Speakers

Taka is the first Chief Data Scientist and the Director of Innovation Lab appointed by the Comptroller General of the United States for the Government Accountability Office to help GAO adapt to the consequences of web 3.0 technologies and beyond. The mission of the Innovation Lab is to better understand inner workings of machine learning techniques, cloud services, zero trust controls, blockchains, edge devices, and other integrated cyber-physical capabilities. Taka is leading the exploration and experimentation of emerging technologies as a necessary and critical foresight function.

Taka is a current member of the federal Senior Executive Services and has over 23 years of consistent track record on delivering technology innovations sustainably and at scale by combining data science with IT competencies. He is passionate about fostering a data centricity mindset as a catalyst to address complex policy, regulatory, risk, operational, and business intelligence challenges.

Taka is natively fluent in both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, he is also a serious classical chamber musician and a competitive tennis player.

Guy Cavallo is the CIO for the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM). There he directs the agency’s enterprise IT services, managing day-to-day activities and developing the agency’s IT strategic plans and modernization efforts.

Guy previously served as Deputy CIO at the US Small Business Administration (SBA). There he created a cloud-based solution to automate the distribution of over $450B to small businesses and employees under the CARES Act and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs. His SBA efforts earned him a Federal 100 Award and FedScoop 50 Award (twice) for Federal IT Leadership.

Prior to returning to the federal government Guy served as Senior Government Advisor at Microsoft. There he assisted public sector entities in modernizing the delivery of citizen services. In his largest project he was National Co-Lead of Microsoft’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act solution for managing the new grant program.

Guy earned a BA degree from the University of Michigan.

Amiad "Adam" Grandt-Nesher is an experienced enterprise leader with a proven track record of bringing about technological change to meet organizational objectives. Grandt has over 20 years of experience leading organizations in the financial and public sectors. Grandt is currently acting as the Executive Director of the Centers of Excellence. In this role, Grandt leads a team of senior experts, enabling technological and organizational growth across the federal government. Before joining the Centers, Grandt led Architecture and development teams across the financial industry, where he led the development of global Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings. Throughout his career, Grandt has been active in the fight against human trafficking and internet crimes against children. He has established and supported several NGOs that partnered with federal and local law enforcement agencies to further the cause.

Chris Hessman is an IT Specialist and Cloud Engineer at GSA’s Information Technology Category (ITC) and the lead engineer of the cloud-based ITC Solutions Laboratory. He has been in IT for over 25 years serving as CIO and other lead technical positions across the industry. Chris has been working exclusively in cloud engineering and network design for the last 10 years. A native of PG County, Chris got his start in IT at NIH through their IT internship program, while he completed his studies at St. Bonaventure University.

Pritha Mehra was named chief information officer (CIO) and executive vice president in November 2020, a role she had acted in since August 2020.  She reports to the Postmaster General and chief executive officer.

As CIO, Mehra oversees one of the world’s largest technology infrastructures with five national deployment and solution centers, 32,000 network locations, 20,000 servers and more than 930 applications on more than 180,000 devices—processing more than 110 petabytes of data per year.  She drives secure innovative capabilities in support of the Postal Service’s mission to be the nation’s preferred delivery service.

Pritha is a thought leader on digital transformations and is focused on modernizing the USPS ecosystems, platforms, and network to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive market environment, overseeing a network that supports 650,000 employees and the delivery of 127 billion mail pieces a year.  

Before being named CIO, Mehra served as vice president of Information Technology (IT), where she pivoted the 1,800-person IT group to operate at scale through cloud-smart migration, transition to an agile framework, and secure the development pipeline for more than 900 applications.  She also served as vice president, Mail Entry and Payment Technology, where she led innovations for business customers that captured more than $40 billion in annual revenue and over $200 million in annual revenue shortage and savings.

Mehra has been honored with numerous awards, including USPS recognition for superior achievement and the Postmaster General Award.  She was named Top Boss in IT by FedScoop in 2021 and 2022.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University.  Mehra completed the Senior Executive Assessment and Development Center Program. She is a Lean Six Sigma Executive Green Belt.

Brian Merrick joined the Department of State in 2008 working for the Bureau of Information Resource Management as the Deputy Manager for the IT Cost Center Working Capital Fund. During his career he has held leadership positions as Deputy Executive Director for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and as Director of the Office of Digital in the Bureau of International Information Programs. Additionally, he was Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Foreign Operations in the Bureau of Information Resource Management supporting global IT infrastructure operations and subsequently moved on to become the Director of the Office of Innovative Infrastructure providing wireless and cloud-based products and services across the Department. Brian is currently the Director of the Cloud Program Management Office, working to modernize IT across the enterprise. 

