Delegate, Virginia House of Delegates, Executive Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Privacy, Member, National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL)
Public Sector Sales Lead, OpenAI
Felipe Millon currently leads Government Sales at OpenAI, where he plays a pivotal role in driving the adoption of OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise Product and API across Federal, State, and Local Government sectors. His efforts are instrumental in integrating cutting-edge AI solutions within governmental operations, thereby enhancing efficiency and innovation.
Before joining OpenAI, Felipe worked for Amazon for 9 years most recently as the Senior Manager for the Housing Finance Business at Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this capacity, he led a dedicated team in supporting Government Sponsored Enterprises and US government housing agencies through their cloud transformation. He was also a founding member of the Public Sector Generative AI Task Force.
Felipe's rich background in technology and management also includes substantial roles at McMaster-Carr Supply Company and Lockheed Martin, where he worked in regional sales management, corporate development, venture capital, systems engineering, andprogram management. He holds an MBA from Duke University, where he was recognized as a Fuqua Scholar, in addition to a MS in Systems Engineering from the University of Florida and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Florida State University.
Fluent in English and Spanish, and conversational in Portuguese, Felipe is deeply passionate about leveraging technology to tackle complex challenges, generate value, and enhance life quality.
CIO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bill Jewell, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s chief information officer, leads the organization’s technology and information security programs. In this role, Jewell focuses on building, securing, and maintaining technology platforms and services that enable the Chamber to thrive.
Previously, Jewell served as chief information security officer and vice president of technology at the College Board. There he built and led an information security program designed to protect the data of over 100 million students, parents, and educators. Jewell oversaw security engineering and operations, architecture and policy, vulnerability management, application security, and cyber defense. He was also responsible for infrastructure engineering, workforce technologies, and corporate systems, including financial, customer relations, and human resources management applications. Earlier, he led the College Board’s data management and governance teams.
Jewell earned his undergraduate degree with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Arts with distinction from Georgetown University, and a CISO Certificate from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon. He graduated magna cum laude with a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Sr. Advisor and Branch Chief, Advanced Computing, U.S. Dept of Homeland Security
Dr. Amy Henninger serves as Senior Advisor for Advanced Computing (AC) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) S&T Technology Centers, providing strategic vision and leadership to programs and policy makers in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Modeling and Simulation (M&S), and Quantum Information Science.
Prior to joining DHS, Dr. Henninger’s work traversed the private/public defense sector space. In the public sector, she has served in several special term appointment technology leadership positions in the DoD and IC that, cumulatively, span the RDT&E space.
Dr. Henninger earned a PhD in Computer Engineering with emphasis and dissertation work in AI. She has taught undergraduate classes in computer science and graduate classes in AI, authored over 80 publications, and received multiple awards for her work.
Assistant CIO, Strategic Initiatives, Arlington County, VA
Holly Hartell has been employed by Arlington County Government since 2006. Holly started her career with the Arlington County as a consultant, where she led the Finance team for the County’s Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning implementation. She served as the Operations Manager for the system for 8 years before transitioning into her current role as the Department of Technology Service’s Assistant Chief Information Officer for Strategic Initiatives. In her current role, Holly is responsible for aligning technology investments with the strategic direction of County and needs of the public. Holly’s areas of focus include Strategic Portfolio Management, Digital Equity and Smart Community opportunities.
Former CTO, Stafford County, VA
Mike has over 30 years of information technology experience. He currently leads the smart technologies practice for Network for Future (NFF). From June 2016 through December 2022, Mike served as the Chief Technology Officer for Stafford County, Virginia. At Stafford Mike focused on broadband expansion and co-founded the first of its kind smart community testbed for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Virginia Smart Community testbed was launched in May 2021 and
utilizes smart city technology and a variety of IoT devices to demonstrate and validate a variety of use cases focused on public safety, the environment, and the community with the goal of improving the quality of life for residents and visitors.
Mike was also the Chief Information Officer for the International City/County Management Association from 2013 – 2015, a nonprofit organization serving over 10,000 members in local government management.
