Christine is the Deputy CIO for Technology Services at the City and County of Denver. She is directly responsible for an application portfolio of over 300 applications, Enterprise Architecture, and Project and Portfolio management. At any one time, Technology Services typically has over $30 million of projects in flight. She is responsible for managing the day to day operations of the entire department with an $80 million budget and 300 employees.
After some time in the private sector, she started with the City and County of Denver in 2000. She has held many roles within the City and loves being a public servant and focusing on how to make Denver a great place to live, work, and play.
Chris attended college at the University of Notre Dame and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management with an Accounting minor. She is dedicated to mentoring young technologists and emerging leaders, and loves digging razor clams on the beaches of the Northwest, golfing, and puzzles.

In August 2014, Deborah (Debbi) Blyth became the state’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), bringing a diverse background including 14 years of information security experience. As the CISO, she serves as the point of contact for all information security initiatives in Colorado, informing the Secretary of Technology & Chief Information Officer and executive agency leadership on security risks and impacts of policy and management decisions on IT-related initiatives. Together with her team, she will be responsible for determining the strategic and tactical security direction for the State to meet established objectives.
Debbi brings a desire for building collaborative working relationships, and a highly praised leadership style. Before joining OIT, Debbi spent five years as an Executive Director at TeleTech leading the Information Security and IT Compliance program. Among her many achievements, Debbi built the business case and led a two-year effort to evolve and mature the information security program.
As the Information Technology Security and Compliance Manager at Travelport, Debbi was responsible for establishing and managing a global enterprise information security and compliance program. During her tenure, Debbi led the endeavor to achieve compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for the company’s first time in 2007.
Debbi earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Regis University, graduating Summa Cum Laude while working full time. Calling herself a native even though she wasn’t born in Colorado, she loves all things Colorado, including the mountains, the sports teams, the weather, and especially the people! She is truly passionate about information security, and is very enthusiastic about this opportunity to perform her career ‘calling’ in service to the residents of the state that she loves.

Stephanie Copeland, appointed to the Governor’s Cabinet in January 2017, oversees a host of divisions, initiatives, and programs that support business development throughout the state of
Colorado. Before this appointment, she most recently served as president of the Zayo Group, a communications infrastructure services firm. She was previously COO at WildBlue, where she was responsible for the operations of the $500 million rural broadband business. In the early 1990s, she moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to take a management position with Cable & Wireless. She returned to the U.S. in 1994 as part of the team that started MFS International. She joined the early team at Level 3 Communications in 1997, and in 2001, Qwest Communications recruited her to run pricing for the company. Ms. Copeland is a director for the Colorado Broadband Deployment Board and the Colorado Workforce Development Council. A Blackstone Entrepreneur, she serves as a mentor to support women across the communications industry.

Benjamin Edelen is the Chief Information Security Officer of the City of Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is a city government with 1,400 employees and a $320M budget serving over 100,000 residents and a major technology hub. Benjamin’s cyber security program protects the city through risk management, a people-first security culture, and by getting the basics right. Benjamin holds a bunch of professional certifications, actively presents at government and security events, and is grateful for the opportunity to make a difference.

Anna Forsberg is the Recruiting Manager for the City and County of Denver. In this position, Anna leads the City’s recruiting team and recruitment efforts for the City and County of Denver, including Denver International Airport, resulting in 3,300 hires annually. Anna has dedicated her entire career to the talent acquisition field and has designed and lead talent acquisition initiatives for large organizations with a consistent focus on designing talent rich organizations, improving performance and continuous process improvement through innovative HR solutions.
Anna has authored and published articles related to talent acquisition and selection and has facilitated best practices and consulted on emerging trends and latest technologies to a variety of agencies. Anna is Black Belt certified, holds a BA in Psychology and a Master’s of Science degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from California State University.
When not immersed in work, you will likely find Anna enjoying her favorite sport, snowboarding, in the beautiful mountains of Colorado.

