Earned an MBA in finance and project management, with a capstone in change and conflict management.  Has owned and operated an IT Networking firm, worked corporately for a fortune 500 company, the federal government, as a private Business Analyst for small and medium businesses and as an Assistant Director in the university system.
Certified in IT Procurement from Arizona State University as well as from NIGP. 
In the role of an IT Management Analyst for DES, I work to develop new and innovative IT statewide contracts, and mentor across teams on IT specifications.   In my position, I also lead the ITPS program, which already has 218 contracts in an expanding portfolio. 

Harvey Arnone joined the Seattle Engineering Department in 1992 as a GIS Analyst after earning a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Washington. Over 32 years, he has worked across three City of Seattle departments, holding additional roles such as GIS Project Manager, Applications Development Supervisor, and City GIS Manager. Since 2022, Harvey has served as an Associate Director of Applications for Seattle IT, overseeing the GIS, CADD, and Data Engineering and Analytics teams. In addition to his career at the City of Seattle, Harvey is in his 19th and final year teaching in the University of Washington’s GIS Certificate program. 

Mark Buensalido is a public sector solution engineer at Wiz and has been working in technology for more than 25 years. He's a recovering software developer and before Wiz, he worked at HashiCorp and Red Hat. He has a degree in Biology from UC Berkeley and found technology very interesting from a young age when he wrote his first program to move that turtle around in Logo. He resides in Long Beach, CA with his wife Kristen and they are bracing for the teenage years.

Collin Bunker, as the Director of Cybersecurity Consulting at Presidio, leads a team of cybersecurity experts focused on assisting our clients in protecting their digital estate and empowering their organizational purpose. Presidio is a nationwide full stack integrator with deep cybersecurity expertise and broad consulting capabilities supporting local and federal government agencies as well as commercial clients. We bring our broad capabilities across all IT domains in building both resilient and secure solutions.
With over two decades of IT experience in higher education, Collin brings a depth of technical knowledge as well as extensive experience in governance and leadership. He has a bachelor’s degree in Information Resource Management and a Masters in Business Administration.

Jordan Burris is a trailblazer in government innovation and digital trust, leveraging over 15 years of experience to transform public sector technology and pioneer cutting-edge solutions. As Vice President & General Manager of Public Sector at Socure, Jordan is driven by a profound commitment to identity inclusion and fairness. In this role, he steers the operations and strategic direction of the business, while seamlessly integrating dynamic teams in strategy, customer success, sales, business development, legal, and compliance to redefine how identity verification technologies enable digital service delivery. 
Prior to Socure, Jordan was the Chief of Staff to the U.S. Chief Information Officer at the White House, where he led transformative technology and cybersecurity efforts across two Presidential administrations. He was a key architect of initiatives that modernized federal IT infrastructure, reimagined cybersecurity, and advanced digital identity solutions, all while overseeing the Federal Government’s multi-billion dollar technology budget. 
As a prominent voice in technology, Jordan serves on the boards of the Identity Theft Resource Center and the Kantara Initiative, actively advancing efforts in identity compromise mitigation and digital identity standards. A certified CISSP and CRISC practitioner, and a proud graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Jordan is on a mission to shape a safer, more inclusive digital future. 

Megan Clarke is a change maker. As a transformational CIO, consultant, and speaker she has an accomplished and versatile resume. She has made her mark innovatively transforming the technology footprint of organizations that include the GRAMMYs, The OSCARS, and Stanford University’s GSB. Fusing innovation, collaboration, and creative problem-solving, she aligns technology landscapes with business missions, generating successful outcomes for her partners. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Megan champions adolescent and teenage girls in STEM through her volunteer work and affiliations. She is also the visionary behind LOSERS FOR LIFE, a program she created with the goal to reduce the number of women diagnosed annually with heart disease by proactively addressing one of the primary risk-factors of weight.