Prior to joining the State Department, Brian was commissioned officer in the US Army in 1996 and in 2005, he left the Army to work with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a financial management consultant and an IT project manager. 

Brian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Wright State University and a Master of Science in Leadership from Olin Business School, Washington University. In addition, he holds certifications as a Project Management Professional, Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Information Security Manager, Federal IT Security Institute Manager, Certified Defense Financial Manager and Certified Government Financial Manager.

Joe Paiva is a retired entrepreneur, commercial CXO and Army reserve officer who served as a senior leader during both the Bush and Obama administrations.

Mr Paiva currently volunteers his time and efforts to nonprofit projects focused on DEI&A, Workforce Upskilling and Promoting Entrepreneurship.  Joe’s belief in the power of economic empowerment is so strong, he recently cofounded a $100M public benefit impact fund to support companies that employ members of underserved communities.

Tom Romanoff is the Director of the Technology Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Before working with BPC, he led IT initiatives for several US Federal agencies and advised executive leadership on the impact of new and emerging technologies on government operations. He worked for several years with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), publishing federal-wide IT/Cybersecurity policy and developing modernization initiatives. Before his work with the Federal government, Romanoff helped the United Nations Development Program modernize its global data collection and analytics system. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management and currently serves on their Alumni Board.

Jacque Rowden is the Assistant Director, IT Operations (Technical Reliability) for the City of Pittsburgh in the Department of Innovation and Performance, where she manages the technology – infrastructure and endpoint – that supports the employees of the City. She holds a B.S. in Biology and will earn an MBA this summer of 2023.

Chad has spent the last 15+ years developing and delivering mission-focused IT solutions across multiple Federal agencies—including leading digital transformation and customer experience efforts.

Prior to joining NetImpact, Chad served as the Chief of the Information Solutions Service Delivery and Operations Branch for the USDA Farm Production and Conservation Mission Area’s (FPAC) Business Center. He was responsible for development and operations for all information systems that support the FPAC mission. Chad also led the farmers.gov effort—the leading edge of USDA’s digital transformation work to meet Secretary Perdue’s challenge for USDA to be the “most efficient, most effective, and most customer-focused” agency in the Federal Government.

Chad also served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Risk Management Agency from June 2011 to March 2018. Prior to his service at USDA, Chad spent over 18 years of active duty and civilian service with the United States Navy in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Directorate, or Naval Reactors.

Prior to his transition to IT, Chad served as Deputy Program Manager for the design and construction of the USS GEORGE H. W. BUSH (CVN 77) and USS GERALD R. FORD (CVN 78) aircraft carrier propulsion plants. Chad received his Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Virginia and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Michael serves as Division Vice President for the Public Sector Civilian Team. The team is focused on strategic growth for the Federal Civilian Agencies nationwide utilizing Verizon Business Group’s Wireline and Wireless product portfolio. The winning aspiration of the team is to deliver the most transformative solutions; built on the nation’s most reliable and secure networks; that modernize and safeguard critical infrastructure and enable those in public service to achieve their missions.

Prior to this role, Michael served as lead for the Wireless Solutions Sales Team in Verizon Partner Solutions (VPS). He led a team of highly motivated sales professionals that worked collaboratively with established wireless carriers build their next generation 5G. He also created and served as sales lead for the VPS Business Development (BD) team.  The BD team was commissioned to better enable partners to sell more, grow new partnerships, and develop new paths to market with VPS.

Michael was also a Master Black Belt (MBB) in the Verizon’s Business Transformation Team. He had overall responsibility for Lean Six Sigma process improvements and Business Transformation for the VBG Wholesale organization. His team delivered both hard and soft revenue benefits to the bottom line.   Michael managed a diverse project portfolio across sales, marketing and operations. He led a team of Black Belts that utilized a time-tested method for improving speed and quality by removing waste, streamlining processes, reducing variances, and eliminating defects.

Michael has 23 years of service with Verizon and has held a variety of roles in sales, business development, marketing, lean six sigma, and product management.  His diverse experiences have presented him the opportunity to work with cross functional partners in operations, network, regulatory, legal, sales, product management, corporate strategy, and finance. Michael leverages those diverse cross functional partnerships internally to effectively interface externally with many customer contacts from Technicians to C-Levels. Michael truly believes that we are “All Better by Working Together”.

