Speakers

Congressman Gerald E. “Gerry” Connolly is serving his eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th District, which includes Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax in Northern Virginia.

Prior to his election to Congress, he served 14 years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, including five years as Chairman. Throughout his career, protecting and growing Northern Virginia’s economy has been his top priority. In Congress, he has played a key role in securing federal dollars for transportation improvements in Northern Virginia, including completion of the Fairfax County Parkway, widening the Prince William County Parkway, providing ongoing support for Rail to Dulles, and securing the annual federal commitment of $150 million for the regional Metro system.

Congressman Connolly is a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation. In this role, he is responsible for shaping government-wide policy on issues related to information security, including cybersecurity and privacy; government-wide federal information technology management and innovation; and procurement.

Congressman Connolly also serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Using his extensive background in foreign policy, including as a senior staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has become a leading voice on foreign assistance reform, war powers, embassy security, and democracy promotion abroad.

Congressman Connolly co-authored the bipartisan Issa-Connolly Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), which was signed into law in 2014, and represents the first major overhaul of the federal laws governing IT management since enactment of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. In 2016, Connolly passed the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act, which allows temporary employees of land management agencies to now be eligible for civil servant positions. He also helped pass the Telework Enhancement Act, which requires the federal government to increase the use of telework by federal employees to ensure continuity of operations by federal agencies during emergency situations, enhance recruitment of a quality federal workforce, reduce traffic congestion, and improve the region’s air quality.

For his efforts, he has twice been recognized as a Federal Computer Week Fed 100 winner, was named the 2013 FedScoop Tech Champion of the Year, the 2015 FCW Eagle Award recipient, and received the AFFIRM Award for Leadership in the IT community.

He has also introduced important legislation to streamline and improve our election system, find savings in federal IT procurement and data center consolidation, and reform U.S. Foreign Aid.

In addition to his Committee assignments, Congressman Connolly is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, chair of the Smart Contracting Caucus, a founding member and Chair Emeritus of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Korea, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Georgia and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Taiwan.

Congressman Gerry Connolly currently serves as President Emeritus of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA), having served as President from 2020-2022. The NATO PA is an affiliate organization of NATO and is comprised of more than two hundred and fifty delegates from the parliaments and legislative bodies of the Alliance’s 30 member states. As president, Mr. Connolly sets the Assembly's broader agenda and represents the Assembly on all key international issues. He works in a bipartisan manner to support the values of the Transatlantic Alliance and strengthen Congressional commitment to NATO.

Congressman Connolly was ranked the Most Effective Lawmaker of the 117th Congress by the Center for Effective Lawmaking.

Prior to his election to Congress, Congressman Connolly served as Chairman of the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax County, the largest jurisdiction in the Washington, D.C. metro area with more than 1.1 million residents. He earned a reputation as a pragmatic leader for his initiatives to expand affordable housing opportunities, reduce gang violence, promote reusable energy, and advance critical transportation improvements. During his tenure on the Board, Fairfax was recognized as a Best Managed County.

Congressman Connolly received an M.A. in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1979. He received a B.A. in Literature from Maryknoll College in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Congressman Connolly has worked in the non-profit sector, primarily advocating for hunger aid and international assistance. He also has strong ties to the business community having spent two decades working for organizations and companies involved in international trade, regulatory matters, technology, and research.

He resides in Fairfax with his wife Smitty and has a daughter Caitlin.

Michael Boyce is the Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Artificial Intelligence Corps (DHS AI Corps). The DHS AI Corps brings 50 AI experts to DHS to advance AI innovation, providing expertise in data science, data engineering, program management, product management, software engineering, cybersecurity, and safe, secure, and trustworthy application of AI technologies.

Before this role, he served at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in two capacities: initially as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer, focusing on artificial intelligence policy and the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP); subsequently, he was a Program Examiner in the OMB's International Affairs Division, overseeing the State Department's AI and related technology programs and its Western Hemisphere foreign assistance budgets.

Before joining the White House, he was the Chief of the Innovation and Design for Enhanced Adjudication (IDEA) Division at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate, where he oversaw technology, analytics, and innovation for USCIS’ humanitarian immigration programs. He led efforts to launch major technology advancements in the immigration space, such as online Asylum filing, expedited processing on the Southwest Border, and a new case management system for overseas refugee cases.

