As an Evangelist for Applied Design Thinking, Jody Bird specializes in guiding business and technology teams in design, development, and adoption of digital innovation. Ms. Bird is part of the Deloitte Digital Consulting practice. She helps our public sector clients stay close to human and market insights throughout the entire technology development cycle – from strategy development, to early prototypes, right through to the end-product in market, as well.
There are many public sector and K12 education clients trying to figure out how emerging technologies are going to shape or disrupt their business. Ms. Bird’s shares her point of view regarding companies that prioritize understanding how to harness those technologies to meet customer needs, shift consumer behavior and provide delightful and engaging experiences are the ones who will create meaningful and lucrative disruptions in this market.

Geoffrey Brown was appointed Chief Information Security Officer for the City of New York in 2016, a position focused on cybersecurity and aggregate information risk across all 100+ NYC departments and agencies. In July 2017, Mayor de Blasio established New York City Cyber Command, led by Geoffrey and charged with setting Citywide cybersecurity policies; directing response to cyber incidents; and advising City Hall, agencies and departments on the City's overall cyber defense.
Prior to joining City government, Geoffrey worked in financial services, developing and operating threat management disciplines including threat intelligence, detection, response and countermeasures.
Geoffrey also served in the federal government, including work with the National Commission for Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission), supporting the investigation’s work with the first responder community in NYC. Geoffrey is a graduate of Middlebury College.

Mary Ellen is an industry strategist and advisor within the State and Local Government sector at Dell EMC. She is responsible for engaging with government agencies and organizations at the state and city/county level, understanding major trends and challenges, and advising Dell EMC on technology needs and solutions for public sector customers. Prior to joining Dell EMC, Mary Ellen was vice president for Client Services at Mission Critical Partners, Inc., a public safety communications consulting firm. Before MCP, she spent 18 years with Siemens Enterprise Communications (now Atos), a world leader in integrated communication solutions. As the director of government and education markets, she managed the strategy and tactical direction of the public sector market, including advising on industry solutions, strategic alliances, and relationship building with key influencers and decision makers at the state and local government level. Additional roles during her years with the company included sales management, business development, and market management. She has also served as an appointed official in a large urban county and has been an elected school board member.

Richard Calentine is a Sr. Business Value Manager at Adobe Systems Federal team, supporting Federal, Civilian, State & Local, and Canada customers by helping answer the “value” question. He works with customer to understand the current state metrics to calculate the potential future state incremental financial benefit by identifying areas for improvement and performing a functional analysis. Richard has been at Adobe for four years, supporting Public Sector for the last two years. Richard has spent the last 14 years in digital marketing, with 7 of those years as a customer of Adobe. Richard has supported Air Force, New York City, IRS, and Marine Corps.

Brandon is the Chief Technology Officer for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Contracts. His expertise are primarily around data analytics, economics, and statistics and he is interested advancing the City's ability to make decisions using predictive analytics backed by thoughtful data governance practices. In his current role, he leads the technical implementation of the PASSPort project -- a cloud-based, end-to-end procurement and purchasing system for the City. In previous roles, he has worked at NYC OMB, US EPA, has served as a consultant to the federal DHS, worked for a Congressional data start-up, and taught mathematics and statistics at the University level. He received an B.S. and and M.P.A. from Cornell University.

Todd Davis is the Vice President of Field Marketing at CenturyLink and has responsibility for the launch of all public sector marketing programs. During nearly two decades in the telecommunications and IT industries, Todd has held roles including leading an 8-state sales region, serving as a general manager of a $120M business line, and leading product development, product management and marketing at a business unit level. Among other community involvement, Todd serves on the executive board of the North Carolina Business Committee for Education and as the Chair of the Corporate Affiliate Committee for the National Association of State Technology Directors (NASTD). He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard and an MBA from Duke.

Nunzio Esposito is Vice President , Head of Experience at Infor Hook & Loop, where he leads a team of designers, information architects, developers, project managers, content creators, and more, who are reimagining the user experience for Infor software and the future of the Infor brand itself by working collaboratively with stakeholders across the company—product and development managers, business analysts and industry experts, service and support organizations, sales and marketing teams—and with Infor customers. Nunzio is also an entrepreneur and a professor, having taught undergraduates at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and graduate students at NYU.

