Ann Averill is the Applications Services Bureau Director at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, responsible for all application development and support of DOR systems.  Ann has over 30 years of Information Technology experience with project management, IT Leadership and application development always focusing on customer service.  Ann has worked at 2 other state agencies (DOC & DOT) and prior to that she was in healthcare IT working at UW Health, Meriter, and a medical start-up company.

Andy has been an IT Manager with DNR since 2013.  His current role is supervisor of the DNR IT Business Relationship Management Section, with a prior position as the IT Manager of the DNR’s Environmental Management Division.  Prior to that he was a hydrogeologist with the DNR’s Remediation Program for close to two decades, with additional assigned duties related to GIS and other technology issues.  He is a strong advocate for finding practical solutions that meet growing needs with the limited resources available, through automation, collaboration and process improvements.

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.

Has spent the past 15 years in the cybersecurity space with a recent focus on SOC and SOC operations, Jon Bosche 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.

James Christiansen is Netskope’s VP and CSO Cloud Strategy. He is focused on Netskope’s global strategy to drive thought leadership in cloud security transformation. James brings extensive expertise as a global leader in information security. Prior to joining Netskope, he was vice president CISO at Teradata where he led the global security, physical, and information security teams. Previously, James was vice president of information risk management at Optiv, chief information risk o!icer for Evantix, and CISO at Experian Americas, General Motors, and Visa International.
As a sought-after expert speaker on security, James has been featured at numerous prestigious events, including the Business Roundtable, Research Board, American Bar Association, American Banker, the RSA Conference, BankInfoSecurity, ISSA, ISACA, HIMSS, and MIS Training Institute. He has also been featured in The New York Times and quoted as an expert in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, United States Cybersecurity Magazine, Bloomberg, and Healthcare IT News.
James is a patent inventor and has received three innovation awards in cyber security, GRC, and cloud computing. He is the author of the Internet Survival Series and contributing author of CISO Essentials, as well as numerous industry papers. He earned his master’s degree in business administration with a focus on international management and his bachelor’s degree in business management from Westminster College.

Larry is currently the IT Supervisor for the Geographic Information System (GIS) Section in the DNR IT Executive Program. The DNR hosts over 200 publicly available datasets on an Open Data Portal and maintains over 100 enterprise datasets. Larry has over 20 years of experience in various GIS, business intelligence and analytics roles in state and federal government.

With 25 years of expertise in information technology, Jen serves as the Project Portfolio Manager at DNR. Her diverse background has included roles in databases, project management and geographic information systems (GIS) within the DNR Forestry, Lakes, Information Technology and Drinking Water and Groundwater programs. Jen holds a B.A. in Geography-Environmental Studies and certifications as a Scrum Master and Agile Leader. Outside work, she's passionate about gardening, nature, futurism and lifelong learning. At the conference, she will explore strategies for navigating career growth within the public sector, amidst the evolving landscape of technological roles and responsibilities.

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.

Dr. Eric Franco, the Cybersecurity Preparedness Coordinator for Wisconsin Emergency Management, serves as the emergency management subject-matter expert and program director for the Wisconsin Cyber Response Team (CRT). The Wisconsin CRT is an all-volunteer consortium of IT and Cybersecurity professionals supporting Wisconsin public-sector and critical infrastructure IT personnel during cyber incidents. Resting on a foundation of private-public partnerships, Dr. Franco’s work with the Wisconsin CRT is energized by his service in the United States Marine Corps and Wisconsin Army National Guard, public school educator, university professor, nuclear critical infrastructure planner with Wisconsin’s Radiological Emergency Preparedness program, Emergency Management Specialist with FEMA, and the Program Manager for Wisconsin’s Homeland Security Grant Program.

Jennifer Garrett is the assistant deputy secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. She oversees external relations for the state agency that regulates occupational licensing and the construction industry. Prior to joining state service, Jennifer worked in public affairs at the UW-Madison School of Nursing. She has a bachelor's degree in English and communication from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a law degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Marc Gabrysiak is currently the State Director of IT for the Wisconsin Department of Military affairs. He has previously worked as an IT leader in the non-profit behavioral healthcare sector and spent time prior to that as an IT Director in K-12 education.