In 1980, while still in his senior year at the University of Denver, Ginsburg founded Intertech Plastics. Intertech is a custom injection molding business, manufacturing products for the consumer, packaging, industrial and medical device markets. The company employs nearly 200 people out of two facilities and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to his business, Noel is the proud husband to Leslie Ginsburg and father of their children, Corey Ginsburg who works for Intertech Plastics and Ali Ginsburg who is a personal trainer and body sculpting competitor in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Throughout his career, Ginsburg has been active in many community organizations, and was the founding chair of the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (CAMA). The Alliance is focused on building manufacturing and manufacturing jobs across Colorado. In addition, Ginsburg is a member of the State Economic Development Commission and the Colorado Workforce Development Council, a board member of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, chair of the Denver Public Schools College and Career Pathways council, and was appointed by Governor Hickenlooper to lead the Business Experiential Learning (BEL) Commission for the State of Colorado.
Ginsburg served as the board chair and general campaign chair of the Mile High United Way and the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado, served as president of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, and was founding co-chair of The Leadership Initiative and member of the US Youth Employment Action Network at the Clinton Global Initiative. Ginsburg was among the founding board members and is a past president of the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation. Along with his wife Leslie, Ginsburg sponsored 42 inner-city children in the first class of “Dreamers” in the Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation. Their commitment continued through the children’s graduation from high school and beyond, spanning over 10 years and resulting in a graduation rate nine times the neighborhood average. In addition, Ginsburg received the Martin Luther King Social Responsibility Business Award in 1995, the Daniel L. Ritchie Award for Ethics in Business in 1998, the 2001 Leadership Denver Outstanding Alumnus Award, the 2012 Goodwill Community Leader Award and the Anti-Defamation League’s 2016 Civil Rights Award. Continuing his civic-minded leadership, he is founding Executive Chair of the Board for CareerWise Colorado, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to building the middle class by closing the skills gap through experiential learning. CareerWise Colorado is building a system of youth apprenticeships across a variety of industries to ensure businesses have a capable workforce and all students have a clear and sustainable career path.

Jason Graun is a Solution Engineering Manager and a member of the Office of the CTO at Fortinet and has been there since 2011 helping develop Network Security Solutions for businesses worldwide. Jason and his team members currently support Fortinet’s largest carriers and Managed Security Service Providers as trusted Consulting Security Engineers at Fortinet. Jason brings nearly 20 years of experience, having worked for a large international bank and several startups along the way, he understands the landscape and challenges of cybersecurity and what it means to the small business owner as well as the enterprise businesses. Jason’s focus is on solving the problem of how to automate security to bridge the gap between cyberattacks and business needs.

Aleta Jeffress has over 20 years of success as an executive business leader and technologist with a proven track record of establishing relationships between business and technology. Aleta has experience in enabling digital transformation and delivering best in class business value with software companies, as well as large federal, state, and local government agencies. She drives innovative strategies for business and IT leadership, and has developed teams for Cybersecurity and Project Management Offices from the ground up. She is a champion for change!
Originally from Indiana, Aleta has a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Affairs and Management from Indiana University. She also sits on the board of the Colorado Technology Association and is on the Advisory Committee for the Community College of Aurora. Aleta and her family moved to Colorado in 2014 and love the outdoors.  

Mike Lawson was born in Laramie, Wyoming (much to his surprise). He received his Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science degree from the University of Wyoming and, years later, received his Master's of Science in Computer Science from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. He has worked in a variety of computer programming roles, including Data Coordinator, Ad Hoc Reporting Specialist, grunt programmer, technical lead, systems architect, software architect, product manager, product architect. He has developed software for the University of Wyoming, Wyoming Medicaid, MCI and AT&T, NASA and multiple government customers and contractors.
Mike’s master’s degree was in neural networks and artificial intelligence. The topic was to apply neural network technology to predict production-level software faults based solely on metrics derived from the source code itself. The experiments proved a success and AI has since become an area of fascination for Mike. He continues to pursue his passion of AI in his role with Oracle as he believes that AI can bring significant gains to the public sector as a whole — be it in administration, public safety, transportation, tourism and any number of other aspects.

Daniele Loffreda is Senior Advisor, Healthcare State/Local Government and Education (SLED) in Ciena’s Market Development organization. In this role he leads Ciena’s initiatives to apply next generation hardware, software and services networking technologies to help these sectors deliver better services to their constituents through digital transformation, optimized cloud strategies, virtualized infrastructure and improved data security.
Daniele has more than 20 years of experience helping customers leverage Information, Communications and Technology solutions provide greater value, improve their operations and generate higher returns on network investments. He has been involved in smart city projects since 2014, he has been a speaker at smart city events, and has published a number of articles and blog posts on network connectivity as a critical foundation of smart cities.

