John Barrand, Division Director of the Utah Division of Human Resource Management (DHRM), was appointed by Governor Cox to lead DHRM effective February 9, 2021. John has served as the director of human resources for Backcounty.com based in Park City, UT, and both Enlivant and Rockit Ranch Productions in Chicago. He also has HR experience at Allstate Insurance and Procter and Gamble. He has a master's degree in human resource management from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University and a bachelor's degree in organizational communications from Brigham Young University - Idaho.

Hanna Bennett is the Deputy Director for the Utah Statewide Information & Analysis Center (SIAC) with the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS). Prior to her current role, she was a Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst and awarded Cyber Analyst of the Year from the National Fusion Center Association (NFCA) and the Public Safety Medal of Excellence from DPS for her work to establish the SIAC's cyber program sharing cyber threat intelligence and information with public and private sector partners. Hanna holds a B.S. in Information Technology, and is currently pursuing her Masters in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance from Southern Utah University.

Aaron Bentley has worked for Salt Lake City for over twenty years. While at the city he has held several roles in the Information Management Services department. He currently serves as the Chief Information Officer and a member of Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s cabinet.
Aaron and his team enjoy modernizing local government and transforming Salt Lake City into a more open and inclusive community. He is passionate about tackling the digital divide in the city and has worked with the mayor and city council to establish programs to help address these issues.
Aaron attended Brigham Young University and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He and his wife Amy enjoy serving the refugee community who call Utah home. They have 8 children, 4 of which are refugees from around the world.

Jon Bosche has over 15 years expertise in the cybersecurity space with a recent focus on SOC and SOC operations. He brings valuable vendor-centric insights to cybersecurity use cases in the wild. Having worked with acquired technologies for major cybersecurity vendors, Jon can offer insight into recent trends of new cybersecurity tools as well as some basics that can be applied to any organization. Jon resides in Chicago, Illinois with his wife and daughter. When he's not out securing the digital world, he can usually be found in a park, in the kitchen cooking, or enjoying city life.

Chris Bramwell was appointed by Governor Cox as Utah's inaugural Chief Privacy Officer, responsible for ensuring that individuals' privacy rights are protected by executive branch agencies. In this capacity, Chris is collaborating with executive branch agencies, the Personal Privacy Oversight Commission, and the legislature to identify privacy gaps and propose privacy practices and legislation. In 2023 Chris is executing Executive Order 2023-06, which requires him to create State of Utah strategic privacy plan outlining a privacy strategy for the executive branch over the next four years. Prior to his current role, Chris served as the Director of Information Privacy and Security at the Utah Department of Human Services for seven years. He completed his information privacy and security education at Idaho State’s National Information Assurance Training and Education Center as part of the National Science Foundation’s CyberCorps, and he also earned his MBA. Chris holds a BA in Political Science from BYU.

Justin is passionate about using technology to engage, assess and personalize student learning. He began his career as a network designer for Cisco Systems in 2000. Justin started working at the University of Utah in 2005 in Business and Auxiliary Services and in 2013 he joined the Utah Education Network. Justin has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Master of Education degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah.

Rachael Cassady serves as the IT Director for Edge (end user) services at the State of Utah Division of Technology Services (DTS). Additionally, she holds the role of Culture of Excellence Committee chairperson at DTS, where she fosters a culture of collaboration and unity. Rachael is deeply committed to building relationships, engaging with the public, and fostering a sense of teamwork within her organization. With a background as a trained scientist and as the parent of an autism spectrum son, Rachael brings a unique perspective to her work. She thrives on data-driven initiatives and values the importance of human communication and connection. Previously, Rachael served as an Environmental Program Manager with the Utah Division of Drinking Water, showcasing her expertise in environmental management and public engagements. She holds a master’s degree in Secondary Science from Western Governors University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Utah.

Stu is a nationally recognized IT leader who previously led the State of Ohio’s Information Technology community and functioned as State CIO. As CIO Stu led the conception and implementation of an IT consolidation and optimization effort that resulted in the realignment of unfocused and duplicative spending to being directed at making Ohio a better place for its citizens to live and businesses to be established and grow.
Stu led the State IT community via consensus driven approaches to technology adoption and the development of new IT services, and the delivery of these services.
Former State of Ohio CIO (~8 yrs) with 20+ years management of Information Technology and Geographic Information Systems in the private and public sector as well as international consulting experience. Past President of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), responsible for the coordination of State Geographic Offices and GIS Coordinators as well as a Past President of the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO), responsible for the coordination of the community of all State CIOs nationally.

