Speakers

As the Capability Manager for Enrollment and Vetting within TSA’s Identity Management (IDM) group, Chang is primarily focused on building standards and requirement for identity proofing and vetting for passenger and individual interactions with TSA. In this role, Chang led the development and publication of the TSA Identity Management Roadmap (March 2022) articulating the vision, goals and objectives for identity within TSA’s security mission. She also leads the development and tailoring of national and international identity standards in support of critical TSA’s role at checkpoints and in conducting identity proofing and vetting functions for individuals in credential programs such as TSA Precheck. The current focus for TSA’s IDM team is the development of digital identity in partnership with leading edge technology providers and aviation partners. Chang’s previous roles within TSA included the management of credential programs serving the aviation, surface and maritime industries.

Chang holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Imperial College Business School.

Mr. Caron is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) / Assistant Inspector General of
Information Technology (AIG/IT) for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as of May 2021. Mr. Caron has over 24 years of information technology (IT) experience. He began his career in the US Army working in hands-on technical positions serving for 7 years.

Previously he has served as the Director of Enterprise Network Management (ENM) within the
Directorate of Operations in the Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) at the Department of State (DOS) since June 2016.

Mr. Caron then spent 2 years as a contractor with the federal government, where he acquired more
refined technical skills and a more detailed understanding of IT operations. He joined the federal
government at the Department of State (DOS) in 2003 as a Systems Administrator. He has held multiple positions at the DOS, moving from managing small technical groups leading up to Director for ENM.

One of his most significant accomplishments was acting as the technical liaison during a major cyber
security event at the Department. His leadership allowed the Department to resolve the incident as quickly and effectively as possible with minimal impact to the mission.

As the Director of ENM, Mr. Caron was personally responsible for the leadership of the largest office
within the IRM bureau. This included managing the financial portfolio of over $200 million and
prioritization of work across a wide range of disciplines. In this role he was responsible for the network and authentication infrastructure for the Department, led the re-engineering of the Department’s primary Identity and Access Management solution, formed teams to address key security efforts needed to mitigate future potential cybersecurity attacks through collaborative efforts, led the redesign of the Department’s Active Directory significantly improving security and responsible for the engineering and management of all the Department’s global network infrastructure and perimeter security infrastructure.

Mr. Caron is a co-chair on the CIO’s Innovation Counsel for Zero Trust as well as co-chair for
ATARC.org Zero Trust Working Group. He previously chaired ATARC.org Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 Working Group which resulted in 8 vendor proof of concepts being delivered to government participants.

Mr. Caron received his associate degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Computer Information Systems, Network Administration from the Northern Virginia Community College. At the Department of State, he also has received training in Executive Potential Program from the USDA Graduate School in 2009 and Advanced Leadership Skills in 2014. He received his certification in May 2020 as a Forrester Zero Trust - Strategist (ZTX-S) and received his Federal IT Security Manager Certification (FITSP-M) in 2017. Mr. Caron has received numerous individual awards for his exceptional service since 2004.

With over 20 years of public sector and commercial cybersecurity and identity and access
management experience Ross supports DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency (CISA) as a senior engineer in the Architecture and Engineering Center of
Excellence. Ross has expertise in the architecture and technical integration of several
security domains and capabilities including Identity and Access Management, Cryptography,
Data Protection and Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA). Ross is the co-lead on the Federal
Mobility Group (FMG) Derived PIV Working Group (DPIVWG). This working group shares
information across federal agencies about industry practices in adopting Derived PIV
Credentials on mobile devices, both PKI and other phishing-resistant authentication. Ross's
professional goal is to help engineers and agency leaders understand how to identify and
prioritize cybersecurity risk and continuously mitigate that risk through a strong focus on
identity-focused ZTA.

Paul Kresser is the City and County of Denver’s Deputy Chief Information Officer
(DCIO). Prior to his current role, he served as Denver’s first Chief Data Officer (CDO),
leading a talented team dedicated to transforming Denver’s access to and use of data to
drive strategy, policy, and operations. During his three years as Chief Data Officer, he
gained national attention for Denver by achieving What Works Cities certification,
implementing a best-in-class modern data hub and maturing Denver’s data governance
practices.

As CDO, he also led Denver’s Information Security team, responsible for the city’s cyber
security posture, including controls, defenses and governance needed to respond to
cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

Paul received his Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and Master of Public Policy at
the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Before moving to
Denver in 2015, Paul served five years as the Director of Administration and Finance for
the City of Boston’s Department of Innovation and Technology. In Boston, he was
engaged in some of the most pioneering and transformative civic projects in the country
at the time.

