manner, and advocates for interagency security partnerships. Prior to that, Lam filled various roles for three different California State entities. The most relevant roles include being a senior management team member responsible for developing IT budgets, and an Information Security Officer who delivered a budget change proposal approved by the Department of Finance. 
Lam is a Certified Information System Security Professional and is on the GIAC Advisory Board. In addition to his IT career, he was a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser and a licensed Real Estate Broker.  Lam has a bachelor degree from the University of California, San Diego, and is a proud graduate of the IT Leadership Academy (ITLA) Class 27.

Gerard works at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). Gerard serves as both the Information Security Officer (ISO) and the Cyber Operations Branch Chief at the California Cyber Security Integration Center (Cal-CSIC). He has worked in various roles in security: CISO, ISO, Compromise Forensics, and Malware Reverse Engineer. He has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry. He has a CISSP and numerous ISACA and GIAC certifications, a BS in Computer Science, and an MS in Business Administration.

As the Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) Branch Chief at the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC), Maria Lipana leads and manages the branch's daily operations to support its mission of reducing the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents that could impact California’s economy, critical infrastructure, and public and private sector networks. She leads a team of cyber threat intelligence analysts who provide actionable insights into the evolving cyber threat landscape of California. Maria advises and contributes to the development of policies, programs, and guidelines that strengthen the state's cybersecurity posture and ensure sustainable intelligence practices. A core part of her role involves building and maintaining collaborative relationships with partners across federal, state, local, tribal, and private sectors to implement a whole-of-government, whole-of-community approach aimed at information sharing to safeguard California’s networks.

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 included four years active duty in the Marine Corps followed by 18 years in the Air Force Reserve. He served much of his reserve commitment on active duty including a deployment to Iraq 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 where he was focused on support to strategic plans. He developed subject matter expertise in cybersecurity, cyberwarfare, and space/counterspace systems. In between active military service, 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 became 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. Eric holds current GIAC GSTRT and GSEC certifications and is on the GIAC advisory board.

Matt’s California state service, which has encompassed both the Judicial and Executive branches, began in 2005. His service started at Yolo Superior Court and, later, at the Judicial Council of California. It was at the Judicial Council that he initiated and established the Office of Information Security and assisted all levels of court with security efforts.  In 2021, Matt joined the California Department of Technology Office of Information Security and, recently, accepted the role of Cybersecurity Risk Officer for the California State Transportation Agency.  The Agency team works with the state’s transportation departments―some of the largest departments in the state―to mature governance, risk, and compliance programs in accordance with CA strategy, governance, and initiatives.

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.

Mario Perez is a seasoned cybersecurity professional with a passion of empowering individuals and organizations to safeguard their digital assets. With extensive experience in network engineering, ethical hacking, and cloud security, Mario has a deep understanding of the evolving threat landscape.
As a dedicated educator, Mario has taught at renowned institutions like Los Angeles Valley College, Los Angeles Mission College and Santa Monica College. He is a certified instructor for industry-leading certifications such Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, and AWS, ensuring that his students receive top-tier training.
Mario’s expertise extends to various domains, including – Network Security: Designing, implementing, and securing complex network infrastructures; Cybersecurity Education: Developing and delivering engaging cybersecurity and networking curriculum; Cloud Security: Protecting cloud-based systems and data; Ethical Hacking: Identifying vulnerabilities and mitigating risks.
Mario’s commitment to excellent is evident in his numerous certifications and accomplishments. He is a Certified Ethical Hacker, Cisco Certified Network Engineer, CompTIA Network+, Fiber Optic Technician, and holds certifications in AWS Cloud Computing Architecture and Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Mario actively contributes to the cybersecurity community as a member of the Workforce Development and Education at California Cybersecurity Task Force and NICE Community Coordinating Council. He is passionate about sharing knowledge and fostering a collaborative learning environment.

