The 2023 Federal 100 – FCW.com

Joe Alexander

Director, Special Programs, Technical Integration, and Positioning, Navigation and Timing Capabilities, Office of the CIO Department of Defense

Navigation modernization. Under Alexander’s leadership, the Defense Department has achieved “groundbreaking progress” in the deployment of precision timing capabilities, his colleagues say. Positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities are increasingly important in providing critical data to military systems and supporting operations in contested environments. Alexander worked with the operational staffs of all regional combatant commands on their awareness of rising PNT threats, synchronized the successful delivery of state-of-the-art Defense Regional Clocks to ensure global interoperability of critical DOD communications systems and helped secure tens of millions of dollars in funding to help modernize and secure PNT capabilities that can operate in harsh environments.

Jill F. Anderson

Legislative Affairs Program Manager, Department of Veterans Affairs

Team builder. In March 2022, the Biden administration ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to simplify the way it processes requests for medical debt forgiveness. Anderson took up the challenge as leader of the VA’s Veteran Online Debt Access Project. Anderson drove progress and cooperation on an enterprisewide team while garnering support from external stakeholders. The launch of a streamlined viewer that combines data from the VA’s benefits and health organizations “revolutionized” the way veterans interact with their financial records, according to her nominators. Under Anderson’s leadership, electronic submissions to VODA went up, with 1.4 million veterans accessing the online system in 2022.

Kelley Artz

Supply Chain Risk Management Technical Expert, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Supply chain guardian. As a leader in defending supply chains against emerging threats, Artz played a foundational role at the General Services Administration in expanding governmentwide supply chain risk management best practices. She put supply chain security on the map at the Federal Acquisition Service, leading the first-in-government policy to incorporate cybersecurity SCRM requirements into the pre-award acquisition life cycle. From developing a SCRM class for the entire federal acquisition workforce to leading training efforts for over 3,000 FAS employees, Artz is building a more secure and resilient future for supply chains.

Wendell “Baze” Bazemore

Associate Director, Interior Business Center, Financial Management Directorate, Department of the Interior

Financial whiz. The Interior Business Center won a spot in 2022 on the list of qualified service providers under the Quality Service Management Office financial management marketplace run by the Treasury Department. Bazemore led the push to get IBC’s financial management solution added to the list of shared services providers, while also assisting the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation to move off of legacy systems. Bazemore is also credited by supporters with cultivating a culture of innovation at IBC, inspiring employees to drive enhancements to products and services.

Caroline G. Bean

Senior Executive, Joint Enterprise Services Directorate, Defense Information Systems Agency

CX for combat support. After her success in shepherding the Defense Department’s shift to cloud-enabled productivity software as the former program director of Defense Enterprise Office Solutions, Bean recently helmed several IT modernization efforts within the Defense Information Systems Agency. Those include the Market Place portal, which offers users a single point to quickly obtain tech tools and resources. She also helped oversee an enterprisewide update of the DOD’s telephony infrastructure by ushering in cloud-enabled communications to help reduce system footprint. DISA is now better positioned to speed critical technology solutions and support to personnel and ensure cost savings in the department’s communications infrastructure.

Winston A. Beauchamp

Deputy CIO, Department of the Air Force

License to save. Tasked not only with helping to modernize and consolidate the Air Force’s enterprise information technology environment, Beauchamp also proved instrumental in identifying the tools and strategy needed to integrate that technology across the service. In championing the Air Force’s new Oracle Enterprise Software License Agreement II, Beauchamp helped the service consolidate hundreds of legacy contracts and generate $173 million in cost savings, with the Army and Navy looking to join the contract vehicle. He also shepherded the development of the Air Force’s flagship Enterprise IT as a Service program, which aims to provide modernized enterprise service management for more than 700,000 users worldwide.

Lisa Belter

Product Manager, Operational Medicine Data Service, Joint Operational Medicine Information Systems Program Management Office

Driving collaboration. The rollup of individual service-level health systems into the Defense Health Agency is having a downstream impact on development. In her role as product manager, Belter led a DevSecOps transformation of a development ecosystem, moving the Operational Medicine Data Service platform from a theoretical concept to a real cloud-based test environment accredited to host classified information. This enables a joint data platform to support DOD software acquisition and innovate new solutions across the entire Military Health System. This yearslong effort required not only technical know-how but also the ability to manage key relationships with stakeholders across services.

Warren J. Blankenship

Deputy IT Governmentwide Category Manager, Information Technology Category, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Championing category management. Whether developing greater insights into federal IT spending trends or helping boost data-driven decision-making by agencies and government councils, Blankenship’s influence spans the entire federal government. His oversight of 13 Best-in-Class contracts with a total obligated spend of over $70 billion annually on information technology products, services and solutions helped the IT Category exceed both its Spend Under Management target by 5% and small-business utilization goal by 1.2%. Meanwhile, Blankenship continues to serve as a leading strategic acquisition, policy and category management expert advising senior leaders.

