Speakers

Doug Levin is co-founder and national director of the K12 Security Information eXchange (K12 SIX), a national non-profit dedicated solely to helping schools protect themselves from emerging cybersecurity threats. He also is the creator of the K-12 Cyber Incident Map, the most comprehensive database of publicly-disclosed cybersecurity incidents in K-12 education, which serves as the foundation for the ‘State of K-12 Cybersecurity Year in Review’ annual report series. He has been engaged in education and technology policy issues for over two decades – in a variety of roles – most prominently in helping to develop and implement the nation’s first education technology plan and strategy in 1996 under President Clinton, as well as its subsequent updates in 2000 and again in 2004 (under President Bush). He also consulted on the development of the 2016 plan (under President Obama). From 2009-15, he served as executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). Previously, Mr. Levin held positions with the American Institutes for Research, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Bhargav is an Assistant Superintendent for Compliance and Information Systems at
Monroe-Woodbury Central School District.

Bhargav provides leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust,
and secure information technology environment throughout the school district. He has
been a pioneer educational technology leader for over 22 years, working closely with
classroom teachers, principals and district administrators. Bhargav strives to achieve
best technology infusion into teaching and learning using state of the art infrastructure.
His expertise in the field of network infrastructure, cyber security, district leadership and
supporting students and staff has been showcased through his progressive career. Prior
to joining Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, Bhargav was a director of
technology for Orange-Ulster BOCES supporting network infrastructure for 25 school
districts. Bhargav completed his doctorate in educational leadership at Fordham
University in 2020. He has earned Master of Arts in Educational Leadership, Master of
Science in Computer Engineering, Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS:
● Panelist – Ransomware in Education, April 2022
● Thwarted Ransomware Attacks: Case Study - Education Next Article, January 2022
● TEDx (TED MasterClass) Speaker – Ransomware and Leadership – NYSCATE, November 2021
● Best Practices for Stopping Ransomware Attacks – Ed Week Article, June 2021
● Panelist – Cybersecurity Trends in Education, April 2021

Co-founder and CTO of Cofense, Aaron has more than 20 years of cybersecurity and senior management leadership. His prior experience includes senior security and consulting roles at McAfee Foundstone, Lucent, and Time Warner Cable.

Aaron pioneered the best practice of phishing simulations, now embraced by security teams in every major industry. He has driven research and development for the Cofense phishing defense platform. Under his guidance, Cofense has become the global leader in intelligent phishing defense, instructing millions of end users to recognize and report phishing threats and providing security operations teams with actionable phishing intelligence. He is named as an inventor on 19 granted US patents, as well as other pending US and international patent applications.

Aaron has been a featured speaker at RSA Conference, Black Hat, DefCon, SecTor and other major industry events. His expert opinion is sought by national media outlets and he has been a guest lecturer for the Information Security Technology and Management graduate program at Carnegie Mellon University and has mentored over 2500 students in various Ultimate Hackingtm courses.

He serves on the Forbes Technology Council, board of directors for ThreatQuotient and was named a 2017 and 2021 Tech Titan by the Washingtonian, and a CTO of the Year in the 2018 Info Security PG Global Excellence Awards. Under his leadership, Cofense has been recognized with several Cybersecurity excellence awards in 2019, Gartner Peer insights choice in 2018 and 2019, and a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader 2017 and 2018. Also, in 2018 Cofense solutions was honored as a CSO Best Security Software, and a SC Magazine Award Winner, 2016 and 2017.

Fadi is an IT executive with a 20+ years track record of digital transformation, leadership, and partnership building. Fadi served as the CIO for The City of Minneapolis, as well as the CIO for Minneapolis Public Schools. Prior to that, Fadi Served as the Lead Technology Liaison between the US Army and the new Iraqi government in Baghdad, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom II 2003-2005. Fadi offers a unique combination of strategic vision, wealth of knowledge and experience in local government IT.

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.