Speakers

At the United States (U.S.) Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mr. Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia currently holds the Senior Executive Service position of Assistant Commissioner (AC), Office of Information and Technology (OIT) and CBP Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Mr. Bhagowalia has over 40 years of senior technical, managerial, and executive leadership experience in private industry, the U.S. Government, and state government.  Mr. Bhagowalia has spent over 26 of those years in senior executive capacity, including over 22 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and one year as a Senior Level (SL) in the Federal Government, and three years as a Senior Executive in State Government.  He has served in key CIO leadership roles at five government agencies: Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, State of Hawaii, U.S. Department of Treasury and CBP, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  He also served in senior executive leadership roles as a Deputy Associate Administrator for Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies at General Services Administration, and as a Program Management Executive/Assistant Director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice.  Mr. Bhagowalia also served for 14 years in Industry at Boeing, a Fortune 30 company, ultimately serving for five years in senior technical leadership roles as a Chief Engineer/Manager and as an honorary Senior Principal Engineer in the Boeing Company. 

He has used his knowledge of IT/Information Resource Management (IRM), cybersecurity, and business process re-engineering to transform and secure organizations, and has helped the Federal CIO/CTO to roll out foundational White House Government-wide initiatives such as Open Data, Federal Cloud, FedRAMP, and the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative .

Mr. Bhagowalia has received 50 awards from the U.S. Government and Industry, including a rare distinction of two Presidential Rank Awards for Meritorious Executive Service; three Federal 100 Awards; four Golden Gov Executive of the Year awards (three in a row); Wash100; State Gov Executive of the Year; Government CIO of the Year; Government Innovator of the Year; NASA Silver Snoopy; NASA Award of Merit; Asian American Chamber of Commerce Elite Titan; Service to the Citizen; and the White House Champion of Change. He led the team that won the Chief Information Officer 100 award for data.gov; and “Best of the Web” State Portal award from Center for Digital Government (CDG) for Hawaii.gov. He was inducted into the Boeing Technical Excellence Fellowship Program in 2014, recognizing the top one percent of engineers and scientists in the Boeing Company; the 2014 Federal Enterprise Architecture Certification Institute Hall of Fame; and the 2015 National Defense University IRM College Hall of Fame.

Mr. Bhagowalia has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (EE) and a Master of Science (MS) Degree in EE from Louisiana State University, and an MS in IRM from Syracuse University. He is also a twice-distinguished graduate from the National Defense University, U.S. Department of Defense, with an IRM Diploma and Federal CIO Certificate.

Kim Brandt is CMS’ Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer. Previously, she was a Partner at the Washington, D.C.-based policy firm Tarplin, Downs & Young, LLC, where she provided strategic advice on a broad array of healthcare regulatory, enforcement, and policy matters. She also served as an Advisor to the private equity firm Enhanced Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm focused on healthcare, and held board positions at two of its portfolio companies. 

Kim has held multiple senior executive positions in government, including serving as Principal Deputy Administrator for Policy and Operations during the first Trump Administration. In that role she oversaw all activities necessary for the operation and management of CMS’ $1.4T budget in addition to leading efforts to reform the Physician Self-referral regulations and develop the first CMS interoperability rule. Kim previously served as Chief Oversight Counsel and General Counsel on the staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee where she led multiple healthcare investigations, the investigation into IRS political targeting and oversaw the political nominations process. Before joining the Finance Committee staff, Kim was a Senior Counsel at Alston & Bird in Washington, D.C. Her previous government service includes serving as the CMS Director of the Medicare Program Integrity Group and working at the HHS Office of Inspector General as a Senior Counsel and Director of External Affairs. Kim has a JD with a concentration in health law and an MA in legislative affairs. 

Joseph Chapa is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford. His areas of expertise include just war theory, military ethics, and especially the ethics of remote weapons and the ethics of artificial intelligence. He is a senior pilot with more than 1,400 pilot and instructor pilot hours. He previously served as the Department of the Air Force’s first Chief Responsible AI Ethics Officer. In his current role, he leads the innovation team in the Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s Strategic Studies Group.

Carter Farmer is an accomplished technology executive with over 15 years of experience leading enterprise IT transformation in both public and private sectors. He most recently served as Director of IT Systems and Solutions at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), where he led major cybersecurity initiatives, modernized the organization’s identity and access management architecture, and oversaw strategic cloud infrastructure projects. Prior to USIP, he held a key IT leadership role at Amtrak, where he contributed to critical improvements in operational technology and service reliability for one of the nation’s largest transportation networks. 