Prior to joining CTA, Frannie spent 18 years with IBM and served as the IBM Senior Location Executive for Denver. As a public sector, healthcare, and life sciences sales leader for the western region, she was responsible for growing the IBM portfolio within the territory. She has over ten years of sales management and leadership experience with regional high-performance teams. Industry verticals have included higher education, state and local, healthcare, and telecommunications.
Technology solutions have always been her point of strength. Frannie has expertise in the areas of SaaS, cloud, analytics, high-performance computing, mobile, social, and security solutions.
She has a passion for helping the next generation and has a particular interest in S.T.E.M. education. Frannie has taught high school-level Junior Achievement courses and works with University of Colorado students through the Leeds School of Business Professional Mentoring Program and Professional Selling course. She also mentors a high school student at the IBM sponsored PTECH program at Skyline High School.
Frannie has been a member of the University of Colorado Wellness Center Board and served as a board member of the Colorado Technology Association for over 2 years. She is also an active member of the Colorado Business Roundtable’s InnerCircle. Governor John Hickenlooper has recently appointed her to the Colorado Workforce Development Council.
Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and earned her Master of Science in Telecommunications Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
Frannie lives in the Denver area with her husband Bill. Their daughters, Kristine and Gracie also live in the Denver/Boulder area. The whole family shares a love for travel and mountain adventures in the beautiful state of Colorado.

Kay Meyer is a Principal Industry Consultant working with SAS’ State and Local Government practice. She brings experience, best practices and strategies to help states establish Centers for Analytics for Government Advancement. Kay has over 25 years of experience in information systems development and implementation across a variety of industries. Prior to joining SAS, Kay spent 18 years in state government and led the efforts in North Carolina to set the strategic vision, definition and implementation for the North Carolina Government Data Analytics Center. Prior to the GDAC, Kay led in the formation of NC’s first enterprise fraud, waste, and improper payment detection program, as well as the implementation of NC’s first integrated criminal justice system, CJLEADS, which supports over 27,000 criminal justice professionals statewide. Kay holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University.

Ed Mills is a Public Safety Engagement & Technology Innovation Manager in the Colorado Broadband Office. Ed is focused on helping Colorado stakeholders leverage broadband technologies and engage our stakeholders. Ed is a United States Army Veteran and is Lieutenant, Firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician with Evergreen Fire Rescue. He is also a EMT skills instructor at Red Rocks College.

Sumana (Suma) Nallapati is an accomplished technology and people leader with experience in establishing and executing value-driven global IT service strategy and delivery. Appointed as Colorado’s Secretary of Technology and Chief Information Officer in June 2014, Suma is committed to positioning the Governor’s Office of Information Technology as a leader in IT innovation for state government. A champion of collaboration, breaking silos and achieving excellence, she is passionate about innovating everyday solutions for customers. Suma earned a master’s degree in nuclear physics from the Andhra University India and holds certificates in Professional Management and Project Management.

Director of IT Operations, Kate is responsible for the overall success of IT Operations and Customer Satisfaction for all e-government partners. She has been with Colorado Interactive, a subsidiary of NIC for over 5 years. In this role, she works with state and local government staff to ensure delivery of government and payment services throughout Colorado. Prior to joining NIC Kate worked for the State of Colorado and the City and County of Denver in several leadership positions. Kate’s leadership experience includes program design and management, IT and security operations, PCI compliance, contract compliance and team leadership and mentoring.