"Marvin brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will allow him to hit the ground running in the Department of Government Operations,” Gov. Cox said. “I’m grateful for his willingness to rejoin Team Utah in this key position in our administration."
Dodge currently serves as chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration at Southern Utah University, a position he’s held since 2014. In this position, he has provided direct oversight of all administrative and operations functions for the university as well as the development of SUU’s annual budget. In addition, he was vice president for finance and administrative services at Snow College.
Prior to these roles, Dodge had a distinguished career with the state of Utah, including serving as deputy director of the Utah Department of Administrative Services, chief financial officer and director of the Administrative Support Division of the Department of Workforce Services, and deputy director and manager of budget and policy analysis for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
Dodge also currently serves as a board member of the Dixie & Anne Leavitt Family Foundation, Southern Utah University Foundation and Utah Shakespeare Festival Foundation, and he previously served on the board of Southern Utah Museum of Art, Snow College Foundation, Sanpete Valley Hospital and other community organizations. He’s also served on the Riverton City Planning Commission. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s of public administration with an emphasis in government management and finance, both from Brigham Young University.

Amelia Powers Gardner is a Utah County Commissioner. Amelia has over 15 years’ experience in the private sector working in engineering, manufacturing, and business development. She is a community leader, business consultant, disruptive technology advocate, government innovation leader, and mentor for career women. Amelia serves on the Utah Digital Innovation and Blockchain Taskforce, the State Growth Taskforce, and on the Boards of Directors for several companies and nonprofits. Prior to being elected as County Commissioner, Amelia served as the Utah County Clerk/Auditor, where she championed innovation and efficiency in government. Under Amelia’s leadership, Utah County launched the first ever completely online marriage license portal, became the first jurisdiction in the United States allowing people with disabilities to vote using blockchain technology, and implemented paperless finance processes earning her a GovTech top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers for 2020. Amelia grew up in Utah County, earned a BS from Weber State University, then she went to work for Caterpillar, spending time in the mid-west and southern US and Canada, before returning home to Utah County. Amelia and her Husband Tobin live in Pleasant Grove, Utah and have 6 children.

Tommy Gardner is HP’s Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, spanning the US Federal Agencies, Higher Education, K-12 Education, State and Local government customer segments, as well as Federal Systems Integrators. His current responsibilities include technology leadership, strategic technology plans, product and technology strategies, sales force technical support, and customer and partner relationships.
Previously, Tommy has served as the Chief Technology Officer for Jacobs Engineering, Scitor, and ManTech. Earlier in his career he was a senior technical executive at Raytheon. In the U.S. Navy he served as the Deputy for Science and Technology for the Chief of Naval Research. He oversaw the Navy’s Deep Submergence Program as well as its Advanced Technology Program. He also commanded the nuclear submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751).
Tommy’s educational background covers multiple disciplines and fields of interest including: cybersecurity, data science, blockchain, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, high performance computing and systems integration.
Tommy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, an M.S. in Management of Technology from MIT and a Ph. D. in Energy Economics from George Washington University. He is a Professional Engineer, an ASME Fellow, and serves on the ASME Board of Governors, the ANSI Board of Directors and the U. S. Council on Competitiveness as the Co-chair of the Advanced Computer Roundtable.

As the Western Regional Executive for State Government Strategy with T-Mobile, Gary works with elected officials and state agency and department executives to demonstrate T-Mobile’s commitment to serving the public sector. Gary engages with state government leaders to help them understand how T-Mobile’s 5G network – now the nation’s largest and fastest 5G network– can be leveraged for the benefit of their states and constituents.

Chris Hughes is currently a deputy director for the Department of Government Operations. Prior to being a deputy director, he was the Chief Procurement Officer for the State of Utah at the Division of Purchasing. In 2017, he was named to Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, & Drivers.

Mike Hussey is an industry executive director for state and local strategy for Oracle Government and Education. Mike has 25 years of senior leadership experience with the State of Utah where he most recently served as CIO for the State of Utah and the executive director for the Department of Technology Services. While serving in this cabinet-level position, Mike was known as a collaborative and transformative leader who enjoys applying technological advances available in the market. Among some of his accomplishments while the state CIO, Mike led the state’s cloud journey and digital transformation efforts, created the state’s first cyber center, and formed the state’s first innovation fund.
Mike has been recognized as a “Top 25 Doer, Dreamer and Driver” in the public sector.

