Women Tech Leaders

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April 13, 2023

Washington D.C.

Join us this spring for our third annual Women Tech Leaders summit! The government faces priorities to diversify its workforce, including technology leaders. Leading women from across the federal government highlight top initiatives around artificial intelligence, health care, data management — and the importance that more women in the workforce has on these key areas. Hear from speakers at the departments of State, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Labor, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Defense and industry discuss major programs and initiatives making impacts in advancing the government mission.

Date

April 13, 2023

Time

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Where

International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.

Agenda

8:00 am

8:30 am

Breakfast and Networking

8:30 am

8:35 am

Welcome Remarks

Amy Kluber, Editor-in-Chief, GovCIO Media & Research

8:35 am

8:50 am

Fireside Chat: Harnessing Current Labor Market to Recruit Government Women Tech Leaders

Building the future workforce requires agencies to find new ways to attract, train and retain talent. Apprenticeship programs are one way government is developing a pipeline of skilled workers, especially as it relates to the technology and cybersecurity fields. Learn more about the accomplishments of the Department of Labor’s 120-Day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint, best practices and the path forward for these “earn-while-you-learn” models.

Megan Baird, Deputy Administrator, Office of Apprenticeship, DOL
Moderator: Sarah Sybert, Senior Researcher, GovCIO Media & Research

8:55 am

9:30 am

Panel: Mentorship and Leadership Strategies for Building a Next Gen Workforce

Many factors lead to women becoming discouraged from pursuing careers in technology, leading to a federal workforce that is not quite representative of the people it serves. Often times, women cite specific mentors or leaders whose working environments led them to take on the challenge and pursue tech careers. These leaders discuss key recruitment and retention strategies that have led to more representation in the workforce.

Liz Anthony, Vice President, Federal Market & Competition Strategy, Maximus
Serena Chan, Senior Technical Advisor, Operations and Infrastructure Center, DISA
Jothi Dugar, Acting Deputy Director, Center for IT, NIH
Elizabeth Kolmstetter, Chief People Officer, CISA
Moderator: Kate Macri, Deputy Editor, GovCIO Media & Research

9:35 am

10:15 am

Lightning Rounds

Tech leaders highlight a project or initiative making impacts in federal missions.

Jessica Berrellez, Executive Officer, FDA - Office of Digital Transformation
Andrea Fletcher, Executive Director of the Digital Service, CMS
Nicole Shiley Gilbride, Chief Strategy Officer, Office of Information and Technology, VA
Cynthia Kaiser, Cyber Deputy Assistant Director, FBI

10:15 am

10:25 am

Coffee Break

10:25 am

11:00 am

Panel: Marketing the Government Mission

Government has a recruiting challenge as it competes with the private sector. But agencies are in a unique position to market their public service mission to encourage more women participation in tech. This panel discusses strategies to communicate and integrate that mission into its tech workforce development.

Devon Beard, Director People Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
Margie Graves, Senior Fellow, IBM Center for the Business of Government
Melissa Vice, Director, Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP), DOD
Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, Director, ARPA-H
Moderator: Anastasia Obis, Staff Writer/Researcher, GovCIO Media & Research

11:00 am

11:15 am

Coffee Break

11:15 am

11:40 am

Flywheel Awards Presentation

Sponsored by:

We'll present the Flywheel Awards recognizing leaders and their work in federal government.

The flywheel — a critical component in a machine to increase its momentum — is also a critical symbol representing our publication’s goal to keep federal IT decision-makers informed on technology's impact on government. This momentum is what fuels the constant need for transformers to innovate in federal technology and communicate those strategies across the industry.

