Speakers

Kim Baldwin Sparks is the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) first Customer Experience Officer (CXO). In this role, she built the agency’s Customer Experience Program from the ground up and continues seeking ways to grow and institutionalize Customer Experience within agency culture.  

Prior to being the CXO, Kim was the first Chief Business Officer at SSA. Here she permeated a business focus into the agency’s IT portfolio and improved the working environment for over 40,000 agency employees as well as the agency’s customers. Kim led SSA’s digital transformation initiative and provided customer-centric updates to the agency’s IT Modernization Plan. She also directed the human-centered redesign of the agency website. 

Before she became the Chief Business Officer, Kim served both as the Associate Commissioner and Deputy Associate Commissioner for the Office of Electronic Services and Technology. In this role, she led all IT initiatives for SSA’s Office of Operations, including changes to legacy systems, eServices and nationwide hardware/software rollouts. Kim also led the successful implementation of the online replacement Social Security Number card project in November 2015. 

As a senior manager at SSA, Kim led the five-year development of my Social Security registration and authentication. This transformational system, implemented in 2012, allows SSA customers to conduct online business in a secure, easy-to-use portal. Ten years later, over 70 million customers use this online portal to conduct business with the agency.

John W. Boerstler was sworn in on February 16, 2021, as the Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As Chief Veterans Experience Officer, John leads the Veterans Experience Office (VEO), the Secretary’s customer experience (CX) insight engine supporting and enabling the Department in providing the highest quality experiences in the delivery of care, benefits, and memorial services to service members, Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. In this role, he provides executive oversight of VEO’s many innovative projects and programs, working collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access, outcomes, and experiences for all VA’s customers.

Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a Community Information Exchange and collaborative technology company whose purpose was to effectively connect customers to thousands of vetted government and non-profit services to address social determinants of health and health-related social needs.

John has a distinguished career as a leader in the Veteran services field as a recipient of both the Eisenhower and Marshall Memorial Fellowships, having travelled to Bosnia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Israel, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom to write comparative papers on their military transition systems. As the first Marshall Prize recipient, John recently completed a three-year project in Ukraine to assist in the development of their Ministry of Veterans Affairs–the first of its kind in Europe. John was also honored to be selected in the inaugural cohort of Stand-To Scholars at the George W. Bush Institute’s Veteran Leadership Program in 2018.

John is a native Texan who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999-2007 as a non-commissioned officer and infantry unit leader, including one combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004-2005 and Operation Natural Fire in the Republic of Kenya in 2006.

Mayor Nathaniel George Booker of the Village of Maywood-IL was sworn in May 18, 2021. Prior to serving as Mayor, he served Maywood as Economic Development Commissioner and was elected Trustee to village council in 2019. As Village President for the Village of Maywood, on a national level he serves on the National League of Cities (NLC) Board of Directors, representing more than 23,000 villages, cities, and towns across the nation. He is also 1st Vice President for National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO). Within the State of Illinois, Booker is the President of Illinois Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (IBC-LEO) along with being on Illinois Municipal League (IML) Revenue & Taxation and Public Works & Transportation Committees. Applying a focus on Metropolitan Chicago, Mayor Booker is a council member with the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus (MMC) for the Aging Friendly Communities as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committees and West Central Municipal Conference – Illinois Legislative Committee. 

In 2022 Mayor Booker launched Healthy Maywood I Cook (HMWC) which focuses on the US Department of Health & Human Services, Social Determinant of Health - Elements of Healthy Communities. While operating within HWMC, Maywood is a partner with the White House on End Hunger & Build Healthy Communities. As a Board of Director with National League of Cities (NLC), working on various committees with the US Departments of Housing + Urban Development, Labor, Education, Energy, and more, Mayor Booker has taken full advantage of all resources to benefit Maywood and surrounding communities. His work within NLC have been impactful through initiatives such as Youth Excel, Local Infrastructure Hub, Good Jobs Great Cities, Cities, Addressing Fees & Fines Equitably, Cities Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Cross Community Climate Collaborative, and more.

