Mr. Appleby is an information technology executive focused on Cybersecurity with over 20 years of progressive experience in information security and large-scale project/program management. Mr. Appleby has worked for various commercial companies, US government agencies, law enforcement organizations and consultancies such as Citibank, Mandiant, FireEye, Iridium, USF&G Insurance, and Fujitsu. Tim also has extensive experience speaking at conferences and events, has published articles for numerous professional journals and magazines, and has participated in many industries round table events. 
Tim is currently accountable for the delivery of the Strategic Portfolio of Professional Services at Global Public Sector. As such, he is responsible for the management and oversight of more than 46 strategically aligned professional services. Further, Tim has led internal focus areas such as Supply Chain Risk Management, Election Support, Cloud Services, Zero Trust architecture and Framework development, Significant Event Coordination, Large scale National capacity and capability planning, and Long-Term Strategic and Operational Development.  
Tim has maintained thought leadership in all of these subject areas through various industry and global writings, presentations, and research projects. He also leads our participation in various government sanctioned efforts such as the Department of Homeland Security Joint Cyber Defense Collective, the Department of Homeland Security Continuous Diagnostics and Monitoring program. Tim is also serving as the President of the North Texas Members Alliance of the FBI Infragard Private Sector Outreach program. 

Phil Bertolini is a senior vice president for Government Technology, the premiere event and thought leadership content provider for state and local government technology professionals. 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.

I have over 20 years of experience in state government with the NJ Department of Labor primarily as a systems analyst.  After a break in state employment 18 years ago to be a full-time mom, I returned to the workforce as a data analyst in the healthcare field, using metrics to make data-driven changes to refine program protocols and improve patient outcomes. In 2015 I returned to NJDOL as a systems analyst before transitioning to my current role as Executive Assistant to the CIO. Since assuming the responsibilities of my current role, I have been focused on modernizing our approach to recruitment using technology to streamline the processes and engage potential recruits while working hard to build career paths focused on employee growth and retention, allowing our technology workforce to grow by 36% in the past five years with minimal turnover.

Donald Eckel, M.S.  began serving as our Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in April 2023. He has over twenty years of experience leveraging various information technologies in the field of Human Services. Prior to his appointment as CISO, Mr. Eckel served for five years as an Project Manager working with our Health Information Technology team throughout the Covid-19 pandemic coordinating telephony solutions for our emergency response, in contact tracing and vaccine scheduling.  Mr. Eckel’s experience spans a wide range of technology disciplines, ranging from networking, telephony, server administration, Virtual machine hosting, cloud technologies, security monitoring and incident response. In addition, Mr. Eckel has over ten years’ experience in software programming, development and implementation of various health care related applications related to medication ordering, treatment planning, and scheduling. During Mr. Eckel’s downtime he enjoys training for marathons, volunteering for his local town, and attending car shows with his families brass-era antique cars.

For the past 27 years, Lauren Farese has been a dedicated member of Oracle, focusing on bringing Oracle technology to various public sector customers. She currently holds a prominent position as Group Vice President of Cloud Engineering for the Public Sector – SLED Sales organization, where she provides support to all State and Local governments and Higher Education institutions. Previously, she led the US Federal government and Canada public sector engineering teams. Additionally, she plays a crucial role in supporting key Systems Integrators and partners who work with SLED Government customers. Throughout her impressive career spanning 35 years, Lauren has been actively involved in planning, developing, and implementing technology solutions for a wide range of organizations, including government, utilities, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and commercial sectors.
Before joining Oracle, Lauren's experience was diverse, having served as a developer, trainer, senior consultant, and solution architect at esteemed companies such as Advanced Data Management, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard.
Lauren's passion for technology extends beyond her work at Oracle. She is an active member of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture, AI/ML and Data Governance workgroups, contributing to the publication of several technology briefs on emerging technologies. Moreover, Lauren is a valued member of the Smart Cities Council, and she has presented and been a panelist on numerous Digital Government Technology Summits, Alliance and GovExec events on various topics, including Data Modernization, Cyber Security, SOA/Integration, Data Warehouse/Data Lakehouse, Data Management, Extending SaaS Applications, AI/ML for Government, Analytics for Education, Application and Data Center Modernization, and Cloud and Hybrid deployments.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Lauren resides in rural Hunterdon County, NJ, with her husband and rescued animals. She is deeply engaged in her church and community. Currently, Lauren volunteers at the local food bank/thrift shop and actively supports animal rescue and adoption initiatives in her region. Her dedication to both her professional and charitable endeavors reflects her commitment to making a positive impact on society.

