Lieutenant Governor Oliver is a self-described “Jersey Girl,” born and raised in an ethnically diverse Newark neighborhood.
Lieutenant Governor Oliver was inspired as a young girl to be a fighter for the voiceless when her eyes were opened to societal injustices and inequities around her, often citing “A Tale of Two Cities” as her youth awakening. She has since pioneered a successful career in public service advocating for social justice, women’s equality, and education, ultimately becoming the first woman of color to serve in a statewide elected office in New Jersey history.
In addition to her role as Lieutenant Governor, she serves as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, where she has led efforts to strengthen and expand initiatives for fair and affordable housing, community revitalization, homelessness prevention, and local government services that support New Jersey’s 565 municipalities.
Under her leadership, the Department has also expanded and leveraged a wide range of initiatives aimed at assisting distressed municipalities, including the federal Opportunity Zones tax incentive, the Main Street New Jersey program, the Neighborhood Preservation Program, and the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program, which have received increased funding.
In her role as Acting Governor, she has signed multiple bills into law, including those that established a Caregiver Task Force to identify ways to support people taking care of loved ones who are elderly or disabled, require all public school students in grades 6-8 to receive financial literacy education, strengthen equal pay for equal work by preventing employers from asking employees’ previous salary history, and protect employees from wage theft.
Across her career, Lieutenant Governor Oliver has worked in the public, non-profit, and private sectors, and has taught numerous college courses. She has served as a member of both the East Orange Board of Education and the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
In 2003, she was elected to serve the 34th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly.
A trailblazer in every sense of the word, in 2010 she became the first African-American woman in state history to serve as Assembly Speaker, and just the second in the nation’s history to lead a state legislative house.
A proud alumna of the Newark public school system, Lieutenant Governor Oliver graduated cum laude from Lincoln University, and received her Master of Science Degree in Community Organization, Planning and Administration from Columbia University. She has received honorary doctorates of humane letters from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Lincoln University, Montclair University and Berkeley and Essex County Colleges.
She is a proud 40-plus-year resident of East Orange where she treasures her time with her 93-year-old mother, who has always encouraged her to be a critical thinker while fostering her passion for helping people through effective public policy.

Monica began her career with the Washington State Patrol (WSP) in 1996 as a Trooper Cadet. She was commissioned as a WSP Trooper on May 1, 1998 and assigned to the South Seattle freeway. In addition to her duties as a trooper, Monica was the traffic reporter for KOMO-TV (ABC Affiliate Seattle) for six years. In May of 2003, out of 210 candidates Monica placed number one on the sergeant’s exam and was then promoted on August 15 of that year. She continued to work the south Seattle Freeway, office of government and Media Relations, Homeland Security and Office of Professional Standards until July 16, 2013 when she promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to Field Operations Bureau Head Quarters.
Monica was promoted on April 28, 2015 to Captain in the office of Government and Media Relations as the legislative liaison where she served until June 30, 2019. On July 1, 2019 Monica was assigned as the Human Resources Commander until she retired on August 16, 2019.
As Captain and Legislative Liaison, some of her many accomplishments include: Wage increase legislation for the Washington state Troopers Association and Washington State Lieutenants and Captains Association, Sexual Assault Kit funding, Sexual Assault Kit Tracking system, Toxicology lab funding, and the Missing Native American Women research and report.
During Monica’s career she received numerous honors and awards including the Educational Excellence Award from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The National Black Police Association and Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington 2019 Legacy Award. In 2003, Monica was inducted into the Tacoma African American History Museum for her service to the community and her work with the WSP.
Monica attended North Texas State University and holds her Bachelor’s Degree from Evergreen State College.
In November of 2017, Governor Jay Inslee appointed Monica to the Board of Trustees for Evergreen State College.
Monica is the first and African American female to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain in the history of the WSP.
Currently Monica serves as the interim Executive Director at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

Anushree (Anu) M Bag is an Executive director at the Indiana Office of Technology, State of Indiana. In that capacity she leads IT governance, Risk, Compliance, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery. Anu has over 20 years industry experience with leading and managing large and complex IT transformational initiatives across multiple industries, such as energy, e-commerce, healthcare, insurance, education, non-profit, and government. An electrical engineer by education, she has expertise in strategic planning, business process management, analytics, IT governance, enterprise risk management, and compliance.
Anu is passionate about equitable participation and advancement of capable women in technology. She founded the Government Women in Technology (GWIT) group at the State of Indiana, and currently serves as the Chairperson of the GWIT Board of Directors. In 2020 Anu received a StateScoop 50 award, a national award that recognizes the projects and people driving state government technology and cybersecurity. In 2021, Anu has been nominated as a finalist for a Mira award in the Community Impact category- Hosted by TechPoint, Mira Awards are awarded for achievement, discovery, and innovation in technology, as well as the support and advancement of the technology community. Anu regularly writes and speaks about Women in Technology and Women in Cybersecurity at multiple forums.