Michael interned with Verizon through the INROADS program and received his degree in Economics from Princeton University.  He resides with his wife and four children in Davidsonville, Maryland.

Fola Adeleke-Adedoyin is a Director and Intelligent Cloud Specialist for Microsoft Federal Civilian organizations. He has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry as a digital transformation leader. He enables mission impact, customer satisfaction, and strategic partnerships with federal agencies & tribal nations. He also oversees technology delivery of strategic initiatives involving sovereign cloud capabilities, modern application development practices, and AI infused applications.

Fola has received several awards and recognitions for his outstanding performance and contributions to Microsoft. In 2022, he was part of the top 3% of the company that received the Gold Club awards for exemplifying individuals that contribute meaningfully to the overall success of Microsoft. He also led a team that won the company-wide hackathon event in 2010 and 2017, resulting in new product innovations for Microsoft.

Fola’s professional goal is to leverage his expertise in cloud computing, product innovation, and artificial intelligence to help federal agencies & tribal nations achieve their missions and objectives. He values integrity, excellence, and collaboration in his work. Fola holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Howard University in Washington D.C. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, traveling, and swimming.

Mark Anderson is an experienced leader in enterprise systems development, consulting, data architecture. With over 30 years of experience in strategy development, business development, change management, business transformation, technology development and execution. He has a demonstrated history of accomplishments in technology, consulting for both commercial and government (civil, finance, defense, homeland security) industries. 

Mark holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Information Technology from Virginia Tech. He resides in Virginia with his family.

Cameron Chehreh is Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group & General Manager of the Public Sector team.  In the GM role, Cameron will lead our go-to-market efforts across our US Public Sector business.  This includes US Federal civilian agencies, the Department of Defense & Intelligence community, defense contractors, and additional customers and partners.  Cameron will also lead our SLG and newly formed Defense and Intelligence Base sales team within our US Public Sector organization. 

Cameron is an industry veteran who humbly started his 25-year career implementing technology in a variety of companies ranging from start-ups to fortune 10 organizations.  He has held a variety of senior leadership roles within these organizations with an ethos of “mission first” which drives the success of the teams he has led.  He views leadership as a privilege and sees himself as a servant leader focused on people and the success of the team.  Cameron’s experience spans every facet of the industry from helping build the world’s first cloud computing company, USinternetworking in Annapolis, Maryland.  He has also previously held roles with General Dynamics IT. 

Cameron is a public speaker on information technology topics, including digital transformation, cloud computing, cyber security, service-oriented architecture, data center consolidation and optimization, and business topics covering strategic outsourcing, IT to business alignment, government markets, business strategy and operations, and organizational change. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Audio Engineering and Mass Communications from Middle Tennessee State University.  A former professional musician and trained audio engineer, Cameron loves music and spending time with his family.  He lives outside of Annapolis, Maryland with his wife Christine and daughters Camryn and Chelsea.  

Mr. Clarke Colombo is the Director of Solution Engineering at Oracle, and oversees a sales engineering team responsible for providing support to the U.S. Federal Government in the realms of cloud, licensing, and hardware sales. With a remarkable tenure spanning over three decades at Oracle, he has occupied various pivotal roles within the organization.

Mr. Colombo commenced his career in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technician, during which he was introduced to Oracle as a cryptologic programmer. His commitment to serving the U.S. intelligence community extends over 25 years, and he has been dedicated to supporting the broader U.S. government for nearly four decades. Mr. Colombo joined Oracle in the early 1990s when the company introduced geospatial data integration into its database. In his present capacity, Mr. Colombo's focus is directed towards Oracle's comprehensive suite of on-premises and cloud technologies.

For the past 27 years, Lauren Farese has been a dedicated member of Oracle, focusing on bringing Oracle technology to various public sector customers. She currently holds a prominent position as Group Vice President of Cloud Engineering for the Public Sector – SLED Sales organization, where she provides support to all State and Local governments and Higher Education institutions. Previously, she led the US Federal government and Canada public sector engineering teams.  Additionally, she plays a crucial role in supporting key Systems Integrators and partners who work with SLED Government customers.  Throughout her impressive career spanning 35 years, Lauren has been actively involved in planning, developing, and implementing technology solutions for a wide range of organizations, including government, utilities, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and commercial sectors.