Fortinet Deputy CISO and Vice President of Information Security Renee Tarun joins us to proudly honor the following transformers:

Rising Star

Krista Kinnard, Director of Innovation and Engineering, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Labor
Christan Govich, Deputy Executive Director, Health Services Portfolio, Office of Information & Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

Workforce Champion

Lauren Zabierek, Senior Policy Advisor, Cybersecurity Division, CISA

Digital Transformer

Florence Kasule, Director of Procurement, U.S. Digital Service

Woman Tech Leader of the Year

Lauren Knausenberger, CIO, Department of the Air Force

Lifetime Achievement

Dorothy Aronson, CIO/CDO, National Science Foundation

11:45 am

12:00 pm

Closing Remarks

Amy Kluber, Editor-in-Chief, GovCIO Media & Research

Featuring

Liz Anthony is a proven business and marketing transformation leader with decades of experience advancing market share and brand reputation for technology companies across Federal, State/Local and Healthcare markets. Anthony’s greatest strengths are her creativity, drive, and leadership to execute key growth initiatives throughout the organization. Since joining Maximus in January 2022, as the Vice President, Federal Market & Competition Strategy, she has led the company’s brand strategy and thought leadership expansion to support the dynamic growth of Maximus Federal. She is focused on delivering transformation and innovation by creating a dynamic team environment who shares in her passion and approaches to deliver products, services, and strategies that will create scale and impact across government and for the public we serve. She is a current Board member with The Women’s Center and previously served as a board member for Women in Defense (WID) DC and Women in Technology. Prior to joining Maximus, she held leadership positions with Cisco, NetApp, and ViON Corporation.

Liz Anthony

Vice President, Federal Market & Competition Strategy, Maximus

Megan Baird serves as the Deputy Administrator in the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). She has responsibility for oversight and activities related to OA’s partnership, data, and investment activities. This includes providing leadership for OA's engagement with industry, employers, and the education and workforce system, partnership efforts that expand youth apprenticeship and equity in apprenticeship, as well as leadership for over $1 billion in investments to support apprenticeship expansion. She is a proud graduate of Smith College with a bachelor's degree in government and Russian Civilization.

Megan Baird

Deputy Administrator, Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Apprenticeship

Devon Beard is the current Director of People Operations within the Office of Information Technology(OI&T)/Office of People Science at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). She is responsible for talent acquisition, employee awards, and performance management programs supporting the 8,000 OI&T employees. She began her VA career in 2010 as an Executive Administrator at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center. Since then, she has served in a variety of positions, including the Director of Business Services for the OI&T’s End User Operations division. She is also a graduate of the OI&T Technical Career Field Intern program. Prior to her career with VA, Ms. Beard worked for the Internal Revenue Service and in private industry as a business process reengineer and Lean Six Sigma government consultant. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management with Honors and certifications in project management, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and management.

Devon Beard

Director of People Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs

Jessica N. Berrellez is the Executive Officer in the Office of Digital Transformation (ODT) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Berrellez oversees strategic planning, people strategy and operations, communications, learning and development, administrative operations, organizational development, and high-priority change initiatives. She has held multiple leadership roles at FDA and was the ODT Executive Director for Strategy and Operations, Senior Advisor to the CIO, Senior Advisor to the Principal Deputy Commissioner and Director for Program Evaluation and Process Improvement. Ms. Berrellez is the recipient of agency, federal, and industry awards, and has received national recognition for her volunteer work. She received her M.A. and M.S. from the University of Arizona and B.A. from Indiana University.

Jessica Berrellez

Executive Officer, Office of Digital Transformation, FDA

Serena Chan, Ph.D., is a member of the scientific and professional cadre of senior executives and the senior technical advisor in the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Operations and Infrastructure Center. In this position, she provides technical leadership and strategic direction to raise the bar for command and control of DISA’s operational environment. Her focus is on refining integrated processes, operationalizing innovative capabilities, and transforming data into meaningful information for improved information sharing and enhanced decision-making.

Prior to joining DISA, Dr. Chan worked as a research staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses, where she provided objective analyses and strategic advice on national security issues to senior leaders in the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Program Manager of the Information Sharing Environment under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She managed a portfolio that included survivable, resilient, enduring, effective and interoperable communications for national security, emergency management, and continuity of operations, as well as cybersecurity developmental test and evaluation.