Prior to joining ICMA Mike served fourteen years as the Chief Information Officer for the City of Rockville Maryland. At Rockville he developed and implemented two IT Strategic Plans and was responsible for building the City’s first Institutional Network of fiber connecting City facilities Mike has completed numerous consulting engagements for County and City governments over the past two decades
Unified Communications Manager, OCTO, DC Government
Cynthia Romero is an engineering leader for DC-Net with over a decade of experience. In her current role as the Unified Communications Manager for the Office of the Chief Technical Officer (OCTO) at DC Government, Cynthia leads a team of engineers responsible for migrating legacy systems to the cloud.
During the pandemic, Cynthia and her teams led DC agencies through a critical inflection point. To address the increased traffic and changing needs of their constituents, Romero’s teams used Amazon Connect to scale and modernize multi-agency contact center technology.
Leveraging Amazon Connect technology allowed agencies to gain operational efficiencies and additional capabilities while reducing costs. As a result, Cynthia’s teams migrated over 60 agencies from legacy systems to the cloud in less time, while improving the customer experience amid surging demand.
Deputy Director of U.S. Legislation, Future of Privacy Forum
Tatiana Rice is the Deputy Director of U.S. Legislation at the Future of Privacy Forum where she leads legislative engagement and analysis efforts on artificial intelligence. In her role, Tatiana conducts research and analysis on the AI legal and legislative landscape, working collaboratively with policymakers, industry stakeholders, and advocacy groups. Through her work, she aims to bridge the gap between legal frameworks and technological advancements, promoting policies that not only support innovation but also safeguard individual privacy, civil rights and incentivize ethical data practices.
State and Local Government Affairs Lead, OpenAI
Traci leads state and local government affairs at OpenAI, where she drives legislative and regulatory engagement across the U.S. with policymakers and other stakeholders to advance industry standards and the safe and beneficial development of artificial intelligence. Prior to joining OpenAI, Traci led U.S. state government affairs at Okta, where she managed policy initiatives related to digital identity, cybersecurity, accessibility, privacy, and IT modernization. She also previously served as Director of Public Policy at Lyft, where she shaped and solidified ridesharing regulatory frameworks across the western U.S. and Canada and spearheaded the company’s wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) program. Traci spent the first half of her career in public service as an Assistant District Attorney, prosecuting serious and violent crime in her hometown of San Francisco. She holds a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.
State Public Policy Counsel, ACT | The App Association
Caleb Williamson is State Public Policy Counsel at ACT | The App Association, the leading trade group representing small mobile software and connected device companies in the global app economy. At the App Association, Caleb leads the state-level public policy initiatives on behalf the App Association’s members focusing on artificial intelligence, children and consumer data privacy, competition and platforms, cybersecurity, digital health, broadband deployment, blockchain, web3 and workforce development. Prior to joining the App Association, Caleb worked in Majority Counsel’s Office for the NYS Senate.
Caleb has spoken on panels with AntitrustTX, CARU, Antitrust West Coast, The State Policy Network, ITIF, the IAPP Global Privacy Summit, and the IAPP Privacy. Security. Risk Conference. Outside of the App Association, Caleb sits on the boards of the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA), the New York State Amateur Hockey Association (NYSAHA), the Northeast Advisory Board for the National Black Law Student’s Association (NEBLSA), the Washington Area State Relations Group (WASRG), and enjoys playing tennis and hockey.
Caleb obtained his J.D. with a certificate in Technology Commercialization from the Syracuse University College of Law and his B.A. in philosophy from Hamilton College.
Educational Technology Lead, DC Public Schools
Brittany Bernard, a dedicated Educational Technology Manager based in the District of Columbia, brings a dynamic spirit and passion for education to her role. Originating from Harrisburg, PA, she is committed to supporting educators and students in leveraging technology for enhanced learning experiences. She is an accomplished professional in the field of education, with a diverse background that includes media and technology. She graduated with a B.A. in Radio, Television, & Film, focusing on Telecommunications Management from Howard University. After starting her career in media as a Talk Programming Assistant at SiriusXM Satellite Radio and Producer/Board Operator for the Behind The Mind Radio Show on 1480AM, Brittany transitioned to education.
She served as a preschool Lead Teacher at AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. for five years. Eager to enhance her impact in education, Brittany pursued and earned her M.Ed in Instructional Technology from the University of Maryland Global Campus. This led her to become the Standards Coordinator at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), where she furthered her expertise in instructional technology. Currently, Brittany serves as an Educational Technology Manager for the District of Columbia, based at Central Office, where she supports educators by providing strategies on seamlessly integrating district-licensed apps and programs into instruction with fidelity. Brittany resides in Bowie, MD, with her husband Rejinal, sons Elijah and Xavier, and daughters Kerlande and Harper.