Carter began his career in the private sector, holding strategic roles at Telarix, a global telecommunications software company, and DISYS, a professional services and technology solutions firm. In these roles, he advised enterprise clients on system modernization, data security, and IT service delivery. Carter holds a B.S. in Information Systems Management, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Radford University and is currently pursuing an M.S. in Information Technology.

As CIO for the Environmental Protection Agency, Carter brings a pragmatic and mission-focused approach to technology leadership, prioritizing modernization, data integrity, and operational excellence to support the EPA’s statutory and strategic goals.

Steve Hawkes has been the Director of Information Technology for the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, since 2021. He has led the city's digital transformation, promoting a Cloud-first, collaborative environment using Microsoft 365 tools and AI. Recently, Steve was part of the core team that completed the City’s SAP S4/Hana upgrade project, a significant initiative that began in 2019 and culminated in a successful go-live in September 2025.

Steve oversees a team of twenty staff members and manages a budget exceeding four million dollars. He has played a crucial role in developing the city's Incident Response Plan for Cybersecurity Incidents and contributes to the City Council's strategic planning efforts.

Before his current role, Steve served as the Applications Manager, where he managed the full lifecycle of various software applications, acted as a Microsoft SQL Server Database Administrator, and led the design and implementation of the city's new website. His leadership has earned his team several prestigious awards, including three Commonwealth of Virginia technology awards and a National award.  He also created the City’s Data Analysis Group and is a core team member of the City’s Innovation Team (iTeam). 

Steve's earlier career includes roles as a Datawarehouse Architect/Software Engineer, where he designed and implemented database systems and developed numerous software applications.
Steve holds a Master of Science in Kinesiology from Indiana University-Bloomington and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a graduate of several leadership programs, including the University of Virginia’s Darden School LEAD program and the Charlottesville Executive Leadership Academy.

As a Senior Executive on GAO’s Information Technology and Cybersecurity team, Dave Hinchman oversees government-wide reviews of critical infrastructure cybersecurity, the federal cyber workforce, and cloud computing security. His multi-disciplinary teams primarily focus on emerging cybersecurity issues and how new technologies, including artificial intelligence, are being used by the federal government to better secure the resources vital to the delivery of citizen services. In addition, Dave leads work on IRS’s business systems modernization program, as well as other government-wide IT management and operations issues. He previously managed GAO’s reviews of federal data center optimization and border security technology. Prior to joining GAO in 2002, Dave worked for several private sector firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, and served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy. Dave has a master’s degree in business administration from the Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona, and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Vassar College.

Rafiu O. Ighile is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Maryland with an MBA who has more than 30 years of accounting experience in government, not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. Mr. Ighile is the Director of Finance for Howard County Government Maryland. Prior to that he was the Director of Finance and Administration for the City of Gaithersburg, where here oversaw the Finance, Budget and Procurement functions. Before joining the City of Gaithersburg, Ighile worked for Howard Public School System (HCPSS) as their Chief Financial Officer. While working as CFO for the Howard County Public School System, managed Finance, Budget, Benefits, and Technology functions. He previously served as the Deputy Director of Finance for Howard County Government where he established the Debt and Cash Management function for the County to effectively manage the debt issuance and investment portfolio. Mr. Ighile serves on the Executive Board of Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the Maryland GFOA Board of Directors. He is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Maryland Association of CPAs. Rafiu and his spouse Eki have six daughters.

Mr. James Johnson was selected as the Program Executive Officer (PEO) for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) on March 24, 2024. 

As the PEO, Mr. Johnson is responsible for the management and oversight of DLA's Major Automated Information Systems programs. He is the corporate provider of acquisition management services and provides overall direction and guidance for the development, acquisition, testing, systems integration, product improvement, and fielding for assigned DLA programs. DLA’s portfolio also includes acquisition projects and programs, which Mr. Johnson manages on behalf of DOD wide sponsors.

Before being assigned as the PEO, Mr. Johnson’s most recent assignment was as the Director, Strategic Capabilities and Processes Office, responsible for leading the PEO’s strategic direction in achieving the DLA Digital-Business Transformation as well as managing the agency’s Business Capability Management process.  In addition, Mr. Johnson was responsible for the review of the health of all programs within the PEO.  Prior to his tenure as the Director of Strategic Capabilities and Processes Office, Mr. Johnson held a variety of increasingly responsible positions at DLA, including Portfolio Manager, Financial Management and Human Resources, responsible for the oversight, acquisition expertise and lifecycle sustainment of multiple programs and agency applications.  Mr. Johnson has also held numerous Program Management positions, where he was responsible for the acquisition, development and lifecycle management of both DoD and DLA programs.

