Speakers

Congressman Bill Foster is a scientist and businessman representing the 11th Congressional District of Illinois, a position he’s held since 2013. He also represented the 14th Congressional District of Illinois from 2008 to 2011. He is the only PhD physicist in Congress. Bill serves on the House Financial Services Committee and Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Steven Boberski serves as Genesys Public Sector CTO.  He brings over two decades of experience designing, delivering and selling large enterprise VoIP, unified communications and contact center solutions to help government agencies create superior engagement with constituents and employees.

Serving as the Executive Director, Leah McGrath has been involved with GovRAMP since its formation. In 2020, she spent countless hours working alongside Steering Committee members to develop GovRAMP’s governance and policy framework. Prior to her work with GovRAMP, McGrath held leadership positions in both the public and private sector, including serving as the first deputy mayor of the City of Fishers, Indiana. During her tenure, Fishers transformed from a town into a smart, vibrant, entrepreneurial city and was named the #1 Best Place to Live in America in 2017 by Money magazine. As deputy mayor, she helped lead modernization efforts and spearheaded city-wide efforts to develop the city’s first long-range, comprehensive plan. McGrath’s 20-year career has been focused on working to improve government outcomes at the state and local level, helping shepherd government into the digital age securely and effectively for the citizens it serves.

Dr. Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) and co-editor of the TechTank blog and podcast at the Brookings Institution, which is a global think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. She is also the founder of the AI Equity Lab, which focuses on convening experts from government, civil society, academia, and industry to develop purposeful, pragmatic, and inclusive solutions and policies. Dr. Turner Lee's research encompasses equitable access to technology across the U.S. and abroad. Her portfolio also includes leading research and public policy work focused on the identification and mitigation of online biases in artificial intelligence systems. She is the author of the book, Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass (Brookings Press, 2024), and has appeared throughout various news media, testified before Congress and international global governance bodies, and written extensively on tech and telecom issues. In 2022, she was recognized for distinguished career contributions by the American Sociological Association at the annual conference. She has her B.A. from Colgate University, and her Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Chris Teale is the managing editor for Route Fifty, where he covers state and local government technology.