Before joining the White House, he was the Chief of the Innovation and Design for Enhanced Adjudication (IDEA) Division at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations (RAIO) Directorate, where he oversaw technology, analytics, and innovation for USCIS’ humanitarian immigration programs. He led efforts to launch major technology advancements in the immigration space, such as online Asylum filing, expedited processing on the Southwest Border, and a new case management system for overseas refugee cases.

His interest in AI began early – in high school, he was a finalist in the New York City Science and Engineer Fair for a project that trained a neural network to find Waldo from the well-known “Where’s Waldo” Picture Book series. He is fluent in Egyptian, Levantine, and Modern Standard Arabic. Michael holds a master's degree in Arabic studies from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in modern Middle Eastern studies from Yale University.

Skip Jentsch is the government lead for the GSA Schedule Cloud Special Item Number (SIN) 518210C, the subset of the Schedule that lists only cloud offerings. His position is within the IT Products Category under GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).

The Federal Acquisition Service provides buying platforms and acquisition services to Federal, State, Local and Tribal governments for a broad range of IT products and services.

A former federal CIO for an independent small agency within the Department of Interior, Skip Jentsch has over 30 years of experience in managing IT enterprises in the public, private and non-profit sectors. His IT career has always been focused on internal and external customer outreach, bridging any communications gaps between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

He joined the GSA in 2013 as an IT Specialist/Enterprise Architect responsible for managing the Governmentwide cloud-focused acquisition vehicles such as the Cloud SIN 518210C.

In this capacity, he is responsible for promoting the adoption of cloud services across government, assisting agencies in realizing cost savings and efficiencies while modernizing and expanding their IT capabilities through the adoption of cloud and other innovative technology.

Skip engages with government customer agencies, educates them about GSA cloud offerings and services, provides strategic guidance, technical insight and acquisition aid as requested, thereby helping agencies acquire cloud technology by leveraging GSA cloud acquisition vehicles and other vehicles across government. He also engages with cloud vendors, educating them on how to get their offerings listed on the GSA Schedule Cloud SIN 518210C.

Additionally, he is involved in market research, feasibility studies and development of next generation GSA cloud initiatives.

Jeffrey King is Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is a member of the Senior Executive Service. Jeff’s portfolio spans infrastructure operations, cloud operations, and security operations, along with governance, risk, and compliance. Jeff began his career at Booz Allen, spending over a decade engineering and operating enterprise-scale cybersecurity platforms for the military and intelligence communities. He then spent six years at the Department of the Treasury, where he designed and operated department-wide shared security services, and later served as an advisor to multiple senior technology and intelligence leaders. Thereafter, Jeff worked for five years in professional services at Promontory and Deloitte, where he worked with senior executives in large, global financial institutions to evolve and implement intelligence-led, threat-focused cybersecurity programs.

Jeff received his Bachelor of Science in Analytical Finance from Wake Forest University.

Stanley (Stan) Lowe is currently Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the US Department of the Interior. Stan’s background demonstrates success managing domestic and global cybersecurity and IT operations to transform organizations, improve capabilities, reduce costs, and meet and exceed corporate objectives. He is known for spearheading strategic initiatives and architecting cloud based and digital models with lean architecture and zero-trust security programs.

Throughout his career, his leadership in team building and leadership development with geographically dispersed talent has been a cornerstone in establishing critical partnerships to direct business-centered security and technology operations that enable secure deployment of technologies, protect and drive revenue, and establish security as a business differentiator. Prior to joining Interior, Stan was the Global CISO at Synchronoss Technologies, a company that develops and deploys large-scale SaaS cloud and messaging services for tier-one telecom service providers and consumers. 

Stan also served as the Global CISO at Zscaler, where he executed the internal security, IT governance, and IT security operations programs for successful post IPO. Stan also previously served as the CISO for PerkinElmer, where he transformed a legacy security program to cloud-focused zero trust architecture, reducing risk and overall security spend. Stan has extensive federal experience in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Security and CISO and, beforehand, as the Deputy Director at the Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs Interagency Program Office. He also previously served as the Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Chief Information Security Training Branch of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Notably, he spearheaded the first secure cloud-based infrastructure deployment for the federal government.

Stan is a Navy veteran and received his bachelor’s degree in computer systems from Strayer University and hold a Program Management Masters Certificate from George Washington University.