Mr. Johnson retired from the Marine Corps after serving for 22 years, where he held a variety of IT leadership billets. Mr. Johnson’s final tour was as the Protocol Officer, Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.  Upon his separation from the Marine Corps, Mr. Johnson worked as a Technical Integrator at SAIC in support of Marine Corps Systems Command.  He entered federal civilian service in May 2009 as a procurement team lead with the Marine Corps System Command, where he was responsible for managing internet technology procurements for all operational Marine Corps units. Mr. Johnson was promoted in April 2010 as the Project Lead for the entire Marine Corps IT Procurement Process. In this role, he managed the Marine Corps Commercial Off-the-Shelf IT procurement process used by over 50 programs of record, and all stations, posts, and bases within the Marine Corps enterprise.

Mr. Johnson holds a Masters of Science degree in Information Systems Management from Colorado Technical University, a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Computer Information Systems from Campbell University, and is DAU certified at level three in Program Management.  Mr. Johnson has received numerous awards to include the Navy Accommodation Medal (multiple awards), and the Navy Achievement Medal (multiple awards).

The Honorable Joseph D. Kernan, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy, retired,  served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I)) from November 2017 through Nov. 10, 2020. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in November 2017.

As the USD(I), Mr. Kernan was the principal intelligence, counterintelligence and security advisor to the Secretary of Defense (SecDef), and the SecDef’s principal representative to the Intelligence Community. He also was dual-hatted as the Director of Defense Intelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and reported to the DNI in that capacity. He exercised authority, direction, and control on behalf of the SecDef over the National Security Agency/Central Security Service, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Defense Security Service. Mr. Kernan established policy and priorities; and oversaw the Defense Intelligence Enterprise, consisting of more than 110,000 component employees, and an annual budget of over $54B. This included the Military Intelligence Program, the Defense portion of the National Intelligence Program and the Battlespace Awareness portfolio.

Prior to serving as the USD(I), Mr. Kernan served in a variety of positions from 2013-2017, including: Board Director and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Marketing for SAP National Security Services; Advisor for JLM Companies; Chairman of NS2 Serves, a Non-profit training and employment program for veterans; and Board member for the National Navy SEAL Museum and The Mission Continues.

After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1977, Mr. Kernan served as a Surface Warfare Officer until 1981 and as Naval Special Warfare Officer until his military retirement in 2013. Over the course of his career, he commanded SEAL Team TWO, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, the Naval Special Warfare Command, and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet. He also served as Senior Military Assistant to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and as the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Southern Command.

Mr. Gregory G. Koval is a member of the Senior Executive Service, serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Financial Management Systems (DASN FMS). He is responsible for the portfolio management and resourcing of financial management systems for the Department of the Navy (DON). This role includes completing current legacy system migrations to Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), supporting both Navy General Fund and DON Working Capital Fund audit activities by implementing advanced analytics, and upgrading the DON’s financial management capabilities in the next generation ERP+ system.

Prior to becoming the DASN FMS, Mr. Koval was the Assistant Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources (Resources), Headquarters Marine Corps, Pentagon. He served as the Senior Accounting, Audit, and Resources Advisor to the Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources, the Chief Financial Officer of the Marine Corps. Mr. Koval led the Marine Corps to a historic first unmodified audit opinion on the Marine Corps General Fund Financial Statements, establishing Marine Corps as the first Department of Defense Military Service to achieve this goal. His responsibilities included all aspects of financial operations from leading the full financial statement audit remediation strategy to the implementing a sustainable internal control environment; managing quarterly and annual financial reports; preparing the annual statement of assurance; and implementing financial system controls. Additionally, Mr. Koval developed and executed the strategy to stabilize the Marine Corps data and processes in the Defense Agencies Initiative (DAI) general ledger post migration while under full financial statement audit.

Previously, Mr. Koval served as the Deputy Director, Financial Operations, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller). As the DON’s Chief Accounting Officer, he was responsible for accounting and financial operations, including the oversight of the Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation (FIAR) program. He also served as the Acting DASN Financial Operations, during his tenure. Mr. Koval led remediation strategies that resulted in the downgrade of several audit material weaknesses for the Navy.

Mr. Koval was formerly the Deputy Director of the Marine Corps Fiscal Division, Programs and Resources, Headquarters Marine Corps. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Risk and Compliance Branch (including Audit Response and Remediation), Manager's Internal Control Program, Finance Branch, Accounting Branch, and Marine Corps Non-Appropriated Funds Audit Service. He developed the Marine Corps audit remediation strategy and worked successfully across business lines and process owners to improve financial statement audit results during his tenure.

