Phil Bertolini is the Vice President 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.

Carolyn Bogan was appointed to Chief Operating Officer (COO) in February 2020 with the State of Kansas, Office Information Technology Services (OITS). She provides the strategic direction and operational support for Human Resources and Finance; Asset, Contract and Vendor Management, as well as, oversight of the ServiceNow platform and IT Service Management (ITSM) processes. Carolyn has 2 years with state government. Previously, the Bureau Chief of Customer Service for the Florida Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles. In addition, various leadership roles with US based corporations and international businesses e.g., Waste Management, Smiths, Inc. and KAR Global. Areas of expertise: IT service delivery and consumer experience. Carolyn is a graduate from the University of Houston in Texas and a proud Grandma for her one-and-only Grandson!

Mel Bunting is the Information Technology Director responsible for the City of Shawnee’s information technology and digital strategy spanning applications, data, cybersecurity and infrastructure. Mel brings 40 years of experience in the field of information technology with extensive experience in enterprise computing and data networks, as well as telecommunications. Mel holds the Computer Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification and received a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Park University.
The City of Shawnee (population 67,000) is located in Johnson County, Kansas (suburb of Kansas City). The Information Technology department is a team of 14 I.T. professionals.

Alan is Executive Vice President of e.Republic and Publisher of Government Technology magazine and Techwire. In this role, Alan is involved in the annual production of dozens of events as well as the strategic direction for Governing, Government Technology, Emergency Management, the Center for Digital Government and the Center for Digital Education. Alan is also the senior executive that has overall charge of e.Republic’s research organization which includes, custom research, the Digital Government and Digital Education Navigator tool and the Content Studio (webinars and custom content).
Alan has been a guest lecturer at universities and a frequent speaker for key government and industry organizations. For over 35 years, Alan has worked with industry, education and government officials to help them better understand the importance and use of information technology. Alan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento.

Jason Dickson started working with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) in 2004 as an Application Developer. He became Chief Information Officer in January 2020 after being IT Section Chief for nine years. Jason oversees the agency's IT architecture, budget, and planning while also continuing application development. He is a member of the Executive team where he helps coordinate IT within the agency's overall mission and strategic plan.

Building on his former role as enterprise architect for the state of Iowa, Chris Dilley serves as a trusted advisor to state leaders. He has helped numerous states modernize systems, migrate to the cloud, automate workflows and deliver impactful services. Chris is a proud native Iowan, actively involved in the Boys & Girls Club and coaches youth judo.

Megan Dodge is Deputy Secretary for Operations at the Kansas Department for Children & Families (DCF). In this role, she oversees the operations/administrative functions of DCF, the state agency that provides child welfare, economic assistance and other human services to Kansans. Supporting 2,500 employees, Megan oversees areas including Information Technology, organizational development/training, human resources, facilities/security, audits and fiscal services.
Megan and her family returned to Kansas after living in Texas for several years. Megan comes from a career in local government management. In Texas, she served in various capacities with the City of San Antonio, most recently as Assistant Director for the Government & Public Affairs Department, where she oversaw government relations, audio visual/video production and creative services (graphics, photography, web design). She has also served Kansas local governments, working in the County Manager’s Office for Johnson County and in the City Manager’s Office for Bonner Springs.
Megan also taught graduate courses in strategic planning, management and leadership in the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Megan is a proud native Kansan and lifelong Jayhawk. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Public Administration at the University of Kansas, she completed KU’s Master of Public Administration Program, which is ranked top in the nation for programs of its kind.

AJ Ford graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He began his career at Oracle while living in Nashua, NH, and working out of Burlington, MA. The love of his life lured him away from his northeastern home to live in Atlanta where he now lives happily with three (soon to be four!) wonderful children. Now working at Tricentis, the leader in Scriptless Test Automation, he’s enjoyed eight years in the software space. While he focuses his efforts on federal clients like the DoD and NASA, AJ has helped clients like Bank of America, Fannie Mae and PPG transform their business with best-in-class software testing technology.

Greg Gann is a 22-year IT veteran at Sedgwick County, Wichita, KS. Greg currently serves as IT Business Solutions Group Director overseeing IT Development, Database Services, Web Development, Application Management, Project Management, and Geographical Information Services. He holds a BS in Computer Science & MS In Management Information Systems (MMIS) from Friends University and certificates in Project Management from PMI.org & Wichita State University. Greg also serves as Sedgwick County’s Payment Card Industry Digital Security Standards (PCI-DSS) Officer. He is a member of the Kansas Information Technology Executive Council (ITEC), serving as County representation for 105 Kansas counties. Greg is also a Kansas Notary Public.
In a previous life, Greg was a top-rated DJ on Wichita radio stations KLEO AM, KICT FM, & KXLK FM as well as KWXL FM Albuquerque and most recently mornings at KVWF FM. While working in radio he picked up the computer bug. Greg is active in the community with Wichita Habitat for Humanity and the Sedgwick County Zoo’s annual fundraising event, Zoobilee. He is married to Kathy (24 yrs.) and they share their home with Stella, an active 4-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever. Greg is a motorcycle enthusiast competing in & organizing Motorcycle Trials events with his home club, the Ark Valley Trials Association as well as long distance Dual Sport motorcycle events.

