Matt began with the City of Erlanger in 2003 as a 911 Call / Taker Dispatcher and was promoted to dispatch center Technology Operations Manager in 2007. From July of 2014 to March of 2015 he was the acting Technology and Innovation Director and was appointed to the directors' position in April of 2015. Matt is a knowledgeable technology professional with senior level supervisory and leadership experience. Projects he has managed include: Computer Aided Dispatch System, Access Control Software, Mobile Data Computers, Facilities Security Software, Police Body Camera System. Matt also has a background as a Firefighter/EMT for the city. He attended Gateway Community and Technical College and is currently working on his project management professional certification. He holds a Google Apps Administrator certification and has a working knowledge with Microsoft VM Studio, Microsoft SQL Management Studio as well as various other software and hardware platforms and products.
Honors and Awards:
2002 City Firefighter of the Year
2006 Life Saving Award
2008 Project Manager CMRS PSAP
2009 Awarded Homeland Security Grant Mobile Data Computers
2010 Gateway Community and Technical College Dean’s List
2012 Meritorious Service Award
2013 ISO Fire Service Emergency Communications Project Manager

Dr. Blankenship has published over 50 journal and proceedings articles with topics ranging from artificial neural networks to nursing attitudes. His research has appeared in such journals as the European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, and The Journal of Marketing and Management. He has consulted for numerous organizations including the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Y.M.C.A., and the West Virginia Economic Development Office. Dr. Blankenship has attended numerous professional development activities, including the Management Development program at Harvard University, IBM Watson Analytics Workshop, Visual Analytics Workshop Using SAS®, Applied Analytics Using SAS® Enterprise Miner, Data Manipulation and Analytics Using SAS® Enterprise Guide, and a Hierarchical Linear Models Workshop.

Karen is the Chief Compliance Officer, Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT). In this role Karen has responsibility for privacy compliance and for directing the COT privacy program. Additionally, this role provides resources and leadership to assist the privacy programs of the Commonwealth’s executive cabinets. Prior to assuming this role, Karen was Executive Advisor and Privacy Officer for the Kentucky Health Information Exchange (KHIE). In this role Karen was responsible for KHIE operations, management, and privacy compliance. Previously, Karen was Senior Advisor and Privacy Officer for the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services, and Staff Attorney and Privacy Officer for KHIE. Before beginning her public service at the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Karen practiced law in various locations in Kentucky.

Dr. Cunningham began working as a research analyst with KYStats in 2015. Dr. Cunningham holds her bachelor of science degree from Georgetown College and master’s degree in mathematics followed by her doctorate in educational policy studies and evaluation from the University of Kentucky with an emphasis in educational measurement and statistics. Prior to joining KYStats, Dr. Cunningham served as a faculty member teaching graduate education courses in research methods, statistics, program evaluation, and classroom assessment. Dr. Cunningham also served as an evaluator over the past eight years on numerous state and federal grants across multiple disciplines in North Carolina and Kentucky. Being a Kentucky native, Dr. Cunningham brings her passion for education in Kentucky and experience in developing and disseminating research to a variety of audiences.

David is a leader the digital transformation and human centered design practice in Deloitte Digital. He is currently leading all Human Centered Design efforts for Deloitte’s work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky. His focus in on bringing the craftsmanship of human centered design and merging it with innovation and digital transformation within commercial and public sector clients. David has 20 years’ experience in human centered design, product management, and innovation strategy. David has led numerous client engagement focused on innovation, strategy, and human centered design in Fortune 500 clients and within digital government.

As CIO, Dr. Grindle heads up the Commonwealth Office of Technology and is a member of the Governor's executive cabinet.
Dr. Grindle served 29 years in the U.S. Army in various capacities. During his active military service, he was an Army Information Technology and Field Artillery officer. In addition to holding key military positions in Information Technology at the Installation, Agency and Theater level, Dr. Grindle has taught academic courses on Contemporary Security Issues, Cyber Operations, theory of war and strategy, strategy and policy, and United States National security policy.
Dr. Grindle graduated from Washington and Jefferson College and was commissioned into the Field Artillery. He completed his Masters in Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and served three assignments at the U.S. Army War College, including Deputy Chief Information Officer. He was deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait and served as the Lead Information Technology officer for the 3rd Army (FWD). Upon his return he served as the Chief Information Officer for the United States Military Academy.
Dr. Grindle earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Science and holds a second Masters Degree from the U.S. Army War College. Dr. Grindle's awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal; (4) Meritorious Service Medals; (2) Army Commendation Medals; (4) Army Achievement Medals, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; and Parachutist's Badge. He retired from the Army in 2017.