Mr. Koval joined the civil service from the private sector, where he supported the Marine Corps and Navy FIAR programs for over a decade as a contractor. He provided business consulting services in all aspects of accounting, audit, and internal controls, including information technology. Prior to his contract work with the DON, Mr. Koval managed internal audit contractor teams at a civilian agency, helping components maintain unmodified audit opinions through the implementation of internal controls, the use of data analytics to quickly identify and resolve deficiencies, and a robust testing and assessment program to meet Office of Management and Budget Circular A-123 objectives. Mr. Koval began his career as an Operational Risk Consultant for a Big Five accounting firm, supporting internal control risk assessments, financial statement audits, and SAS-70 audits for private sector entities in the manufacturing, banking, and hospitality industries.

Mr. Koval is a Certified Information Systems Auditor and graduated with honors from Muhlenberg College with a B.A. in Accounting and a B.A. in Economics. He received a DON Superior Civilian Service Award (2021), Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service (2024), and the DON Distinguished Civilian Service Award (2024).

Ms. Moaney is the Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ms. Moaney leads the Chief Financial Office in “all financial management activities relating to the programs and operations of the agency.”

She has responsibility for the National Finance Center (NFC) which is a Center of Excellence and a Human Resources Center of Excellence for the Federal Government. Ms. Moaney serves as the comptroller for the USDA Working Capital Fund (WCF) and Shared Cost programs (SCPs) which includes formulating the $1B WCF budget and $33M SCP budget annually.

Ms. Moaney has direct management of approximately 1,300 of employees located at the Washington D.C headquarters and National Finance Center in New Orleans, LA, Fort Worth, TX, and Kansas City, MO. The USDA is one of the largest civilian agencies in the federal government with over 100,000 employees and over one-third of the non-taxable debt. The financial organization of the agency accounts for over $150 billion in program level funds and over $100 billion in loans. These programs support the areas of forestry and firefighting, farm commodity, food safety, agriculture development, foreign agriculture trade, domestic and foreign nutrition services, rural development, and agriculture research.

Ms. Moaney has over 30 years developing and maintaining financial standards at the USDA as the Deputy CFO and prior to that, the Associate CFO for Financial Policy and Planning (ACFO-FPP) and other Federal organizations. She has a proven record of leading organizational initiatives which includes the implementation of financial and administrative systems, budget formulation and execution, acquisitions, audit, risk management, shared services, policy development and financial operations support.

William F. (Bill) Moore served as the Defense Commissary Agency’s Director and Chief Executive Officer from August 3, 2020, until his retirement March 31, 2024 . As DeCA’s Director and CEO, Mr. Moore oversaw the operations of a global agency, with annual sales approaching $5 billion that employs more than 13,000 people at nearly 240 commissaries.

Son of an Army combat veteran, non-commissioned officer, Mr. Moore was appointed to the Senior Executive Service (SES) in October 2006. His prior assignment was the HQDA Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G4 (Tier 3), where he was responsible for Army logistics plans, policy and programs. In this role, he served as the Army's leading expert and foremost authority on logistics.

Previously, he served as the Deputy Chief of staff G-1/4 (Personnel, Logistics and Engineering), U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command (SES Tier 2). In this capacity, he was responsible for human resources, logistics, engineering, and integration of base support programs, while administering diversity, medical, safety, and history functions for a 4-Star global command.

Prior to that role, he served as the deputy to the Commanding General of the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command & Fort Lee (SES Tier 2), Virginia, where he oversaw a 5,000-person work force across 10 states with a combined budget of more than $350 million, leading Army sustainment capabilities development, along with the annual training and leader development of more than 180,000 soldiers, other service members and civilians.

In all, Mr. Moore’s experience spans more than 37 years serving our military and their families.

EDUCATION

• 2007-2019, Various senior executive courses at Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina
• 2001, Master of Science, National Resource Strategy, National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C.
• 1992, Master of Science, Management, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Fla.
• 1982, Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY

• 2016 - August 2020, Deputy Chief of Staff, G4, Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.
• 2015 - 2016, Deputy Chief of Staff, G1/4 (Personnel, Logistics & Engineering), U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis, Va.
• 2006 - 2015, Deputy to the Commanding General, Army’s Combined Arms Support Command & Fort Lee, Fort Lee, Va.
• 1983 - 2006, Various engineering, logistics and leadership positions in the Headquarters, Department of the Army, the U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command, and the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command.