Rob Bohn

Area Vice President, North America Public Sector Sales and Strategic Business Development, Salesforce

Dashboards for everyone. As opposed to a single domain or use, Bohn led his team to develop a new model they call “dashboard-of-dashboards,” which brings more than one of those tools together into a single view that reflects system-of-systems designs. That model is at work at government entities like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for accessing data, Citizenship and Immigration Services for business intelligence and the Navy for aircraft readiness. Bohn and the Salesforce team view their approach as one for empowering the business users in government with easier access to data and analytics tools across large IT architectures.

Jay C. Bonci

Chief Technology Officer, Department of the Air Force

Roadmap warrior. Bonci transformed the role of the Air Force’s chief technology officer by creating the department’s first-ever roadmap to target areas that need tech investments. This signal achievement includes the initial roadmap content and the framework for which the roadmaps are created, populated, maintained and updated by the larger technical community. The roadmap sets up a management construct that reduces risk and uncertainty from a single dashboard and helps maximize resources across other zero trust initiatives. Further, Bonci accelerated by one year the delivery of identity and access solutions by restructuring technical and acquisition elements, reducing the risk between planning and execution.

William C. Bridges

CIO, Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, Department of the Army

Bots for a better Army. Bridges helped introduce robotic process automation to save staff time, such as cutting down by two hours the time required to perform quality-control checks in the Defense Information Systems Agency’s eMASS Risk Management Framework program in a nonclassified environment. The effectiveness drove the Deputy Chief of Staff G6, PEO C3T and the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command to procure licenses for the technology. Bridges also helped guide several cloud-based efforts, including moving PEO C3T through the massive Army 365 migration ahead of schedule and standing up a tactical cloud environment for European Operations.

Melvin Brown II

Deputy CIO, Office of Personnel Management

Cloud excellence. Brown has worked in federal tech for more than two decades. As the deputy CIO at the Office of Personnel Management, he has been a key driver of work to eliminate all premises-based IT systems at the agency. OPM has migrated 28 on-premises applications to the cloud so far. Brown established a cloud center of excellence at OPM to set standards, give guidance and make plans for moving legacy applications to the cloud. He sought out industry best practices in the process, working with nonprofit FinOps Foundation and even building and leading a government working group in the foundation.

Robert J. Carey

President, Cloudera Government Solutions

All sources, all destinations. In his current role in industry, Carey, a former Navy CIO, works with government teams on building up their core competencies in data management and analytics with an eye toward applying them for larger IT transformation efforts. That approach is seen in his team’s work with both the IRS and Defense Logistics Agency on using artificial intelligence and machine learning to mine historical data sets for building predictive models and proactive planning capabilities for future deployments. Carey’s vision of “any data, any source, any destination” also involves fine-tuning open-source software for effective use across federal IT systems.

Cameron Chehreh

Vice President and General Manager, Intel Public Sector, Intel

Sales and beyond. As the sales leader for Intel, Chehreh serves his government customers by bringing solutions that directly address complex government problems. In the past year, that has meant bringing to bear artificial intelligence technologies. Examples of AI applications he has championed include AI for the warfighter, AI and 5G for emergency response and AI for workforce programs that bring educational content to community colleges in 32 states. One program addressed a particularly acute cybersecurity challenge by bringing a hardware-based technology to encrypt data within a computer’s CPU, the proverbial last mile of data protection.

Col. Justin K. Collins

Senior Materiel Leader, Upper Echelon, U.S. Air Force

Mastering tech procurement. Amid the Air Force’s strategy to modernize the core technologies that will carry it through the next decade, Collins spearheaded IT and cybersecurity acquisition for the service. Under his leadership, the Air Force procured more than 23,000 new computers to bolster operations, migrated 100 mission systems to its CloudOne program and shuttered 43 on-premises environments to save $10 million in legacy costs a year. These efforts, combined with the successful migration of the service to Microsoft 365 cloud services and a renegotiation of the Microsoft Joint Enterprise Licenses Agreement, saved the Air Force $100 million in contract negotiations.

Judith A. Conklin

CIO, Library of Congress

Tech stack pro. After becoming CIO in 2021, Conklin set out to both modernize the Library of Congress and secure it from cyberattacks. In 2022, she carried out several tech initiatives, including merging operations into a single unified network domain, securing funding for a new enterprise cloud program management office to help guide further modernization and zero trust development and making legislative information machine-readable through a new API for Congress.gov. Under her leadership, the CIO office managed 81 chartered IT projects and helped reduce delivery times for technology services through the implementation of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library and Information Technology Service Management frameworks.