Instructional Technology Strategist, Baltimore City Public Schools
Shiron Lindsay, with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and an M.Ed. in Educational Technology from Loyola University, taught computer science and engineering in City Schools for 12 years, concluding her teaching career at her alma mater, the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. Two years ago, she transitioned to the Office of Special Education's Instructional Technology Team as an instructional technology strategist, with a focus on enhancing inclusive practices through the customization of tools and resources to meet the diverse needs of students.
Critical Infrastructure Protection Program Coordinator , Richland County (SC) Sheriff's Dept
Glenn Remsen is the Critical Infrastructure Protection Program Coordinator for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in Columbia, South Carolina. As a certified Deputy Sheriff, he established RCSD’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU), which has served each of the 16 Sectors of Critical Infrastructure within Richland County, SC, for the past decade.
Glenn has been involved in the field of Critical Infrastructure Protection for 16 years in both the military and civilian sectors. In the military sector, he served as an anti-terrorism/force protection officer as a member of the South Carolina Military Department’s anti-terrorism threat working group. Glenn also served for three years as the President of the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Chapter of the FBI’s InfraGard program. His involvement in the InfraGard Program sparked the genesis of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU) within the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
In addition, Glenn has worked on counter-extremism projects sponsored by the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) and the US Department of State.
Glenn received his Bachelor’s Degree from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, his Master’s Degree in Religion from Liberty Theological Seminary, and his Graduate Certificate in Homeland Security from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.
Instructional Technology Coordinator, Stafford County Public Schools
Bio to come.
Data Analyst, U.S. Army
Bio to come
NGRMS Program Manager, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (DoD)
Ms. Nichole Hyter is an Army veteran and graduate of the Army’s Management Analyst Intern Program. She has worked as a Budget Analyst at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management & Comptroller, Headquarters Department of the Army - Budget Formulation Division and as the Lead Financial Systems Analyst at Washington Headquarters Service – Accounting Division, where she championed and implemented the use of Robotics Process Automation across the Defense Agencies Initiatives (DAI) execution and formulation systems. Nichole also led the DLA efforts to implement DAI Hyperion (the budget formulation tool for Defense Wide agencies). She currently works as a Program Manager at the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) – Program & Financial Control Division and is the lead for the Next Generation Resource Management System (NGRMS) efforts, which is now the Department’s solution for the congressional mandate to modernize systems used to submit data to the Office of Management and Budget and to the Congress.
Data Scientist, U.S. Customs and Border Control
Lucy Hyde serves as a data scientist in the Office of Information and Technology, Chief Technology Office at Customs and Border Protection. She previously worked as the Senior Program Manager for open source projects, including PyTorch, LF AI&Data, and SONiC at the Linux Foundation. Ms. Hyde began her career within the Department of Defense as an active-duty service member and later as a government civilian working in multiple agencies. She led the mobile device exploitation team at the National Media Exploitation Center and served as the Chief Data Scientist at the Joint Inter Agency Task Force, Joint Special Operations Command.
Ms. Hyde graduated with undergraduate degrees in Psychology, the Arabic Language, and Intelligence Operations from multiple universities; a Master of Science Degree (MS) in Analytics from American University; and is pursuing dual postgraduate degrees in Computational Science and Artificial Intelligence.
Director, Digital Transformation, CACI
With over 20 years of experience with the DoD’s Planning, Programming, Budgeting, Execution (PPBE) process, Ms. Riya Jung supports DoD customers in developing and executing Digital Transformation vision and roadmaps. She provides strategic oversight across various innovative PPBE programs including the Navy’s Program Budget Information System (PBIS) and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)’s Next Generation Resource Management System (NGRMS). Ms. Jung’s experiences include agile software development, generative AI, modernization, cloud migrations and hosting, data analytics, cyber security, audit, and operational support. She combines extensive DoD PPBE functional and technical knowledge to deliver continuous innovations and a forward leaning approach to DoD customers.