Dr. Chan has led research teams that have published numerous papers for the Institute for Defense Analyses, impacting policy for the whole of government. Her most recent works were in supply chain risk management, mission assurance, and public safety communications. Chan's research efforts helped drive policy and ensured the operational effectiveness and resilience of critical national systems and infrastructures.
She received her bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering with a minor in economics, a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science, and a doctorate in engineering systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Serena Chan

Senior Technical Advisor, Operations and Infrastructure Center, DISA

Jothi Dugar is a leader in the cybersecurity field, and currently serving as the Acting Deputy Director of the Center for Information Technology (NIH CIT) at the National Institutes of Health. CIT is one of twenty-seven institutes and centers at the NIH responsible for providing trans-NIH IT services, systems, and network capabilities with an annual budget of approximately $500 million and a 1,000-person workforce.

As the current Acting Deputy Director, Jothi fully shares in providing leadership, management, and vision in carrying out the broad range of executive responsibilities the organization’s work. She is a critical member of the CIT senior leadership team which oversees mission critical systems and services supporting basic and clinical research, extramural research management, and administration and management activities for the NIH. In her role as the CISO, she was responsible for protecting and safeguarding enterprise systems and services that are used by NIH, other government agencies, and over 300,000 researchers around the world.

She is a prominent international speaker and frequently speaks about the value of a diverse workforce, women in leadership, holistic approaches to cybersecurity, wellness for the technology world, and other topics and has been published in numerous magazines, media, and press. She is also an international best-selling author, having written three books focused on self-help, wellness, and women in cybersecurity.

Jothi Dugar

Acting Deputy Director, Center for IT, NIH

Andrea Fletcher serves as the Executive Director of the DIGITAL SERVICE AT THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES. In this role she is responsible for leading digital modernization efforts at CMS, which promote interoperability and public access to health data.

Prior to her digital service role, Andrea spent most of the last 10 years traveling around the world, building digital health systems across 20+ countries, primarily working in subSaharan Africa. She has built mobile apps for healthcare workers, integrated biometric IDs into electronic health record systems, designed national-level interoperability layers, and deployed new disease surveillance systems making contributions to pandemic responses in Ebola, HIV, and COVID-19.

Andrea holds a B.A. in Bioethics from Washington and Jefferson College, and a Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Emory University, and is currently a part-time PhD student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Epidemiology and Population Health.

Andrea Fletcher

Executive Director of the Digital Service, CMS

Nicole Shiley Gilbride began her federal career as an intern with the Department of State in Political-Military Affairs and has spent over a decade supporting various federal departments, including the Department of State, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). She is passionate about recruiting and retaining millennials and Gen Z in the federal workforce and has presented and advised on these topics at the national level.

Nicole serves VA in the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) as the Chief Strategy Officer driving OIT’s Digital Transformation efforts. She specializes in strategic communications, outreach coordination, business operations, strategy execution, change management, and stakeholder engagement. She recently served as the Veterans Health Administration-OIT liaison and scrum master for VA OIT’s COVID-19 response activities in 2020 and for the MISSION Act and Decision Support Tool go-live activities in 2019.

Nicole thrives in a demanding work environment and enjoys tackling new challenges. She leverages stakeholder input, collaborates with industry partners, and serves as a catalyst for change and continuous improvement throughout her organization. She is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and led the team that pioneered an automated solution at VA to enable all employees to share their pronouns across information technology systems.

Nicole is based in Lexington, Kentucky, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Government and International Politics from George Mason University and an Executive Master of Business Administration in Strategic Leadership from the University of Tennessee. In her personal time, Nicole enjoys traveling, tasting, and experiencing various cultures throughout the world. She loves a good book, playing board games, and spending time creating floral designs with flowers she grows in her field.

Nicole Shiley Gilbride

Chief Strategy Officer, Office of Information and Technology, VA

Margie Graves is a Senior Fellow with the IBM Center for The Business of Government and the IBM Partner for Digital Transformation Strategy. She serves as a Senior Advisor to IBM’s Federal Services practice and is a member of IBM’s Former Government Executives Council. Her work with the Center and with IBM Federal accounts is informed by her track record of experience and expertise in both the government and private sectors.

She is the former Federal Deputy Chief Information Officer. In this federal-wide she worked to improve the way Government delivers results and technology services to the public. She led the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer efforts to drive value in Federal IT, deliver digital services, protect Federal IT assets and information through cybersecurity, and develop the next generation IT workforce. She also drove elements of the President’s Management Agenda; IT Modernization, Data as a Strategic Asset and Workforce of the 21st Century.