Barbara Cooper-Jones

CIO, Ginnie Mae

Transformational trailblazer. Cooper-Jones is known for her visionary leadership and dedication to technology-driven transformation. She spearheaded the implementation of cloud technologies and information management strategies to support Ginnie Mae’s $2.3 trillion mortgage-backed securities operations. The successful migration and consolidation of the agency’s IT operations to a single, secure government cloud platform has revolutionized the way Ginnie Mae manages technology and improves access to capital for affordable housing for millions of Americans. Cooper-Jones’ leadership helped the agency provision more than 400 resources across multiple environments and increase processing speed.

Matthew T. Cornelius

Senior Professional Staff Member, Majority Staff, Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee

Congressional tech expert. As the lead staffer for Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for issues related to civilian agency operations, the General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget, Cornelius was a key driver of the committee’s work in 2022. He leveraged his role to draft a software licensing transparency proposal and get bipartisan support for it. Cornelius was also critical to the passage of the bipartisan FedRAMP Authorization Act in late 2022 that standardized cloud security assessments, and he led the committee’s oversight efforts, helping to organize hearings about technology and customer experience in government.

Robert “Bob” J. Costello

CIO, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security

Cyber defense strategist. As chief information officer for the nation’s cyber defense agency, Costello has spearheaded efforts to develop and support cutting-edge technology solutions that are establishing new standards for innovation and security across the federal government. Costello is setting the pace for agencies on initiatives like zero trust while undertaking new projects like the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, where thousands of public and private partners gather and share information about security risks. His work has also increased efficiencies, such as enabling CISA to rapidly hire sought-after staff and developing enterprise-class systems to replace legacy applications for core business functions.

Group Capt. J. Blythe Crawford

Commandant, Air and Space Warfare Centre, Royal Air Force

Supporting the special relationship. Crawford has served as both an integral partner with the Defense Department and an innovator for the United Kingdom. His work to coordinate U.S. and U.K. systems through collaboration and data-sharing agreements has been crucial for Joint All-Domain Command and Control efforts. He was also instrumental in aligning innovation activities between the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX and its U.K. equivalent, RAF Experimental, or RAFX. Crawford steered partnerships and collaboration on AI development between the U.S. and Australia on joint aircraft programs like the F-35 and E-7, making him an indispensable partner and ally in national security.

Steve Davis

Director of Infrastructure and Cloud Operations for the Information Technology Operations & Services branch within the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Department of Labor

Working smart at Labor. Davis is charged with making sure that all virtual and on-premises Labor Department server operating systems and services are secure and up to date. Last year, he led work to use the cloud to automate employee onboarding and improve user experience for sign-on processes. He established a Sunday-night testing routine to ensure systems and services are ready to go after any weekend maintenance. Beyond effective management of day-to-day work, colleagues say he is considered a “go-to” resource within the CIO office and among agency leadership because he tackles and solves tough problems that improve the security and functionality of agency servers, applications and systems.

Mike Dean

Satellite Communications Chief for the Deputy CIO for Command, Control and Communications, Department of Defense

Sultan of satellites. Russia’s war on Ukraine has showcased for the world how crucial modern satellite communications are to warfare. But vital infrastructure can’t be updated without first knowing the status of every system. That’s why Dean, the Pentagon’s SATCOM chief, launched a global assessment of the Defense Department’s key space-based systems. That work helped make the case for funding next-generation upgrades and integrating commercial services that expand DOD’s reach. Dean spearheaded a plan to implement enterprise, cloud-based IT services for SATCOM operations. His leadership also bolstered NATO’s capabilities with U.S.-provided broadband and secure SATCOM IT services.

CeCe DeCamp

Senior Partner and Federal Civilian Sales Leader, IBM

Partnering it forward. DeCamp sees her responsibility as building partnerships, communities and teams to help her government clients. As a member of the Coast Guard’s Industry Academy, which immerses industry employees in the operational environment, DeCamp demonstrates the deep client interaction that helps her identify solutions for agencies navigating complex problems. In support of IBM’s network of industry partners, she advocates for her company’s small-business office, which includes many minority-owned and veteran-owned companies, and she plays a key role in IBM’s “Federal 15 Pledge,” a program that aims to increase Big Blue’s work with Black-owned small businesses at a rate of 15% by 2025.

Chris J. DeRusha

Federal Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy National Cyber Director for Federal Cybersecurity, Office of Management and Budget

Bridge builder. DeRusha doesn’t just issue guidance; he proactively works across agencies, congressional committees and the legislative branch to ensure the federal government has a fighting chance in the cyber landscape. His efforts helped agencies improve and achieve key tenets of a zero trust framework, including user identification, device validation and network access limitations. From providing exceptional leadership throughout the implementation of the cybersecurity executive order to setting forth a clear direction on zero trust architectures for federal agencies, DeRusha spearheaded a collective, inclusive and governmentwide approach to cybersecurity during his second year on the job.