Romelia is an IBM Distinguished Engineer working for IBM's Client Engineering team in the Dallas / Fort Worth area.  As a certified Senior IT Architect and Enterprise Design Thinking Leader she collaborates with leading Public Sector clients to design essential IBM solutions running on IBM’s watsonx AI platform.  Examples of key projects she has focused on include 2022 Helix County Water District Fleet Management, 2022 Space Force Space Surveillance, 2021 Harris County Connect 360, 2021 Tulare County Connect 360, 2021 DFW Airport of the Future, 2021 Office of Attorney General, 2020 Canadian Institute for Health Information, and 2019 City of Fort Worth Storm Water Management.  Romelia is also the Global IBM Distinguished Board Chair and leads Global Sales' Master Inventor program.  She has contributed significant intellectual capital including 84 U.S. Patents and over 10 Patents Pending.  She is also a member of the IBM Academy of Technology and the International Women's Forum.

Michael Geraghty is the State of New Jersey’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of the NJ Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC). In these roles Director Geraghty is responsible for the development and execution of the State’s cybersecurity strategy. He is responsible for leading and coordinating New Jersey’s cybersecurity efforts while building resiliency throughout the State and has direct responsibility for all aspects of statewide cybersecurity operations; governance, risk and compliance; and incident response.
Director Geraghty is an accomplished cybersecurity executive with a history of building innovative and model programs in private and public sector enterprises including roles as CISO of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Chief Information Officer of the National and International Centers for Missing and Exploited Children, Vice President of High Technology Investigations at Prudential Financial, and Network Intrusion Detection Manager, Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs. Geraghty began his career with the New Jersey State Police, where he served 12 years and led the formation and development of its High Technology Crimes Investigations Unit.
He has provided expert testimony before the United States Congress and in federal, state, and international courts on computer crime investigations and forensics. Geraghty is a past president of the Northeast Chapter of the High Technology Crimes Investigation Association and has held leadership roles in the National Strategic Policy Council on Cyber and Electronic Crime.

As Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Rowan University, Dr. Mira Lalovic-Hand provides strategic leadership for the planning, design, implementation, and use of information systems and technology that support the complex operations of an R2 Carnegie-classified national doctoral research institution.
Recently recognized as a 2023 PhillyCIO of the Year ORBIE Award Finalist, a technology influencer by ROI-NJ and as a "Fierce Technologist" by Fierce Education, Dr. Lalovic-Hand advocates for information technology that fosters collaboration, encourages innovation, supports patient care, and promotes data-based decision-making.
Under her leadership, the perception of information technology at Rowan University has been transformed from a back-end utility to a business partner, and her organization has been recognized through several awards for excellence and innovation. In 2020, Rowan University also received the FutureEdge 50 Award from IDG’s CIO, an accolade that recognizes Rowan’s embrace and use of new technologies.
Dr. Lalovic-Hand has held several senior level positions at Rowan University, including Director of the Graduate School and AVP for Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Planning. Prior to joining Rowan University, Dr. Lalovic-Hand held leadership roles at Post University and Drexel University.
Dr. Lalovic-Hand, a full professor in the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering, holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Michael joined SentinelOne in May 2021 as Chief Cybersecurity Evangelist bringing over 25 years of security domain expertise.  He is responsible for thought-leadership messaging and strategic development of the XDR and Identity product roadmap. Prior to SentinelOne he held the title of Chief Technical Strategist for McAfee. Michael served formerly as the co-founder and CTO at NitroSecurity – later acquired by McAfee - where he was responsible for developing and implementing NitroSecurity's overall SIEM technology vision and roadmap.
Michael has held senior technical management positions at Cabletron and Avaya. At Avaya, a global telecommunications equipment and services vendor, he served as CTO where he led the company in its strategic efforts for converged data/voice development initiatives. Michael studied Computer and Electrical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and received an honorary MBA from Bentley University where he helped create the Information Age MBA curriculum. He is also an adjunct professor teaching cybersecurity courses at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and Norwich University in Vermont.

Lee Micai is an energetic, and focused Information Technology (IT) professional and thought leader with over 25 years of professional experience in public sector IT. Lee is the Management Information Systems (MIS) Department Head for Mercer County Board of Social Services responsible for the implementation of goals, objectives, policies, procedures and work standards. Lee currently serves as NJ-GMIS Foundation President, a professional association of New Jersey government technology professionals and Conference Director for GMIS International.

Mihir founded and now leads McKinsey’s Crisis Response and Resilience service lines globally. As one of McKinsey’s foremost crisis practitioners, Mihir has served organizations through more than 60 major crises and disruptions in the public and private sectors.
Mihir has authored the primary frameworks, approaches and tools that McKinsey uses in its crisis response approaches. He also convenes McKinsey’s Crisis Advisory Board.
Mihir attended the Indian Institute of Technology, (B. Tech, M. Tech.) and Stanford University (M.S.)