Rear Admiral Melissa Bert assumed duties as the Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the Coast Guard in April 2020. She has the privilege to lead a dedicated group of legal professionals who are responsible for the delivery of all legal services in support of the Coast Guard's missions, its units and its people.
Her preceding flag assignment was as Director of Governmental and Public Affairs, where she synchronized the service’s external engagement with Congress, the media, and strategic partners and stakeholders. Prior to that, she was Deputy Director of Operations for the U.S. Northern Command overseeing homeland defense and defense support for civil authorities for North America, as well as theater security cooperation with Mexico and The Bahamas.
Before promotion to flag-rank in 2016, she distinguished herself in service in both legal and operational capacities. As a lawyer, she was Chief of the Coast Guard’s Maritime and International Law Office, supporting U.S. engagement with the International Maritime Organization and providing legal advice on a variety of policies – including the Law of the Sea, drug and migrant interdiction, homeland security, search and rescue, pollution response, port and vessel safety/security, counter-terrorism, Arctic policy, and environmental protection. She was also Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the Seventh District in Miami, FL and a Military Judge. For her legal expertise she was awarded the Young Military Lawyer of the Year for the Coast Guard by the American Bar Association in 1997 and the Judge Advocates Association Outstanding Career Armed Services Attorney Award in 2006.
Operationally, she was Chief of Staff for the Seventh Coast Guard District, responsible for oversight of Coast Guard operations in the Southeastern United States and Caribbean and was also privileged to Command Sector Juneau and direct mission execution in the unique environment of Southeastern Alaska. During the attacks of 9/11, she was the Operations Officer for Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach protecting one of the nation’s most valuable ports. She previously served aboard two cutters, including as Executive Officer of the Cutter Red Birch in Baltimore, Maryland.
Rear Admiral Bert is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and George Washington University Law School. She has been a national security fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and a military fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York. She has taught as an adjunct professor at George Washington University and University of Miami Law School.
Her honors include the United Way American Values Award, the Joint Superior Service Medal, two Legions of Merit, and three Meritorious Service Medals. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Proctor in Admiralty in the United States Maritime Law Association and a Proctor in Admiralty in the United States Maritime Law Association. She is also the founder of the Women’s Leadership Initiative supporting mentoring and professional development for Coast Guard women in uniform and civilians.

Prior to Governor Kelly’s appointment as Secretary of Administration, Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace served as the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Kansas. Dr. Burns-Wallace started her career as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO) with the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Burns-Wallace has been selected for various leadership opportunities, awards and honors throughout her higher ed and government career, including the 2018 White House Champions of Change College Opportunity, and earning a Superior Honor and three Meritorious Honor awards from the U.S. State Department. Dr. Burns-Wallace serves as a national trainer and curriculum developer for various national professional development organizations, non-profits, and higher ed institutions on issues ranging including micro-aggressions, multigenerational workplace differences, diversity and inclusion, change management, professional development pathways, and strategic planning. Service is also a cornerstone of her journey. Dr. Burns-Wallace currently serves on Stanford University’s Board of Governors, and has previously held board roles in numerous local, regional, and national organizations, and international selection committees including Gates Millennium Scholars, Dell Foundation Scholars, and Rhodes, Marshall, and Fulbright fellowships. Dr. Burns-Wallace holds a dual bachelor’s degree in International Relations and African American studies from Stanford University, a Master in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kristen Cox is the world's leading authority on how to apply the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to governments and non profits. She is perhaps best known for her work as the former Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Management and Budget for the State of Utah where she orchestrated a 35 percent improvement across Utah's $20B executive branch.
Kris is currently the Executive Director of the new Initiative on Government Improvement and an instructor at The University of Utah's Eccles School of Business.
She is the co-author of two books, Stop Decorating the Fish and The World of Decorating the Fish along with Dr. Yishai Ashlag.
In addition, Kristen sits on advisory boards, is a keynote speaker, consultant, trainer, and co-founder of The Fulcrum--her private, online, TOC training community.