Mittal Desai

CIO, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy

Reducing downtime. Desai has engendered a spirit of collaboration and cooperation in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s 250-person CIO shop since taking over in 2020. In 2022, he improved on an already stellar track record, exceeding targets across the board. Desai and his team hit 100% adoption of secure mobile device computing with 45% of agency applications residing in the cloud. His focus on cloud and performance led to steep drops in unplanned outages and downtime. Under his leadership, his office made great strides improving IT support services, earning more than 90% satisfaction among agency users on FERC quality surveys.

Martha Dorris

Founder, Dorris Consulting International

CX champion. Dorris has been working on customer experience issues in and out of government for years. In 2022, that knowledge became even more important as CX gained attention from the current administration as a priority for agencies — a development stakeholders say was partly due to Dorris’ own attention to the subject. She testified as an expert on customer experience on Capitol Hill, and she continued to build on her work as an educator and source on CX via newsletters, annual summits, podcasts, a CX-specific awards program and CX training for senior executives through the Office of Personnel Management.

Ryan Dukeman

Data Scientist, Department of State

Data decoder. Dukeman is a data scientist focused on the People’s Republic of China. As a detailee to the new, coordinating “China House” office, he brought statistical and machine-learning techniques that uncover patterns and trends to pressing policy issues. He also heads a 27-person, cross-functional team charged with developing a flagship analytics product to track Chinese foreign policy activities worldwide. Dukeman is described as a leader in his field who can analyze complex data sets and extract valuable insights, and his knowledge of U.S.-China foreign policy and his analytical prowess have informed not only the State Department but also U.S. policy toward China writ large.

Robert J. Eisenhauer

Enterprise Services Technical Director, White House Communications Agency

Network guru. In 2022, Eisenhauer, a longtime Defense Department hand on network operations, worked to deploy a new classified infrastructure built from the ground up on an “unheard-of timeline,” according to his nominators. He delivered on the new infrastructure while also leading daily maintenance of the unclassified White House network. In his off hours, Eisenhauer prioritized DOD infrastructure, contributing personal time to address cross-cutting challenges related to cloud, code and infrastructure. On top of this, Eisenhauer also created a robust monitoring website to show the health of much of the DOD’s core IT infrastructure at almost no cost to the government.

Juliane Gallina

Associate Deputy Director of the CIA for Digital Innovation, Central Intelligence Agency

Spy tech. As the chief information officer and director of the Information Technology Enterprise at the CIA, Gallina has played a pivotal role in modernizing the agency’s technology platforms and developing a strong IT workforce. She has fostered the adoption of emerging technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning and pushed development of training programs to ensure that the agency’s staff have the necessary skills to work with new solutions. Gallina’s expertise in innovative tech and extensive experience across both the public and private sectors helped her drive innovation and transform agency programs to maintain the nation’s strategic advantage.

Dr. Angela P. Giddings

Technical Director for Studies and Analysis, Department of the Air Force

Paging Dr. Data. Giddings developed new operations research training courses for building skills, boosting program recruitment 88% in fiscal year 2023. She surged data science personnel to Europe to address the Russia-Ukraine conflict and led Project Brown Heron’s Envision platform, a system that takes data from across the service and makes it easier for commanders to make personnel readiness decisions. Giddings increased users tenfold and has been instrumental in turning around the Air Force’s analytics enterprise. Her technical leadership led to the identification of more than $200 million in shadow IT, saving thousands of work hours by automating data analytics efforts.

Clay Goldwein

Senior Vice-President, National Security and Justice Business Unit Leader CGI Federal

Community connector. Goldwein has had a direct impact on securing government networks and IT infrastructure through his work with agencies. In particular, his support of the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program puts Goldwein at the center of a historic effort to lock down cybersecurity across thousands of government systems. To drive efficiencies and stay ahead of adversaries, he provides agencies with new tools and services. As part of his fellowship with the American Council for Technology, Goldwein also mentors industry and government executives as they prepare for more senior roles. He also serves as executive sponsor of LatinosUnidos@CGI, an employee-driven group that supports community and cultural awareness.

Venice Goodwine

Director of Enterprise Information Technology, Office of the CIO, Department of the Air Force

Workforce transformer. Goodwine is a key driver behind the Air Force’s digital and workforce transformation. She leads a diverse team and oversees an $8.2 billion portfolio for planning, managing, resourcing and delivering enterprise solutions to more than 360,000 personnel and contractors. A premier cyber and IT civilian workforce leader, Goodwine has developed innovative strategies to recruit, retain and develop 11,000 civilian personnel in order to strengthen the department’s workforce as it prepares to meet growing threats. She leads the execution of IT governance, including spending oversight, and ensures solutions are efficient while improving transparency and accountability and accelerating capability.