Steven Hernandez is an information assurance executive serving the past twenty years in a variety of contexts and missions. His rich background includes law enforcement, financial, education, healthcare, credentialing, heavy manufacturing, non-profits, and governments at the federal, state, and local levels. Steven’s experience ranges from the board room to leading tactical, day-to-day security operations as well as guiding and leading broad security initiatives such as the US government's Zero Trust Architecture approach across large and complex organizations. Presently he is the Chief Information Security Officer and Director of Information Assurance Services at the U.S. Department of Education. Steven also serves as the co-chair of the US Government Federal CISO Council and Government Chair of the ACT-IAC Cybersecurity Community of Interest. Prior to his position at Education, he held a variety of roles at the Office of Inspector General, US Department of Health and Human Services including CTO, CIO, CISO, Senior Official for Privacy and Chief Services Engineering Officer. He is an inaugural member of the United States Scholarship of Service Hall of Fame and an ardent supporter of the next generation of cybersecurity professionals through his teaching work as an Honorary Professor, Affiliate Faculty and guest lecturer at over a dozen Institutions of higher education.

Kenneth Myers is the Director of the Identity Assurance and Trusted Access Division with the General Services Administration Office of Government-wide Policy. He advises and coordinates government-wide cybersecurity policies and collaborates with federal executive branch agencies on implementation guidance. As an identity professional, he has experience working with various public and private organizations on digital identity, PKI, security management, and governance challenges. He is a former active duty Marine and a current doctoral candidate in the Marymount University Doctorate of Science in Cybersecurity program.

Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner is the Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and the Commander of the Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network.

As Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, Lt. Gen. Skinner manages a global network and leads nearly 19,000 service members, civilians and contractors who plan, develop, deliver and operate joint, interoperable command and control capabilities and defend an enterprise infrastructure in more than 42 countries. This mission directly supports the President, Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, combatant commanders, U.S. Department of Defense components, and other mission partners across the spectrum of, competition, combat and combat support operations.

As Commander of Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network, he is charged with leading unified action across DoD to secure, operate and defend the DoDIN. He leads the establishment of DoDIN priorities and directs threat-informed actions through formal planning and future operational initiatives, as well as the command and control of daily unified network operations, cyber security actions and defensive operations on the DoDIN.

He was commissioned through Officer Training School (second honor graduate) in 1989. He has served in various tactical and fixed communications assignments, plans, policy and resource staff work. He has commanded at the squadron, group, wing and Numbered Air Force (NAF) levels and served on the staffs at a NAF, major command headquarters, Headquarters Air Force and the Joint Staff. Prior to assuming his current position, he was the director of Command, Control, Communications and Cyber at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science (summa cum laude) from Park College in Parkville, Missouri, and a master’s degree in computer science with honors from Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Navy Commendation Medal and Air Force Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster.

Ms. Lily Zeleke is the acting Deputy CIO (DCIO) for the Information Enterprise (IE). In this role, she provides oversight, policy guidance, and digital expertise for DoD enterprise infrastructure initiatives driving toward the objectives of digital modernization. She leads Department-wide execution of strategic guidance aimed at achieving an operationally effective and secure Information Enterprise in a cost-efficient manner. Areas of priority include network optimization, cloud adoption, software modernization, and IT reform. She recently served as the Principal Director (PD) for the DCIO IE. Prior to these roles, Ms. Zeleke served as the Acting PD for the DCIO for Resources & Analysis (DCIO RA) as well as the Director of Resources, Program, and Budget. She was responsible for the management of DoD CIO’s processes for Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution to include management of DoD CIO’s operating budget; the collection and submission of the DoD IT/Cyberspace Activities Budget to the Office of Management and Budget and Congress; execution of the DoD Budget Certification process; and DoD CIO’s participation in the Department’s Program Budget Review.

From 2009 to 2018, Ms. Zeleke served as the Department’s radiofrequency spectrum policy lead for all matters related to spectrum use, reallocation, and auction. In this capacity, she led the strategic development of the Department’s mobile broadband and domestic regulatory, policy, and legislative initiatives for the DCIO for Command, Control, and Communications (DCIO C3). She functioned as the liaison between DoD and spectrum stakeholders across the Department, national spectrum regulators, White House/Executive Branch agencies, and Congress, and spearheaded a wide range of complex initiatives to evolve traditional spectrum policies and practices to be more responsive to increased demand. She partnered with these stakeholders to forge an innovative solution that resulted in an amicable commercial auction decision of the highly sought 1755-1780 MHz band, expanding commercial Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) while preserving military capabilities. The auction brought in $44 billion to the U.S. Treasury and $3.1 billion for DoD. She led a coalition that developed a first-of-its-kind DoD spectrum efficiency principles policy memo, which became the cornerstone of the DoD 2020 Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy.