Director of Technology Strategy, Microsoft
Sachin Sinha is a Data Engineering leader who has been passionate about designing systems that help his customers make decisions based on data. He has helped startups in healthcare get off the ground by building a business on data and mature from seed to series funding. He has also helped organizations in the Public Sector achieve their mission by enabling them to make decisions based on data. Now at Microsoft, as Technology Strategy Director, he helps customers on their cloud journey with Microsoft Cloud offerings. His areas of expertise include Digital Transformation, Solution Architecture and Design, Data Platforms, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence & Analytics and Artificial Intelligence focusing on the Healthcare and Public Sector domains.
Lead Conversational AI Consultant, Google
Nick Dokich is an enterprise voice/chat bot building expert. For Nick, it is all about getting the right information, to the right person, in the right way, at the right time. With over 7 years of experience, Nick is focused on building the world's largest and most complex voice/chat experiences. His bots have interacted with over 1/3 of the US population. Currently working for Google, Nick is passionate about helping enterprises build successful voice experiences. He believes that voicebots have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with technology, and he is committed to helping businesses realize that potential. He has worked with Fortune 500, start-ups, and government organizations, focused on engaging experiences that produce tangible ROI. His voice/chat experiences contain millions of calls each month while providing immensely engaging experiences.
UX Design Xpert & Managing Consultant, Excella
Thelma Van is a user experience strategist, product designer, and UX leader with over a decade of experience in making complex systems intuitive through human-centered design. She currently serves as a UX design innovation expert for Excella. Thelma has held roles such as product director for elections and campaign systems, designing experiences for aviation, and managing nuclear chemistry solutions.
For the past two years, Thelma has been deeply involved in exploring the best approaches for implementing human-centered AI and machine-learning solutions while collaborating with teams in federal government agencies.
Whether working on traditional software products or cutting-edge AI initiatives, Thelma leverages her creative and analytical skills to uncover core user needs and frame the right problems to solve. Through activities like inclusive design workshops, she ensures that solutions are aligned with real human needs from the outset. For over a decade, Thelma has combined logic and creativity to make even the most intricate systems user-friendly and understandable.
Senior Developer, Crema
Michelle Frost is a Senior Developer at Crema, a design and technology consultancy based in Kansas City, MO. She has a deep passion for AI and ML, and is a dedicated advocate for ethics in the field. Currently, she is pursuing a Masters of Science in Artificial Intelligence (May '24) from Johns Hopkins University. When not behind the screen, Michelle can be found tending to her garden with her 100 lb pup Wilbur by her side.
Strategic Advisor, datafuelX
Over the course of his 20+ years career, Wes brought his deep knowledge of mathematical modeling and computer science, establishing himself as a leading expert in the Analytics, Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Fusion fields. Over the course of his career, Wes has driven industry-leading innovations in the Airlines, Hospitality, CPG, Retail, Advertising, Media, Marketing, Private Equity, and Data Services sectors.
His work has been recognized, including receiving an Emmy for Engineering and Technology (Turner team), the INFORMS Innovative Applications of Analytics Award, the ANA Genius Awards for Marketing Analytics Science, the ANA Genius Awards for Excellence in Pioneering Analytics Innovation, the ARF Great Mind Award in Analytics Leadership, Corinium’s Top 100 Innovators in Data & Analytics for the Americas, finalist for the Wagner Prize, finalist for the Edelman Award, and more. Furthermore, he has published in numerous journals and proceedings, including IEEE Transactions, M&SOM, AAS, Interfaces, and others, and has presented at conferences around the globe. He is a member of AIAA, IEEE, and INFORMS.
Wes attained his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
President and CEO, Amruta
Beju is an experienced enterprise analytics executive with an ability to influence organizational executives and senior management to identify and implement data and information change management. His consultative approach involving situation assessment, precise needs identification, organizational readiness preparation, and information based strategies has enabled numerous enterprises to reap innovative and significant business benefits over the last 33+ years of his career. He founded Amruta Inc with a vision to expand and spread the benefits of AI/ML to contemporary organizations.