Richard A. Grabowski III

CDM Deputy Program Manager, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security

Federal threat hunter. Grabowski reshaped the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program while achieving aggressive milestones. He also built consensus among all participating agencies to grant Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency analysts access to comprehensive asset-level data through CDM dashboards. The result has been an unprecedented level of visibility into cyber threats that stand to disrupt agency networks and threaten federal missions. Grabowski also spearheaded numerous pilot initiatives for new CDM use cases, like proactive threat hunting. That, combined with CISA’s new insights into agency asset data, is paving the way for the next generation of federal cyber defense.

Jeff E. Greene

Chief for Cyber Response and Policy (former), National Security Council

Cyber resilience architect. As the chief for cyber response and policy of the National Security Council’s Cyber Directorate through July 2022, Greene was the driving force behind virtually every one of its achievements. His key technical contributions resulted in one of the most impactful cybersecurity executive actions in recent history, while his leadership of the White House counter-ransomware effort helped advance coordination and cybersecurity actions across the federal government, in addition to improving critical infrastructure cybersecurity and resilience policy. His whole-of-government approach also helped the U.S. harden its cybersecurity for critical infrastructure sectors in advance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since leaving government last year, Greene has served as senior director for the cybersecurity program at the Aspen Institute.

Tamara Greenspan

GVP/GM, Oracle Federal and Canadian Public Sector Applications, Oracle

COVID coordinator. If you got a COVID test in the mail from the U.S. Postal Service, Greenspan had a hand in it. In 2022, she was a key industry leader on a public-private team to devise and execute on a plan to send free COVID-19 testing kits in the mail to any American who wanted them. The numbers tell the story: More than 270 million tests shipped to U.S. households with an average of 1.2 days between an online request and delivery. Greenspan had a leading role in this effort while managing critical IT projects for defense and civilian agency customers.

Joel Gurin

President, Center for Open Data Enterprise

Data informing equity. Gurin, an expert on open government data, is zeroed in on the use of data for the public good and social justice. As president of the nonprofit Center for Open Data Enterprise, Gurin led the organization’s focus on using data to address issues such as climate change, racial equity, health care and fair housing, work that is intertwined with and supports Biden administration goals. In 2022, CODE co-hosted a roundtable with the IBM Center for the Business of Government on improving equity in health care and housing and published a report on the social determinants of health.

Jay Hawkins

Acting Director, Data Center and Cloud Engineering, Office of Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

Legacy hero. The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the midst of a major migration to the cloud, but it also has to maintain a complex web of legacy systems needed to operate health, benefits and other key services. Hawkins is one of VA’s go-to experts when it comes to re-architecting cloud and on-premises infrastructure to improve performance and interoperability between modern and legacy applications and data. Over the last year, he has implemented and managed a new consumption-based model for licensing and system usage that is cutting costs and allowing VA to shift dollars to innovation.

Scott A. Heitmann

Chief Technology Officer, Cyberspace Capabilities Center, Department of the Air Force

Upgrade expert. There’s no one better to answer the call to secure the Air and Space Forces’ devices than Heitmann. He revolutionized how the Air Force updates computers with remote patching and automation. His work upgrading nearly 600,000 computers to more contemporary versions of Microsoft Windows saved 220,000 personnel hours. He also updated nearly half a million computers to run the latest version of Microsoft Office in less than 10 days. And with the White House’s blessing, Heitmann reduced the Air Force’s security policies by 97% to a few dozen that can be managed via the cloud, improving device security overall.

Christian A. Hoehner

Policy Director, Majority Staff, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

Legislative leader. Hoehner helped shepherd several pieces of major bipartisan proposals into law in 2022 – the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act, the FedRAMP Authorization Act and the Postal Service Reform Act. The push to codify FedRAMP, a key program meant to promote secure cloud services, was years in the making. General Services Administration officials say they hope to improve the speed of authorizations for cloud products and services and more due to the legislation. Hoehner, an alum of the Data Coalition, is also active in the committee’s oversight work on government IT management, cybersecurity and more.

Carole House

Executive in Residence, Terranet Ventures

Driving digital asset collaboration. During her time as director for cybersecurity and secure digital innovation for the National Security Council, House was a key player in the drafting and coordination of a U.S. counter-ransomware strategy. She worked across agencies, including the State and Treasury departments, to support law enforcement endeavors and establish an international counter-ransomware initiative with over 30 nations that enhanced the ability to detect and disrupt ransomware activities. In 2022, House used that cross-agency experience to drive an executive order on digital assets — a critical step in the administration’s effort to find a governmentwide approach to cryptocurrency. House left government service for Terranet Ventures last fall.