As a local community advocate he most recently served on School District 89’s Education Foundation as Board Treasurer, Proviso Township Democratic Organization as former Chairman for Young Democrats of Proviso, Cook County Democratic Party along with Executive Board Member for Cook County Young Democrats and Community Advisory Review Council, Institute of Transitional Medicine (ITM) (consultation to University of Chicago, Rush, Advocate Healthcare, Loyola University, Northshore, and Illinois Institute of Technology and much more. Mayor Booker has consulted for Cook County Black Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, Proviso Township Democratic Organization, JB Pritzker for Governor, and Proviso Township along with multiple corporate entities as well. 

Nathaniel George Booker launched Astute Culture (AC) in 2017. Prior to AC, he served in Executive Hotel Operations and Human Resources for Marriott International and InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG). After serving in the hospitality industry for 15 years he rose to Area Director in Organizational Development & Performance Improvement for IHG overseeing the brands InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, and EVEN Hotels corporate properties in the Mid-Atlantic region. Career ambitions have had him serve in Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and New York. 

His education includes Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Tennessee State University (Psychology), along with certifications from American Hotel & Lodging Education Institute (AHLEI) (Hospitality Executive Trainer), Franklin Covey (Ultimate Competitive Advantage Facilitator), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (Illinois Economic Development), and University of San Francisco (Public Leadership)

Ruth Buckley has 29 years of experience with USAID, both overseas and in Washington, and is a member of the Senior Executive Service.

As PIO, Ms. Buckley provides advice and counsel to Agency leadership on effective management of USAID programs, operations and budget; oversees implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act; provides executive support for the President’s Management Agenda; and ensures goals of the Agency are achieved through effective results management and efficient use of resources. As Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Management, Ms. Buckley provides oversight and direction for USAID’s operational and regulatory policy, strategic planning, continuous performance improvement, bureau succession planning and is the Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP). Her executive leadership of business process reviews across eight functions has resulted in implementation of 91 percent of the recommendations and progress reducing process times by as much as 50 percent.

Prior to joining the M Bureau, Ms. Buckley held several senior positions in the Africa Bureau, including Program Officer for South Sudan and Senior Behavioral Science Advisor in the Africa Bureau. She has brought this in-depth experience to develop strategic solutions and continuous improvement to our most intractable operational and organizational problems.

Ms. Buckley received her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from Brown University and her Master’s in Business Administration from Devry University.

Mr. Savanrith "Savan" Kong serves as the Senior Advisor, User Experience (UX) Portfolio Management Office (PfMO) in the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Information Enterprise, Office of the DoD Chief Information Officer. In this role, Savan leads the UX PfMO and is responsible for the Department’s execution of UX initiatives. Mr. Kong is responsible for building a common understanding of the Department’s most critical Digital UX challenges, touchpoint, and gaps; creating a UX culture in the Department; and defining approaches, tools, methodologies and processes to address prioritized UX shortfalls.

Mr. Kong is a distinguished product and UX leader with an extensive background spanning both public and private sectors. Prior to joining the CIO, he served as a General Manager at Rebellion Defense showcasing his expertise in crafting mission-focused software tailored for defense and security applications.

Before his tenure at Rebellion Defense, Mr. Kong served as a Digital Service Expert in DoD's Defense Digital Service office, focusing on rapid response initiatives. He was responsible for a range of projects that included the Basic Optical Biometric Analysis (BOBA) program, a cloud enabled biometric analysis application; and Project Rabbit, a program to improve the employment verification and Chief of Mission approval process for Afghans applying for Special Immigrant Visas.

Throughout his career, he has accumulated invaluable experience across diverse industries. Notably, he played a pivotal role as the first employee at Redfin, contributing to the growth and success of the real estate giant. At Redfin, he co-authored a patent (US9436945B2) for an interactive map-based search and advertising technology.

His influence extended to a medical software company, Kareo, consumer design leadership at Amazon, managing UX teams with their Kindle Content division, and executive responsibilities at startups Conenza and BlogTalkRadio during their nascent stages.

Dr. Jonathan Lazar is the Executive Director of the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility.