Before joining Oracle, Lauren's experience was diverse, having served as a developer, trainer, senior consultant, and solution architect at esteemed companies such as Advanced Data Management, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard.

Lauren's passion for technology extends beyond her work at Oracle. She is an active member of the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture, AI/ML and Data Governance workgroups, contributing to the publication of several technology briefs on emerging technologies. Moreover, Lauren is a valued member of the Smart Cities Council, and she has presented and been a panelist on numerous Digital Government Technology Summits, Alliance and GovExec events on various topics, including Data Modernization, Cyber Security, SOA/Integration, Data Warehouse/Data Lakehouse, Data Management, Extending SaaS Applications, AI/ML for Government, Analytics for Education, Application and Data Center Modernization, and Cloud and Hybrid deployments.

Outside of her professional endeavors, Lauren resides in rural Hunterdon County, NJ, with her husband and rescued animals. She is deeply engaged in her church and community.  Currently, Lauren volunteers at the local food bank/thrift shop and actively supports animal rescue and adoption initiatives in her region. Her dedication to both her professional and charitable endeavors reflects her commitment to making a positive impact on society.

Raymond Holder is a global growth executive and innovation leader who has helped clients - across 90+ countries and four continents - use technology to transform their organizations and change lives. He currently serves as VP of Digital Growth for Maximus.

Ray spent a decade in Europe, where his work with healthcare leaders and foreign nationals in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Turkey and the UK led to three Military Healthcare Innovation awards.

Prior to Maximus, Ray served as Executive Strategist for US Federal at Amazon Web Services, where he built and led a strategic business development team to drive innovation and growth across the US Federal Healthcare, Sciences, Homeland Security and Civic Services portfolio.

Before Amazon, Ray was the Sales Leader for U.S. Public Sector Offerings at DXC Technology, a $25 Billion IT services firm, and Vice President, Business Development at Perspecta, a $4.3 Billion IT services company, where he led a $1 billion growth team to help clients across federal, state, and local government agencies. He ranked among the top 0.1% of customer-facing executives three years in a row.

Ray studied Architectural Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Computer Science at the State University of New York at Buffalo and was a guest lecturer for Healthcare Innovation at the Milken School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Ray is a Fellow of the American Council for Technology - Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC), a Professional of the Academy of Healthcare Management, and currently volunteers on the boards of Government, technology, and Veterans support organizations in the Washington, DC area.

Mickey Iqbal leads a global team of expert builders who are the Chief Technologists for their respective geography and customer segments in the AWS Worldwide Public Sector. Earlier, Mickey led the US Public Sector team as the AWS Chief Technologist for US Federal. Prior to joining AWS, Mickey was CEO of a digital health startup and AWS partner. Mickey was an IBM Fellow and Vice President responsible for designing and deploying hybrid cloud architectures for customers across the globe. Mickey has filed 40+ patents, co-authored 3 technical books, and multiple research and technical publications on topics including resilient and scalable architectures, green data centers, virtualization, software delivery, and hybrid cloud computing. Mickey is a recipient of the ‘2018 Asian American Engineer of the Year’ award from AAEOY.org

David has over 20+ years of experience selling security, data analytics, and IT Operations solutions. He spent most of his career helping nearly every Federal Civilian Agency worry less about securing their environments and more on achieving the mission in efficient and innovative ways. David most recently worked Splunk where he spend 3 years covering the Department of Homeland Security. He holds a CISSP and Splunk Architect level 2 certifications and many CSP certifications.

Frank Reyes is the Cloud Solutions Leader at Maximus, Technology and Consulting Services helping federal customers realize the value of cloud technologies to deliver mission outcomes. Previously, Frank was a Senior Manager for Customer Solutions at Amazon Web Services (AWS) responsible for public sector technology transformation programs focusing on secure computing while accelerating cloud adoption for its customers. Concurrently, he is a senior technologist for election security at The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU’s School of Law where he advises staff and election officials on technologies to conduct safe and secure elections.

Formerly, Frank was a Congressional Innovation Fellow who served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a technology policy advisor for the Committee on Homeland Security. In this role, he assisted members of Congress and their staff to better understand the technical aspects of cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, and innovation ecosystems.

Lastly, Frank previously served in the Department of the Navy, both as a civilian and on active duty.