Gema Howell

Computer Scientist and Principal Investigator, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Mobility maven. Howell leads a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology focused on mobile device security and privacy, collaborating with industry to develop threat-resistant architectures and cybersecurity best practices. In 2022, Howell led a significant update to NIST’s Mobile Threat Catalog, which describes, identifies and structures the threats posed to mobile information systems. Howell also published guidance for emergency response technology and developed international guidance for federal employees who travel with government-owned mobile devices. Additionally, as a cybersecurity lead on NIST’s Voting Program, Howell co-chairs a key working group and develops standards to support secure elections.

Shad Imam

Senior Director of Solutions Engineering, Public Sector, MuleSoft

Operations optimizer. As the product leader for MuleSoft’s Infrastructure Platform-as-a-Service solution, Imam spends a lot of time helping government customers get the most out of their managed services by adding new features and services as part of legacy system modernization. Imam helps supply a vision for optimizing operations while cutting costs. In 2022, Imam migrated several agencies to a FedRAMP-compliant managed services solution that included API management. As part of those efforts, Imam helped the Agriculture Department save $50 million through new process efficiencies and helped Amtrak save $22.5 million by aligning APIs across multiple systems.

Chris Inglis

National Cyber Director (former), Executive Office of the President

National cyber guardian. As the first Senate-confirmed national cyber director at the White House — a role established by Congress in 2021 to coordinate a patchwork of federal agencies all charged with protecting the nation’s digital infrastructure — Inglis built the Office of the National Cyber Director from one employee to close to its planned strength of nearly 100 staffers. Under his leadership, the office spearheaded the development of the administration’s national cybersecurity strategy, a sweeping document that calls for a fundamental transformation in how the nation views cybersecurity accountability, while consistently releasing national-level policies to protect organizations of all sizes from cyber threats.

Pamela K. Isom

Director, Office of Artificial Intelligence and Technology, Department of Energy

AI ethicist. As the federal government explores the benefits of artificial intelligence, Isom worked within the Department of Energy’s AITO to ensure equity and equality were incorporated into its AI strategy. While supporting the department’s growing portfolio of AI and machine-learning capabilities, Isom delivered AI Ethics Principles to ensure equitable outcomes and sought to bring the tech’s benefits to underserved communities. In championing the Responsible and Trustworthy AI task force within AITO, she worked to marry AI’s scientific integrity and ethical responsibilities in this emerging tool for the federal government.

Sarah (Sally) F. Jaggar

Project Director and Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration

Staff sherpa. Jaggar spearheaded the development of an influential 2022 report on cybersecurity workforce programs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security. Jaggar led the staff work across Capitol Hill, at the White House and at DHS itself and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The result was a report with critical recommendations on how the government should address the looming gap in cyber talent — a report highlighted in meetings held by key stakeholders including NIST and the Office of the National Cyber Director.

Mark A. James

Acting Executive Director Enterprise Cloud Services Directorate, Office of Information & Technology, Department of Homeland Security

Cloud transformer. Launching a major organizational change in an agency as large as Customs and Border Protection is no small feat. James built CBP’s new Enterprise Cloud Services organization from the ground up, leading its planning and execution phases while overseeing the policies and processes that support CBP’s cloud migration. He spearheaded the authorization and release of an initial contract vehicle to solicit commercial vendor support for the organization tasked with managing the agency’s cloud enterprise. James’ efforts led to increased efficiencies across CBP’s most critical functions and improved the overall effectiveness of the information technology services available to the agency.

Anthony Jungers

Program Group Manager, FEDSIM, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Acquisition advocate. Jungers’ proven track record of success throughout all phases of the acquisition life cycle — matched with his dedication to client missions and cybersecurity standards — makes him a driving force at the General Services Administration’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center. He played a foundational role in the award of the $2.3 billion United States Africa Command Reconnaissance, Intelligence, and Exploitation Services task order, the largest single-award task order in FEDSIM history, and his expertise in acquisition strategy and maximizing technical solutions helped the brand-new governmentwide ASTRO contract vehicle enjoy a successful launch.

Kimberly Kagan

President, Institute for the Study of War

Dedicated mapmaker. Kagan led the Institute for the Study of War’s work to produce and update daily maps that display the current status of forces in Ukraine. Researchers, press and government leaders worldwide recognize these maps as the authoritative source on the subject. This work involves round-the-clock analysis of open-source data and the use of advanced tools and visualization techniques to integrate information to reach a broad network of users across the globe. Kagan’s efforts were cited by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who virtually addressed a December 2022 ISW event in New York.

