Amy Bhikha is passionate about the impacts data can have on the lives of individuals, which has led her to the role of Chief Data Officer at the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), overseeing data strategy, integration, architecture and GIS. Amy is also the chair of the Government Data Advisory Board (GDAB), whose mission is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Coloradan service delivery and policymaking via governed data. Throughout her career, Amy has been motivated by the illustration of data in understandable and innovative ways and is excited to provide strategic guidance on how data can best be used to benefit the constituents of Colorado.
Prior to joining OIT, Amy has over 20 years of experience in data and project management in the private sector, where she established company-wide cultures of using data as a valued asset, supported by cross-functional data governance organizations and multi-faceted data management teams to implement the strategic vision.

As a Cyber Security Strategist and Distinguished Technologist, and during her 22+ year tenure at HP, Dr. Kimberlee Ann Brannock has led the initiative toward stronger cyber security, stronger privacy, better and stronger cyber security governance, risk, compliance, better understanding and adherence to cyber law, and information security, including better and stronger cyber security services, processes, and procedures while continuing to educate on cyber security and continuing to drive and shape HP’s worldwide Professional Services, the WW security and analytics practice and HP’s cyber security leadership position. Dr. Brannock holds degrees in accounting, corporate accounting, business, business administration, management information systems, a professional doctorate specializing in technology and law (jurisprudence) for which she received a distinguished scholar award and a Doctor of Science in Cyber Security where Dr. Brannock was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi. In addition, Dr. Brannock was a PhD Candidate in Information Technology, Information Assurance and Cybersecurity where she was inducted into the National Honor Society. Dr. Brannock serves on security advisory boards including more than two years on the PCI Security Standards Council Board of Advisors, and currently sits on the 3GO Security Advisory Board, the College of Western Idaho Cyber Defense Center Advisory Board, and the Marymount University Industry Cybersecurity Advisory Board.

William Chumley, who joined OIT in 2011, is a veteran of technology team management with numerous customer relationship accomplishments in both public and private sectors. His 23 years prior to OIT service included work in small and large profit and not-for-profit organizations, and corporate and personal business environments. In his initial role at OIT as the Deputy IT Director supporting the Department of Revenue, he helped improve overall service delivery to the department while implementing project management and intake processes in collaboration with agency partners.
In a subsequent appointment as Deputy Director of Enterprise Applications, William established an entirely new organizational structure and process flow for that team while emphasizing improved customer delivery on application support and enhancement. He also served as the business portfolio director within the OIT Customer Office before becoming Chief Customer Officer (CCO) in 2014 and as interim Chief Information Security Officer in 2022, leading security directors and the OIS team through assessment and evolution of service catalog, operating model, role clarification and process engineering to increase efficiency of delivery and to reduce silos across the organization.
Having started his career as an assembly language programmer for United Airlines, William quickly became an influential leader and moved to Sabre/Travelocity. At Sabre, William established application development centers in a variety of international locations while supervising and leading a matrixed team of developers, business analysts, infrastructure teams, architects, and managers. William is adept at transitioning teams from current state into innovative and successful new approaches.
As CCO at OIT, William has transformed the role of the IT director into a true strategic partnership with our customer agencies to advance strategy through collaboration, balance business priorities and enterprise technology goals, secure funding, and ensure operational consistency. William and his team leverage resources and equip OIT to extend values, vision, and mission throughout the organization. They respond in real time to fast-changing customer preferences and ever-changing IT alternatives, expedite strategy, system and process modernization to improve process efficiency, and boost operational performance. He also partnered with the OIT executive team on the initial IT roadmaps, helping the Colorado General Assembly provide us with technology advancement and emergency funds. These roadmaps led to the work OIT achieved securing technology debt modernization funds in 2022.
William’s passion is analyzing the goals and objectives of an organization, determining reality, and then establishing a plan to connect reality to the ultimate vision. One of his core strengths is discovering the key talents of individuals and teams and leveraging those strengths to meet business objectives, while also managing personal growth and development of every employee and each team.
William brings a calm, centered, clear, collaborative, and comfortable approach to his job. He has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and a master’s degree in Business Administration. William balances his work life with significant participation with local marching bands, color guards, and dance teams, serving as a consultant and judge for numerous events. William loves living in Colorado and shares his life with his wife, Lisa.

