Stephanie Dedmon was named CIO for the State of Tennessee in October 2018. In this role she is responsible for all operational areas of the state’s central IT organization, Strategic Technology Solutions. This includes managing the team’s IT service delivery, technical infrastructure development and support and customer service management and a workforce of over 1300 IT professionals.
As Deputy CIO, Dedmon was previously responsible for the Enterprise IT Transformation (EIT) initiative that furthered the State’s enterprise IT organization by transitioning over 800 Executive Branch Department IT employees to STS. Prior to being named Deputy CIO in November of 2015, Dedmon served as the Director of Business Solutions Delivery (BSD), also within the Department of Finance & Administration. BSD was created in late 2011 to build a team of experienced senior project directors, project managers and business analysts to help lead the state’s most complex IT/business solution implementations and improve project delivery success rates.
Prior to joining the State in 2005, Dedmon was an Associate Partner with Accenture in Nashville and served as project director on many public sector software implementations. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University (TTU) in Cookeville, Tennessee and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, also from TTU. She also received her Project Management Professional certification in August of 2012.
Dedmon is a member of the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) where she serves as a Director on the Executive Board and as Co-Chair of the Innovation Committee. She is also a board member of the Nashville Technology Council, Women in IT Tennessee and the Nashville Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter. In March 2018, she was named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for her work on the State’s IT transformation. Stephanie Dedmon was also the recipient of the George H. Bass award for Leadership in State Government in October of 2019.

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.

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.

Greer Allison currently serves as Director of TR3/TNTAP, the Department of Revenue’s tax system. She has been with the Department of Revenue for six years and was responsible for the research and procurement of a new tax system. She led the team in its four-year conversion and implementation, with the final rollout going live remotely. Every tax administered by the Department of Revenue is now accessible electronically. Greer has spent 30 plus years bridging her performance side with her business side, working in a variety of roles and industries – tax, biotechnology, manufacturing, hospitality, as well as the performing arts. She received a BFA in Musical Theatre from Stephens College, an Executive MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP®).

Bob serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Tennessee’s Strategic Technology Solutions Department. Bob joined the State of Tennessee in 2018. He has held a variety of leadership roles in information Technology including the Associate CIO for the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), Deputy CIO for the University of Tennessee System, and Associate CIO for the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is currently responsible for enterprise architecture, technology standards as well as the Cloud migration team for the state of Tennessee.
Bob brings over 30 years of experience in information technology in the public and private sectors and in higher education. Bob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the State University of New York at Brockport, an MBA and Master of Science in Information Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

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.

Jeremy has been with CDW for 10 years. During this time, he has served in many different roles spanning across technical sales, managed services, and cloud. Jeremy got his start in the Healthcare industry before joining the CDW team. Throughout Jeremy’s IT career he has accomplished many certifications including VMware VSP, AWS SA Associate, and ITIL Foundations.
For the last 5 years, Jeremy has exclusively focused on CDW’s cloud business by helping customers on their cloud journeys and digital transformations. Over the last 2.5 years, Jeremy’s primary focus has been AWS. Not only was he CDW’s first Field Solutions Architect for AWS, he helped create the CDW AWS practice that he sits on today.

Ned is a Pure Storage Systems Engineer focused on the state and local government and education markets in Tennessee. With an expertise is data management and resilience with an emphasis on ransomware prevention, he brings over 16 years of storage industry experience. These include positions at Cohesity, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Dell. Ned is from the Nashville area and currently lives in Mount Juliet, TN with his wife and two daughters.

Hugh Hale currently serves as Chief Information Officer for the State of Tennessee, Division of TennCare. He has been in this position for the past four years. Prior to joining TennCare, he was with Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), the largest not-for-profit home and community-based health care organization in the country, where he served as Chief Information Officer. Hugh has over 37 years of Healthcare Information Systems leadership experience. Hugh’s prior work also includes Executive roles with the IBM Corporation and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, including its subsidiary, Shared Health.

Kenny Holmes became the leader of go-to-market strategy for Public Sector at Fortinet in March 2019. He was selected due to extensive industry experience, expertise in a wide range of technologies, and his proven sales execution and analytics background. He is the first person to hold this role at Fortinet.
An advocate and speaker for the Public Sector, he has been in Information Technology for more than twenty years and held more than ten technology certifications and positions spanning from Engineering to Sales Executive. He is an expert in cybersecurity with a background in cryptography. He has worked in the Federal Government, State Governments, Research Institutions, and Universities on some of the largest security projects in the world. Kenny currently resides in the Chicagoland area with his amazing wife and ten-year old daughter. He spends as much time as possible with them including taking them along whenever possible on his business travels. In his spare time, he enjoys public speaking and training on religion, is a pilot, and an influencer for the rights of girls and women with Autism.