Mr. Bradley Ponce is the Chief Information Security Officer for the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.   Brad has been working in information technology and cybersecurity for over 20 years in private and public organizational business sectors.   From 2022 to 2023, Brad had been OIS’s Advisory Services Program’s vCISO Manager helping support agency security programs ISAs and security audit preparations.  From 2017 to 2022, Brad had been OIS’s Security Operations Center Manager where he baselined the staffing, security controls, incident response, compliance, process, and procedures the SOC uses today.

Renoir “Ren” Pope, State Chief Enterprise Architect, Department of Technology, State of California. Pope is tasked with developing the State’s architectural framework, outlining how information and technology will support business operations and benefit government stakeholders. He spearheads digital transformation efforts and evaluates new technology adoption to ensure it aligns with the needs of the state government and its residents. With three decades of experience in technology, Renoir has held leadership positions in federal and state governments, as well as the private sector. He is also a former commissioned officer and veteran of the U.S. Air Force. 

Mr. Powers has led cyber risk services for over 30 years. Based out of our Lake Mary, Florida office, he sells and delivers cyber advise, implement and operate services to clients across Government and Commercial sectors.
Doug also leads our emerging Operational Technology (OT) Cyber capabilities sales & development creating new cyber operate solutions for State, Local and Higher Education (SLHE) and Federal Government clients to help secure our Nation’s Critical Infrastructure.
Doug joined Deloitte in 2015 after more than 25 years on active duty as a US Naval Information Warfare Officer directing our Department of Defense’s most complex cybersecurity and intelligence operations around the world.
Among his time in uniform, Doug served as a Director of Cybersecurity Operations at the National Security Agency (NSA) Cyber Threat Operations Center (NCTOC) and as a Branch Chief within NSA’s Tailored Access Operations and Remote Operations Center. He also played a significant role in standing up the US Cyber Command.
These experiences prepared Doug well for his final assignment as the U.S. Navy’s Cyber Defense Commodore and Commander of Navy Cyber Defense Operations, a 24/7/265 Security Operations Center (SOC) responsible for protecting one of the world’s largest enterprise and mission networks. These experiences have provided him with significant understanding, insights, and empathy to optimally serve our cyber operate clients.
Most recently, Doug stood up our new GPS Detect & Respond (D&R) Market Enablement Team (MET) to support our growing pipeline of clients across all four GPS sectors. Expanding on that role, he became Deloitte’s GPS Detect & Respond (D&R) Market Offering Leader and now serves as Deloitte’s GPS OT & Cyber D&R Go-To-Market (GtM) leader to continue to expand our firm’s client portfolio delivering differentiated value to our current and emerging GPS cyber clients.

Chris is a global cybersecurity executive responsible for the investigation and remediation of some of the most high profile and impactful security incidents throughout the past decade. 
Chris joined the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 leadership team to lead innovation and delivery for a next-generation offering targeted towards CISOs & Board of Directors. Chris brings a unique mix of deep technical expertise across a breadth of subject areas, coupled with hands-on incident response and remediation skills. Chris is always driving innovation into the next generation of problem solving. He has spent his career as a trusted advisor to board members, C-level executives, legal teams and technical teams to guide organizations through the crisis and to develop and implement new processes and technologies. 
Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, Chris worked inside the IBM Office of the CISO after leading global remediation for IBM Security X-Force, which brought him all over the world, solving client's most challenging security incidents. 
Prior to his time at IBM, Chris served as a Director of Remediation at CrowdStrike Services, where he led incident response, preparedness, and remediation strategies for clients throughout the globe. 

Steve Towns is director of content strategy for the Center for Digital Government. He is the former editor of Government Technology and has spent more than 25 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.

Vivian Yan is the Deputy Chief Security Officer and Security Operations Section Manager at FTB. She started her IT career with FTB in 2002. She has over 15 years Cybersecurity experience. She worked as IT support, Security Architect, Compliance and Oversight Lead and Oversight Manager. In her current role, she oversees FTB's cybersecurity risk and compliance program, 24*7 Security Operations Center, External Monitoring and Security Intelligence Programs. Vivian manages FTB's cybersecurity budget and participated in several BCPs' development. Vivian is a Certified Information System Security Professional.