Marlene Dehart is a senior-level cybersecurity professional with vast experience providing strategic and technical direction in secure product and service delivery, architecture and assurance, risk management, and compliance oversight. She’s led multimillion-dollar security and technology initiatives, threat intelligence, and critical operations that support national and international IT enterprises and cloud services. She is also an expert in implementing secure architecture, identity and access management services, technical security controls, risk management, and compliance programs following the U.S. and international banking, financial services, healthcare, export laws, and various privacy mandates. She also served in the United States Air Force Reserves and retired from a Space and Cyber Intelligence career defending critical national assets. Marlene is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and is completing an MSc in Blockchain and Digital Currency.

Laura Dunwoody is a long-time customer experience professional who’s been an industry leader as user expectations have evolved. Expectations have gone from a great experience was a fast accurate phone experience to “if I have to call you, your user experience has failed me!”
Technology has gone from supporting user experience to being user experience. Laura’s career trajectory has taken her through traditional customer service tools and techniques and into adoption of user facing applications and software designed to allow users to launch their government business online.

Noel Hara is an experienced strategist that infuses technology solutions across the public sector to help solve the most challenging problems. As Chief Technology Officer with NTT DATA’s public sector, he blends over two decades of experience in the public and private sector with an insatiable curiosity for technology and applications. Since the start of the global pandemic, Noel has been responsible for adapting the company’s offering portfolio to support clients in their shift to remote working and learning while continuing to support constituents through the expansion of digital government.

Melissa Hensley leads the Health and Human Services business vertical for Google Public Sector. She is a dynamic leader solving complex healthcare challenges across State and Local Government. Melissa joined Google from the State of Colorado, Office of e-Health Innovation where she served as a trusted advisor in helping bridge the gap between health and human services, information technology policy and data interoperability. Prior to this assignment, Melissa spent nearly two decades with Cerner Corporation where she spearheaded a variety of digital health transformations impacting care delivery, health innovation and at risk populations. Melissa is passionate about breaking down silos that discourage collaboration and health and social information sharing.

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.

Josh King is the Senior Product Manager for myColorado, the State of Colorado’s Official Mobile App™. He has a background in B2C and B2B product management in both startup and enterprise companies.

Drew Levanway is the Account Director of Tyler Colorado, a subsidiary of Tyler Technologies. With over a decade of eGovernment experience, Drew leads the team that has helped the State of Colorado deliver over 1,000 digital government solutions, providing citizens an efficient and secure way to engage agencies, departments, local, and state government. Tyler’s robust payment processing platform processes $3 billion annually on behalf of Colorado government entities and their constituents.

Jiles McCoy is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in technology leadership and innovation. Currently serving as the Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for the City of Golden, Colorado, he has been driving technology strategy and operations there for over 5 years. Jiles is responsible for leading a full stack technology organization, overseeing all aspects of technology operations, service delivery, innovation, and community-wide programs. He has successfully implemented disruptive technologies, improved efficiency, and enhanced customer service through process improvement and relationship management.
Prior to his current role, Jiles held various positions where he demonstrated his expertise in technology and strategic services. As the Director of M&A Technology and Strategic Technology Services at Envision Healthcare, he played a pivotal role leading technology integration planning for mergers and acquisition and leading technology integration efforts. Jiles also served as the Director of IT Operations and Infrastructure, where he managed the shared services enterprise infrastructure ecosystem, oversaw ITSM strategy and lead all data center operation.
With a strong focus on information security and compliance, Jiles has served as the Director of Information Technology Security, ensuring HIPAA and SOX compliance at EVHC. He also has experience managing field technology operations, system engineering, and providing IT support in previous roles.
In addition to his professional roles, Jiles is a self-employed entrepreneur. He manages social media and creates content for the Jiles McCoy catalog of social media channels, catering to the Hi-Fi, Home Theater, and Technology markets.\
Jiles holds an MBA and a BA in Computer Science. He is known for his ability to drive technology innovation, streamline operations, and make data-driven decisions. With a proven track record of successful leadership and implementation of transformative technology solutions, Jiles continues to make significant contributions to innovation and operational excellence.