Mr. Adarryl M. Roberts was appointed to serve as the Director, DLA Information Operations (J6), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) on August 2, 2023.

As the Director, J6, Mr. Roberts is the DLA Chief Information Officer (CIO), responsible for coordinating and integrating policies, guidelines, procedures, and activities to ensure effective, efficient, and economical information technology (IT) planning, acquisition, and management in support of DLA and the Department of Defense (DOD) missions and objectives. He is responsible for the management and supervision of all DLA IT policies and planning, and investment management to include cyber resilience, technical architecture and infrastructure, emerging technology, research and development, data management, and IT acquisition program management throughout the Agency and DOD. 

DLA is the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)’s logistics combat support agency, providing worldwide logistics support for the material and personnel readiness and sustainment of the Military Departments and the Unified Combatant Commands under conditions of peace and war. It also provides logistics support to other DOD components and certain Federal agencies, foreign governments, international organizations, and others as authorized. 

Prior to his selection as CIO, Mr. Roberts was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and selected as the Program Executive Officer (PEO) DLA on November 4, 2019. 

As the PEO, Mr. Roberts was instrumental in leading DLA’s Digital Business Transformation efforts to modernize, transform, and fundamentally change the way DLA provides value to our customers. He was the corporate provider of acquisition management services and provided overall direction and guidance for the development, acquisition, testing, systems integration, product improvement, and fielding for assigned DLA programs on behalf of DOD wide sponsors. 

Before being appointed as the PEO, Mr. Roberts served as the Portfolio Manager, Enterprise Sourcing, Medical, and Contingency (ESMC), DLA Information Operations, Program Executive Office responsible for oversight and acquisition expertise across the life cycle in support of the DOD and DLA user communities for 16 programs and 35 applications. Prior to his tenure as the ESMC Portfolio Manager, Mr. Roberts held a variety of increasingly responsible positions at DLA, including Director of the Business Systems Center of Excellence (BSCoE) working with Industry IT Business System partners within DOD to look at innovative ways to develop and sustain business systems, and Program Manager of Wide Area Workflow (WAWF). 

After graduating from Fayetteville State University, Mr. Roberts enlisted in the United States Air Force where he served as the equivalent to a civilian Contracting Officer for the 81st Contracting Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base. Upon separation from the Air Force, Mr. Roberts worked as a Functional Analyst Lead for contract writing at CACI, Inc. He then entered Federal service as a Procurement Analyst with Army Business Center for Acquisition Systems before transferring to the Business Transformation Agency in 2008 serving as DOD agency lead for Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation, and Deputy Program Manager of Federal Business Opportunities, and later Program Manager of WAWF. 

Mr. Roberts holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Management from Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC and he is DAU certified at level three in Contracting. Mr. Roberts awards include the Air Force Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Outstanding Unit Ribbon, and Air Force Squadron/Group Company Grade Officer of the Year.

Ms. Lara Sayer, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Financial Management and Comptroller, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. She oversees the budgeting, cost estimating and financial operations of over $250 billion in annual resources that support Department of the Air Force priorities, in accordance with Congressional, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of the Air Force direction. Additionally, she is responsible for the professional development of over 13,000 military and civilian members of the Air Force financial management community.

Ms. Sayer began her federal career as a DAF Palace Acquire intern. She has more than 27 years of acquisition and financial management experience and has held positions of increased responsibility in the areas of budget execution and formulation, resource management and program control supporting the Air Force, Navy and United States Special Operations Command. She has served as the Comptroller for Commander, Navy Installations Command and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, as the Comptroller for the Office of Naval Research, and as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for USSOCOM. Additionally, she served as Executive Director of the bipartisan legislative commission on PPBE Reform. Her experience spans several appropriations and functional areas, including budget, earned value management, cost and acquisition. Prior to her current assignment, Ms. Sayer was the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Congressional Budget and Appropriations Liaison, where she was the department’s primary liaison to congressional members and staff serving on the House and Senate Appropriations and Budget Committees.

Patrick Hughes is a retired active-duty Air Force officer and has spent 15 years in the Government contracting industry. During his Air Force career, he held a number of operational and contracting leadership assignments to include NATO, DCMA, US European Command, and the National Reconnaissance Office. As a defense contractor, Patrick supported numerous agencies across the federal enterprise and was the Director of Contracting at The MITRE Corporation where he was responsible for all buy/sell activity. Patrick holds a DAWIA Level III Certification in Contracting and is currently the Senior Director, Industry Advisory-Public Sector, for Icertis--a GenAI-enabled contract intelligence platform.