Drew Myklegard is the Deputy Federal CIO of the White House tech policy office. He is responsible for driving technology modernization and improving mission delivery by ensuring over $87B+ in Federal IT spending is well managed.

Prior to joining the White House, Drew served as the Executive Director of Product Engineering at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Drew led the implementation of VA’s Lighthouse Application Programming Interface (API) Platform which enabled over 6 million veterans to securely share their health and benefits data with approved third parties -- revolutionizing how veterans manage their health care.

In addition to his public service, Drew is an active member of the Army Reserves and completed one tour in Iraq

Amber Pearson is the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (DCISO) and Executive Director of Information Security Policy and Strategy for the Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information and Technology. In this role, she is the principal advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Security (DAS), and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

She is responsible for advancing cybersecurity and privacy strategies that balance requirements with business objectives in support of the VA mission.

Amber joins us from Amazon Web Services, where she was the Head of U.S. Government Security Compliance Engagement. She provided security assurances of AWS security and privacy claims to regulators, auditors, and customers, as well as wearing several other hats.

As Executive Director for ISPS, Amber is responsible for advancing cybersecurity and privacy strategies that balance requirements with business objectives in support of the VA mission. She oversees the implementation and promulgation of cybersecurity policies throughout the Department with the primary goal of ensuring information security risks are managed using a risk-based approach within Federal guidelines and industry standards.

Amber Pearson is the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (DCISO) and Executive Director of Information Security Policy and Strategy for the Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information and Technology. In this role, she is the principal advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Security (DAS), and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

She is responsible for advancing cybersecurity and privacy strategies that balance requirements with business objectives in support of the VA mission.

Amber joins us from Amazon Web Services, where she was the Head of U.S. Government Security Compliance Engagement. She provided security assurances of AWS security and privacy claims to regulators, auditors, and customers, as well as wearing several other hats.

As Executive Director for ISPS, Amber is responsible for advancing cybersecurity and privacy strategies that balance requirements with business objectives in support of the VA mission. She oversees the implementation and promulgation of cybersecurity policies throughout the Department with the primary goal of ensuring information security risks are managed using a risk-based approach within Federal guidelines and industry standards.

Jaime C. Schorr is the Chief Cooperative Procurement Officer for the National Association of State Procurement Officials. Her passion is competitive procurement, but loves a really well-written contract. Jaime is responsible for facilitating over $20B in spend with more than 600 suppliers and ensuring successful relationship between public entities and suppliers. She most recently served as the Chief Procurement officer for the State of Maine. Jaime supported NASPO as a member of the Board of Directors and the President Elect in 2022. She also serves on the steering committee for StateRAMP, a non-profit education and policy development entity for cybersecurity. Jaime completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice from The George Washington University, her Master of Business Administration from the New England College, and her Juris Doctor from Regent University.  

Jaime lives in Gardiner, Maine with her husband and two boys. She is an avid entrepreneur when she is not on the sidelines of the soccer field or basketball court. Coffee, chocolate, a good ride in a vintage car, and New England sports are the perfect addition to any day!

Gary Washington was selected as the USDA Chief Information Officer (CIO) in February 2018. Formerly the CIO for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Washington also has served as CIO and Director of the Information Technology Division for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Prior to his appointments as the CIO of USDA, APHIS and NRCS, Washington was a portfolio manager in the Electronic Government Office in the Executive Office of the President-Office of Management and Budget, where he was responsible for managing the Internal Effectiveness and Efficiency portfolio. Additionally, Washington managed the financial management, human resources and infrastructure lines of business, and the E-gov initiatives.

Washington also worked at the Food and Drug Administration, where he was the Director of IT Governance and the Deputy Director of Infrastructure, and at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, where he was the service manager for one of the first nationwide seat management programs.

Washington spent 5 years in private industry as well as 10 years as a Computer Operator and Command Control Specialist in the U.S. Air Force. He is an elected member of the Association for Federal Information Resource Managers and a 2006 graduate of the Industry Advisory Council Partners Program. Washington is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Strayer University in Washington D.C.

Ms. Joanne Woytek is the Program Director for NASA SEWP. Ms. Woytek manages the strategic direction, planning and day-to-day operations of SEWP - the premier Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) Vehicle providing Federal Agencies access to the latest in Information Technology, Communication and Audio-Visual solutions. Ms. Woytek is a 45+ year veteran at NASA. From SEWP’s inception, over thirty years ago, through to the present, Ms. Woytek is the visionary leader in the continuing evolution of the program.