Brandi Wildfang Simmons is an energetic communication leader with over 14 years of experience producing impactful internal and external marketing communication strategies that elevate brands and eloquently inform stakeholders. She has a broad spectrum of experience from both the public and private sectors and is truly honored to serve the state of Colorado.
As Chief Communications Officer & Public Information Officer (PIO), Brandi oversees the accurate and effective delivery of OIT communication to its employees, agency customers, state leaders, the Governor’s Office, and Coloradans. An OIT brand champion, she is the first point of contact for all media inquiries and supports the CIO in her Secretary of Technology role to grow tech talent and promote Colorado as a viable place of business for IT organizations.
Brandi joined OIT in March 2014 and has served in multiple capacities. As Marketing Manager, she developed a brand strategy that highlighted OIT’s value to its stakeholders and boosted employee engagement. Fun fact: OIT’s “Serving people serving Colorado” tagline came directly from Brandi. She later moved into communications management positions supporting the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS) and Program Eligibility & Application Kit (PEAK), the systems that support our state’s most vulnerable residents. In her most recent role as Senior Manager, Health IT Communications & Client Experience, Brandi had a hand in CBMS crisis communication efforts and was instrumental in improving PEAK readability and usability. She also spearheaded the state’s PEAK customer usability study in summer 2017, and worked with the Lt. Governor’s Office and partner agencies to identify enhancements that will dramatically improve the PEAK customer experience.
Prior to joining the public sector, Brandi was Director of Brand Marketing at Regis University where she led a team that operated as an in-house marketing communication agency. While at Regis, Brandi directed the strategy and rollout of highly visible brand campaigns in the Denver metro area. She also worked in other marketing communication roles at Regis University, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Gonzaga University.
Brandi holds bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from Gonzaga University. Go Zags! She grew up in Washington State, studied abroad for a year in Florence, Italy, and migrated to San Diego before moving to Colorado in 2008. Brandi will always call the Pacific Northwest home, but she loves everything that Colorado has to offer! Brandi is a sports nut, enjoys traveling and spends any moment she can with her husband, Andy, and two kiddos, Jackson and Sadie.

Micki Trost is the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) Strategic Communications Director/ Public Information Officer (PIO). She is based in the Centennial DHSEM Office. She joined the State of Colorado in November 2011 as the division's PIO. Trost also acts as the State PIO for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP).
Trost has worked numerous Colorado incidents in the State EOC and onsite and local incident command posts. The incident support to wildfires [High Park Fire, Waldo Canyon Fire, Black Forest Fire and West Fork Complex fires], Aurora Theater Shooting, and Jessica Ridgeway Murder in addition to being the lead PIO (ESF-15) in the State EOC during their 2012 activations. She also leads the Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team during the 2015 Planned Parenthood Shooting in Colorado Springs.
Prior to joining DHSEM, Trost was a Public Information Officer and Life Safety Educator for nine years at West Metro Fire Protection District in Jefferson County, Colorado. In this role, Trost responded to large-scale all-hazards incidents and provided media/community relations, victim assistance, and incident documentation through photography and videography. In addition, Trost coordinated life safety programs focused on fire safety and injury prevention.
As a public information officer, Trost responded to hundreds of local residential fires and large-scale incidents including the Deer Creek Middle School Shooting, county level wildland fires and other all-hazards scenes. She is a member of the Jefferson County IMT PIO team.
Trost has been an active member of the Emergency Services Public Information Officers of Colorado (ESPIOC) for the past ten years and is a past board member. She was awarded the ESPIOC 2014 Public Information Officer of the Year. In 2010, Trost was awarded the Shriner’s Hero Award for assistance to fire victims.
Trost is a 2017 graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School with an M.A. in Security Studies focused on homeland security. She graduated with honors from Regis University and earned a B.A. in Communications.

David Tucker is responsible for Verizon’s Smart Communities product portfolio including solutions for Lighting, Mobility, Public Safety, and Citizen Engagement and is responsible for edge device, computer vision, cloud platform, and SaaS service product strategy. David joined Verizon through the acquisition of Sensity Systems by Verizon in October 2016. David was the Vice President of Product Management at Sensity Systems. He was responsible for Sensity’s global Internet of Things (IoT) product and platforms strategy. David brings over 20 years of experience managing both consumer cloud services as well as enterprise networking and communications products. David has a passion for creating cloud-based solutions that integrate device and cloud capabilities to solve complex problems.
Prior to Sensity, David was at Symantec where he ran a global consumer services and emerging products team responsible for high growth new business opportunities. Previously, David was a product management and marketing executive at Yahoo where he managed global service provider products building user experiences across web, mobile, and TV platforms. David also held enterprise product leadership positions at Juniper Networks and Covad Communications and was a founding employee at Telocity, a nationwide broadband services provider that was acquired by DirecTV following its successful IPO.
David has a BS in Cognitive Science with a Minor in Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles. While at UCLA, David served as a research associate designing neural networks to implement machine-learning algorithms to simulate human object recognition.