Co Chair of WDTA AI STR Working Group, World Digital Technology Academy (WDTA)
Ken Huang is Co-Chair of WDTA AI STR Working Group at wdtacademy.org. Ken Huang authored and edited 8 books in the past 6 years on AI and Web3. These books are published by prestigious international publishers such as Springer, Cambridge University Press, Wiley and China Machine Persee. His most recent books include the upcoming <Generative AI Security: Theories and Practices> and recently published book on <Beyond AI ChatGPT and Web3>. He is the VP of Research at CSA GCR chapter and CEO of DistrubutedApps.ai, a Virginia Company providing AI and Web3 training and consulting services. He is also Co-Chairs of two Cloud Security Alliance's AI Safety Working Groups and Co-Author of OWASP top 10 for LLM Application.
Senior Learning and AI Strategist, ELB Learning
Over the last 20 years, Michelle has become a recognized leader in learning strategy and technology within the corporate space, and has frequently presented at industry events. Often a disruptor, Michelle has modernized training strategies at companies including UPS and Oracle. She holds several certifications, including Prompt Engineering, Integrated Talent Management, Hogan Assessments, 360 Feedback, and is pursuing her ICF coaching certification. She is a recipient of the ATD Volunteer-Partnership Award and has contributed to several books, including ATD Press’s Ready, Set, Curate: 8 Learning Experts Tell You How and L&D's Playbook for the Digital Age. Michelle has a background in English and Theatre. She loves to play with new technology and hang out with her dachshund.
Founder & CEO, Pronetx
Yasser El-Haggan is the CEO and Founder of Pronetx. As a fervent technologist and experienced business leader, Yasser thrives on working with customers to understand and solve their business and customer experience (CX) challenges.
In previous roles, Yasser was responsible for successfully leading one of the largest contact center solutions for the Social Security Administration and he created the first Gov UCaaS platform. He also served as SVP & Field CTO at Genesys.
With over 6+ years at Amazon Web Services, Yasser was responsible for leading global solutions architecture for Productivity Apps and AWS' suite of CX and language services. Additionally, he helped bring Amazon Connect and Contact Lens to some of the largest global brands.
As the leader of Pronetx, Yasser is passionate about using his previous experiences to help customers achieve their CX outcomes by improving workflows for users and agents, identifying gaps in their operations and using emerging technologies to enhance their current capabilities.
Founder and Technical Lead, TIGA.AI
Michael Yee is the founder and lead engineer for Tiga.AI - a company focused on building an AI Copilot for sales teams. He has extensive experience in leveraging GPT technology for the development of LLM-based autonomous agents as well as for classification of intent data signals . He has written articles on AI, web3 and other emerging technologies. In his free time, Michael indulges in drumming, surfing and running.
Director, Center for Assurance Research & Engineering, George Mason University
J.P. Auffret is director, Center for Assurance Research and Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing, and director, Research Partnerships in the School of Business at George Mason University, USA. He is also co-founder and current president of the International Academy of CIO (IAC), an NGO headquartered in Tokyo. Auffret’s work spans applied technology fields including CIO and ICT governance; cybersecurity; and innovation of emerging technologies including for medicine and healthcare. Auffret earned a B.S. from Duke University where he was an A.B. Duke Scholar, M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and Ph.D. in Physics from American University.
Professor of Quantitative Methods, University of Mary Washington
Christopher Garcia, Ph.D. is Professor of Quantitative Methods and Associate Dean in the College of Business at the University of Mary Washington, and founder of Polyad Decision Sciences LLC. Chris is an expert in the areas of decision analytics, combinatorial optimization, reinforcement learning, and information fusion. His research focuses on developing intelligent algorithms for large-scale scheduling, vehicle routing, configuration, and dynamic control problems within the transportation, logistics, and supply chain domains. He also works on information fusion problems involving the use of machine learning techniques to combine data from disparate sources into an actionable and reliable situational awareness for decision-making. His work has been published in flagship research journals including IISE Transactions, Engineering Optimization, OR Spectrum, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, and others.
Chris is also a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®) and has provided consulting to large organizations across multiple industries including defense, transportation, finance, logistics, petroleum, and insurance. More information can be found on his website: https://cgarcia.info.
Modev is a SAM registered government supplier with Unique Entity ID: UYE9W158VJC9, CAGE/NCAGE: 95RS9 with Entity Status: Active Registration through May 2024. Modev produces market-leading events including GovAI Summit and VOICE & AI, the premier conference for the Generative and Conversational AI ecosystems.