Amanda serves as the executive director of the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), the agency charged with protecting the state’s data and critical technology infrastructure, managing a multi-billion-dollar cooperative contracts program, and providing strategic technology leadership, solutions, and innovation to all levels of Texas government. She also serves as the chief information officer for Texas state government.
Prior to leading the team at DIR, Mandy served at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas (OAG) for more than 17 years. She held various positions at the OAG, including ultimately serving for two and a half years as the Deputy Attorney General for Administration and General Counsel.
Mandy earned her B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. She is a graduate of the Governor’s Center for Executive Development through the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Mandy is also a faculty member of the National Attorneys General Training Research Institute’s Center for Leadership Development, teaching managerial leadership in attorney general offices across the country.

Stephanie Dedmon was named CIO for the State of Tennessee in October 2018. In this role she is responsible for all operational areas of the state’s central IT organization, Strategic Technology Solutions. This includes managing the team’s IT service delivery, technical infrastructure development and support and customer service management and a workforce of almost 1200 IT professionals.
As Deputy CIO, Dedmon was previously responsible for the Enterprise IT Transformation (EIT) initiative that furthered the State’s enterprise IT organization by transitioning over 800 Executive Branch Department IT employees to STS. Prior to being named Deputy CIO in November of 2015, Dedmon served as the Director of Business Solutions Delivery (BSD), also within the Department of Finance & Administration. BSD was created in late 2011 to build a team of experienced senior project directors, project managers and business analysts to help lead the state’s most complex IT/business solution implementations and improve project delivery success rates.
Prior to joining the State in 2005, Dedmon was an Associate Partner with Accenture in Nashville and served as project director on many public sector software implementations. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University (TTU) in Cookeville, Tennessee, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, also from TTU. She achieved her Project Management Professional certification in August of 2012.
Dedmon is a member of the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) where she serves as Secretary/Treasurer with the Executive Committee and as Co-Chair of the Innovation Committee. She is a member of the Greater Nashville Technology Council where she serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Committee Chair and is a Board Member. She is also a member of Women in Technology in Tennessee and the Nashville Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter. In March 2018, she was named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for her work on the State’s IT transformation. Stephanie was also the recent recipient of the George H. Bass award for Leadership in Tennessee State Government in October of 2019.

Tracy Doaks is President & CEO of MCNC, the technology nonprofit focused on delivering high performance Internet and networking, cloud services, cybersecurity, and other essential technologies for communities throughout North Carolina. MCNC’s 4,000 mile backbone, the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), supports community anchor institutions in all 100 counties.
Prior to joining MCNC in August 2020, Tracy was state chief information officer and secretary for the N.C. Department of Information Technology(NCDIT) where she led the state agency responsible for all IT procurement, state cybersecurity, operational services, broadband infrastructure, solutions division, data analytics center, the N.C. 911 Board and strategic IT planning.
She joined NCDIT in November 2015 and served as chief deputy state chief information officer and chief services officer until her appointment as state CIO in February 2020.
Prior to joining NCDIT, Tracy worked for Duke Medicine where she served as the senior director of service delivery. Her primary responsibilities included providing leadership and oversight in the execution and delivery of application and infrastructure services for all of the hospitals, clinics, School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Tracy previously worked for the state of North Carolina as assistant secretary of Information Technology and CIO for the North Carolina Department of Revenue, where she led all aspects of strategic IT planning, implementation, operations, support and risk management. In addition, her past work experience also includes managing clinical informatics and analytics at Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and developing systems at Accenture.
Tracy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University and then went on to earn her CIO certification from the UNC School of Government. Additionally, she received the 2018 Public CIO Award from NC TECH and the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from North Carolina University's Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Tracy serves on the board of the CORRAL Riding Academy, Triangle Technology Executive Council, Association of IT Professionals and NC State's Computer Science Strategic Advisory board. Previous leadership roles include chair of the MCNC Advisory Council and chair of the N.C. Information Technology Strategy Board.

Deanna leads LinkedIn’s Federal and State & Local Government Sales at LinkedIn Learning supporting government agencies to meet mission critical objectives through online learning. Deanna has a solid track record of success developing strategies for increased organizational performance bringing viable online learning solutions to government and libraries which have attributed to YOY success in exceeding organizational growth. She has over 20 year of sales experience including 10+ years of SaaS leadership and 10 years of CaaS experience. Deanna presents regularly to government audiences supporting bridging skills gaps in Government and developing, retaining, and engaging government employees.