Daniele Loffreda is senior advisor, Healthcare State/Local Government and Education (SLED) in Ciena’s Market Development organization. In this role he leads Ciena’s initiatives to apply next generation hardware, software and services networking technologies to help these sectors deliver better services to their constituents through digital transformation, optimized cloud strategies, virtualized infrastructure and improved data security.
Daniele has more than 20 years of experience helping customers leverage information, communications and technology solutions provide greater value, improve their operations and generate higher returns on network investments. He has been involved in smart city projects since 2014, he has been a speaker at smart city events and has published a number of articles and blog posts on network connectivity as a critical foundation of smart cities.

Don May is a member of the National Principle Architect team for AT&T. He is responsible for the business development, innovation, and strategy for the State Local and Education (SLED) customers in TN, KY, GA, NC and SC. The Principal Architect seeks immersion into the client’s ecosystem, develops an expertise of the client business issues and assists the customer in building their complex technology roadmaps.
Don has over 25 years of IT Management and Security experience in the SLED and Enterprise Sectors. He is currently an advisor to AT&T’s National Cares Act Team where he solutions and tests remote workers/students, contact tracing, IOT, Video Analytics, and Security solutions.
Don is a Liberal Arts Graduate from Louisiana Tech University where he majored in Computer Science and Accounting. He has completed Professional Education courses in Digital Transformation: Security, AI, IOT, Cloud and Blockchain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Katy recently joined the Division of TennCare as a member of the executive leadership team providing oversight of Talent Management, Human Resources, Facilities and Contractor and Asset Management. Her strategic initiatives include helping TennCare become a greater place to work by implementing a growth and development strategy to assist employees achieve their fullest potential and ensuring the agency remains compliant with legislation and best practices for workplace safety, health and security. Prior to joining TennCare, Katy worked with a Manhattan based consulting start up to develop and implement people and performance management strategies across their global offices, including opening a new office in Romania for the enhanced due diligence managed services functions. Katy is a Liberal Arts graduate from Long Island University C.W. Post, where she majored in Political Science. She currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wilson Raj is the Global Director of Customer Intelligence at SAS. Raj is responsible for global marketing to establish, evolve and evangelize SAS’ analytics-powered marketing solutions.
Data-inspired and creatively-driven, Raj has built brand value, engagement, and loyalty through expertise in strategy and analytical marketing. With over twenty years of experience in multiple industries, he has engineered strategic programs that fuse advertising, branding, digital marketing, social media, relationship marketing and public relations for connected brand experiences. He has held global leadership positions in marketing at Fortune Global 500® companies such as Microsoft, Novell. Medtronic, and Philips. He also advised C-level executives on digital strategy while at award-winning agencies that include Publicis Groupe and WPP-owned agencies—such as VML/Young & Rubicam and Wunderman.
Raj holds a B.A. in English and an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University, and a Certificate-in-Education from the Institute of Education in Singapore.

Eric Skomra leads State and Local Government customers in IT and business transformations by applying Dell Technologies solutions, 25+ years of public and private-sector IT experience, and a passion for excellent customer service. Eric served in the public sector as the CIO for the State of Ohio Medicaid Agency, CIO and CTO for two Ohio counties, and the CIO of an Ohio city. Eric built and ran three IT departments, two data centers, one disaster recovery center, and was recognized nationally as a "Broadband Hero" for his regional and statewide broadband expansion leadership. Eric has also led in Healthcare IT, supporting a physician's corporation, two hospitals and multiple clinics.

Andrew Spragg is the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the state of Tennessee. Andrew utilizes his technical knowledge and leadership skills to enhance the collaboration and foster cultural enhancements of the state’s security posture. Andrew spent 8.5 years in the United States Marine Corps ensuring the security of all communications and information systems in both garrison and deployed environments. During his service he completed his Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences and Technology through the Pennsylvania State University. After leaving the service, Andrew worked as a Department of Defense contractor facilitating the implementation of security in enterprise application development. Andrew moved into the role of CISO at the Applied Research Laboratory where he developed a robust Cyber and Information Security Program supporting the University Affiliated Research Center. Andrew completed his Master of Information Sciences, Cybersecurity and Information Assurance degree while supporting the Pennsylvania State University.

Felix Verdigets is a Managing Director in KPMG’s Transformation Delivery practice, assisting state and local governments with major workforce transformation and change management projects. In this role, he leads Transformation Delivery services for the State of Tennessee and KPMG’s Southeast practice. In addition, Felix helps lead KPMG’s work nationally to help state and local governments address the workforce impact of COVID-19 and navigate the new way of work.
Felix’s over 15 years of experience also includes extensive talent management, communications, culture, and employee engagement experience. Felix has a Ph.D. in Management with concentrations in Human Resources and Organizational Analysis & Change from Auburn University. He is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Association for Talent Development, and Human Capital Institute. Felix lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife and two daughters.

Tom Yeatts is an experienced IT executive with a proven track record of delivering results. Before joining ServiceNow as SLED CTO, Tom served as deputy CIO for Howard County, MD. His responsibilities included designing the architecture and delivering IT projects in support of the county’s vision to connect its citizens and workforce on a secure and stable environment. Tom graduated from Virginia Tech and resides in Maryland.