He is also a professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland. Dr. Lazar joined the University of Maryland in 2019, after 19 years as a professor of computer and information sciences at Towson University, where he served as director of the information systems program for 14 years.

Dr. Lazar has authored or edited 16 books, including Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction (2nd edition, co-authored with Heidi Feng and Harry Hochheiser), Ensuring Digital Accessibility Through Process and Policy (co-authored with Dan Goldstein and Anne Taylor), Disability, Human Rights, and Information Technology (co-edited with Michael Stein), Accessible Technology and the Developing World (co-edited with Michael Stein), Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse User Populations, and Web Usability: A User-Centered Design Approach. His 17th book, Foundations of Information Law (co-authored with Paul Jaeger, Ursula Gorham, and Natalie Greene Taylor) will be published in Sept 2023. He has published over 200 refereed articles in journals, conference proceedings, edited books, and magazines, and has been granted two US patents for his work on accessible web-based security features for blind users.

Dr. Lazar frequently serves as an adviser to government agencies and regularly provides testimony at federal and state levels, and multiple US federal regulations cite his research publications. He has been on the Executive Board of the Friends of the Maryland Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD) since 2009, has served as the co-chair of the Cambridge University Workshop on Universal Access and Assistive Technology (CWUAAT) since 2012, has been on the program committee of the ACM Conference on Accessible Computing (ASSETS) most years since 2006, and served on the executive committee from ACM SIGCHI from 2010-2015. Dr. Lazar was the general chair of the ASSETS 2021 conference. Dr. Lazar is the executive director of the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility and is a faculty member in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab.

Joshua Lehman, PMP, is the Chief Customer Experience Officer and Director, Office of Customer Experience. He is responsible for the Agency’s user experience, collaboration services, FDA.gov, operational support, and end user IT equipment. Mr. Lehman is also the sponsor of FDA’s User Experience Project Portfolio, which consists of 20+ information technology modernization projects to improve the day-to-day IT collaboration end user experience in a heightened telework environment. 

With over 23 years of extensive IT experience, Mr. Lehman excels in managing and developing information technology program solutions, project management, search engine optimization, web development as well as personnel management and mentoring.

Catherine Manfre serves as Chief Transformation Officer at the Office of Personnel Management under the Biden-Harris Administration where she supports initiatives related to customer experience, data leadership, employee experience, and agency modernization. She also has developed and executed strategies related to data-driven products and multiple government-wide initiatives. Before this role, Catherine served as a Senior Advisor for Transformation supporting a number of agency priorities and the President's Management Agenda Workforce Priority including employee engagement and retention, mental health and well-being, and making data-driven decisions. 

Prior to joining OPM, Catherine was a Partner at the Boston Consulting Group advising both large private and public sector clients on strategy, transformation, data & analytics, and operational improvements. While at BCG, she authored several articles on executing a successful Presidential transition and other workforce development topics. She also led diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts focused on recruiting, mentorship, and career development.

She graduated with Honors from New York University and has an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia

Beth A. Martin is a civil servant with over 20 years of practice in user experience (UX), communications, digital transformation, and innovation; currently, she is a Digital Services Expert at the Office of Personnel Management, and she is on detail to the GSA’s Office of Customer Experience. Beth previously worked at the FAA, FDA, and HHS; she is also an adjunct professor in UX design.

Kimberly Patrick is a native Washingtonian and a proud product of the DC Public School System.  She is a 1993 graduate of Spelman College with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, where she was a NASA Women in Science and Engineering Scholar.  Ms. Patrick received her Juris Doctorate in 1996, from the Howard University School of Law. Kimberly began her legal career with EPA in the Office of Administration and Resources Management (now the Office of Mission Support), Office of Grants and Debarment as Debarment Counsel, where she protected the government’s business interest by initiating suspension and debarment actions, and negotiating settlement agreements, including settlements in excess of 1 million dollars. While with the Suspension and Debarment Division, she completed a detail to the Office of Administration and Resources Management as special assistant to the Assistant Administrator.  In 2001, Kimberly joined the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) as legal advisor, and National Program Coordinator for the Agency’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program. Under her leadership the Agency’s final DBE Rule was promulgated and implemented. In 2009, Kimberly continued her service with the EPA Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP), serving as Deputy Director, where she provided leadership to the Agency’s Small Business Ombudsman, Minority Academic Institutions, DBE, and Direct Contracting Programs