Prior to her role as Federal Deputy CIO, Margie served as the Deputy CIO at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She was one of the original “plank holders” of DHS and helped to stand up the agency after the devastating events of 9-11. As the DHS Deputy CIO, she had oversight of an IT portfolio of $5.4 billion in programs. In addition, she managed the operations of the Office of the Chief Information Officer, covering the functional areas of Emerging Technology, Enterprise Architecture, Data Strategy, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Operations, Budget, and Acquisition.

Margie Graves

Senior Fellow, IBM Center for the Business of Government

Cynthia Kaiser is a Deputy Assistant Director with FBI Cyber Division, where she oversees national-level cyber policy, analysis of cyber threats, and partner engagement.

Cynthia has covered cyber, technology, and counterintelligence issues for over 17 years for the FBI; served as a PDB Briefer in two presidential administrations; and has led FBI cyber threat analysis and served as an FBI election lead since 2017. In these roles, she has reshaped FBI information sharing and collaboration with the private sector and federal, state, and local government officials to be robust, proactive, and aimed at imposing risks and consequences on malicious cyber actors.

Cynthia holds a Master’s degree in security policy focused on science and technology and an Executive Master’s degree in leadership.

Cynthia Kaiser

Cyber Deputy Assistant Director, FBI

Dr. Elizabeth Kolmstetter is the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) first Chief People Officer. In her new role, Dr. Kolmstetter is building an enduring “People First” Culture into everyday activities and the employee experience at CISA - the government’s newest agency. She has responsibility for workforce surveys, engagement and recognition programs, learning and development, leadership development, internal communications, and workforce strategy.

Prior to CISA, Dr. Kolmstetter was the Director of Talent Strategy and Engagement at NASA. Her work directly contributed to NASA being named the Best Place to Work in Government (large agencies) for ten years in a row. With nearly 30 years of public service, she has pioneered innovative programs across agencies including NASA, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), CIA, FBI, Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Dr. Kolmstetter received the 2022 Presidential Rank Award, 2020 NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and is a Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial and Organizational (IO) Psychology from Virginia Tech and her B.A. in Psychology and Computer Science from Hollins University.

Elizabeth Kolmstetter

Chief People Officer, CISA

Renee Tarun is Deputy CISO at Fortinet where she is focused on enterprise security, compliance and governance, and product security. Her book, Fight Fire with Fire: Proactive Cybersecurity Strategies for Today’s Leaders, was published in 2021.

Renee joined Fortinet as the Vice President, of Information Security in 2017. Immediately prior, she served as Special Assistant to the Director, National Security Agency (NSA), for Cyber and Director of NSA’s Cyber Task Force, where she advanced NSA’s execution of its cybersecurity and cyber-related missions. As the Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the NSA Information Assurance Directorate, her focus areas included strategy, planning, integration, and relationship management, in cybersecurity and related disciplines across NSA and the Department of Defense (DoD). Renee served as Senior Cyber Strategist in a DoD-DHS organization that orchestrated joint efforts in operational planning, policy, and strategy, for cyber issues across the U.S. Government. She was Portfolio Lead for the Protect Data and Networks and Operational Resiliency Portfolios for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information and Identity Assurance.

Renee serves as a board member for the George Mason University Volgenau School of Engineering, creating synergy between the school and the professional community by addressing workforce development demands, industry expectations, and employment trends.

Renee Tarun

Deputy CISO and Vice President of Information Security, Fortinet

Melissa S. Vice is the director of the Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) at the Department of Defense (DOD) Cyber Crime Center (DC3), Linthicum, MD.

The DOD VDP was established by the Secretary of Defense and its mission is to function as the single focal point for receiving vulnerability reports and interacting with crowd-sourced cybersecurity researchers supporting the DOD Information Network (DODIN).