Passionate, dynamic, inspiring, and coach of Duke University men’s basketball team who led Team USA to three Olympic gold medals, Mike Krzyzewski (known by fans as Coach K) is a master motivator – not only of teams, but of individuals and organizations, spurring them on to succeed beyond even their own expectations.

A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball, FIBA, National Collegiate Basketball, and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Halls of Fame, Coach K shows audiences how they, too, can compile winning numbers in both their professional and personal lives. Perhaps the most accomplished basketball coach in history, Coach K’s journey in the sport was unparalleled in many ways as he accumulated the following career milestones:

• Most NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Victories (1,202)
• Most Final Fours (13; five NCAA Championships, second all-time)
• Most Decades with Final Four Appearances (five; 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s)
• Most Olympic Gold Medals as a Head Coach (3; 2008, 2012, and 2016)
• Most World Championship Gold Medals as a Head Coach (2; 2010 and 2014)
• Most NCAA Tournament Victories (101)
• Most NCAA Tournament Appearances by a Coach (36)
• Most Games as No. 1 Team in the Country by a Coach (254)
• Most Weeks as No. 1 Team in the Country by a Coach (127)
• Most Seasons as No. 1 Team in the Country by a Coach (21)
• Most Atlantic Coast Conference Victories (535)
• Most ACC Tournament Championships (15)
• Most NBA Draft No. 1 Selections (4)
• Most NBA Draft Lottery Selections (29)
• Most NBA Draft First Round Selections (46)
• Most NBA Draft Selections (73)

Coach K maps out a clear game plan for achieving success—motivating, leading, and providing powerful strategies for building confidence, trust, communication and teamwork. Like any elite coach, he scouts your organization to discover how to best inspire and renew your people. He is the author of two New York Times best-sellers including Beyond Basketball: Coach K’s Keywords for Success. His most recent book is The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team.

A 12-time National Coach of the Year, Sports Illustrated named Krzyzewski its Sportsman of the Year in 2011. Krzyzewski has been honored by USA Basketball seven times as the recipient or co-recipient of the USA Basketball National Coach of the Year Award. He is the only men’s coach to have won gold medals at the Olympics and the FIBA World Cup, while also possessing at least one NCAA Championship (he has five).

In addition to being a Co-Founder of the Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics, Krzyzewski serves as a Professor of the Practice of Leadership at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke. The Coach K Center at Duke has directly influenced the leadership development of more than 6,500 MBA students and executives since 2004. The Board Chair of the Emily Krzyzewski Center in Durham, N.C., Krzyzewski founded the center that has served more than 7,500 students since its inception in 2006.

Coach K has been on the Board of Directors at the V Foundation since the beginning in 1993. Annually in Napa Valley, he and his wife Mickie host the V Foundation Wine Celebration, an event that has raised tens of millions of dollars in the fight against cancer.

Alden Mills is on a mission to help 100 million people Be Unstoppable. With more than 40 years of experience failing and succeeding in a vast array of different environments from sports, military, and business to nonprofits and community action groups, he learned success is driven by one vital factor – leadership – of oneself and others.

The first person Alden learned to lead was himself. As a weak child with asthma, doctors insisted he limit physical activity and avoid sports. Instead, with the mindset instilled in him by his mother that “no one defines what you can and can’t do, but you,” he went on to become a National Collegiate Champion rower, earning Gold and Silver medals at the Olympic Festival, and a Navy SEAL who was top of his class. From a young age he amassed notebooks of invention drawings. One of those ideas became the wildly popular Perfect Pushup and today he holds over 40 patents worldwide.

As Alden achieved personal successes, he repeatedly grew into leadership positions. He became captain of his collegiate rowing team, was promoted three times to Navy SEAL platoon commander, and ranked #1 platoon commander each time. He turned a single invention into a global fitness powerhouse in over 70 countries with multiple products, leading Perfect Fitness to become the fastest-growing consumer product company in the country, with over $95 million in sales in just three years. He has since founded and served on multiple companies’ boards in retail hard goods, consumable products, and service-based businesses.

Along the way, Alden cultivated a methodology - Unstoppable Leadership – that develops people into congruent and authentic leaders who successfully build teams and create cultures that are unstoppable regardless of the situation, industry, or environment.