In June 2015, Kimberly was appointed to the Senior Executive Service, as the Director of EPA’s Office of Small Business Programs. In this role, Kimberly’s effective advocacy and management continued to ensure the agency’s success with small business utilization. In November 2016, Kimberly accepted the position as Director of the EPA's Office of Acquisition Solutions (OAS), and the Agency's Senior Procurement Executive (SPE). In this capacity Kimberly served as the Chair for the Agency’s Procurement Equity Workgroup, the Agency’s Senior Accountable Official for Supply Chain Risk Management, and the Senior Accountable Official for EPA’s Made-in-America implementation. In 2021, Kimberly was the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, recognizing her career of leadership and service to EPA. On February 28, 2022, Kimberly became the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the EPA Office of Mission support, continuing her commitment and service by providing leadership to the Agency’s information technology, human resources, facilities, contracting, and grants programs. 

Jessie Posilkin serves as the Customer Experience Portfolio Director of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and TMF Customer Experience Portfolio Director at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The TMF is an innovative technology investment program that enables federal agencies to deliver services to the American public more securely, equitably, and effectively.

Posilkin has previously served as the TMF’s Acting Executive Director and led the Acquisitions Consulting Team at 18F, working to improve the way that the government buys technology by developing the use of the Agile BPA. She has also worked in a variety of non-profits as an organizer and technologist, supporting her colleagues to become stronger users of technology and finding ways for online systems to help social workers, lawyers, and food pantry managers help their clients

Shannon is chief of design, engagement, and change management at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) refugee and asylum programs, where she works to create a human-centered workplace for the 3,000+ workforce that administers our nation's humanitarian programs, extending protection to the world’s most vulnerable populations. She joined USCIS in 2005 as a Presidential Management Fellow and after a decade in public affairs, began her journey to human-centered design through a six-month rotation from October 2016 – March 2017 at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Innovation Lab. Shannon is an alumna of University of Michigan, University of Montana, AmeriCorps VISTA, and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

Bob is the Chief Product Officer at Granicus, where he is responsible for software engineering, security, cloud, architecture, and product management. With deep roots in software development, he has led engineering organizations of all sizes from start-ups to public companies. He is a published author and his business and technology perspectives have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, on CBS Radio, and on National Public Radio.

Steven Boberski is the Genesys Public Sector Field CTO.  A digital transformation and compliance subject matter expert, Steve brings more than two decades of experience designing, selling and delivering large, complex, information technology and telecommunications solutions to enable government and commercial enterprise IT transformation. Steve earned a BA in English Writing and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from George Washington University.

Tanya Chowdhury has partnered with leading State, Local, and Federal Civilian agencies to enable digital transformation by providing holistic guidance covering experiences, people, process, & platforms. As government has shifted to digital with a focus on equity, she has advised on government employee experience, go-to-market strategies, and developed Adobe’s perspective on Digital Equity to illuminate what equity in digital looks like and how it can be achieved to meet the needs of constituents, residents, and/or citizens who are: disabled, unhoused, without access to internet, non-English speaking, not digitally literate, etc. Prior to Public Sector, Tanya partnered with leading financial institutions where she developed innovative strategies to advise their C-suite on how to achieve their objectives and drive growth. Tanya is passionate about supporting the government better serve the public and all its customers.