Tanya Hannah believes in using technology in new, surprising, and smart ways to make life better and more effective for King County’s 2.2 million residents. As CIO for the largest county in Washington, she oversees the technical team that supports all lines of business within King County Government. This includes everything from emergency services to the county health inspectors to water taxi pilots on the Puget Sound. She’s passionate about ensuring King County residents have equitable access to information technology so they enjoy full participation in our society, democracy and economy.
Under her leadership, the Center for Digital Government has for the past two years recognized the King County Department of Information Technology (KCIT) as one of the top digital counties in the nation.
Tanya previously served as both deputy and interim director of KCIT. She earlier held posts as a senior executive at Amazon and Computer Sciences Corporation, with a focus on cybersecurity, service delivery and customer service. She received her BA from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Rebecca Hunter served on Governor Bill Haslam’s cabinet as Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources for eight years. Prior to this appointment, she spent six years as the Director of Human Resources for Hamilton County Government in Chattanooga and held management positions in governmental finance for over 25 years. Rebecca is a Certified Public Accountant and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).
During her tenure with State government, Rebecca established the Department of Human Resources as a leader in innovative human resources practices, while developing the best workforce for state government. She led a successful effort to transform the State’s employment practices with the passage of the T.E.A.M. Act, which has moved the State from a focus on seniority to a focus on performance. As a result, all state employees have a S.M.A.R.T. performance plan which aligns their work with the agency goals and the Governor’s priorities.
Rebecca is passionate about customer service and performance excellence and led the Tennessee Department of Human Resources in receiving a Level 3 Achievement Award from the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence, on whose board she served for eight years. Rebecca extends her leadership to service on several other boards and associations. She is President-Elect of SHRM Chattanooga and the Tennessee Personnel Management Association and is a past president of the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE). She also serves on the SHRM State Council as Certification Chair, and on the boards of HealthCare 21 Business Coalition and Hixson Utility District, as well as the Utilities Management Review Board.

Yessica Jones joined Microsoft in December 2020 as a Delivery Management Manager (DMM) for MCS State and Local Government (SLG) and Education. As a DMM, she is responsible for leading a national team of seasoned account delivery executives responsible for driving customer satisfaction and end to end service delivery. Yessica is the former Arkansas chief technology officer (CTO) and director of the Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS) where she served the last four years. As the State CTO/CIO, Jones led information technology (IT) professionals responsible for providing technology services and leadership to the Arkansas executive branch.
Prior to joining DIS, Jones was an assistant professor in Harding University’s Department of Management Information Systems, where she taught data management, database design and implementation, business applications programming, and web development. She has also served as a solutions developer for Little Rock-based Acxiom, database developer for Pennzoil Quaker State in Houston Texas and software engineer for TRW. Jones also served as Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s outreach liaison to the Hispanic community.
In 2016, Jones was the recipient of a StateScoop Top 50 Up and Comer Award. In 2017, StateScoop named her as one of its Top Women in Technology, 2019 winner of StateScoop Award as a Golden Gov: State Executive of the Year and recently GovTech named Jones one of the top 25 government technology leaders in 2020.
Jones holds a B.S. in Computer Science and an M.B.A. from Harding University.

Lindsey Parker was nominated by Mayor Muriel Bowser to be the Chief Technology Officer in January 2019 and was unanimously confirmed by the DC Council on March 5, 2019. Lindsey previously served as Mayor Bowser’s Deputy Chief of Staff. As the District’s Chief Technology Officer, Lindsey will work to enable DC Government agencies to securely leverage technology to better serve the residents, businesses and visitors of Washington, DC.
Lindsey has worked in the public and private sectors to support practical, innovative policies and engagement models to help urban centers find new ways to remain competitive, diverse, and innovative in today’s global economy. She previously worked in the cyber-security sector in a number of roles, including as the Director of Internal Communications at Symantec.
Lindsey received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Yale University and is a proud Shaw resident.

Cathilea is Chief Executive Officer of e.Republic, where she oversees operations for the company’s award-winning media platforms: Governing, Government Technology and Emergency Management. Cathilea also oversees e.Republic’s websites, conferences and events, and its national research and advisory groups: the Center for Digital Government, the Center for Digital Education and the Governing Institute.
In 2014 Cathilea directed the launch of the Governing Institute’s Women in Government Leadership Program, an innovative initiative that encourages future generations of women to participate in public service.
Cathilea is a frequent speaker for government and education organizations worldwide, including the United Nations, Harvard University, the State Legislative Leaders' Foundation, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, and the World Congress on Information Technology. She has been quoted frequently in publications including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes and others.
Cathilea is a recipient of NASCIO’s National Technology Champion Award for her outstanding contributions to advance public sector information technology innovation. She is also the winner of an Outstanding Women Leadership Award from the Sacramento Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and is a Greater Sacramento Business Hall of Fame Laureate.