Prior to her position as the DOD VDP Director, Ms. Vice was the Chief Technology Officer of the Business Mission Area (BMA) for The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, Management (SAF/MG) / Deputy Chief Management Office (DCMO) in charge of road-mapping 400+ information systems to the cloud with a portfolio value of $938M. Prior to 11 years with the DOD, Ms. Vice worked in the private sector at General Electric (GE) Aviation Division, as a global database developer and administrator (Oracle DBDA) for all commercial and military aircraft engine repairs worldwide. While at GE among the world’s most talented aeronautical engineers, Ms. Vice had the thrill of a lifetime piloting her first 360 in a coworker’s restored 1957 Stearman (open cockpit bi-plane).

Melissa S. Vice

Director, Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP), DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3)

Renee Wegrzyn serves as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), appointed on October 11, 2022, by President Joseph R. Biden. Previously, Wegrzyn served as a vice president of business development at Ginkgo Bioworks and head of innovation at Concentric by Ginkgo where she focused on applying the tools of synthetic biology to outpace infectious diseases. Wegrzyn comes to ARPA-H with experience working for over a decade at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), five of those years as a program manager with a $250 million portfolio, and as a technical advisor to the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). At DARPA, Wegrzyn leveraged the tools of synthetic biology and gene editing to enhance biosecurity, support the domestic bioeconomy, and thwart biothreats. Wegrzyn received the Superior Public Service Medal for her work and contributions at DARPA.

Before joining DARPA, she led teams in private industry across a range of specialties including biosecurity and gene therapies. Wegrzyn served on the scientific advisory board for the National Academies Standing Committee on Biotechnology Capabilities and National Security Needs, among other boards in government and the private sector. She holds doctoral and bachelor’s degrees in applied biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology, was a fellow in the Center for Health Security Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative and completed her postdoctoral training as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in Heidelberg, Germany.

Renee Wegrzyn

Director, ARPA-H

Agenda

8:00 am

8:30 am

Breakfast and Networking

8:30 am

8:35 am

Welcome Remarks

Amy Kluber, Editor-in-Chief, GovCIO Media & Research

8:35 am

8:50 am

Fireside Chat: Harnessing Current Labor Market to Recruit Government Women Tech Leaders

Megan Baird, Deputy Administrator, Office of Apprenticeship, DOL
Moderator: Sarah Sybert, Senior Researcher, GovCIO Media & Research

8:55 am

9:30 am

Panel: Mentorship and Leadership Strategies for Building a Next Gen Workforce

Liz Anthony, Vice President, Federal Market & Competition Strategy, Maximus
Serena Chan, Senior Technical Advisor, Operations and Infrastructure Center, DISA
Jothi Dugar, Acting Deputy Director, Center for IT, NIH
Elizabeth Kolmstetter, Chief People Officer, CISA
Moderator: Kate Macri, Deputy Editor, GovCIO Media & Research

9:35 am

10:15 am

Lightning Rounds

Tech leaders highlight a project or initiative making impacts in federal missions.

Jessica Berrellez, Executive Officer, FDA - Office of Digital Transformation
Andrea Fletcher, Executive Director of the Digital Service, CMS
Nicole Shiley Gilbride, Chief Strategy Officer, Office of Information and Technology, VA
Cynthia Kaiser, Cyber Deputy Assistant Director, FBI

10:15 am

10:25 am

Coffee Break

10:25 am

11:00 am

Panel: Marketing the Government Mission

Devon Beard, Director People Operations, Department of Veterans Affairs
Margie Graves, Senior Fellow, IBM Center for the Business of Government
Melissa Vice, Director, Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP), DOD
Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, Director, ARPA-H
Moderator: Anastasia Obis, Staff Writer/Researcher, GovCIO Media & Research

11:00 am

11:15 am

Coffee Break

11:15 am

11:40 am

Flywheel Awards Presentation

Sponsored by:

We'll present the Flywheel Awards recognizing leaders and their work in federal government.

Fortinet Deputy CISO and Vice President of Information Security Renee Tarun joins us to proudly honor the following transformers:

Rising Star

Krista Kinnard, Director of Innovation and Engineering, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Labor
Christan Govich, Deputy Executive Director, Health Services Portfolio, Office of Information & Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

Workforce Champion