David has 30+ years of information technology experience, mainly around voice communication solutions, contact center solutions, software development, and cloud solutions support. He has spent many of these years in design, requirements gathering, configuration, development, and implementation of the largest vendor solutions in the voice and contact center industry. He also has been the team lead that deployed tens of thousands of contact center agents, developed self-service applications, and provided peace of mind for many of the top organizations in the world. David continues to challenge himself currently pursuing his MBA.
David is a thought leader who provides content for industry blogs, vlogs, and oversees the development of cloud and contact center user groups throughout the United States (including the Washington state Contact Center User Group).

Aurilee Gamboa is the manager of the Architecture & Strategy team within Seattle IT's Security & Infrastructure Division at the City of Seattle. She is currently engaged in driving cross-functional efforts at the intersection of cybersecurity and infrastructure, including several Zero Trust Initiatives.
Prior to her work at the City of Seattle, she managed large-scale services and systems for major internet service providers. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego.

Kim Hort brings over 17 years of experience in public sector IT, including leadership as the IT Director for Cowlitz County, where she led a team of 15. With a strong background in IT Enterprise Resource Planning, she is now the Deputy CISO for Policy and Program Management at WaTech, where she plays a key role in shaping Washington State’s cybersecurity strategy. Known for her collaborative approach, Kim works with IT teams, contractors, and experts to strengthen data security and ensure stable operations for essential systems.
Driven by a clear mission, Kim aims to empower agency partners to navigate cybersecurity challenges confidently. She advocates for best practices, talent development, and continuous improvement to enhance the state’s cybersecurity resilience.
Outside of work, Kim is a creative and grounded individual. Living in Longview, Washington—also known as the “Squirrel Capital”—she enjoys building Legos, listening to vinyl records with her family, and tending to her houseplant collection. She values time at home, surrounded by close friends and loved ones.

Semona Houghlan is an Account Executive for the Center for Internet Security, Inc.®. She is a member of the CIS Services team, which works with our nation’s State, Local, Territorial, and Tribal (SLTT) governments and public education institutions to provide subsidized costs cybersecurity resources and services. Semona manages the CIS Services for MS-ISAC® members in the Western half of the US. Her presentation will highlight those no-cost services as well as some pertinent low-cost services and contact information for the people who can assist you.

Andrew Johnson is a Solutions Architect based in Olympia, WA. Andrew is responsible for the State's adoption of SD-WAN technology and interconnecting state government with cloud-based resources and external business partners. Andrew spearheaded the development of the state's SD-WAN strategy, oversaw proof of concept efforts, and designed solutions that have enabled the state government to leverage cutting-edge technology in serving the residents of Washington State. Andrew serves as the Principal Architect overseeing the state’s adoption of zero trust, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and Secure Service Edge (SSE). Additionally, Andrew modernized the state's DNS system, transitioning it to a hybrid DNS solution that handles both on-premise and cloud-based queries. Andrew is a retired U.S. Army Signal Warrant Officer.

Jennifer Kerber is Senior Director of Government Affairs at Socure. She has over 20 years of experience working with federal and state governments on technology issues, having served at both levels of government. She is widely recognized as an expert on identity management, cybersecurity and government modernization.
Before joining Socure, Jennifer served as Director of Marketing and Government Affairs for Grant Thornton Public Sector. She also served in the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, where she led improvement of an identity management and cybersecurity shared services, now called Login.gov.  Jennifer also served as Executive Director of the Government Transformation Initiative (GTI), a coalition of businesses, think tanks, academic institutions and nonprofits dedicated to transforming government to operate more economically, efficiently, and effectively.  
Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with a minor in Journalism from Texas A&M University in College Station and graduate work at the University of Texas-Arlington.
She volunteers as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused children and helps rescue dogs with Heart of Texas Lab Rescue. She serves as a Founder and Board Member of the JMKL Melanoma Foundation.