Erica Fensom is Director of Marketing at Adobe and is responsible for Adobe’s brand in the public sector. She leads the marketing organization that drives global awareness, campaigns, demand generation and field marketing for Adobe solutions for Digital Government.
A corporate strategist and communicator, Erica has worked at the intersection of government, new technology and strategic communications for 20+ years. She is passionate about Digital Government and has worked with governments across North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. At Adobe, Erica works to build partnerships with government and leverages her public sector experience to enable digital transformation at government agencies.
Before her current role, Erica held several leadership positions in government affairs. At Adobe, she was the first Head of Government Affairs in Asia-Pacific and was responsible for creating a new technology policy and regulatory affairs program in the region, based out of Australia. Erica also worked at BlackBerry managing global public policy initiatives in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Latin America. She worked with governments to build new partnerships in South America and Asia, and was part of an industry coalition working with NGOs to create a socially responsible mineral sourcing framework for the electronics industry. Erica has worked extensively with international trade associations on behalf of the technology industry, including with the Information Technology Industry Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors at the United States Information Technology Office (USITO) advocating for the U.S.-China economic relationship, and as a member of the board at the Canadian American Business Council.
Erica began her career in government at the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. in media relations and advocacy. In that capacity, she co-created Connect2Canada.com, the first digital network of friends of Canada in the U.S., enabled by the Government of Canada. She also worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation leading marketing and community partnerships.
Erica holds an MBA from Georgetown University with an honors certificate in International Business Diplomacy from the School of Foreign Service in Washington D.C. and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University in Canada. Erica is based in the Washington DC region where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys skiing, travel and spending time outdoors with her family.

Bo Gorham started with SecureWorks in July of 2016 and has increased the visibility of public market pain points. Prior to coming to SecureWorks, Bo was the Security Operations Manager for the Commonwealth Office of Technology at the Commonwealth of Kentucky for ten years. In that role, Bo partnered with MS- ISAC to share threat intelligence about recent breaches with local governments. Learning from field experience as a network analyst and security analyst and as a manager he provides a deep insight into public operations and right sizing for the appropriate security posture.

As the Agency Chief Contracting Officer (“ACCO”) for the New York City Department of Design and Construction (“DDC”), Charlette oversees all procurement-related activities for the Agency including landscape architecture, architecture, engineering, and construction and construction related service contracts. In Fiscal Year 2017, DDC committed $2.2 billion in capital dollars, which includes the registration of over 150 new construction contracts and nearly 60 new contracts for various professional services disciplines.
Prior to joining DDC, Charlette served as the ACCO and Chief of Management Services at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation where she oversaw the procurement functions of the Agency’s Capital Division, as well as managed the Agency’s capital budget. Before Parks, Charlette was the Vice President of Contracts at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). In this role, she directed and managed the entire portfolio of NYCEDC procurements, as well as the contracting activities of all NYCEDC affiliated entities, including the New York City Industrial Development Agency.
Charlette is a graduate of New York University where she majored in Politics and Art History. Charlette earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and is admitted to practice law in New York and Connecticut.

Sandy is currently Group Vice President, North America Public Sector for Cloud Infrastructure at Oracle. In her current role, Sandy leads the engineered systems, server and storage teams to deliver innovative solutions for mission success and citizen value for the US Federal Government, State and Local, and Canadian Public Sector customers.
Sandy most recently served as IBM’s Vice President, U.S. Federal Systems and Technology Group. She held a variety of leadership positions while at IBM and has worked with major clients in the financial services, public sector, and distribution industries.
Sandy is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The University of Virginia where she holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics and a Masters degree with a concentration in Systems Engineering. Sandy is active in her local community serving on the Board of Directors of the YMCA. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband and their two chocolate Labrador Retrievers.