Ruthie is a product manager on the Resident Experience initiative at the Office of Innovation. She is currently focused on supporting New Jersey residents who receive unemployment insurance.
Previously, Ruthie helped build and scale startups in complex regulatory industries. Some career highlights include: building products for COVID response and workplace health and safety that were recognized by Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas award; founding a company that expanded access to sleep care; launching an electronic health record system and migrating records from 100% paper to 100% digital; establishing a developer advocate program; and developing a common application for small business owners seeking financing.
In her personal life, Ruthie fosters opportunities for communities of practice to share work by organizing meetups and a speaker series that has incubated startups, nonprofits, and research collaborations, and as the producer of experiences that allow creators to bring new work to life. She enjoys speaking at conferences and mentoring others to share their work. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, where she studied anthropology, and is originally from New York City.

Mr. Charles (Charlie) O’Shea is the Eastern Regional Executive for State Government Strategy at T-Mobile. Before joining T-Mobile, Mr. O’Shea had a long and distinguished career in public service, beginning as a New York State Assemblyman. While in the Assembly, Mr. O’Shea served on several powerful committees, none more important than the Committee on Ways and Means, which gave him deep insight into the financial operations of all state departments. After twelve years in the Assembly, Mr. O’Shea ran for and was elected as the Chairman of the Nassau County Board of Assessors and Nassau County Real Property Tax Director. In this capacity, Mr. O’Shea pushed for and secured a hard-fought modernization of the county’s tax assessment and collection system. After leaving elected office, Mr. O’Shea continued his public service career as the Director of Government Affairs & External Relations for the New York State Department of Transportation. His long and dedicated career in public service has earned Mr. O’Shea respect and accolades across the political spectrum in New York City and State Government Circles. After leaving government service, Mr. O’Shea joined the highly respected law and policy firm of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein as a government relations attorney. Mr. O’Shea was motivated to join the T-Mobile brand because of his longstanding efforts to improve and modernize government.
Mr. O’Shea, a graduate of Duke University and the Fordham University School of Law, resides on Long Island, New York, with his wife, Carole.

Zach Patton is the chief editor of the Content Studio at e.Republic and Government Technology. He has been covering the public sector for nearly 20 years. Until 2019, he was the executive editor of Governing magazine, where he also had served as a staff writer for more than a decade.

Crystal Peñalosa (she/they) is an artist, civic technologist, and interdisciplinary designer. Within the Office of Innovation, Crystal serves as a digital product lead for the Resident Experience initiative, conducting work through human centered design, research, and product management in collaboration with State agencies including New Jersey Department of Labor, Office of the Secretary for Higher Education, and the New Jersey Department of Human Services.
Crystal is active with the civic hacking and LGBTQIA+ communities, designing workshops on urban accessibility, public art, civic technology, and self-compassion practices. She also brings experience from a civic tech start-up working with innovation and IT teams on solution engineering and human-centered research that make it easier for cities to rapidly prototype and iterate on digital services. Her work in the civic tech space impacted communities in Detroit, Jersey City, Guilford County, San Francisco, and New York.
Crystal received a Master in Urban Planning from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from San Francisco State University. Outside of work at the Office of Innovation, Crystal is a sound artist, performing collaboratively and commissioned work at venues such as The New School, MoMA PS1, and Roulette Intermedium.

Gretchen Peri serves as Slalom’s Managing Director for the Americas Public & Social Impact team, helping Slalom build better tomorrows for all with its government, education, and non-profit clients. During her time with Slalom, she has held several roles including leading the Seattle market’s Public Sector Practice, Innovation Program, and Women’s Leadership Network. Gretchen began her career with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and US Mission to the United Nations.  Her early experiences in government inspired in her a passion for helping agencies deliver the best public services to their communities. After completing her MPA, Gretchen spent several years consulting justice and public safety agencies on how to best leverage technology to improve operations and data sharing. She joined Slalom in 2011 where she started the firm’s inaugural Public Sector practice. Today, Slalom serves its 650+ government, education, and non-profit clients across the world through a network of 45+ local markets.

Marc H. Pfeiffer retired in 2012 from a 37-year career in New Jersey local government administration, having served as a municipal administrator in several municipalities, and 26 years of service in the State’s local government oversight agency, the Division of Local Government Services. At DLGS he served as Deputy Director for 14 years, and periodically as Acting Director.
Marc has broad experience in many areas of local government policy and administration, including specific expertise in areas such as finance and property taxation, public procurement, shared services and consolidation, technology, energy, labor relations, and general government administration. He also has deep experience in the legislative process and as a regulatory officer. He is currently engaged in research concerning the use of technology in local government.
In addition to participating in Bloustein Local, Marc makes his extensive government experience available as a guest lecturer and other collaborative efforts. He is also assisting the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration with the State’s Certified Public Manager Program in curriculum development and instruction.

