Speakers

Lauren Barrett Knausenberger is the Chief Information Officer for the Department of the Air Force, comprised of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. Ms. Knausenberger leads two directorates and supports 20,000 cyber operations and support personnel around the globe with a portfolio valued at $17 billion. She provides oversight of the Air Force’s Information Technology portfolio including the Information Technology investment strategy from networks to cloud computing, Enterprise policies, information resources management, IT innovation initiatives, information assurance, and related matters for the Department of the Air Force. As Chief Information Officer (CIO), Ms. Knausenberger delivers cyber security, and enforces Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act laws. She integrates Air Force warfighting and mission support capabilities by networking and securing air, space, and terrestrial assets. Ms. Knausenberger also leads career management initiatives for 10,000 IT/Cyber civilian personnel across all human resources facets from recruiting to professional development.

In 2017, Ms. Knausenberger joined the U.S. Air Force to drive innovation across the Department of Defense, speed adoption of emerging technologies, and create stronger partnerships between DoD, start-ups, and the venture community as the Chief Transformation Officer and Director of Cyberspace Innovation under the Deputy Chief Information Officer. Prior to joining the Air Force, she was the founder and President of Accellint Inc., a consulting firm and Venture Partner with NextGen Angels, specializing in solving problems of national security importance, and investing in commercial technologies that could be applied to a government mission. As CIO, she continues to go after hard problems, calculates risk differently, and ensures to keep a constant pulse on the voice of the Airmen.

Prior to her time as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Ms. Knausenberger held positions of increasing responsibility at American Management Systems and CACI, beginning as a systems analyst and designer, then as a go-to project manager for program turnarounds, a program manager for large IT and finance programs, and finally as a division manager overseeing much of the company’s Intelligence Community portfolio. During this time, Ms. Knausenberger had the pleasure of serving the mission of the CIA directly as well as leading and mentoring cross-functional teams and organizations supporting national security missions.

Ms. Knausenberger earned a Bachelor of Science degree in decision and information sciences from University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration from University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

EDUCATION
2003 Bachelor of Science, Decision and Information Sciences, University of Maryland-R.H. Smith School of Business, College Park, Md.
2012 Master of Business Administration, University of Pennsylvania-Wharton School of Business, Philadelphia, Pa.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1. June 1998–August 1999, Gifted and Talented Program (Cryptography/Intelligence Analyst Intern), National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Md.
2. July 2003–July 2004, Business Systems Analyst, American Management Systems, Fairfax, Va.
3. July 2004–October 2015, Division Manager-Program Director for Large IT Programs and Intelligence Community Finance, CACI, Fairfax, Va.
4. October 2015–June 2017 President, Accellint, Inc., Arlington, Va.
5. June 2017–August 2020, Chief Transformation Officer and Director of Cyberspace Innovation, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
6. August 2020–present, Deputy Chief Information Officer, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
7. February 2021–present, Chief Information Officer, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.

AWARDS AND HONORS
FedScoop Top Women in Technology
Jimmy Doolittle Fellowship Award
Wash100 Award

Tanya Hannah believes in using technology in new, surprising and smart ways to make life
better for people. As the technology leader for the 13th largest county in the nation, Ms. Hannah
has overseen the tech that supports everything from emergency services to the county health
inspectors who keep restaurants safe to ferry pilots on the Puget Sound. She’s passionate
about ensuring the two million county residents have equal access to the technology needed for
civic and cultural participation, education, employment and other critical services.

She previously served as both deputy and interim director of the department, and as a senior
executive at Amazon and Computer Service Corporation. Both those positions honed her vision
of putting the customer first. Under her leadership, King County has been recognized multiple
times by the National Association of Counties as top IT County in the Nation. Other recent
honors include multiple CIO 100 awards, Government Experience awards and a Future Edge50
award.

Ms. Hannah was earlier named Golden Government: National (IT) County Executive of the Year
by the StateScoop LocalSmart News Group and as an Orbie award winner as top Seattle CIO.
Ms. Hannah is a native of Philadelphia, and received her BA in government from the University
of Maryland. When she’s not working or hanging out with her husband and son, Ms. Hannah
enjoys world travel and a good dessert.

In her role leading the Office of Human Resources Management, Traci leads HR support activities for the agency’s 12,000 employees. She is responsible for GSA-wide policy and oversight of all aspects of Human Capital Management including: talent acquisition, development and sustainment, labor and employee relations, performance management, compensation, strategic workforce and succession planning, executive resources, diversity management, and data analytics.

Traci has extensive experience in federal human capital programs. She previously served as the Chief Human Capital Officer for the Peace Corps, where she oversaw all human capital services for Peace Corps employees including staffing, classification, benefits, payroll, employee and labor relations, data analytics, workforce planning, and employee engagement initiatives. 

Prior to that, she served as Chief Human Capital Officer for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Director for Human Resources Enterprise Management Systems at the Department of Agriculture; and as the first-ever career Deputy Director for the Chief Human Capital Officers Council at the Office of Personnel Management.  

Traci is a member of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council representing more than 100 small agencies. Additionally, she chairs the Small Agency Human Resources’ Committee. Traci graduated  from American University’s Key Executive Program in 2013 as part of USDA’s Senior Executive Candidate Development Program.    

Traci holds a Master’s degree in Labor Policy and Workforce Development from Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Public Policy and undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Communications from Miami University of Ohio.

Joshua Lehman, PMP is the Director for the Division of Business Partnership and Support (DBPS) in the Office of Information Management and Technology (OIMT) at the Food and Drug Administration.  He is responsible for the Agency’s 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.  