Rachel Laiserin is the Associate Commissioner for Procurement and Vendor Management at the NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT). In this role, she is responsible for purchases and contracts worth over $600 million annually, representing almost 50% of the City’s IT spend. The DoITT portfolio of contracts is approximately $4 billion and covers both agency specific and citywide agreements for software licensing, hardware purchases, IT services, cybersecurity, and telecommunications.
Rachel has over 20 years’ experience in local government and non-profit sectors including experience in budget, strategic planning, technology project management and procurement. Prior to her current position at DoITT, she served as the Budget Director, Assistant Commissioner for IT Project Management and Chief of Staff at the NYC Department of Design and Construction. At the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Rachel managed the capital and revenue budgets for the City’s housing programs. She also served as Executive Director of the White Roof Project, an environmental non-profit.
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Jason Lamar has been involved in IT security for more than 20 years. He leads the Network Security and Advanced Threat Defense portfolio at Cisco. With broad expertise in security technologies, he works with many organizations around the world to evolve their security controls and assure business operations as they make the transition to the digital economy.
Lamar is a veteran of startups and many acquisitions, both acquiring and being acquired, and has particular expertise at integrating product teams, technologies, and customers into new experiences and opportunities. His career spans the customer journey, including support, professional services, managed security, business development, and product line management. These experiences drive the customer-centric approach he and his team deliver to Cisco’s customers.
Lamar came to Cisco in 2013 through the acquisition of Sourcefire, where he led product management and played a key role in expanding Sourcefire into the multi-product company that Cisco acquired for $2.7B.
Prior to Cisco, Lamar led product management at Secure Computing Corporation for the highly profitable Sidewinder firewall for Government and critical infrastructure Enterprises, integrating several acquisitions and achieving industry first innovations. He led the team through the integration of McAfee’s acquisition of Secure Computing in 2008. He then made significant contributions to their Security business unit.
Prior to 2001, Lamar created one of the first major managed security organizations at startup company Digex, an early provider of Cisco Powered backbone and web hosting services. He also lead product management at Rivien Communications, a telecom startup focused on CLEC consolidation leveraging unified data and voice communications.
Well respected as a leader in the security industry, Jason Lamar is a frequent public speaker, a regular blog contributor, and has served as a source for Dark Reading, Gartner, IDC, and other organizations focused on cyber security trends and issues. He is excited to share his experience and insight with Cisco customers and partners worldwide.

Lois Last is the User Experience Director in the NYC Gov Lab & Studio at NYC’s Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications (DoITT), where her team delivers customer-centric, scalable and flexible UX and Human Centered Design services and training for Citywide programs and initiatives.
Lois' training in anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder has helped her observe clients and users at work over the course of a career that has included graphic designing, front-end coding, creative directing, consulting, bartending, hedge-funding, UXing, punk-rocking and selling time-share condominiums over the phone. Her favorite phrase is “Design that Delivers,” and she will tell you about it in detail if you ask.

Serge Leontiev has 20+ years of IT experience and has been with Oracle for 6 years. Prior to Oracle, Serge worked as an IT Consultant and Software Architect for various Government agencies. He is currently an Enterprise Cloud Architect at Oracle, and supports Public Sector customers across US and Canada. He helps customers develop strategy and solutions and strategies around Mobility and IoT.

Christian Marrone currently serves as CSRA's Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President of External Relations. He was a senior official in the Bush and Obama Administrations, serving as Chief of Staff for the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Jeh Johnson, as Special Assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and as (acting) Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, among other senior executive posts. He has earned several medals and awards for distinguished public service during this time. He has previously served as a senior executive in 3M's Defense Markets Division, and as Vice President for National Security and Acquisition Policy at the Aerospace Industries Association. He holds a JD from Temple University, a Master's in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University, where he played on the 1995 Big Ten Conference and Rose Bowl Champion Football Team.

Bruce is a visionary technology executive who brings over 20 years of marketing and products experience to Pivot3 as Chief Marketing Officer. Over the course of his career, he has helped innovative software companies establish their vision and execute their go-to-market strategy. Prior to joining Pivot3, Bruce played an instrumental role in the success of companies such as Socialware, Hyperformix, and OpenText (formerly Vignette). An avid outdoorsman, Bruce volunteers as a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, which provides him the opportunity to pursue his interests in boating, sailing and camping while giving something back to the community.

He is responsible for external affairs, the implementation success of new initiatives and aligning policy with the agency's long-term strategic objectives. Most recently, Ryan served as a deputy in the Long Beach, CA, Mayor's Office, managing budget operations and a policy portfolio focused on innovation, economic development, equity and sustainability.
Ryan has worked in a variety of positions in government and the nonprofit sector for nearly two decades, driving civic transformation and opportunity creation to benefit the most vulnerable stakeholders. He holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Hunter College, City University of New York.