As the lead for US Public Sector Marketing at Microsoft, Anne Shintaku is responsible for leading a marketing team serving State and Local Government agencies and Education organizations across the United States. In this role, her team helps customers to see and experience how digital transformation can deliver new value to public sector organizations across the US.
Anne’s experience spans product planning and product management, revenue marketing, and audience marketing, including marketing to non-tech audiences. With a passion for “getting the message right” for audiences, her work has included product launches, industry-specific campaigns, and digital content and media.
Prior to Microsoft, Anne held roles at Intel Corporation in product planning and strategy. Anne holds a B.S. from Harvey Mudd College, an M.S. from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Deborah is an accomplished C-level influencer, with a broad range of experience in government, policy, cybersecurity, privacy and information technology. An experienced and highly respected thought leader who has held executive roles for over two decades.
She recently retired from her position as New York state’s chief information security officer (CISO) after over 35 years of public service.
In that role, as part of New York state’s information technology transformation and consolidation initiative, she helped redesign how the state protects its data. As state CISO, she directed the state’s comprehensive cybersecurity governance, risk management and compliance program, providing strategic leadership and vision, and assuring business-aligned, risk-based investments that maximized business opportunity and minimized cybersecurity risk. She also directed the NYS Cyber Command Center, hotline, procedures for reporting and response to cyberthreats, and digital forensics.
She holds multiple industry certifications including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC); SANS Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership (GSTRT) Global Information Assurance Certification; and Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Admiral Sandy Stosz is an experienced senior leader who has served and operated in the military, maritime, homeland security, transportation and academic sectors. Her expertise includes leadership development, strategic vision and planning, change management, training and education, and leading and managing complex organizations.
She started out in the Coast Guard as an ensign serving on polar icebreakers, conducting national security missions from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Her thirty-six year career was filled with leadership lessons gleaned while breaking ice and breaking glass as the first woman to command an icebreaker on the Great Lakes and to lead a U.S. armed forces service academy.
A line officer, Admiral Stosz served for 12 years at sea. While commanding the medium endurance cutter Reliance she and her crew patrolled off the coast of New York City, keeping the nation safe and secure following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. She led the large Coast Guard organizations during times of crisis and complexity. As Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, she was responsible for developing and educating a corps of 1,000 cadets. She also led the Coast Guard’s recruit training center in Cape May, New Jersey where she was responsible for building the Service’s enlisted workforce. She finished her career as the first woman assigned as Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, directing one of the Coast Guard’s largest enterprises. She was responsible for all facets of support for Coast Guard’s diverse mission set through oversight of human capital, lifecycle engineering and logistics, acquisitions, information technology, training and education and security.
Admiral Stosz’s military awards include two Coast Guard Distinguised Service Medals, three Legion of Merit Medals and four Meritorious Service Medals. She is the recipient of the National Maritime Historical Society Distinguished Service Award; Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and Airmen’s Club Distinguished Military Leadership Award; Girl Scouts of America Trail Blazer Award, and the Connecticut Woman of the Year award. In 2012, Newsweek’s “The Daily Beast” named her as one of 150 Women who Shake the World.

Teri Takai is Co-Director of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. She worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years in global application development and information technology strategic planning. From Ford, she moved to EDS in support of General Motors. A long-time interest in public service led her to the government sector, first as CIO of the State of Michigan, then as CIO of the State of California, and subsequently the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, the first woman appointed to this role. She then served as the CIO for Meridian Health Plan. She is a member of several industry advisory boards. Teri has won numerous awards including Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year, CIO Magazine’s CIO Hall of Fame, Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers, the Women in Defense Excellence in Leadership Award, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Maria Thompson joined the N.C. Department of Information Technology in January 2015 as the state’s first chief risk officer, reporting to the state chief information officer. This position was established as part of the state’s efforts to bring information risk management capabilities in line with industry standards.
In her role, Maria is responsible for developing an integrated statewide framework to manage information risk, including operations, security and data protection.
Maria comes to NC DIT with decades of IT security experience. She began her career with 20 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps and retired as the cybersecurity chief for the Marine Corps. Her previous roles include serving as the Iraq Theater of Operations Certification Authority. She also served as a senior security engineer for SecureInfo and senior security architect and program manager for Imperatis Corp. in Virginia.
Maria holds a Master of Science in information technology from the University of Maryland, University College - Adelphi.