Agha Nabeel Khan

Senior Advisor for Informatics, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services

Informatics visionary. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the mpox response and ongoing CDC data modernization efforts, Khan has successfully overseen critical data ecosystems that have proven essential through it all. His portfolio includes vaccine tracking systems, a data clearinghouse and other platforms widely used for pandemic data needs. He helped architect the COVID-19 data ecosystem that resulted in the distribution of over 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses, and he now leads implementation of the Medical Countermeasures Data Ecosystem 2.0 to prepare for future public health emergencies where national data can be crucial to saving lives.

Stephen Kovac

Chief Compliance Officer, Zscaler

Focused on FedRAMP. Kovac’s influence extends far beyond his role at Zscaler. He also serves as chairman of the board at the Alliance for Digital Innovation, a 5-year-old trade group that supports cloud vendors. In 2022, Kovac pushed to standardize and institutionalize the federal civilian cloud security program FedRAMP. Thanks in part to his communications with lawmakers and officials, Congress included a long-sought FedRAMP authorization in the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. The new law, supporters say, will help drive growth, cut down on red tape and offer additional oversight.

Col. Jennifer M. Krolikowski

Director Chief Information Officer, Space Systems Command, U.S. Space Force

Finding the right stuff. Since taking the CIO role in January 2022, Krolikowski has set about focusing on employee experience and building in strategies to capture new talent for the service. She oversaw two massive efforts in 2022. Project Enigma aims to connect government and industry professionals across devices and locations to ensure secure access, data sharing and more informed decision-making. The Cyber Halo Innovation Research Program looks to fill cybersecurity talent gaps by identifying candidates in underserved communities through a two-year college-to-career recruitment effort. Both initiatives are designed to better support the Space Force’s mission by driving efficiency through ease-of-use technology and cutting-edge capability.

Glenn Kurowski

Chief Technology Officer, CACI International

Tech talent engineer. In 2022, Kurowski spent much of his time and energy on ideas and strategies for building the next generation of technical talent in national security. He is working with the Naval Academy on a “Roadmap to Spectrum Dominance” curriculum and experiential learning program to jump-start students’ service careers in tech domains that are widely viewed as shaping any future conflicts, including electromagnetic spectrum, EMS operations, electronic warfare and cybersecurity. He is also a member of the board at Virginia Tech’s National Security Institute, through which he personally hosts events and brings guest speakers as resources for thousands of students.

Dave C. Lago

Product Manager, DOD Cloud Infrastructure as Code, Hosting and Compute Center, Defense Information Systems Agency

Cloud concierge. As defense agencies’ interest in cloud technology and how to obtain it grows, Lago is responsible for making adoption easier. By creating the DOD Cloud Infrastructure as Code — a series of automated templates that generate authorized platform-as-a-service environments — Lago helped 30 defense organizations adopt the cloud, including 21 in 2022. Because of his work, capabilities ranging from a test bed for zero trust pilots to an agencywide software factory and an environment analyzing cyber incidents were put into motion. With his efforts on the IaC, the DOD has been able to embrace the benefits of cloud with speed.

Michael LaRouche

President, National Security and Space Sector, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

Space race captain. LaRouche’s team helped start the return of humans to the Moon. They participated in NASA’s 2022 high-profile Artemis I mission through their engineering and flight preparation activities and their work on safety and mission assurance. Space innovation also features in the team’s partnership with Rogue Space Systems on new in-orbit service assembly and manufacturing capabilities, along with emerging asset inspection and situational awareness. LaRouche also oversees SAIC’s development of new offerings for cloud migration programs and the company’s work with the Defense Department’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control imperative to securely connect soldiers on the tactical edge where satellites and other space assets feature prominently.

Dave Lebryk

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury

Modernizing payments. In 2022, Lebryk was a leader in helping to rewrite the federal government’s rulebook for electronic payments to further the Treasury’s goal of creating a modern, seamless and cost-effective experience for federal payees. He helped narrow exceptions open to agencies for issuing payments, and an updated rule could hit this year. In addition, he developed new and agile ways of thinking about payment integrity and fraud prevention, including leveraging machine learning. Finally, Lebryk was a champion for Treasury’s Quality Service Management Office initiative to implement shared services for federal agencies looking to modernize legacy financial management systems.

Carrie Lee

Deputy Executive Director, Product Engineering, Office of Information Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

Capability accelerator. As acting director of product engineering at the Department of Veterans Affairs for much of 2022, Lee led efforts to deliver new capabilities faster and more efficiently via VA’s first-ever software factory. Lee sped up the delivery time for low-code apps under the agile “time to value” metric by a factor of six and for no-code apps by a factor of three. In addition, under her leadership, VA’s Lighthouse API Program turned out new capabilities under a continuous authority to operate — the first of its kind at a civilian agency — eliminating the 12- to 18-month approval process.