Prior to joining DoD CIO, Ms. Zeleke served as the Deputy Technical Director and International Division Chief at the Air Force Frequency Management Agency where she advised on all matters concerning international telecommunications policy for spectrum use, and led Air Force participation in the International Telecommunications Union World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), a global summit that reviews the international treaty governing the use of radiofrequency spectrum. Previously, she served as advisor to the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Defense Spectrum Organization on international spectrum regulatory policy, as well as a RF product support engineer at Allied Signal Inc.

Ms. Zeleke holds a M.S. in Systems Engineering from George Mason University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas. She is a Senior Executive Fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and has been recognized on numerous occasions for her work including a National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation for her significant contribution to the success of the AWS-3 auction.

Ms. Zeleke is married and has one daughter. She believes a healthy work-life balance is critical to achieving effective productivity.

Robert Wood is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS). He leads enterprise cyber security, compliance, privacy, and counter
intelligence functions at CMS and ensures the Agency complies with secure IT requirements
while encouraging innovation.

Mr. Wood has over 10 years of experience in information technology, information security and
management consulting.

As information technology has grown more complex with the advent of innovative technologies
that enable rapid collection, storage and distribution of vast amounts of information and data, so
too has the importance of safeguarding the privacy of health and other sensitive information
collected by CMS. Our Agency is entrusted with the health information of over 100 million
Americans, and it is our fundamental responsibility as stewards of this information to ensure its
confidentiality is protected.  Robert leads CMS's efforts to ensure we meet the standards of
excellence demanded by that stewardship responsibility, and protect it from bad actors both
foreign and domestic.

Prior to CMS, Mr. Wood has built and managed several security programs in the technology
sector. He was also formerly a Principal Consultant for Cigital where he advised enterprises
about their software security programs. He also founded and led the red team assessment practice
with Cigital, focused on holistic adversarial analysis, helping organizations identify and manage
risks from alternative perspectives.

Mr. Wood has a B.S. in Information Management & Technology from Syracuse University.

Eric Sweden possesses 40 years of experience in senior technical and management positions within IT, business, and public & occupational health with substantial experience in business architecture, information architecture, business process enhancement, and strategy development. He has held a variety of technical and managerial roles in chemical manufacturing and telecommunications corporations and has been serving the state government CIO community since 2003.

Eric is an experienced presenter and author of a long list of guidance documents related to industry and state government IT management including enterprise architecture, enterprise IT governance, records management, digital preservation, information sharing, organizational transformation, business intelligence and analytics, cloud computing, cyber disruption response planning, government transparency, blockchain and multisourcing.

Eric holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota; and a Masters of Science from the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. In 2016 Eric completed the PTI / Rutgers University Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO™) Program with Honors.

Brad Dispensa is a principal security and compliance specialist for Amazon Web Services supporting customers globally in the worldwide public sector group. Brad works as subject matter expert in the AWS security group and specializes in security and compliance based workloads.

Surya Siddavatam ssiddavatam@clango.com

Surya is one of Clango’s Senior Identity Architects and has more than 20 years of Information Technology experience in various capacities. He has extensive experience in architecting and deploying Identity and Access Management (IAM), especially with SailPoint, provisioning and deprovisioning identity workflows, access management, compliance and auditing technologies, enterprise system architecture, and security infrastructure design, authentication, and authorization technologies, as well as custom-built security and technology frameworks. He has experience in all phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC). Surya has proven technical leadership skills, including the ability to manage teams and thrive in an entrepreneurial environment. Surya’s persuasive verbal and written communication skills compliment a proven ability to multi-task, maintain an organized approach, and ensure success through creative and innovative thinking with great analytical and decision-making skills. He is committed to providing a valuable contribution to the success of the clients, team, and businesses.

Arun Kothanath akothanath@clango.com

Arun is Clango’s Chief Security Strategist and is an accomplished Senior Security Professional with 30 years of leadership and management experience. He has experience in key functional roles like Chief Information Security Officer Security Strategist, Security Technologist, Product Manager and other various lead positions. He also has proven experience in the field of Security Management, Identity Management, and Fraud Management in providing solutions and strategies to institutions in various verticals.

Colin Lyth is lead product manager for SailPoint’s cloud access management solution. Colin’s passion is helping companies gain meaningful visibility into their cloud infrastructure. He believes the rapid migration to the cloud helps companies to be more competitive. He also believes that, with this evolution, everyone from IAM teams to employees to technical managers have a role in identity security.

Esteban Soto is an Advisory Solutions Consultant here at SailPoint Technologies. Esteban's primary focus for the past 8+ years has been helping Federal Government and DOD agencies secure their applications across their connected and disconnected environments. As a cloud enthusiast, Esteban has been an integral member of our Cloud Governance team and has been leading the charge in making sure that we keep a close ear to our customer's needs- making sure that as company, we stay aligned. Esteban holds various industry certifications and recently became a certified Amazon Web Services Architect.

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 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.