Peter Jay is an Attorney with an MBA from the University of Alabama. He completed his BA at BYU. He is currently the Director of Economic Development at UVU. He also runs Utah Ignite, the local chapter of US Ignite, a national smart cities organization. He also runs the Utah IoT meetup group with a couple thousand followers. In his positions at Utah Ignite, USTAR, and UVU, he has judged and awarded several million dollars’ worth of federal and state grants to dozens of companies and university research for IoT and smart cities projects in Utah.

Javaid Lal is the Performance and Innovation Director for the Salt Lake County Office of Data & Innovation. With a strong focus on leveraging technology and data-driven solutions, Javaid drives performance and fosters innovation within the organization. His expertise in performance management strategies and data analytics enables him to implement transformative initiatives, improve operational efficiency, and enhance service delivery. Javaid has been with the County for more than 17 years in various roles and responsibilities.
Javaid has a Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Master of Public Administration with primary focus on local governments. Javaid loves Utah outdoors and enjoys running, biking, and hiking. He recently climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

George McEwan is a multi-disciplined technologist with 30 years of experience in engineering and management. He holds several patents in the field of high-speed satellite communications and has been a contributor to patent applications involving 3D visualization, encryption, and digital forensics. With demonstrated aptitude in electrical, mechanical, and software engineering, he has a significant portfolio of technology wins throughout his career. He recently served as the IT Director for the Utah Department of Health for the duration of the pandemic. George is currently fulfilling the role of Chief Strategy Officer for the Division of Technology Services at the State of Utah where he has responsibilities include the upcoming Citizen Portal. He is also an elected official in his second term as councilman for the city of Centerville, Utah.

Sean McSpaden is an executive level information technology professional with over 30 years of experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. His background includes the start-up and management of several small businesses and he has served on the Board of Directors or in Executive Director positions for several 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Sean’s public service experience includes progressively responsible positions as an IT analyst, and in statewide coordination, management and leadership positions within the Executive and Legislative branches of Oregon state government. From June 2008 to September 2013, served as the state of Oregon’s Deputy State Chief Information Officer.
Throughout his 25-year tenure in Oregon state government, Sean and the teams he has led have received several state, regional and national recognitions and awards. In addition, Sean has represented the state of Oregon on numerous state, regional and national project steering committees, task forces, governing boards, committees, commissions and associations, and has presented on various topics at local, state, regional, national, and international meetings and conferences.
Sean earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and Certificate of Public Management from the Willamette University, Atkinson Graduate School of Management. Sean is an ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and holds a PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Sean also holds a Secret level clearance granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Wes Miles has worked with the State of Utah for over ten years in many different capacities, beginning with the Department of Workforce Services. He managed software applications for the Unemployment Insurance and Workforce Development Divisions and oversaw IT support during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has been with the Governor's Office as IT Director for two years and helps support Governor Cox and his initiatives.

Coordinating Disability Law Center’s voting access program for 11 years and working as an advocate for over 30, Sheri Newton, knows the power technology has to fully and fairly integrate individuals with disabilities into community life. Collaborating with government leaders, she secured accessible ballot marking devices, then recently, electronic ballot delivery and return for voters with print disabilities. Focused on protecting a private and independent vote, she enjoys working with Utah election personnel to improve voting, inform voters of their options and ensure a statutory foundation that supports the needs of all voters. Raised as a farm kid and a current resident of rural Utah, she is sensitive to the challenges of Utahns living rurally and working remotely. Sheri says that traveling across stunning Utah to reach voters and government leaders everywhere is the chocolate drizzle atop the privilege of advocacy work.

Collin has worked for the State of Utah for over 15 years in a variety of leadership and technical positions including, IT Director, Director of Workforce Research and Analysis, Management Information Systems Manager, Program Systems Manager, and Senior Business Analyst...just to name a few.

Quinn Price has been an assistive technology instructor for nine years. His role is to teach adults to use screen-reading software on computers and smart phones. This includes learning how to surf the web, use professional suites like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, as well as other applications and tools that help his clients be more successful in their professional and personal lives.
Quinn has a Bachelor’s degree in History from Utah State University. As a blind person himself, he enjoys working with all kinds of people, as blindness can affect all walks of life. He works to help them feel as though they can be productive and fulfilled despite their disability. Quinn also loves learning new things, and the ever-changing world of technology means that there are always fresh platforms and applications to teach his clients.

I have been working in technology for over 25 five years, from the time a friend said, “we need a Systems Administrator and do not have money for someone who knows what they are doing”. Since then, I have learned a few things about tech, earned a Masters in IT Management, and had the opportunity to serve great organizations including NPR, Black Diamond Equipment, and for the past 6 years Salt Lake County as CIO. I have built a career on making customer service the first job of Information Technology and leveraging the trust gained there to take on the important work that drives organizations forward.