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.

Tawnya Lancaster has led cybersecurity research and thought leadership 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 security implications of 5G, edge computing and IoT; use of machine learning and analytics in threat intelligence; increasing importance of Zero Trust as a strategic approach for security; consolidation of security services in virtualized/cloud environments; and measurement of cybersecurity maturity across industries.

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.

Joseph Morris is the deputy chief innovation officer for the Center for Digital Government and a national keynote speaker on issues, trends and drivers impacting state and local government and education. He has authored publications and reports on funding streams, technology investment areas and public-sector priorities, and has led roundtables, projects and initiatives focused on issues within the public sector. Joe has conducted state and local government research with e.Republic since 2007 and knows the ins and outs of government on all levels. He received his Bachelor of Arts in government and international relations from the California State University, Sacramento.

Marc is a lifelong Topekan. He has spent the past 21 years working at the Shawnee County Information Technology Department, for the past 7 years as Chief Network Engineer.
Marc is a third generation graduate of Topeka High School and went on to receive his Bachelor of Business Administration from Washburn University. Marc currently serves on the board of TopCity Marathon and has served on the boards of the Topeka Public Schools Foundation and Randolph PTO.
In his free time Marc enjoys boating and running, he has run multiple marathons and half marathons. Marc is married to Misty his wife of 21 years. Marc has volunteered with Topeka Swim Association in support of his two daughters Kathryn and Abigail.

Morgan Reed spent nearly four years as CIO 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 percent to the cloud. He joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) as an executive government advisor to coach State and Local Government (SLG) executives through strategy, policy and governance challenges to help them accelerate their journey to the cloud – and help governments innovate for their customers.

Teri Takai is Vice President 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.

Mary is the Chief Information Officer at The University of Kansas. Her responsibilities include strategic direction and leadership for the planning, budgeting, implementation and ongoing support for academic, research and administrative technology. Her focus is on building partnerships with campus customers and aligning technology resources to enhance world-class research, innovative pedagogy and student success.
Mary joined KU in July 2018 after serving in IT at Tulane University for the past 30 years—most recently as Assistant Vice President for Academic and Administrative Computing. Her experience there includes major improvements in technology to support Tulane’s academic and research missions, along with unexpected experiences such as Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent recovery effort. She now includes disaster recovery and business continuity as part of her portfolio.
Mary is committed to providing support and encouragement to all who are exploring the STEM fields. Her work in that area includes efforts at both the local and national levels. Mary has been a mentor and coach for the Posse Foundation, a college access and youth leadership development program. She is an active member of EDUCAUSE, and was the 2018 Chair of the Recognition Committee.

Dr. Melissa Winesburg, Ph.D., holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Wheeling Jesuit University and possesses both a Master’s of Science and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Winesburg serves as the Director of Programs for the IJIS Institute. In this role she provides leadership on efforts to implement the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) nationally, including the California Rapid Deployment Project. Ms. Winesburg is instrumental in the development of RMS and the usage and the promulgation of supporting initiatives related to justice reform nationally. She participates in business development and membership strategy along with supporting multiple initiatives to include the CJIS Committee, Person Centric Data Model, and Crime Modernization Efforts to simplify the reporting of crime statistics. Prior to this Dr. Winesburg was the Law Enforcement Practice Director at Optimum Technology leading company strategy and vision for new technologies. Her leadership and expertise expanded law enforcement business operations from one to fourteen states in the span of three years and resulted in the expansion and development of Optimum’s three signature products: SWIFTPROTECT (Records Management System), SWIFTREPOSITORY (NIBRS Repository), and SWIFTCONNECT (Law Enforcement Search Engine).
Dr. Winesburg has more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement and criminal justice information systems. She began her career by developing the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Program and leading the implementation of a standardized records management system for local law enforcement for the State of Ohio. Prior to joining Optimum Technology in 2014, Dr. Winesburg was the founder and sole owner of MWA Enterprises. Working as a consultant throughout Ohio, she delivered subject matter expertise to criminal justice agencies for over 20 years. She also counseled six Ohio Attorney General administrations and impacted subject matter areas such as AFIS, CCH, RISC, Court disposition deficiencies, statewide information sharing, and grants administration. Working with the state government impacted Dr. Winesburg profoundly, providing unprecedented insights and access to state government operations.
Dr. Winesburg served on the IJIS Board and was a Search Board Member during her state government tenure. She also served as President of the Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs.
Dr. Winesburg resides in Worthington, Ohio, with her daughters, Olivia and Danica, and her husband, Keith, who recently retired from Columbus Division of Police after 33 years of service. Dr. Winesburg also has four adult children and seven grandchildren. In her spare time, she spends time with her family, supporting their extracurricular activities such as football, track, softball, soccer, music, and the theatre.

Glen has worked in State Government information technology since 1987. During his career he has worked to re-engineer legacy systems for state taxes with the Kansas Department of Revenue and was the Project Director for the Kansas Medicaid and Human Services eligibility system implementation. He has been the Chief Information Officer for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment since 2011.
Glen is a graduate of the University of Kansas and resides in Topeka with his wife Julie.