Amy Tong is the State Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director of the California Department of Technology. Ms. Tong is responsible for advising the Governor on the strategic management and direction of the state’s Information Technology (IT) resources. She is also responsible for establishing and implementing state IT strategic plans, policies, standards and enterprise architecture while minimizing overlap, redundancy and cost to the state by promoting efficient and effective use of IT. Ms. Tong coordinates the activities of Agency Information Officers and department CIOs for the purpose of integrating statewide technology initiatives and ensuring compliance with IT policies and standards in the areas of Digital Services, Information Security, Project Delivery, Innovation and IT Workforce development.
Ms. Tong has over 20 years of business, technology, and management experience in the public sector. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information System and a Master of Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento.

As president of US Regulated Industries at Microsoft, Toni Townes-Whitley leads the US sales strategy for driving digital transformation across customers and partners within the public sector and commercial regulated industries. She is one of the leading women at Microsoft, and in the technology industry, with a track record for accelerating and sustaining profitable business and building high-performance teams. Her organization is responsible for executing on Microsoft’s industry strategy and go-to-market for both public sector and regulated industries in the United States, including Education, Financial Services, Government, and Healthcare. In addition to leading a sales organization, Townes-Whitley is helping to steer the company’s work to address systemic racial injustice – with efforts targeted both internally at representation and inclusion; as well as externally at leveraging technology to counter prevailing societal challenges. She has developed expertise and speaks publicly about “Civic Technology”, applying tech innovation for social impact.

Dr. Ware is a Human Capital Strategist and Transformation Navigator. With more than 20 years of experience in senior-level leadership, managerial and consultant roles, she is known for building talent management capability, leading change, and designing accelerated learning.
Dr. Ware’s work has been featured at conferences, in publications, podcasts and research. She holds several degrees and certifications including Lean for Office and Services, Design Thinking, Human Performance Technology, Human Capital Strategy and Change Management.
Dr. Ware is a state licensed Personnel Consulting Agent and serves as a member of the Forbes HR Council, the Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board and Harvard Business Review’s Advisory Council. She is native Detroiter and most importantly currently serves as Chief Learning Officer for the City of Detroit.

Renee Wynn is an accomplished leader in information technology and cybersecurity with extensive experience guiding government agencies through complex transformations. Organizations are reaching out to Wynn to share her expertise in space and cybersecurity, leadership, women in STEM A+D, global IT management, and supply chain risk. She has presented to audiences at CyberSat, BoxWorks, NASA Space Apps Challenge, Microsoft Meetup for Government, and SolarStorm.
With 30 years of Federal service, Wynn was one of the longest-serving Chief Information Officers (CIOs) at NASA. She joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in July 2015 as Deputy CIO and was promoted to CIO two months later. Wynn managed a $2 billion Information Technology portfolio serving 65,000 employees and contractors and established NASA’s first-ever IT strategic plan that aligned its space and aeronautic program goals. She co-led NASA’s first transformation to a more centralized services model that improved overall quality, saved $50 million per year in software costs, and established a cybersecurity program that reduced risks across 150 metrics.
As CIO, Wynn served on NASA-level governing boards that provided oversight in planning and evaluating missions, including satellite launches, Mars 2020, James Webb Space Telescope, and Moon-to-Mars exploration programs. She testified before Congress on IT matters and supply risk-chain management and was praised for taking the right course of action to improve NASA’s cybersecurity posture and IT management.
Wynn was recognized by Federal Computer Week (FCW) with their President’s Award in 2020 and their Fed 100 Award in 2019. She was named to WashingtonExec’s “2019 Top 25 Execs to Watch” list. FedScoop lauded her leadership in 2018 for implementing new technologies, strategies, and IT programs to lower the cost of government while making it more innovative, agile, and effective.
Before joining NASA, she spent 25 years with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in several roles, including CIO, Deputy CIO, the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, and the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Wynn wrote environmental cleanup and land reuse policies, plus she worked on all five Base Closure and Realignment Act efforts. She also led the EPA in negotiating the cleanup principles associated with unexploded ordinances.
Wynn currently serves on corporate advisory boards for Interos Solutions, Inc. and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. She is a past board president for the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC), a non-profit public-private partnership dedicated to improving government.
A strong advocate for social responsibility, Wynn serves on the Board of The Women’s Center, a Virginia and Washington, DC-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving the community’s mental health and well-being through counseling, education, support, and advocacy.
Wynn earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from DePauw University.