Ken Hillebrand has worked in local government since 1984. He worked at the Louisville Board of Aldermen from 1984 to 1993 and then began working with the City of Louisville Office of Information Services in 1993. Ken has worked various jobs in technology, all focusing on providing excellent customer service. Ken participated in initiatives in the early to mid-90’s to deploy computers to City employees as government began the migration from mainframe to server based computing and was a member of the team that worked on the initial fiber runs for City Government with the University of Louisville and Jefferson County Public Schools. In the late 90’s Ken helped establish a technology help desk for these new computer users and in the early 2000’s worked to establish contracts to get the best value for computer hardware and software purchases. Ken served as assistant director from 2000 to 2008 and 2018 to present. Ken continues to work on the customer service culture at DoIT as well as retention and recruitment, project management, and Smart Cities.
Ken studied political science at the University of Louisville, completing his undergraduate degree in 1986 and his graduate degree in 1999.

LaDonna Koebel is the Chief of Staff at the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet. In this capacity, she oversees the Cabinet's communications efforts, including employee outreach through social media, LinkedIn, MyPurpose, and speaking engagements on benefits available to state employees in addition to assisting the Secretary's office with various projects and constituent relations. Ms. Koebel has 25 years of legal experience in the area of employment law. LaDonna holds a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts from Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky, a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Kentucky.

James has served as the Chief Information Security Officer for Louisville Metro Government since 2015. During his tenure, he and his team have led the charge in reducing overall cyber risk to Louisville Metro by 78% through metrics-driven action. He has embraced an approach of progress through partnerships - both internal and external - and forged a strategy based on defense in depth that adapts to the disappearing network perimeter. He is also a Major in the Kentucky National Guard and has served in the military since 1990. He holds multiple industry certifications and is a member of the Kentucky Chapter of the Signal Corps Regimental Association, the Association of Old Crows, and the Kentucky Cyber Threat Working Group.

Tracy Meiners worked as the managing partner of an appraisal firm, as an IT Manager and then contractor in the private sector before bringing her passion for helping others to the Louisville Metro Department of Information Technology in 2016. She began her journey on the Executive Support team, a part of the service desk, which focused on bridging the business and technology gap for the executives within Metro government. After almost 2 ½ years in the role, including 2 awards for Customer Service Representative of the quarter and a promotion, Tracy’s skill at being able to work closely with customers to their desired outcome made her a great fit for a newly created role in her department: Recruitment and Development Specialist.

Robbie Perkins is the IT Director at the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet. In this capacity, he oversees the Cabinet’s HR technology that directly impacts more than 400,000 end users. Robbie brings more than 25 years of private and public experience in accounting, information technology, and human resources. The last 15 of those years in service at the Personnel Cabinet where he has led extensive HR technology transformation. Robbie was an accounting major at Eastern Kentucky University and is a Certified Public Manager (CPM). Robbie also serves on the Board of Directors as Immediate Past President of the KY Chapter of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR).

Lee Tompkins serves as the General Manager for Kentucky.gov and the President of Kentucky Interactive LLC, a subsidiary of NIC Inc., where he has been responsible for leading the successful implementation of Kentucky’s eGovernment strategy in a public-private partnership with the Commonwealth Office of Technology since 2003.
Mr. Tompkins has a wide array of experience in information technology, business development and leadership, alliance management, financial services and government affairs in both the United States and abroad. In a leadership role, he has served as the Director of Operations for Kentucky Interactive, Director of Strategic Alliances for NIC, the President of NIC Canada and as a Vice President of Portal Operations for NIC.
Prior to joining Kentucky Interactive / NIC Inc., he managed and developed web-based service delivery solutions and strategies for Alltel Information Services. He also worked for high-tech startup eCommlink as the Director of Strategic Alliances.

Bob Zapotocky is a Principal Architect with AT&T’s Global Public Sector- State and Local Government & Education Solutions organization. Bob owns the “art of what is possible” in supporting innovation and technology strategy for our State and Local Government & Education customers in states east of the Mississippi River. In his years supporting this market, Bob has shared industry trends, critical analysis and strategic insights in presentations for a number of organizations including the International Telecommunications Professional Exchange (IPTX), Tennessee Educational Technology Association (TETA), Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC) and The University System of Georgia Board of Regents, Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Delaware Association for Distance Learning (PADLA), and multiple State Digital Government Summit conferences. He has also participated in and provided content for podcasts, whitepapers and articles published by various industry trade and media outlets.
Bob has 20 years of experience with AT&T in a variety of positions supporting enterprise and public-sector clients in their efforts to innovate and deliver what is possible within their organizations. He holds an MBA from Suffolk University and is an Alumnus of The Emerging Leaders Program with the Center for Collaborative Leadership at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.