Rob Lloyd is the Chief Technology Officer for the City of Seattle, WA, overseeing a $290 million technology portfolio and leading a team of over 650 employees. Seattle, the 17th largest U.S. city, operates with a $7.4 billion budget, employing more than 13,000 staff across 84 square miles next to the Puget Sound.
Previously, Rob was the Deputy City Manager for Transportation, Aviation, and Technology in San Jose, CA, the 12th largest U.S. city, where he managed a $1.5 billion portfolio with over 1,000 employees, serving as Chief Information Officer for six years prior to the role.
With over 20 years of experience in technology, government, and utilities across California, Arizona, Oregon, and Colorado, Rob has led teams that have earned over 40 national honors for customer engagement, operational excellence, and innovation. He has been named along
nation’s GovTech 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers (twice), StateScoop City Executive of the Year (three times), ORBIEs Awards CIO of the Year for Silicon Valley, Phoenix Business Journal 40 Under 40, and is a Cybersecurity Genius Fellow grant recipient, among other honors.

Patrick Massey serves as the Regional Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Region 10 office in Seattle. CISA is committed to improving the security and resiliency of our nation’s infrastructure through collaboration with critical infrastructure owner/operators, governments, industry, and other stakeholders.

PJ has over 25 years of experience in the information technology arena. He joined the City of Bellevue as the Chief Operating Officer where he leads a team of professionals involved in citywide technology programs ranging from Data Analytics, AI, eGovernment, and Open Data in the City of Bellevue’s IT department.
He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, and a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems and proudly served in the United States Air Force.

Rob Sauerwalt is the Vice President of Customer Success for the Public and Federal Market at IBM. The mission of the Customer Success community is to help clients adopt and transition to the cloud, catalyze widespread adoption of IBM Cloud in the market, and elevate the cloud acumen of other IBMers, with client engagement roles. Customer Success Managers bridge the gap between traditional sales, technical sales, architects and evangelist, bringing clarity to clients about their optimal path forward in cloud.
He has an offering management background. Over his 21 year career with IBM, he has incubated emerging technologies to deliver cloud solutions, next generation platforms, compositional application architectures, and service oriented delivery models.
Rob has received the IBM Chairman’s Award for Excellence as a founding member of the IBM BladeCenter program and spent a year as the IBM Industry Fellow at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Prior to joining IBM, Rob spent 10 years in the information technology distribution industry.

Director of Technology Strategy, Lumen  

Kris is originally from Canada and has lived and worked across North America with global companies and their partners.  Most recently she worked in the gathering of data, engaging predictive and cognitive analytics, to improve and enhance business outcomes – which was foundational to creating complex and powerful solutions for her clients.   Kris is an accomplished IT & Business Professional, having worked for several years at IBM enabling clients to use technology to drive better outcomes and the enhancement of workforces and workplaces.  Kris has seen the power of Artificial Intelligence as the marketplace has advanced from the simplicity of chatbots to tools and models that have enabled governments to leverage their analytics more broadly across society.  Kris is an advocate for ‘we don’t know the outcome yet thinking’, and that only through courageous use of technology can we explore and advance to new possibilities.  

Sabra Schneider serves as the Chief Information Officer for the City of Bellevue. Bellevue is an award -winning digital city, placing in the top three of the Center for Digital Government’s annual digital cities survey for the past five years. Ms. Schneider has spent more than 20 years innovating in government roles at the intersections of technology, policy, data, communications, engagement, and transparency. Sabra was honored to win a 2023 Seattle CIO Orbie Award in the Large Corporate Category. Sabra holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an executive master’s in public administration from the University of Washington.