Wyn is the Government Managing Director at Box leading the global and US public sector strategy and partnerships. Prior to Box, Wyn worked at Deloitte leading Deloitte Consulting’s Government Innovation and delivered strategy solutions for clients inside DoD. Wyn worked at Apple as the Director of Business Development, Partnerships, and Strategy for Apple’s Government Team. In this role, he was responsible for all partnerships and business development across all levels of government agencies. His responsibility stretched into helping Apple craft their new government strategy and integrating associated changes into Apple's products, contracts, and distribution channels to support this innovative approach.
Additionally, Wyn was a Partner at Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), helping connect technology startups and Venture Capital Funds with DoD customers. Prior to working at Apple, Wyn served 25 years in the U.S. Air Force where commanded at the squadron, group, and wing levels and logged more than 3,000 flying hours in the process. Wyn capped off his career by serving as the Senior Executive Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a graduate of the National War College and the School of Advanced Air & Space Studies. Additionally, he holds an MBA from the University of Florida and a degree in Mathematics from the University of Virginia.

As Vice President & Global Head of Industries at DocuSign, Michael “MJ” Jackson leads entrepreneurial teams that drive strategies to address complex customer challenges in Public Sector, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Financial Services, Supply Chain, and other regulated segments - advancing DocuSign’s mission that everyone may securely access, contribute, and thrive in the Anywhere Economy.

Prior to DocuSign, MJ was a General Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he built a portfolio of mission-critical practices from inception, including Public Health, Social Impact, and US Elections, to drive greater unified value across public and private sectors.

MJ previously served as General Manager of Consumer Health at Intel Corporation, where he developed global lines of business for patient-generated health data (PGHD) platforms; and as Director of Healthcare and Public Sector at Adobe, where he led commercialization of digital solutions entrusted to help power federal, state, and private Health Benefits Exchanges in over 30 US states.

Advancing through progressive roles at global life sciences companies, including Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline, MJ launched products across clinical research and therapeutic specialties including oncology, neurology, and endocrinology.

A writer and presenter on topics of digital transformation and its equitable applications, MJ has collaborated with organizations such as the National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT), Civic Alliance, and many others. He was presented with NHIT's Health Equity Vanguard Award in 2022 and recognized as one of the Top 25 Public Sector Leaders to Watch in 2021 by WashingtonExec.

MJ holds a Secret Security clearance with US Department of Homeland Security, is a proud veteran of the US Coast Guard and serves on multiple Boards committed to community service, including as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors at Health Care for the Homeless - a non-profit provider of coordinated care and housing services in Baltimore, MD.

MJ earned an MBA and a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business, and he has completed executive education at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Jill Leyden is the VP for Public Sector Strategy at Qualtrics, and a former federal government customer experience leader. She led organizational change at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office where she served as the first customer experience administrator. Her 20 years of public service includes 9 years of active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, and she continues to serve in the Reserves.

As Head of U.S. Public Sector, Matt leads Zoom’s U.S. Federal, State and Local governments and Education business segments. He has led Zoom for Government during a period of historic growth from launch to ubiquity. Matt’s leadership has allowed Zoom to provide frictionless communication and collaboration capabilities and continuity of operations during a time unprecedented impact to the Federal and Public Sector mission. Matt has over two decades of experience leading Federal and Public Sector units at Extreme Networks, Check Point Software Technologies, and Cisco.

Kristine Martinez leads LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions Federal Government sales practice. With two decades of experience supporting the Public Sector in achieving their human capital goals and objectives, she oversees all aspects of sales and account management. 

Before joining LinkedIn, Kristine held senior leadership positions across the SaaS and information services industry. Most notably, she served as Vice President, Account Management and Customer Success at FiscalNote providing information services focused on connecting people and organizations to Government. And, as the Regional Manager of Federal Sales and Account Management of Thomson Reuters providing “Big Data” solutions for federal government human resources and legal professionals. 

Kristine is a graduate of the University of Colorado and resides in Washington DC.

Pam Van Meter is a Principal Solutions Engineer with experience solving complex technology challenges for customers in a diverse mix of industries including Public Sector, Finance, and Healthcare. Pam has a strong pre-sales background and has worked for numerous market leaders including Okta, Auth0, Duo Security, Aruba Networks, and Juniper Networks. She has experience in technical training and exam proctoring for multiple vendors and previously worked as an adjunct professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at George Mason University in Fairfax VA.

Natalie Alms is a staff reporter at Nextgov/FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.