Sean McSpaden is an executive level information technology professional with over 30 years of experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. His background includes the start-up and management of several small businesses and he has served on the Board of Directors or in Executive Director positions for several 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Sean’s public service experience includes progressively responsible positions as an IT analyst, and in statewide coordination, management and leadership positions within the Executive and Legislative branches of Oregon state government. From June 2008 to September 2013, served as the state of Oregon’s Deputy State Chief Information Officer.
Throughout his 25-year tenure in Oregon state government, Sean and the teams he has led have received several state, regional and national recognitions and awards. In addition, Sean has represented the state of Oregon on numerous state, regional and national project steering committees, task forces, governing boards, committees, commissions and associations, and has presented on various topics at local, state, regional, national, and international meetings and conferences.
Sean earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and Certificate of Public Management from the Willamette University, Atkinson Graduate School of Management. Sean is an ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and holds a PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Sean also holds a Secret level clearance granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Mercer is the Cybersecurity Program Manager in the Governor’s Office of Information Technology, Office of Information Security. He is responsible for ensuring local government entities are provided cybersecurity resources. This allows these entities the ability to strengthen their cybersecurity posture to protect Coloradans’ information from compromise. Prior to joining the State of Colorado, Michael was the Chief Security Officer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the Denver Field Office, which covers nine Resident Agency Offices located throughout Colorado and Wyoming. He joined the FBI in 1991 and was the Denver Division’s Chief Security Officer for 12 years. Mr. Mercer’s responsibilities included information/cyber, industrial, physical, and personnel security. He directed the Denver FBI Security Squad in identifying, developing, implementing, and maintaining security processes that reduce risk, respond to incidents, and limit exposure to liability. His office also established and implemented appropriate standards and risk controls to safeguard FBI assets. In addition, Mr. Mercer received his certification as a certified ethical hacker in 2015.

Sarah Miles is the founder and CEO of Milestone, an HPE Gold/HPI Platinum partner and technology solution provider head-quartered in Castle Rock, CO. Milestone’s competencies range from handling fortune 100 technology refresh, data center and Cloud initiatives to building SaaS offerings like HP SmartStores. Sarah is a member of HP’s US Public Sector Advisory Council and also owns 3 other businesses specializing in Commercial Real Estate, Technology Platforms and the growing Craft Cocktail Movement.
Sarah also invests her efforts in several philanthropic avenues. She sits on the board for two 501c3 organizations, including Douglas County’s Help and Hope Center; the economic crisis support organization in one of Colorado’s largest counties. Sarah is also Executive Director for The Encounter, a non-profit youth summer camp experience she founded in 2003 that has served thousands of participants.
When she’s not working, Sarah spends her time with family and friends in the Denver area.

I received my Bachelor of Science degree in 1985 from Colorado State University and subsequent Business Application Programming degree, from Denver Metro. My graduate studies continue at DU.
My first career (for 3 years) was an Account Executive at Dean Witter World Trade Center NY.
I moved onto Software Engineer at US West and remained there for 23 years and held positions as software Engineer, Change Manager, Project Manager PMP/CSM.
I was asked to apply for a job with the state as an Accessibility Coordinator in 2017. It was just me and now with the support of Governor Polis and Legislators, I have a funded Program with 9 accessibility experts on the Technical Accessibility Program.
My goal is to make all state services accessible to all people with disabilities, "One Colorado for all".

Karen Pellegrin is the Senior Program Manager for Technology Accessibility Program (TAP) at the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology. Since June 2022, she has been leading a team of accessibility professionals in guiding Colorado state agencies and local government entities in operationalizing accessibility within their organization and meeting the state's requirements for digital accessibility. Before coming to the State of Colorado, Karen served for over 7 years as the City and County of Denver's digital accessibility coordinator and 10 years as senior web administrator. She has worked with over 75 government agencies and departments as well as multiple non-profits and Fortune 500 companies to build and standardize accessibility processes, systems, guidelines, and training programs.