Ms. Woytek is an ACT/IAC Fellow and Board member, an active member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), AFCEA and Elected Customer Member Representative for The Open Group Governing Board. She has received numerous NASA awards including the NASA Acquisition Improvement Award, NASA Customer Service Excellence Award, NASA Group Achievement Award, and the NASA Government Industry Cooperation Award. Ms. Woytek also received the 2016 and 2020 Federal 100 Award, the Coalition for Government Procurement’s Lifetime Acquisition Excellence Award (2014), the MAGIC Acquisition Excellence Award (2013), and the AFFIRM Procurement Pioneer-Leadership Award (2024).

Prior to SEWP, Ms. Woytek supported NASA’s scientific missions focused on systems administration, database management, and user application programming.

Richard Beutel the founding Principle of Cyrrus Analytics, an acquisition policy and IT procurement advisory firm working to create a 21rst century digital government for the American people. Cyrrus Analytics focuses upon complex challenges involving cloud acquisitions and the procurement of federal IT across the federal government. He also serves as a Principal Researcher for the George Mason Center on Government Contracting, having previously been an adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law Center in 2020. He is currently a Director of the Procurement Roundtable.

Rich is currently a Commissioner on the GSA’ Federal Acquisition Advisory Council, a FACA-based council of acquisition experts addressing innovative acquisition approaches to GSA, the premier acquisition agency in the federal government. He also serves as a Director on the Procurement Roundtable, a nationally recognized council of senior acquisition thought leaders, as well as a Principle Researcher and adjunct faculty for the George Mason Baroni Center for Government Contracting.

In 2018, Beutel founded the Alliance for Digital Innovation, an advocacy not-for-profit which has become the largest group of cloud-forward nontraditional IT government contractors in the country.

For 5 years, Beutel was the former lead acquisition and procurement policy counsel for former Chairman Darrell Issa of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. In that capacity, Beutel wrote and managed the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, which was signed into law as part of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act. FITARA radically transformed the framework by which the federal government acquires and deploys major IT and technology platforms.  In 2022, GAO testified to Congress that to date, the reforms codified in FITARA has saved the American taxpayer over $24B in taxpayer funds.

As Director of the Solution Engineering team, James helps lead a dedicated group of Oracle engineers as they help guide government and education organizations toward successful implementations.

Team members are experts in key domains including enterprise data management, business analytics, hybrid cloud strategy and cyber security. James has been with Oracle since 1997 working in a variety of individual and leadership roles, primarily in Government and Education.

He hold a Master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Information and Telecommunications Systems and JD from Concord Law School. Key areas of interest include: Data Governance, Data Privacy, Ethical uses of AI and Machine Learning, and practical approaches to multicloud data sharing.

Kevin E. Greene is an experienced leader, champion and advocate for advancing the state of practice in cybersecurity. He has successfully led multiple federally funded R&D projects in his career that were commercialized and transitioned into practice. 

Kevin is currently the Public Sector CTO for OpenText Cybersecurity.   Leveraging his innovative and strategic expertise, he drives customer engagement around cyber capabilities in federal agencies for digital transformation, software supply chain, zero trust and evolving threat defense. 

Prior to joining OpenText, he worked at the MITRE Corporation supporting DevSecOps and cyber defense initiatives. Kevin also spent time serving our nation as a federal employee at the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, Cyber Security division.

He holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and supports several external advisory boards in formalizing cybersecurity curriculum and initiatives. 

Travis is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RegScale. Before joining the RegScale team, Travis was the Global Director for Strategic Programs at Bechtel Corporation, where he led the merger, cost savings, and transformation programs at Consolidated Nuclear Security. His former roles include Deputy Director for the IT Services Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Chief Technology Officer for the National Nuclear Security Administration, Chief Information Officer for the Y-12 Site Office, and several senior executive assignments in the U.S. Department of Energy.

An accomplished public speaker and author, Travis has been cited in over 50 publications and serves as a board member for organizations, including East TN Economic Council (ETEC) and Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF).

David Kubicki is the Sr. Manager of Solution Architects for Palo Alto Networks Public Sector. In this role, David leads a team of Cloud Security professionals  who support a wide range of Federal and SLED customers, and policy makers.

