As the Chief Data Officer of Wake County, North Carolina, Dr. Bonnie Brown serves the people who live, work, and play, thereby empowering evidence-based decision-making. With over 20 years of experience in various IT roles, Dr. Brown’s areas of concentration include technology adoption, building communities of practice, and organizational change management as it relates to data practice.

A North Carolina native, Christina has spent 9 years at IBM working with government and healthcare clients to realize business value from Data, AI, and Cloud solutions. She is excited about the impact of governed data usage to citizens through improved social services, criminal justice, emergency management, and more. Christina holds dual undergraduate degrees in Computer Engineering and Mathematics from North Carolina State University and Meredith College. In her free time, she enjoys spending time at NC's many local breweries, parks, and boutiques.

Michael is an Innovation Strategist with Wake County, where he leads and supports programs and initiatives aimed at helping employees improve how they do their jobs. His work includes facilitating team and project workshops, encouraging cross-departmental learning and connections through communities of practice, and offering employee courses on topics like root cause analysis and visual management.

Jonathan Feldman is an award-winning Chief Information Officer, speaker, and writer. He has been recognized for his positive impact on the communities he serves by the Frost & Sullivan CIO Impact Award and inclusion in Government Technology’s Top 25 Dreamers, Doers, and Drivers, and he is frequently listed among top CIO and IT practitioners. Jonathan is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of cloud computing, digital transformation, and civic tech, with Forbes calling his efforts “IT done right.”  
Jonathan’s success leading government technology led him to co-author Code for America’s book, “Beyond Transparency” with Tim O’Reilly and others. His column with InformationWeek magazine, which won an American Society of Business Publication Editors award, started many industry conversations about positive IT transformation. He has spoken all over the world about civic technology, the future of work, talent management, leadership, and digital transformation, and is often quoted in the media about these topics. He is active on social media both to learn and to share and tweets at @_jfeldman.

Raju is a strategic IT leader, innovator, and public speaker with a proven record of solving complex business problems through digital transformation, analytics, AI, and cloud technologies. Since 2016, he has led the North Carolina Division of Employment Security’s modernization efforts—migrating over 80% of workloads to the cloud and launching the state’s first Gen AI customer-facing solution. In 2020, Raju was honored as Public Sector CIO of the Year by Governor Roy Cooper for his leadership during the pandemic.
Core Skills - Strategic Planning and Execution | Digital Transformations |AI and Cloud Technologies | Data Analytics |Program Management |Business Alignment | Leadership Development | C-Level Engagement | Strategic sourcing of IT Services and Products | Contract Management and Negotiations | Business Partnerships Development

Dr. Iris Garner is a seasoned leader in the intersection of education and telecommunications. As the Senior Southeast Regional Manager for Education, she leads a high-performing team of Account Executives, creating and implementing strategic sales approaches specifically designed for K–12 education customers. Drawing on her deep roots in education, Dr. Garner drives efforts to acquire new partnerships and deliver high-quality customer solutions that support student achievement and community engagement.
In her concurrent role as EDU Segment Advisor, Dr. Garner made history by creating the task force and framework for the largest telecommunications and library partnership in the United States. Her work has impacted multiple domains, including partnership success, data analysis, funding and grant management, strategy, and talent development.
Known for her visionary leadership, public speaking, and dedication to educational equity, Dr. Iris continues to champion scalable, innovative solutions that transform how schools and communities connect, learn, and thrive.

Todd has over 25 years of experience as an IT Professional. He began his career at Oracle where he learned relational database management systems. From Oracle, he transitioned to Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence as a consultant and taught courses on Data Warehousing and Information Access Strategies at the University of California Berkeley. As a manager at Autodesk, Inc. he led teams of data warehousing and business intelligence professionals before transitioning to an architecture role where he was instrumental in driving transformational initiatives. In addition to Autodesk, Todd was an IT Architect at SAS Institute and Director, IT Architecture at Emergent BioSolutions prior to joining the North Carolina Department of IT in his current position as Enterprise Architect.

As deputy director and the N.C. Department of Information Technology's chief information officer, Torre Jessup leads the Internal Operations Division and focuses his efforts on providing enterprise application and infrastructure services to state agencies, local governments and universities across North Carolina.
Prior to being named in the role in April 2024, Jessup served more than two years as NCDIT’s chief operating officer, overseeing the department’s administrative functions. 
In that role, he focused on building capacity in administrative areas to better serve the agency's operational needs, investing in process improvement for statewide IT procurement and increasing the agency’s internal and external engagement. He has also served as NCDIT’s lead for the N.C. Environmental Justice Council and the Interagency Resiliency Task Force. 
Jessup also served more than four years as commissioner of the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles, where he oversaw daily operations and provided strategic direction for the division’s key functions, including vehicle registration, driver license issuance, vehicle safety and emissions inspections as well as activities to halt vehicle theft and identity fraud.
Under his leadership, NCDMV relocated its headquarters from Raleigh to Rocky Mount, made significant process improvements and expanded online services.
Jessup’s experience also includes director of the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization for the U.S. Department of Transportation and regional administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration's Southeast Sunbelt Region.
He also spent 20 years in the office of North Carolina Rep. Mel Watt as district director and in various liaison roles. During his tenure, Jessup set policy objectives, oversaw district-level strategy and operations and managed outreach and constituent affairs.
He also served appointments on the Board of Directors for the American Association for Motor Vehicle Administrators and North Carolina Criminal Justice Information Network, as well as the North Carolina Human Relations Commission and the Charlotte Metropolitan Transit Finance Working Group.
Jessup is a graduate of Morehouse College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology with a concentration in criminal justice. He and his wife Donna are proud parents of two sons.