Dan Hereth was appointed secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) in August 2022. Prior to that, Secretary Hereth served as the department’s assistant deputy secretary since 2019, and he served as the Deputy District Director for Congresswoman Gwen Moore since 2007.
The Council of State Governments honored Hereth with a 20 Under 40 Award this year, making him the Council’s first such honoree from Wisconsin.
At DSPS, Hereth has led technology upgrades, as well as innovative partnerships with professional associations, employers, and other stakeholders. His work has increased licensing efficiency and bolstered Wisconsin’s professional workforce, while staying focused on public safety.
Hereth is a Watertown, WI native and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a Minor in Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Chris Hein runs a team of 50+ customer engineers for Google Public Sector. His team is responsible for architecting technical solutions to solve Public Sector problems. He’s been with Google for 9 years as a Solution Architect, Technical Evangelist, and now Director of Customer Engineering. During that time Chris has helped Fortune 10 companies and state governments alike work more like Google. He is also a member of the Executive AI Principles Fellowship at Google focused on ensuring ethical use of AI both internally and externally. His goal is to help public sector and educational organizations become more efficient and effective in furthering their mission using best in breed technologies and methodologies.

Daniel Honore serves as the CyberSecurity Advisor (CSA) in Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin) at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Based in Milwaukee, WI Mr. Honore supports CISA’s mission of strengthening the security and resilience of the nation’s Critical Infrastructure.
Mr. Honore has been with CISA since July 2023. Prior to joining CISA, Mr. Honore served as the CyberSecurity Officer and Director of Information Technology for a local municipality. In this role, he led the implementation of an extensive defense-in-depth cybersecurity program, updated the network enterprise and developed a team of technology experts. In addition, Mr. Honore is a team leader on the Wisconsin Cyber Response Team, which provides cyber incident response to Wisconsin municipalities, K-12 and higher education.
In total, Mr. Honore has over 30 years of information technology experience in the areas of cybersecurity, infrastructure support, and application and database development.

Christine Hougaard is the Enterprise Architecture manager at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and interim chair of the agency’s Data Governance Council. She has worked for the Department of Corrections for over 15 years, serving in multiple roles that include data warehouse developer and technical lead, project manager, and Business Intelligence supervisor. Christine has helped teams leverage the power of data to deliver operational and strategic reporting, build interactive dashboards, prepare data for public consumption and deploy an internal data catalog. As someone with a keen eye for details and a passion for data, Christine thrives on helping her business partners in performing deep-dive analyses to identify trends and opportunity areas in the Department’s operations that influence decision making.

Alyssa Kenney is the State Broadband and Digital Equity Director for the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. At the Commission since 2019, Alyssa manages the talented team that coordinates the BEAD and Digital Equity program along with numerous state and federal broadband grant programs, the Wisconsin Broadband Map, the State Universal Service Fund and numerous projects and initiatives that support a more connected Wisconsin. Before coming to the Commission Alyssa served as the executive director of a digital equity and community technology focused non-profit. She serves as the Chair of the Madison Public Library Board, and vice-chair of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and as an Expert on Internet Affordability. Alyssa is a proud University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna and longtime Wisconsin resident. She was named a Top 25 Doer, Dreamer, and Drivers by Government Technology in 2023. She is passionate about solving wicked problems and connecting people to each other (mostly through great broadband).

Kevin Koenig is Waukesha County’s IT Solutions Manager. He has worked in government IT for over a decade with the last 6 years being in IT Management. Kevin prides himself on his track record of bringing a variety of solutions to the organizations that he has served to help streamline processes as well as improve customer experience and satisfaction. In his current role with Waukesha County, Kevin leads the team responsible for finding creative solutions to help Waukesha County “Lead the Way” by supporting their strategic pillars of Customer Service, Quality, Team, Health & Safety, and Finance.

IT executive with 20+ years’ technology leadership experience in cultural change initiatives, enhanced IT productivity, and multi-million-dollar cost savings across a variety of industries including energy, oil & gas, natural resources, e-gaming, pharma, and government. Trusted leadership adviser and partner, relationship bridger, fact finder, and options facilitator. Prioritization on uncovering and leveraging opportunities and breaking through siloed local and global organizations. Tactical strategist and continuous improver of IT services and solutions for the business. Strengths in building successes through embedded cybersecurity, lean process, transparency, and communications.

Gerard is Director of a unique entity – a shared service IT organization that supports city and county government as well as a multi county health care consortium. In addition to his current role he is also an elected village trustee. Prior to this role he spent 20 years in private sector IT leadership positions. Broadband, and especially rural broadband, is a key strategic goal for Marathon County and Gerard has been engaged in improving rural broadband in the county since 2009. We have made great strides and currently are working with 6 different ISPs on various broadband projects around the largest county in the state of Wisconsin.