Today Alden Mills is known as one of the leading business thinkers in America and spends his time helping others learn and implement the three levels of Unstoppable Leadership. He is the bestselling author of Unstoppable Mindset, Unstoppable Teams, and Be Unstoppable. Through speaking, coaching, writing, board advisory, and teaching, Alden helps people acquire the mindset, tools, and actions required to accomplish more than they thought was possible.

Will is a senior director and currently lead the Global ERP organization for Northrop Grumman

Will has been with Northrop Grumman for 18 years where he recently led a successful go live of the S/4 transformation project that include business process transformation, data transformation and the technical upgrade from ECC to S/4.  

Before joining Northrop Grumman, Will was a consultant for 11 years with both Accenture and Deloitte. 

Will holds a master of science degree from University of Minnesota at Twin Cities and a bachelor of science degree from Iowa State University. Both are in Industrial Engineering.

Michalene is a Director in Accenture’s internal Global IT organization where she leads the product and capability strategy for Finance and Procurement Technology. In this role, Michalene collaborates across Global IT and Accenture Finance to create a value-led approach to transformation. She was the solution architect for Accenture’s internal journey to SAP S/4HANA. She is based in Washington, DC and holds a BS from Georgetown University.

Mr. Laird serves as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Naval Supply Systems
Command (NAVSUP). As such, he is responsible for the budgeting, execution,
and solvency of a $9.5B Navy Working Capital Fund, as well as another ~$2.2B
in Appropriated Funds. He is also the Senior Accountable Officer (SAO) for
ensuring the auditability of NAVSUP’s ~$46B inventory of supply material.
Prior to this role, Mr. Laird was NAVSUP’s Chief Information Officer (CIO). In
that position, he served as the Navy’s lead for supply chain automation,
technology exploitation, data analytics, and cyber protection. He provided
authoritative top-level managerial and technical advice to Navy’s senior
executives on all Information Technology (IT) matters. He also led IT-related
strategic planning, investment control, workforce shaping, and resource
management efforts.

Prior to NAVSUP, Mr. Laird was a member of the Defense Logistics Agency
(DLA) where he served as the organization’s principal advisor for integrating
long-range Storage & Distribution capabilities into Combatant Command (CCMD)
and Military Service plans. He led coordination efforts across CCMD staffs and
developed logistics support annexes, enabling DLA operations across all phases
of full spectrum operations.

Mr. Laird also spent more than a decade with the United States Army. As a
commissioned officer, he served in both command and staff roles and led
multiple units through DoD Transformation initiatives. He oversaw the training,
readiness, deployment, safety, and overall well-being of all personnel under his
command.

Mr. Laird earned an MBA in 2005 and holds both Project Management
Professional (PMP) and Six Sigma Black-Belt certificates. He also holds DAWIA
certifications in Life Cycle Logistics, Program Management, and Information
Technology. He received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 2016.

Susan Wedge is the IBM Consulting Managing Partner for the U.S. Public & Federal Market leading a team of over 4,000 IBMers across the U.S. Government, Education, Life Sciences, and Healthcare industries. She has dedicated her career to serving her clients and the people they serve.

Ms. Wedge started her career as a consulting intern at American Management Systems where she transformed Federal clients’ financial operations with software solutions. Since joining IBM in 2002, she has expanded her focus, leading numerous teams in transforming of all aspects of her clients’ business.

Prior to her current role, she led IBM’s Federal Civilian, Health, and Defense portfolio where she was responsible for bringing innovative capabilities that deliver improved experiences and mission outcomes for the American citizen. She also previously led IBM’s Federal Strategy, Experience, and Process Transformation growth platforms where she oversaw the company’s market-specific offerings and talent across eleven practice areas including digital strategy, interactive experience, artificial intelligence, analytics, and intelligent automation.

Ms. Wedge, a 2018 Fed100 winner, is eminent across the industry authoring blogs and speaking at industry forums. She holds a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia and lives in Virginia with her husband and two children.

As National Vice President of SAP NS2’s RISE, platform, AI and data cloud portfolio, Hunter Downey is responsible for developing and driving AI and cloud strategies for customers with advanced security requirements. He leads a team of experts focused on deploying private and multi-tenant cloud solutions, helping Public Sector customers adopt the SAP NS2 Cloud Solutions as a catalyst for enterprise transformation. 

Since joining SAP in 2007, Hunter has overseen the delivery of ERP, Business Intelligence, HANA, AI and cloud architecture in collaboration with cloud hyperscalers (Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform). Hunter helps customers reimagine their operating models, accelerate cloud adoption, and drive value through continuous reinvention.

Through a collective of consultancy roles in application and technology areas, Hunter has over 24 years of experience working with Public Sector customers on a variety of solution deployments and is a recognized guest speaker at government and industry events.