Natalie Pyne serves as the digital communications manager to Gov. Spencer Cox. Prior to this appointment, Natalie served as the director of correspondence to Gov. Cox and former Gov. Herbert. Born and raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Natalie moved to Salt Lake City in 2017 to pursue her education at the University of Utah. Natalie is a graduate of the U with a B.S. in political science and a B.S. in communications with an emphasis on strategic communications.
In her spare time, Natalie enjoys traveling, reading, singing, and spending time with friends and family.

Carlos Rivero is an Executive Government Advisor at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Previously, Rivero served as the Chief Data Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as Chief Data Officer and Chief Enterprise Architect for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration in Washington, D.C. Rivero has also worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami, Florida, as a physical scientist and as a Research Associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, where he developed a passion for geospatial information systems, ecological modeling, and data. Rivero earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies from Florida International University and a Master of Science in Business Intelligence and Analytics from Saint Joseph’s University, focusing on database design, data management, business intelligence, big data, and data analytics.

Chris Sprague serves as Principal Technologist at Pure Storage for SLED West covering the entire Pure portfolio, serving as an advisor and evangelist across OU’s and BU’s.
Chris has more than two decades of experience in technology, spanning both hardware and software, and private and public sectors. The first 17 years were spent in corporate IT, from Developer to Administrator & Engineer, culminating in enterprise architecture where he aided multiple State business units in their digital transformation.
The last 7 years have been in the Sales Engineering field, from VAR to vendor. Brought on in 2021 to support Pure’s rapidly growing data protection efforts, Chris helps customers realize the best solution for their preferred data and business outcomes.
Based in Boise, Idaho - when not geeking out on technology - Chris enjoys the outdoors with his family, including travel, camping, biking, skiing, golfing, and more.

Rachel Stone currently serves as product manager in the Governor's Office of Planning & Budget. In this role, she facilitates development of the office's internal digital tools. Rachel formerly served as Chief Data Officer and Performance Measures Manager, through which she supported interoperability and performance management across state agencies.
Rachel's background includes professional experience in local, state, and federal governments, as well as a Political Science degree from BYU. Her interests also include design and the applications of public interest technology.

Brett Stott is the general manager of Tyler Utah, the state’s partner for digital services. He leads Tyler Utah’s 30-person Salt Lake City office that manages Utah.gov and delivers digital services in partnership with the state. Brett joined the organization in 2000 and has served in several business development leadership roles.

Steve Troxel has over 25 years of progressive experience in information systems infrastructure, software, cybersecurity and management, and over 10 years of experience as a business owner in the Arizona community. He served as the interim CTO of the Arizona Department of Education, and has been serving public sector agencies for over 15 years. He continues this passion as a solutions engineer at SHI, working with agencies and municipalities in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Mark Weatherford is a globally recognized information security professional with experience at some of the world’s largest public- and private-sector organizations. He was appointed as the first deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity at DHS in the Obama administration and was chief information security officer for the state of Colorado and for the state of California under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the energy industry, he was VP and chief security officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, where he worked daily with Congress and electric utilities across North America on cybersecurity standards, regulations, and policy issues. He also served as a principal at The Chertoff Group and was VP and chief cybersecurity strategist at vArmour. Most recently, he was the VP and global information security strategist at Booking Holdings, the world’s largest online travel business with offices and employees in almost every country in the world and whose major companies include Booking, Priceline, Kayak, OpenTable and Agoda.

Jonathan is the director of training at WebAIM. His main passion is helping others learn to make the web more accessible to people with disabilities. With a master's degree in Instructional Technology and 20 years of experience in the field of web accessibility, Jonathan has published dozens of articles, tutorials, and other instructional resources. He has traveled extensively to train thousands of web developers and other professionals who develop or maintain web content."

Don J. Wood is a genuine Geography, Bing Crosby, and Winter fan and is the Information Technologies Executive for Wasatch County Government. He is a whole-hearted enthusiast of powerful technology platforms that allow IT and public administrators to drive effective and efficient modern business processes. He empowers people by building teams, sharing knowledge and insight in an enjoyable, comfortable manner, and expecting results. Don has been the IT Executive and Director for Wasatch County for the past 30 years and set up Wasatch County’s Mapping (GIS) Department in 1993. He has served on many professional boards and organizations. He loves his wife, children, church, and community and can be found serving them in his off time.