David has over 20 years of experience in designing and implementing enterprise cyber security solutions for the Federal and SLED governments. David  also leads Palo Alto Networks Public Sector innovation initiatives with a focus on solving Cloud Security challenges our customers face in meeting their mission.

Before joining Palo Alto Networks, David most recently worked at Splunk where he spent 3 years covering the Department of Homeland Security.  He holds CISSP and Splunk Architect certifications as well as multiple CSP certifications.

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.

Micah Maryn has been exclusively supporting federal government with Akamai for 10 years. As security has been, and remains, the critical requirement for all federal agencies, Micah’s work has focused on developing cloud-based security approaches that address both the baseline security requirements and the unique needs of specific federal organizations.

Prior to the release of the TIC 3.0 draft, Micah was a member of several industry working groups that recommended revising TIC 2.0 in order to eliminate obstacles to cybersecurity and IT modernization.

Micah is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and received his bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Towson University.

Stephen Pipino is a Principal Cyber Security Architect with Salesforce, where he supports Public Sector organizations as a pre-sales engineer with their secure adoption of Salesforce’s PaaS and SaaS offerings. He works closely with DoD agencies and U.S. Government Contractors to provide expertise addressing security and compliance requirements associated with FedRAMP, the DoD Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide, DFARS 252.204-7012, and CMMC.

Prior to joining Salesforce, Stephen built his career in information technology supporting the Federal Government with small startup vendors and large consulting firms. He has earned recognition as a Certified Salesforce Administrator, a Certified Enterprise Architect (CEA), a Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP) and a Registered DoD Risk Management Framework Practitioner (RDRP).

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Sciences and Technology from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science in Computer Science from the George Washington University.

Matt Rattigan is a seasoned advisor specializing in guiding Cloud Service Organizations (CSOs) through the complexities of the public sector marketplace. With over 15 years of experience launching and scaling B2G programs, Matt has a proven track record of helping organizations meet stringent government standards. His expertise includes government contract vehicles, government licensing terms, marketing, partnerships, pricing, ATOs, and ensuring clients achieve and maintain compliance efficiently and effectively. As an ATO Advisor at UberEther, Matt's focus is on streamlining the FedRAMP & DoD IL Authority-to-Operate (ATO) process for CSOs.

Martin Rieger, who has over two decades of experience in information systems and technology, serves as chief solutions officer of cloud solutions provider stackArmor. In the role, Rieger leads the company’s solutions team and manages technology investments focused on the critical needs of cloud service providers and independent software vendors looking for security and compliance services.

stackArmor’s services support companies that need to comply with the Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, among others.

Mr. Rieger has served in leadership roles in the area of cloud, security and compliance with various organizations such as Penguin Computing, Emagine IT, CACI International, where he supported the U.S. Naval Personnel Command. Mr. Rieger joined the private sector in 2009 after 10 years in the U.S. Navy as a technician focused on information systems. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems security and a master’s degree in information systems management from American Sentinel University, Denver.

Additionally, Mr. Rieger is a graduate of James Madison University with a Master of Business Administration degree focused on information security.

Rainer Villa is Sr. Director of Security for Public Sector at Docusign, where he builds and maintains relationships with U.S. federal, U.S. state, local and education (SLED), and France public sector groups by leading Docusign's federal risk management program, cloud security reviews and regulatory compliance.

As a former Marine with over 20 years in both public and private organizations, Rainer has extensive experience collaborating and problem-solving with the U.S. Department of Defense and both federal and SLED agencies on their security and compliance journeys. With deep knowledge of the U.S. federal risk management program, Rainer has led multiple authorizations in cloud and hybrid environments.

Prior to Docusign, Rainer joined the private sector, improving the security posture of cloud service providers and strengthening relationships with agencies they served. Previously in the federal space as Regional Information System Security Manager, Rainer established the risk management program for 7 Marine Corps bases and developed improved methods for regional cyber strategy and governance.

David DiMolfetta covers cybersecurity for Nextgov/FCW. Previously, he researched The Cybersecurity 202 and The Technology 202 newsletters at The Washington Post and covered AI, cybersecurity and technology policy for S&P Global Market Intelligence. He holds a BBA from The George Washington University and an MS from Georgetown University.