Chief of Staff, Information Technology, City of Seattle 

William started his Seattle IT journey in August 2018, initially taking on the roles of Senior HR Manager and Director of HR. Today, he is the Chief of Staff at Seattle IT, spearheading the Chief of Staff division. He optimizes the department's staffing budget while maintaining diligent oversight over its entire spectrum of work and services.
With over two decades in human resources, Will has played pivotal roles, including director of human resources at organizations such as Plymouth Housing Group and Lifelong AIDS Alliance and a leadership position at Microsoft. His diverse expertise encompasses organizational development, expertly managing employee and labor relations, risk management, strategic workforce planning, crafting employment strategies, adeptly handling union negotiations, and architecting comprehensive Human Resources strategies.
Will's academic accomplishments stand as tall as his professional achievements, with a bachelor's degree in information technology from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Jurisprudence in Labor and Employment Law from Tulane Law School. He is actively pursuing his doctorate at Grand Canyon University.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Will is the President of the Seattle Management Association board and of D.A.D.S (Divine Alternatives for Dads Services), an organization committed to empowering fathers to nurture healthy relationships with their children.

Nick Stowe joined WaTech as the state’s Chief Enterprise Architect on June 1, 2021, where he’s responsible for the enterprise architecture program, the open data program and several key state initiatives including the resident identity management initiative and the enterprise cloud computing program.
Nick has served in many IT roles during his career. Prior to joining WaTech, he was the Chief Information Officer for the Employment Security Department. Before ESD, he was the CIO at the Department of Commerce and also worked as a consultant with Booz Allen. Nick also served in the military providing architecture and technology management support to the Army and the National Guard.
Nick earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering Management from Lafayette College and has a graduate certificate in Chief Information Officer (CIO) competencies from Carnegie Mellon University.
Nick and his wife Trista – who met in an online video game and still play together – have a two-year-old daughter. He is passionate about environmental sustainability, gamification and augmented reality.
His personal motto: “Do the thing.”

Greg Tudor began state service as an intern with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1989. He interned while finishing a Master of Science in Engineering degree at the University of Washington. Greg now works as the chief information officer for two small-medium state agencies – the Recreation and Conservation Office and the Puget Sound Partnership. He has over 35 years of enterprise information technology and geographic information experience. He has developed applications and databases, and managed IT projects and programs. He completed the Information Professionals Management Association’s LeaderPath program in 2014 focused on IT workforce. Greg began using the WaTech IT Internship Program in 2015. When that program closed, he wrote RCO’s policy for paid and unpaid internships. RCO and PSP IT staff mentored 11 IT interns and hired 3. Most interns are students at the South Puget Sound Community College. Greg actively uses training plans to develop staff technical and professional skills and manage succession.

Scott West serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Washington State Department of Ecology, where his leadership has catalyzed significant advancements in digital transformation. Prior, Scott partnered with agencies and staff at WaTech to finalize the State of Washingtons Shared Microsoft 365 Tenant and pioneering the funding for the enterprise cloud highway with Mark Quimby. Scott has been instrumental in fostering a tech-forward, environmentally conscious operational framework.
His career is marked by a profound commitment to innovation, notably through his advocacy for Artificial Intelligence. His expertise has made him a prominent voice at conferences, shedding light on AI's transformative impact on IT and business landscapes alike.
Prior to his public service, Scott's tenure in the private sector was distinguished by his development of modern applications that revolutionized procurement processes and streamlined accounting operations, underscoring his capability to blend technology with functional efficiency seamlessly.
Scott's is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds a master’s degree in business which has assisted in enriching his technological and environmental endeavors.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Scott is a horror novelist, weaving tales that explore the depths of human emotion and the darker facets of nature. His literary work adds a creative dimension to his persona, revealing his ability to navigate complex narratives.
An avid enthusiast of home automation, Scott's personal life mirrors his professional passion for technology. His continuous experimentation with smart home technologies exemplifies his belief in technology's power to enhance and simplify everyday life.

Wendy Wickstrom is the Web and User Experience Manager for WaTech, managing a team of Drupal Web Developers who design, develop and support over 120 websites for Washington government agencies. Wendy also manages the WA.gov website and a Human-Centered Design service which helps agencies make their digital products accessible and user-focused. Wendy is also leading the Resident Portal roadmap project.  
Wendy has worked in technology in public service for her entire career. She has a strong passion for improving the lives of Washington residents by creating innovative, accessible and easy-to-use digital experiences. Wendy is very excited to be leading this ground-breaking project.