Experienced Chief Information Officer with a demonstrated history of working in educational leadership within the public K-12 sector. Skilled in networking (WAN/LAN), eRate, classroom technology, security, and 1:1 programs. A former classroom teacher who leads in the instructional and operational sides of K-12 information technology. Strong track record of positively affecting student achievement through intentional technology implementations.

Morgan Reed spent 4 years as Chief Information Officer for the State of Arizona, where he led cloud transformations to consolidate 30 different email systems, modernize 15 citizen-facing applications, migrate critical agency workloads off the state-owned mainframe, and shut down the state’s largest datacenter after migrating 80% to the cloud. He joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) as an Executive Government Advisor, to coach State and Local Government Executives through strategy, policy, and governance challenges to help them accelerate their journey to the cloud, and help governments innovate for their customers.

Julia Richman joined OIT in February 2020 as the Chief Strategy Officer and was appointed Deputy Executive Director in December 2020 to have oversee OIT's business operations. Julia excels at large-scale public sector transformations, and her wide range of experience from the public and private sectors is instrumental in bringing together strategy, product management, business architecture and communications for enhanced stakeholder alignment.
Prior to joining OIT, Julia was the Chief Innovation and Technology Officer for the City of Boulder. She joined the city in 2017 as the Chief Innovation and Analytics Officer and in 2018 assumed leadership of the city’s enterprise technology function as well. Under Julia’s combined leadership, an integrated innovation and technology function was created and overall organizational capacity improved. She worked to achieve city goals through programs and initiatives, focusing on high performance government, data driven decision making, operational effectiveness and efficiency, disruptive technology, a culture of innovation, Our Community as Resource, and enterprise technology.
Prior to working for the City of Boulder, Julia spent a decade at Deloitte Consulting leading projects that advanced service and business operations strategies for her public sector clients. She worked with more than 30 states, universities, non-profits, and the federal government on large scale, enterprise-wide transformation efforts including restructuring, cost reduction, business processes improvement, operations improvement, enterprise governance, portfolio management, innovation, and organizational design.
Julia was born and raised in Colorado and is a local community leader. She was a 2022 Denver Business Journal Outstanding Women in Business winner. She is a Colorado Governor's Fellow, as well as a graduate of Leadership Denver and the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training. She chairs the City of Denver Citizen Oversight Board, providing independent oversight and accountability for the city's public safety agencies. She also serves on the boards for her neighborhood organization, the Colfax Marathon and Colorado Smart Cities Alliance. Julia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College with a double major in Government and English modified with Art History. She earned a Masters of Public Policy and certificate in applied analytics from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. An avid endurance athlete, she and her husband make many loony back-country adventures with their young daughter and dog in tow.

Jimmy Rogers is the Director of Information Technology at the Colorado Department of Higher Education where he is responsible for managing the day-to-day IT operations, planning for future growth, partnering with local K-12 school systems, and acting as a liaison between the CIOs of the institutions of higher education and state agencies like CDHE and OIT.
Jimmy received his MBA and BSBA in Computer Information Systems from Western Carolina University. Over the past 20+ years he has held IT leadership positions in healthcare, education, construction, non-profit, and for the past three years the public sector.
During his 3-year tenure with CDHE, he has focused on bringing enterprise solutions to address cybersecurity threats within a highly visible public sector agency, transforming endpoint management for a hybrid workplace environment, improving staff training and awareness, and collaborating with key stakeholders across the state of Colorado.

