Speakers

For more than 20 years, Dr. Gregory M. Williams has worked as a public servant for federal and state government as a cybersecurity practitioner and educator. Dr. Williams is a Certified Chief Information Security Officer(C-CISO), Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), Scrum Master, Ph.D. in Information Technology, and a postgraduate in Cloud Computing. Dr. Williams has demonstrated ability to establish large information security programs and as recent as October 2021, he was recognized as Statescoop’s Cybersecurity Leader of the Year for creating and implementing an enterprise risk management (ERM) framework for the state of Colorado.

Dr. Williams is a leading authority on the intersection of Health IT and Cybersecurity and published his dissertation on the adoption of Electronic Health Records and he is currently the CEO of WillFortify LLC and Cybersecurity Professor at Metropolitan State University.

As a former Director of Security Risk and Compliance and Identity Access Management, Dr. Williams has worked with industry and government to map out opportunities for government and private industries Cyber Security strategies. Dr. Williams is also a part of the cybersecurity “whole of state” effort an InfraGard focusing on securing the nation.

Sean Frazier has worked in cybersecurity in the public and private sector for over 20 years including projects in the DOD, IC and civilian agencies such as DHS, DISA and many others. Sean has also worked with many brand name F500 customers on security initiatives ranging from mobile security, cloud security and all things in between. Sean also enjoys music, cars, technology history and good food. Really good food.

Alisha Powell Gillis is the senior editor at Route Fifty where she is responsible for programming live and online events content, moderating panel discussions and soliciting, editing and writing analytical pieces. Before joining Route Fifty, Alisha was the director for community impact at the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) where she worked to connect urban public libraries to critical issues in state and local government and led event programming. Prior to ULC, Alisha served the nation's governors for nearly a decade at the National Governors Association where she specialized in homeland security, emergency management and cybersecurity issues. Alisha holds a master's degree in global security studies from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Hofstra University.

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.