Laura Kelly was sworn in as the 48th governor of the State of Kansas on January 14, 2019. She has made it her life’s work to fight for children and families on the job, in her community, and as a four-term state senator. As the long-time leader of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association, Laura advocated for public parks across the state. She was a leading voice in promoting healthy families and communities and improving the quality of life in Kansas through top-notch parks and recreation services. In earlier jobs, she fought to improve mental health services and helped patients live healthy, more productive lives. Laura was elected to the Kansas Senate in 2004. After just two years, she was asked to serve as the Ranking Minority member of the important Ways and Means Committee. She has advocated for fiscally responsible, balanced budgets that still reflect the priorities of Kansas communities, like schools, health care, roads and public safety. Laura was a key player in the establishment and funding of the Early Childhood Development Block Grants, which have helped thousands of Kansas children enter kindergarten ready to learn. Laura and her husband Ted Daughety, a doctor of pulmonary and sleep disorders, live in Topeka and have been married for 36 years. They have two grown daughters, Kathleen and Molly Daughety.

Dan Thurmon is the founder and President of Motivation Works, a company that helps leaders and their organizations move confidently through change and transformation so that they achieve and contribute MORE. Dan is an expert speaker and performer. He has delivered thousands of presentations across six continents for audiences including world leaders, Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, educators, and even troops on the front lines of battle. In 2011, he was inducted into the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame. Dan recently served as the President of the National Speakers Association. During his tenure, he led the Board of Directors and the 3,000+ member organization through a critical transformation, which included new governance, a new mission, higher member value, and greater financial accountability. He’s authored two books: Success in Action and Off Balance On Purpose. Dan produces an ongoing weekly video coaching series and podcast in which he shares leadership principles and life-enhancement strategies in under three minutes. He is a health and fitness advocate. In his 50s, Dan continues to train and perform advanced acrobatics, and enjoys hobbies such as golf, mountain unicycling and the flying trapeze.

Teri Takai is the 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.

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

Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer for e.Republic. As Chief Innovation Officer, he has a strategic role to help shape the company’s products, services, and future direction. Primarily, he leads e.Republic Labs, a market connector created as an ecosystem to educate, accelerate, and ultimately scale technology innovation within the public sector. Dustin began he career at a very young age as the finance director and later CIO for Manor, TX, a small city outside Austin. He quickly built a track record and national reputation as an early innovator in civic tech, for which he was named a Government Technology Top 25 Doer, Dreamer and Driver in 2009. A member of Code for America’s original steering committee, Dustin pioneered government use of commercial technologies not before used in the public sector – including Quick-Response (QR) barcodes, crowdsourcing, and gamification. Dustin went on to the private sector to help broaden the adoption of these and other civic innovations. His work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, Inc., and the Today Show on NBC. An in-demand speaker, he has given two TEDx speeches – one on Disrupting Government (TEDxAustin) and the other on Disrupting Education (TEDxLivermore).

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.

Jeff Maxon was appointed CISO in July of 2020 after serving the state for more than 10 years. He holds professional certifications, including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), and Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK). In addition Maxon serves as a Cyber Systems Operations Craftsman for the Kansas Air National Guard. He holds a Master of Science in Information Assurance and Cybersecurity from Capella University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Science from Washburn University.

Anthony Huey is a highly popular international speaker and communications consultant who offers session attendees pragmatic communications tools, tips and techniques they can use immediately in their professional and personal lives. His career includes tenures as a news reporter, magazine senior editor, crisis management specialist, media relations consultant and executive speech coach. Anthony heads Reputation Management, LLC, one of the nation’s leading communications training and crisis consulting companies. He has presented nearly 2,700 keynote speeches, workshops and seminars. His direct client work includes a wide variety of advertising, public relations and communications initiatives for hundreds of trade associations, municipalities and companies.

Adrian Guerrero, CPM is the Director of Operations of the Kansas State Board of Nursing. Adrian has worked for the board for over twenty years. He is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of advanced technology and business solutions, and oversees the IT, Licensing, HR, and Procurement Departments, as well as the Financial Officer for the agency's operational budget.
Adrian was also elected to the Board of Directors as Treasurer of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). NCSBN is an independent, multi-million-dollar, not-for-profit organization through which nursing regulatory bodies act and counsel together on matters of common interest and concern affecting public health, safety and welfare, including the development of nursing licensure examinations.
Adrian has received various honors including the; Topeka’s Top 20 Under 40, NCSBN Meritorious Service Award, CPM-George C. Askew National Award and Bronze Government Sector Horizon Award for the Kansas Nursing Alexa Skill.

Andy Sandberg is the Chief Information Officer for the Kansas Department of Revenue. With more than 20 years of government service, Andy is an expert in state systems and customer experience. In his current role, he builds highly effective teams in the fields of information technology and application development. He also oversees project management, cyber security, network and operations, telecommunications and infrastructure management, internal service delivery, application acquisition and management, telephony and communications management, and business continuity as part of disaster recovery. Andy is a graduate of Washburn University with a degree in Computer Information Systems.

Keith Casey currently serves on the Platform Team at Okta working on Identity and Authentication APIs. Previously, he served as an early Developer Evangelist at Twilio and before that worked on the Ultimate Geek Question. His underlying goal is to get good technology into the hands of good people to do great things. In his spare time, he helps build and support the Austin tech community, blogs at CaseySoftware.com and is fascinated by monkeys. He is also a co-author of “A Practical Approach to API Design” from Leanpub.

Nolan Jones is the General Manager of NIC Kansas, a subsidiary of NIC. He has been at the forefront of government technology innovation including the development of the first iPhone app for government. He has over twenty years of experience in government information technology including serving as the CIO for the Colorado Department of Revenue. He is a graduate of the Seattle University School of Law, Cum Laude.

Tawnya Lancaster has led thought leadership and research in cybersecurity for 10 years. In her role at AT&T, she works across multiple AT&T business units, including AT&T’s Chief Security Office, AT&T Alien Labs™ (the threat intelligence unit of AT&T), Managed Security Services, Professional Services, and R&D, to identify trends in cybersecurity and develop thought leadership content on emerging security technologies and strategies for protecting the enterprise. Recent research includes the use of machine learning and analytics in threat intelligence, increasing importance of Zero Trust as a strategic approach for security programs, the consolidation of security services in virtualized/cloud environments, and measurement of cybersecurity maturity across industries.

Jim Richberg’s role as a Fortinet CISO leverages his 30+ years’ experience leading and driving innovation in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and cyber strategy & policy for the US Government and international partners. Prior to joining Fortinet, he served as the National Intelligence Manager for Cyber, the senior Federal Executive focused on cyber intelligence within the $80B+/100,000 employee US Intelligence Community (IC). He led creation and implementation of cyber strategy for the 17 departments and agencies of the IC, set integrated priorities on cyber threat, and served as Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on cyber issues. He brings a broad enterprise-level approach to cybersecurity honed as a member of the Executive team which created and oversaw implementation of the multi-billion dollar whole-of-government Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) that generated new Government cyber capability and enhanced cybersecurity in the private sector and critical infrastructure. Mr. Richberg’s broad operational experience –including his 20 years at CIA--gives him practical insight into difficult cyber problems ranging from advanced threat capabilities to supply chain integrity and election security. He has extensive experience engaging with audiences ranging from Heads of State and CEO’s to analysts and IT staff. He brings a strong focus on strategic problem solving (identify and solve the key problem vs. the most visible one) and on framing complex problems in comprehensible terms that facilitate analysis and formulation of solutions.