Hunter holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government from Miami University. He is married to his wife Preethy Downey and they have two kids, Nisha (17) and Rohan (15).  They have lived in Northern Virginia since 2001. 

Bill Greeves is an Industry Advisor at SAP, supporting state and local government, education, and nonprofit clients in modernizing complex systems and transforming business operations. He brings over 20 years of public sector technology leadership experience, including eight years as CIO, Innovation Officer, and Deputy County Manager for Wake County, North Carolina. Recognized for his innovative leadership by Government Technology and Public CIO magazines, he is also co-author of the Social Media in the Public Sector Field Guide.

Hi, I’m Travis Hoadley, an Industry Advisor for Federal Civilian and Defense, based in Washington, D.C.  For over 15 years, I’ve led teams supporting federal workforces of over 50,000 employees and delivering complex human capital transformations. 

Today, I combine my industry expertise with SAP technology solutions to help federal clients modernize their business operations and address critical talent management challenges. 

If you’d like to learn more about how we might help you and your organization, please connect with me, and let’s talk.

Michele has worked at SAP twice since 2014, she brings over 25 years of regulated industries technology leadership to SAP in her role as VP of Industry Advisory for Regulated Industries.

Michele's experience includes serving as Director of Digital Strategy for Salesforce, Innovation Director for KSM Consulting, Industry Value Advisor for SAP, Deputy City Manager and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Arvada, Colorado. 

As Arvada CIO and through amazing staff, the City of Arvada was recognized year-after-year as a top ten digital city. Michele was named a Top 25 Doer Dreamer and Driver by GovTech Magazine and was recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change for Local Innovation. 

Michele has visited 45 out of the 50 US state capitals and plans to get to all 50. She earned a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration from Fort Lewis College with undergraduate studies in Mathematics at Colorado State University.  

When not working Michele enjoys living in Colorado and spending time with her family and her rescue horses.

Steve Risseeuw is SAP’s National Vice President for the State, Local, Education, and Healthcare business sectors supporting customers in the United States.  In this role, he is responsible for the breadth of SAP commercial, public sector, education, and healthcare-oriented software and cloud solutions.  Steve was named to this position in January 2022 after leading SAP’s Defense business and then supporting State, Local, and Education customers for several years.   Before moving into sales leadership at SAP, Steve spent several years leading SAP’s United States Army team.

With a focus on strategy, sales, and business development, Steve ensures resources from across the company are invested and aligned to ensure SAP delivers on its purpose of helping the world run better and improving people's lives.  The special customers he supports have a unique orientation - taking care of citizens/residents, students, and patients.

Prior to joining SAP, Steve spent eight years at Oracle, where he was primarily responsible for building the company’s application and technology business within the U.S. Air Force.  After Oracle, he spent 3 years at a small biometric start-up supporting the Department of Homeland Security.

Steve has more than 25 years of IT industry experience, focused on Defense, Public Security, Civil Agencies, and most recently State & Local and Higher Education.  He is a graduate of Lehigh University and holds an MBA from the University of Oklahoma.  He served 4 years in the United States Air Force, where he specialized in jet engine overhaul and logistics. 

He is the proud father of three kids (two boys and one girl) and lives with his wife Regina in Northern Virginia.

Leslie Casson Stevens has been engaged in government financial management for over 30 years. As an auditor, she led the audits of large local government organizations and publicly traded corporations. She spent nearly a decade implementing financial management systems at several US Federal government agencies and consulting on organizational and financial management challenges. Leslie was responsible for enterprise-wide accounting and financial reporting operations and financial management systems while serving as the Comptroller of the Smithsonian Institution.

Leslie joined SAP in 1998, on the team that extended the SAP core financial management functionality to accommodate the requirements of US Federal government accounting and reporting. Today, she is SAP’s Industry Executive Advisor for the US Federal market.

Dr. Tom Tibbett is Principal AI Strategy Advisor at SAP, guiding organizations toward secure, impactful AI at scale.  He holds a PhD in Psychological & Brain Sciences from Texas A&M University, focusing on Applied Statistics.  As a former Data Science for Social Good Fellow, Tom advocates for tactical-practical uses of AI—making organizations efficient and improving people’s lives.

With a background as a professor, Tom has developed AI courses, mentored brilliant minds, and published extensively across scientific fields.  He has combined that knowledge with SAP expertise for a decade, tackling complexities for regulated customers.  Tom’s focus is empowering public servants on AI in an accessible way that everyone can understand.