Dr. Suzanne J. Piotrowski is a Professor of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark, Director of the Transparency and Governance Center (TGC), and Co-Director of SPAA’s MPA programs. Dr. Piotrowski researches freedom of information, transparency, and open government issues with a strong focus on connecting with communities of practice. Her 2022, her coauthored project The Power of Partnership in Open Government? Multistakeholder Governance Reform and the Open Government Partnership (MIT Press’ Information Policy Series), received the 2024 Best Book Award from ASPA’s Section of Public Administration Research.

Will Porter is the Director of the Sussex County Library System. With over 20 years of professional experience in NJ public libraries, he has a first-hand understanding of the vital role libraries in facilitating public access to broadband and myriad other technologies. He has served on the boards of the New Jersey Library Association, LibraryLinkNJ, Main Library Alliance, the NJ Broadband Access Study Commission, the Andover Regional Board of Education, and the Newton Board of Education.

is an accomplished and strategically focused sales executive with 4 decades of experience managing high performing sales teams.  Jon is currently Northeast Regional Sales Director for Cradlepoint, part of Ericsson.  He leads a team of Public Sector Regional Sales Managers focused on providing fixed wireless access, mobility, and IoT solutions to Governments entities.

Chris Rein is the chief technology officer for the State of New Jersey. In this position, he leads the state’s Office of Information Technology — a 700-person team charged with operating the technology infrastructure for more than 50 state departments, agencies and offices. Rein was the former deputy director of the state’s Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell. In this role, he also served as the deputy state chief information security officer. Rein’s background includes 37 years developing, integrating and managing software, as well as holding leadership roles with large and complex information technology projects. Prior to joining the NJ Office of Homeland Security, Rein was the vice president and chief information officer for CSI Technology, a New Jersey software development company serving law enforcement, regulatory and judiciary markets.

Joe Rivera is the Manager of Broadband Access for the State of New Jersey by way of the Office of Broadband Connectivity (OBC) located at the NJBPU. In this role the OBC will be leading efforts to ensure that the State of New Jersey achieves Digital Equity and connectivity across the state. His belief is that focusing on the connectivity needs of unserved, underserved, and community anchor institutions will pave the way for increased health initiatives, education, training, employment, and economic development. New Jersey is overdue for a renaissance and believes it can & will be digital.
Born, raised, and educated in the City of Trenton, he is formally the City of Trenton’s 1st Chief Technology Officer. Some accomplishments include, having made headlines for stopping two cyber threats during Covid-19, recovering over $1M. He also led efforts by creating portals for testing and vaccinations during the pandemic, leading to the City of Trenton to assist the state with the vaccination efforts.
Joe Rivera is a 6-year Digital Government Summit Advisory Board member. Joe has over 20 years of experience in IT, and is skilled in Blockchain, entrepreneurship, strategy, marketing, and content creation as well as community engagement. He has worked for the N.J. State Police, the N.J. Office of Information Technology, N.J. Office of Administrative Law, and the City of Trenton. He has volunteered and served on many community and charitable boards as well.
Some other accomplishments include assisting Trenton in being the second municipality in the state of NJ to have 5G approved with two major carriers. During the pandemic he also ensured the City of Trenton continued critical services remotely and has delivered increased results in communication & information being delivered to constituents.

Peter Steyaert is a leading cyber security and IT architect who directs all detailed and extensive ASOC product discussions for private and public sector customers. His background and knowledge spans the fields of cyber defense, SOC management, VoIP, and network architecture. Peter has worked on significantly large projects in both the federal government space and private sector. He received his Master of Science degree in Cyber and Information Security from Capitol Technology University, an accredited institution recognized by both NSA and DHS as an Academic Center of Excellence.
psteyaert@fortinet.com

Mary Strain leads strategy for artificial intelligence and machine learning for US public sector at AWS.  Mary began her career as a middle school teacher in the Bronx, NY. Since that time, she has held leadership roles in education and public sector technology organizations.  Mary has advised K12, higher education and state and local government on innovative policies and practices in business process automation, workforce development, digital credentials, licensing, regulations and AI strategy. As an advisor to The Education Design Studio at The University of Pennsylvania, The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color, and The State of NJ AI Workgroup, Mary has been on the leading edge of bringing innovative solutions to the public sector for two decades.