Brian Kreklau is the Chief Technical Officer for the State of Wisconsin within the Department of Administration in the Division of Enterprise Technology (DET). He focuses on ensuring initiatives meet business requirements and align with enterprise strategy. Brian has over 20 years of public service experience serving multiple roles in both Wisconsin and Arizona and has started this role in July of 2023. He is well respected for his technical knowledge, his dedication to his work, and for his desire to make the organization successful. Brian has been involved in strategy and implementation of key initiatives like NG911, FirstNet, Enterprise Multi-Factor Authentication, and Application Modernization efforts.

Neeraj Kulkarni is the Chief Information Officer and IT Director for Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Neeraj has experience has over 25 years of experience leading IT teams in private and public sectors. Neeraj's focus areas include modernization, digital transformation of citizen services to increase efficiencies, access and availability, information security and reducing technical debt. Neeraj is passionate about using AI, data analytics and data-driven decision-making strategies and continuously strives to simplify, streamline IT operations.

Sarah Larson is an Attorney Supervisor in the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s (DOA) Division of Legal Services where she manages the public records process; advises DOA and other agencies about public records law, records retention law, and electronic records management; leads the statewide Public Records Attorneys Group (PRAG); and frequently presents on records-related topics. Sarah also serves as the primary legal counsel to DOA’s Division of Enterprise Technology (DET), advising the state CIO, deputy CIOs, and CISO about technology-related legal issues, including cybersecurity, privacy, data governance, AI, and the modernization of e-records management in the hybrid workforce. Before DOA, Sarah worked for 20 years at the Wisconsin Department of Justice, including four years in the Office of Open Government, and 16 years in the Criminal Appeals Unit, where she briefed over 350 appellate cases and argued nine cases at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Jody has worked with the state for over 20 years, championing IT and data usability across agencies. In addition to creating the DCF BI and data programs, she has helped launch and co-chair the State’s BI collaboration group, served as the WI Data Management Association Treasurer for eight years, and plays an active role in the UW Masters in Data Science advisory board. In the last two years, she’s taken on a new role at DCF as the strategic advisor for the CIO office.

Ed Murphy is an accomplished information security professional with over 20 years of experience in the field. With a strong background in cybersecurity, risk management, and compliance, Ed is passionate about keeping organizations secure and protected from potential threats.
Throughout his career, Ed has worked with a variety of industries, including healthcare, and government agencies, providing them with his expertise in information security. His exceptional problem-solving skills, combined with his in-depth knowledge of security frameworks and regulations, enable him to identify and mitigate potential risks effectively.

Lance Spranger is the Chief Information Officer for Waukesha County.  He has been an IT leader for over 15 years and is responsible for the strategic technology initiatives and innovations for the County.  Lance received Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.  Prior to arriving at Waukesha County, Lance was the Chief Information Officer for St. John’s Health in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 

Brad Thome is the Customer Service Bureau Director for the Division of Technology Services at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), responsible for the Data Capture, Workstation, Service Desk, and Application Environment Support areas. At DOR, Brad is committed to enhancing end user productivity while at the same time staying at the forefront of safeguarding systems. Before joining DOR, Brad worked for 15 years at UW-Madison's Division of Information Technology in progressive leadership roles in end-user support.

Maria S. Thompson is the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Lead for Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this role, she brings over 20 years of experience in information technology, strategic planning, computer network defense and risk management. Prior to her role with AWS, Maria served as North Carolina’s first State Chief Risk and Security Officer. There she was instrumental in establishing the Whole of State Approach to Cyber. This included the development and implementation of the state’s first Cyber Disruption Plan, and the Joint Cyber Task Force (JCTF). Maria also served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps and retired as the cybersecurity chief/information assurance chief for the Marine Corps. Other security roles held includes certification and accreditation (C&A) lead for the Multi-National Forces – Iraq and senior security engineer in a joint military organization and Security Operations Center lead for a federal agency.

Shelby VanHecker, CISSP, CDPSE serves as the Chief Information Security Officer at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, striving to foster a security-minded culture and uphold the principles of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. With a background as a military veteran and a decade in technology, cyber security, and leadership roles, Shelby brings diverse perspectives to Wisconsin. She believes in the collaborative nature of cybersecurity, viewing it as a joint effort rather than the responsibility of a single person or team. In her eyes, our collective strength and connections stand as our greatest defense in the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.

I have been working in IT for over 12 years. I started out as a support engineer with a consulting company working on the help desk. As part of that, I worked onsite and remote for Waushara County assisting in building there network and infrastructure. In 2016, as the IT Director was nearing retirement, I came on full time at Waushara County and that is where I have been since. We are currently in a major building project with multiple infrastructure upgrades as part of that. I enjoy working with technology and look forward to many years ahead.