Prior to joining the FDA, Mr. Lehman provided large system integration for public organizations on data search and retrieval efforts.  During his 13-year tenure with the FDA, Mr. Lehman has managed multiple compliance areas including Section 508, Records Management, eDiscovery, and Privacy.  He quickly matured FDA’s 508 compliance program; his efforts and the program he implemented was recognized by the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council as one of the best programs and a gold standard within the federal government. 

Mr. Lehman is an employee focused manager, pushing the growth and development of each employee to produce the best results for the organization and the customers. He has a Bachelor of Science in Management of Information Systems from University of Rhode Island and is a 2019 Federal Health IT 100 Award Winner.

Tom started with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) in April 2019 and currently oversees the Digital Transformation Center (DTC). The DTC is designed to accelerate IT delivery through effective implementation of Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) technologies. With 25 years of technology experience, Tom is considered a leader in managing complex, enterprise IT programs and has a proven track record of automating and modernizing mission delivery. Prior to his position with the VA, Tom served as the Director of the Disaster Credit Management Systems Operations Center for the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance.

Leisa Davis is the Homeless Program Office SQUARES Administrator for the VHA.

Danielle focuses on the key intersections of policy, process, and technology across the various social services programs. Danielle brings an important perspective into the mission critical work we do to create a more seamless safety net. Her experience as Commissioner of DHS brings even more of the “real world” into every strategy we develop, creating solutions that have impact across our government clients

Prior to joining EY, Danielle served as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services, leading the operations and strategic direction of the state’s second largest agency.

The Department provides services to approximately two million Tennesseans each year through programs such as Families First, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Child Support, Child Care Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, Disability Determination Services, Adult Protective Services, Child and Adult Food Program and Social Services Block Grant. Operating a budget of over $2.1 billion, providing leadership to more than 4,000 employees, and managing 113 facilities.

Danielle led the department in operationalizing its two-generational approach through the concept of building a thriving Tennessee. To further the Department’s impact, in 2019 she launched a new departmental mission statement, vision statement, and core values to align the Department with its goal to provide transformative services to Tennesseans. Under her leadership the Department has increased the number of collaborative partnerships with emphasis on meeting the essential needs of families, enhancing the customer experience, modernizing technology, reducing administrative process, increasing access to services in rural communities, and connecting DHS customers to sustainable employment opportunities.

Danielle holds certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), and International Public Management Association Senior Certified Professional (IPMA-SCP). In addition, she is a Rule 31 Listed Mediator. She earned her undergraduate degree from Spelman College and her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Ms. Barnes is also an active member of Ascend Federal Credit Union, Hands on Nashville, and Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence.

Brad is the US State, Local & Education (SLED) Market Leader Ernst & Young LLP. In this role, Brad is responsible for the development and leadership of the US SLED Market team.

With over 20 years at the firm and extensive experience in building teams and growing relationships with clients, Brad’s knowledge and insights will help enhance integration across the service lines to offer more tailored and focused services to organizations in the US SLED sector. Brad’s development of a high-performing team will ensure clients receive the services they need in an ever-changing environment, while helping EY achieve its ambition of becoming the leading global professional services firm by 2020.

Brad also serves as the Coordinating Principal for all the work EY does with the State of Georgia. He has served in this role since 2012 and has worked with over 15 different agencies across the State to deliver the full power of the firm to address the key business issues the State is facing.

Historically Brad served as the Program Principal for EY’s Southeast Entrepreneur Of The Year program (2015-2018), one of the most prestigious business award programs in the country that celebrates the country’s most innovative business leaders. Brad has held many business development roles during his tenure at EY, also serving as the Business

Development Leader for both the United Kingdom & Ireland and the Southeast Region, leading teams of 120 and 40 people respectively. In those roles Brad was responsible for aligning his efforts to the firm’s market strategy and growing business in the region, while ensuring his teams were equipped with the necessary resources to provide exceptional client service.

George Jackson is the director of events at GovExec Media – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He 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 4th 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.

Alexandra (“Alex”) Gurney is a principal in the EY US Government and Public Sector practice, serving as the Federal Civilian and Security Accounts Leader.

Alex has 20+ years of management consulting experience in the public and private sectors, including government, utility, security, pharmaceutical, hi-tech, and paper industries. She began her consulting career at a small consulting firm focused on advising energy companies globally through benchmarking, performance management, and business transformation support.

In 2002, Alex joined a D.C. based consulting firm shifting her focus to Federal government consulting. Alex had the opportunity to contribute to the growth of this firm, specifically focusing on the Department of Transportation (DoT) account. She worked as a key member of the team that delivered the very first project at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Over the years, she led and carried a portfolio of projects at the FAA and functioned as the account lead for DoT.

In 2011, Alex joined the Ernst & Young LLP (EY) Government and Public Sector practice to help expand its presence within the civilian sector of the Federal Government. As a principal, she leads EY’s DoT, General Services Administration (GSA), and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accounts. Given her long history of supporting these agencies and delivering impactful projects, Alex brings deep and broad knowledge of these organizations, their stakeholders, and their business challenges and priorities, which combined have enabled her to become a trusted advisor to her clients within these agencies.

Alex believes in mentoring and sponsoring colleagues who represent diverse perspectives and experiences. Her high-performing team represents this commitment, and is known for its strong problem-solving skills, focus on client success and a steadfast work ethic.

Alex was selected as an Honoree for the 2020 Minority Business Leader Awards, which honors greater Washington's most successful and influential minority executives and business owners. This event celebrates a strong group of exceptional individuals that have exhibited outstanding performance both professionally and in their community.

Alex is actively involved in business groups and charity organizations outside of work, including the EY Partner Forum, Women Leaders Advisory and A Wider Circle, a nonprofit that works to alleviate poverty in Greater Washington.