Karen is the IBM Lead Global Services Partner for the State of New York integrated account appointed to this position in March, 2016. She and her team are responsible for driving innovative solutions to address the State of New York’s most critical needs.
Most recently, Karen was the IBM Vice President of Industry Solutions for Public Sector that includes: Healthcare, Life Sciences, Education, Government, Defense, and Smarter Cities. In the IBM Software Group role, she was responsible for the cross brand and cross-divisional strategy and execution for industry specific solutions across these industries world-wide. Karen accepted this position in January, 2011. Four years earlier, she accepted the position of Vice President of Industry Solutions & Frameworks in Software Group focused on incubating new industry offerings across 17 industries for IBMs Smarter Planet initiative.
Prior to this, Karen led the Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing business for seven years. During her tenure, she and her team delivered significant growth across the IBM portfolio of products and services in this space.
In June, 2000 Karen was appointed the Executive Assistant to the General Manager of Pervasive Computing. Karen played a key role managing the operational and customer relationship activities for IBM’s emerging business, Pervasive Computing.
In previous positions within IBM, Karen was the Manager of Solution Development in the Sales and Distribution division, responsible for the deployment of their Investment Business Management System; and the replication of Business to Business solutions across key industries such as Distribution, Finance, and Communications.
Karen joined IBM in 1987; and spent her first 10 years in IBM’s sales force as a Client Executive in the Distribution Sector servicing customers such as Kmart and Melville.
Karen attended Fordham University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and later obtained her Master of Business Administration from Pace University. She was married for 25 years and is the mother of two daughters. In her spare time, Karen serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, Board of Advisors and Executive in Residence for Fordham University and President of the Board of Directors for the Pleasantville Academy of Music Arts.

Rob Pickering joined ServiceNow in May 2016 and currently serves in the Chief Innovation Office.
Prior to joining ServiceNow, Pickering spent 10 years with AAA as CIO where he implemented ServiceNow in 2013, initially for Portfolio and Project Management, and rapidly modernized their IT operations. He then adopted the platform to transform AAA business practices through Enterprise Service Management by extending the ServiceNow platform outside of IT and into seven other business lines where ServiceNow streamlined their business operations and became a Single System of Action for the AAA enterprise. Finally, he was able to move the AAA organization to a greater focus on Innovation with a concentration in new Business Services delivered to members.
Prior to AAA Pickering served at Cincinnati Bell Telephone where he ran the Internet Operations team and designed both the business ISP service as well as the Broadband offerings for Cincinnati Bell.
He is a certified ServiceNow Administrator, Developer, and Implementation Specialist.

Doug is a storage and availability distinguished strategist at Veritas with responsibility for all U.S. Government, Department of Defense, State and Local Government as well as Healthcare providers and other select accounts. Doug is currently in his eleventh year at Veritas. Doug holds certifications for OpenStack (Certified Architect); CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and ITIL v3 (Information Technology Infrastructure Library).

Paul Tatum leads the Public Sector Solutions Engineering team with responsibility for overall technical direction, architecture and solutions based on around Salesforce cloud services. Paul brings over 30-years of experience working with Public Sector customers and provides technical and business executive insights in the areas of Cloud Computing, CRM, Case Management, Security, Integrated Platforms, Big Data, Databases, Analytics, and IT trends in government. Paul has held Solutions Engineering leadership roles since 2000, always focusing on technical excellence and customer success.
Prior to joining Salesforce, Paul spent 20 years at Oracle and Sun Microsystems, focused on the DoD, Civilian, State & Local, and Canadian Public Sector markets. During his tenure he helped customer’s successfully architect and deploy solutions for some of the most complex business and IT challenges faced by Public Sector customers today.
Previously, Paul worked with Fortune 500 companies across North America to scale out their architectures and data centers for initial Web 1.0/ 2.0 / Internet deployments. He also spent a number of years as a software developer focused on DoD C3I systems, flight simulators, and low-level Unix kernel enhancements.
He holds a BS and an MS in Computer Science from George Mason University. Paul and his wife live in Northern Virginia. 

Phil Yaccino is a Senior Strategist at Veritas, specializing in Information Governance. He has over 25 years of diverse experience in the information technology industry. He works primarily with State and local governments, helping them overcome their unique information challenges. Phil works with agencies to understand their unique retention strategies in order to determine how to best apply it to their data. He is an author of a popular blog for data professionals looking to enhance their knowledge. His responsibilities range from product strategy and direction, industry trends, best practices, and competitive landscape. Phil advocates Cloud adoption and promotes how it is vital in today's government strategy. His goal is to collaborate with your organization to help you conquer your data management issues your organization is facing.