Dan Kempton serves as the senior technology advisor for the N.C. Department of Information Technology. He brings more than 30 years of technology and business experience, having worked for large and small firms in the private sector as well as for 15 years with the state of North Carolina.
Kempton has held several IT leadership roles, including chief technology officer positions in the private industry and both deputy chief information officer and subsequently chief technology officer at the N.C. Department of Revenue.  At NCDIT, he has led several teams (including the engineering section) that have brought new products, notably multi-cloud capabilities, to state agencies.
Kempton is a strong technology-focused leader who can easily discuss business needs to determine the right solution that fits them. His extensive and broad technical background provides the experience to guide business leaders to the solutions that will achieve
Kempton has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of South Carolina.  He has also earned certification as a government chief information officer from the UNC School of Government.

Benjamin Moore is a Regional Cloud Security Engineer at Fortinet with over 20 years of experience in network engineering, cybersecurity, and cloud architecture. Since joining Fortinet in 2020, he has supported hyperscale customers and now leads efforts to help enterprises secure their cloud environments.
Previously, Benjamin spent six years at Cisco as a Systems Engineer and Technical Solutions Architect, working with global clients on infrastructure security and technical strategy. He also held senior networking roles at Energy Transfer and Panhandle Energy, focusing on network design and operations.

Sara Nichols is a passionate advocate for expanding access to the digital ecosystem and a trailblazer who has been at the forefront of implementing transformational broadband projects throughout Western North Carolina. She is a public servant with more than 18 years of experience leading regional initiatives related to broadband, regional planning, and economic and community development.
In her current role as a Energy and Economic Development Program Manager at the Land of Sky Regional Council based in Asheville, North Carolina, Sara serves as the region’s broadband program manager and is widely regarded as a respected technical expert for regional broadband project implementation. Prior to her current role, Sara served as Economic Development Director for the Madison County Department of Development Services in North Carolina, where she led initiatives focused on bringing broadband access to thousands of unserved citizens, facilitated business expansion, and oversaw the creation of the county’s first public art program. She also is a classically trained upright bass player who graces regional stages on the weekend. Her professional background also includes nearly a decade of work experience in the environmental stewardship realm, overseeing projects related to stormwater management, transitions into alternative fuel, and the provision of technical assistance to community stakeholders to help them access and administer related grant funding. In 2022 she was the second highest vote getter in Buncombe County, elected to the Buncombe Soil and Water Conservation District.
Over the course of her professional career, Sara has helped secure more than $75 million in broadband funding for the Western North Carolina region from a wide range of sources including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the state of North Carolina’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant program, Dogwood Health Trust, and many other sources. These investments are helping connect over 17,000 unserved residents and businesses in Western North Carolina.
Sara holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Mars Hill University. She has graced national stages as a speaker sharing insights on digital inclusion, the importance of broadband accessibility, and the intersection of technology and quality of life. In 2023 she testified before U.S. Congress on the importance of broadband and investing closing the digital divide.

Sarah Rodriguez is a Director at KPMG LLP with over a decade of experience leading transformative projects in Health and Human Services. Growing up in a family of blue-collar public service workers, she developed a passion for streamlining government operations. Her aim is to improve the citizen experience by simplifying systems and processes for the workforce, allowing them to focus more on community service rather than administrative tasks and outdated systems. Sarah’s expertise covers all levels of governmental agencies, from local to federal. She has led business process re-engineering for housing, homelessness, and SNAP/TANF services, handled system implementation for grants management platforms, and spearheaded modernization efforts in child welfare. As a prolific author, Sarah has contributed to publications on innovative housing strategies, digital equity, and public sector improvements. Personally, she takes pride in her nephews and nieces and is pleased to have kept all her houseplants alive for a year.

Beth Stagner is the Assistant Director of IT over Enterprise Applications and Data at the City of Raleigh, bringing over 30 years of experience in technology leadership. Deeply involved with the platforms she supports, Beth pairs technical expertise with strong business acumen to drive effective solutions. She is passionate about building relationships that enable win-win problem solving and ensuring IT initiatives align seamlessly with the needs of the organization and the community.

Trip Stallings is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Longitudinal Data System, housed in the Enterprise Data Office of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT). NCLDS is a comprehensive, cross-agency platform that includes a privacy- and security-forward and carefully-governed data request service, as well as a growing suite of tools for managing data storage and preparation and for enhancing overall data quality.
Before joining NCDIT, Trip was an educator and policy analyst, with more than 30 years of experience working in North Carolina and Virginia at local, regional, and state levels. For more than a decade, he was the Director of Policy Research at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University, where he co-led the Research and Evaluation team. His work there focused on providing timely information about policy-relevant education research to North Carolina policy-makers and other stakeholders with education policy decision-making responsibilities.
He also has worked as an education consultant and policy analyst for several North Carolina-based groups, and he began his professional career as a secondary school teacher, followed by a stint in teacher education.