Speakers

Harrison Smith is Co-Director of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Enterprise Digitalization
and Case Management Office. In this role, he spearheads IRS efforts to modernize systems,
simplify business processes, and empower taxpayers and IRS employees to rapidly resolve
issues in simplified digital environments.

Prior to this role, Harrison served as the Deputy Chief Procurement Officer in the IRS Office of
the Chief Procurement Officer. He was responsible for all acquisition programs and over $2.6B
in contract spending and 12,000 contract actions per year for equipment, supplies, and services
for IRS and Treasury Departmental Offices.

Before joining the IRS, Harrison served as the Industry Liaison for the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). In this role, he was responsible for providing leadership and direction for DHS
offices and outside officials for all aspects of the DHS industry engagement program. He also
served as a principal advisor to the Chief Procurement Officer on matters relating to all aspects
of procurement.

Harrison has over 15 years of operational procurement experience with various DHS offices and the Naval Sea Systems Command, including acting as the Contracting Officer for several multi-
billion dollar IT procurements. As the Director of the Enterprise Acquisitions Division with DHS,

he was responsible for a portfolio of 25 strategically-sourced contracts with a cumulative value
of $68 billion. He has also worked in policy and strategic analysis positions on Capitol Hill and
has supported the Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy for Business Initiatives and the
Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel under the auspices of the Presidential Management
Fellows program.

Harrison was born in Virginia and currently resides in Alexandria with his wife and four
children. He holds a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in US Foreign Policy from The
American University, and an M.B.A. from George Washington University. Harrison brings a
wealth of leadership, acquisition, and operational experience and a high standard of
professionalism.

Olivia leads the AWS Worldwide Public Sector Federal Financials team. Her team owns the relationship, experience, and enablement across all U.S. financial regulator, monetary, and housing and mortgage customers. Olivia joined AWS in early 2018 as leader of the Federal Financial Housing and Mortgage segment, enabling customers such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Common Securitization Solutions to accelerate their innovation and migration to AWS. In mid-2019, Olivia’s role grew to include all Federal Financial customers. Olivia has almost 25 years of experience leading financial service customers in the modernization.  Prior to joining AWS, Olivia was a founder and Senior Vice President of Client Services for SS&C Primatics. In her role, Olivia led implementation, advisory, support, and outsourcing services for SS&C Primatics’ EVOLV loan platform. Olivia guided customers such as US Bank, PNC, M&T, KeyBank, Capital One, and BMO Harris through mergers and acquisitions and enabled ongoing accounting and risk management for their loan portfolios. Prior to SS&C Primatics, Olivia served as a Senior Director of Business Initiatives at Freddie Mac, where she led components of their financial re-statement and was accountable for their Investments and Capital Markets applications. Olivia has previously spoken at industry conferences, including the AICPA, DC FinTech Week, and Mortgage Bankers Association, to share insights on innovation as well as trends and lessons for success in cloud adoption. Olivia holds a Bachelor in Business Administration in Finance and Economics from James Madison University.

George Jackson is director of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media
company in the public sector marketplace. He joined the company in 2020 to enhance the scale
of their events and audience experiences. In 2021, George launched GovExec TV (streaming
video content) and received the company’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, part of their first-
annual Icon Awards.

George graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English.
In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland,
College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. –
beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air
reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges
filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local
veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for
Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative
Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won
him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government
Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday,
August 4 th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its
reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary The
Dawn of Generation AI.

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in
Northern Virginia.