Jerrod (JR) Roth joined the SIPA team in September 2019, where he serves as the Chief Technology Officer. JR’s responsibilities include the management of the SIPA technology portfolio, strategic planning for new technology offerings, customer relationship management, compliance with technology standards and assisting the executive director with other business operations tasks.
JR is certified PMP and received his BASc in Project Management from Northwest Florida State College and his MBA from Colorado State University. Before joining the SIPA team, JR spent 20 years in IT project management in the United States Air Force. After retirement, he joined General Dynamics Information Technology as a Program Manager for a managed identity service offering. JR has held roles at the state of Colorado, first as the Director of the Project Management Office at the Colorado Department of Revenue, then as the Director of Enterprise Portfolio and Project Governance at the Governor’s Office of Information Technology.

Kris is known for her candor and positive outlook. This session will make you think, and Kris will want you to explore the potential of the data, technology, and possibilities around you.
Kris is originally from Canada and has lived and worked across North America with global companies and their partners. Most recently she worked in the gathering of data, engaging predictive and cognitive analytics, to improve and enhance business outcomes – which was foundational to creating complex and powerful solutions for her clients. Kris is an accomplished IT & Business Professional, having worked for several years at IBM enabling clients to use technology to drive better outcomes and the enhancement of workforces and workplaces. Kris has seen the power of Artificial Intelligence as the marketplace has advanced from the simplicity of chatbots to tools and models that have enabled governments to leverage their analytics more broadly across society. Kris is an advocate for ‘we don’t know the outcome yet thinking’, and that only through courageous use of technology can we explore and advance to new possibilities.

Jenny Schiavone is the Chief Digital Officer for the City and County of Denver’s Department of Technology Services. In this role, she oversees the city’s digital experiences and the strategic transformation of how government connects with its customers. With more than 20 years of broad marketing and communications experience, Jenny decided to stretch into the technology space to help modernize government through equitable, intuitive, human-first interactions.

Rich Schliep is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Colorado Department of State and previously served as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He leads the Colorado Secretary of State's teams building a strong technology vision with security built-in from the ground up.
Mr. Schliep is responsible for supporting Development and Operations initiatives to increase visibility, build trust, and encourage learning across the organization. He participates in multiple groups to support cybersecurity and data initiatives across the State including the Government Data Advisory Board (GDAB) and Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). Rich is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Lean Six-Sigma Black Belt, and Certified Incident Handler.

As Chief Data Officer at the City of Boulder, Richard is responsible for data analytics, data governance, data infrastructure and data communities that further the City's policy and operational goals. He was previously Data Analytics Lead for the City of Seattle; prior to this he worked in the consulting and investment banking sectors.
Richard earned his master's degrees in data science from the University of Washington and in public administration from Princeton University. He read philosophy, politics and economics as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford. Wittgenstein convinced him to take that interest no further.

Steve Troxel has over 25 years of progressive experience in information systems infrastructure, software, cybersecurity and management, and over 10 years of experience as a business owner in the Arizona community. He served as the interim CTO of the Arizona Department of Education, and has been serving public sector agencies for over 15 years. He continues this passion as a solutions engineer at SHI, working with agencies and municipalities in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Gary Vansuch describes himself this way: "I am the most fortunate person on the planet for many reasons: I have a wonderful wife, and we are in our 44th year of marriage; and we have two terrific grown children who are making important contributions to society in education and science. I am honored to lead the Very Best Team in the World; and I have the Very Best Job on Earth as the Director of Process Improvement at the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Heather Weir, MPH, RD, is the Director of the Strategy, Performance and Administration Office at the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology, a role she started in April 2021. Prior to that, she was with the Office of Planning, Partnerships and Improvement and the Office of Strategy and Performance at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), where she began work in February 2015 and previously worked with Denver Public Health as the Performance Improvement Manager. She has twenty years of experience working in healthcare, public health and local and state government, and has been working with multidisciplinary teams in organizational improvement efforts since 2008. Prior to moving to Colorado, Weir worked with Providence Health & Services in Portland, Oregon as a registered dietitian (RD) and diabetes educator and later worked in Eugene, Oregon with Lane County Public Health and was the Quality Improvement Coordinator for the Community Health Centers of Lane County. She received her bachelor’s degree in health and human development from Montana State University; her dietetic internship from Oregon Health & Science University; and master’s degree in public health from Portland State University.