Dr. Amanda Lienau

Director of Data and Analytics Innovation, Department of Veterans Affairs

Delivering data. Lienau’s work on synthetic data at the Department of Veterans Affairs is at the heart of a research and development platform called Arches that is changing lives for providers, researchers and patients. Synthetic data allows coders to develop and refine health software and applications without compromising patient confidentiality. In 2022, Lienau provisioned synthetic data to support Mission Daybreak, a $20 million Grand Challenge sponsored by VA to develop technologies to model suicide rates and risk factors as a step to designing suicide prevention measures. Additionally, she helped develop an algorithm to evaluate the risk of rehospitalization in patients who have suffered heart failure.

Renee Lobanovskyy

Deputy Director for Information Systems, Office of Grants, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, Department of Health and Human Services

Grants guru. Lobanovskyy’s innovative leadership has driven significant transformations in grants systems at the Department of Health and Human Services’ ASFR Office of Grants, which features $100 billion in federal funding under her purview. She effectively managed the transition from DUNS to a Unique Entity Identifier in 2022, one of the biggest changes in government grants management in two decades. Lobanovskyy ensured the massive undertaking was a seamless success, with no major support issues impacting more than 150,000 users affected by the switch. Under her direction, federal agencies are now able to award grants 50% faster than just a few years ago.

Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock

Deputy Director of Cybersecurity for Combat Support, National Security Agency

Cyber operator. Recently tapped as the first Black woman to serve as a two-star Marine general in her work at the NSA, Mahlock helped implement far-reaching cybersecurity policies to safeguard national security. She coordinated with the agency’s Deputy National Manager for National Security Systems to deploy stronger cyber protections across the Defense Department, intelligence community and national security space as part of the implementation of National Security Memorandum 8. Mahlock also provided action plans to help install Defense Department CIO strategic priorities across the NSA, Joint Staff and Combatant Commands, addressing many of the more pressing cybersecurity challenges in national security.

Quentin McCoy

Head of Contracting Activity, U.S. Cyber Command, National Security Agency

Smart buyer. As the first-ever contracting chief of CYBERCOM, McCoy faced the task of conducting acquisitions to meet some of the most complex and demanding requirements in government. McCoy worked to implement modernized acquisition practices and automated contract-writing systems to move quickly and locate new, innovative tools. These efforts were brought to bear in early 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By leveraging a mixture of traditional and innovative acquisition methods, McCoy and CYBERCOM were able to balance cyber operations in Ukraine with speed without compromising the massive scale of the agency’s overall mission set.

Dena McLaughlin

Regional Commissioner, Mid-Atlantic Region, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Enhancing procurement performance. As a seasoned acquisition trailblazer, McLaughlin spearheaded the growth of the Verified Products Portal from a small-scale prototype to a foundational component with over 10 million validated items across 16,000 manufacturers — all while ensuring the integrity of the GSA Advantage supply chain. Her leadership resulted in major improvements across the federal IT landscape, from modernizing Catalog Management applications to troubleshooting issues and improving the customer experience related to the shift to the Unique Entity Identifier on SAM.gov. Her supporters cite her passion, determination and risk-taking as keys to her success.

Eric R. Mill

Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity, Office of the Federal CIO, Office of Management and Budget

Zero trust advocate. Mill brought a wealth of knowledge and experience in both the legislative and executive branches of government to his position as senior adviser to the federal chief information officer. As a key author of the federal zero trust strategy document, Mill is driving the implementation of the cybersecurity architecture across government. Mill worked to ensure that the policy established clear goals for all federal agencies to achieve by September 2024. He has continued to ensure agencies have the resources and support they need to bolster their cyber defenses while adopting zero trust principles.

Thomas J. Mills

Executive Director, Cargo Systems Program Directorate, Office of Information and Technology, Enterprise Services, U. S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security

Better trade through technology. Because of Mills’ work on updating a critical system known as the Automated Commercial Environment, CBP was able to reduce its operating budget from $300 million to $100 million while maintaining communication through the 47 agencies that regulate trade. Those modernization efforts included replacing a paper-based trade entity enrollment program that took up to two weeks with an electronic certificate that slashed processing time. Mills also helped press for common data standards to improve interoperability and cross-collaboration on the ACE platform, leading to faster policy implementation and better response times to developing issues like the infant formula shortage.

Kamal Narang

Vice President and General Manager, Federal Health Sector General Dynamics Information Technology

Health care IT innovator. As a recognized cloud migration expert, Narang successfully led transformative solutions for federal health agencies, enabling thousands of researchers to seamlessly access critical data for studying Medicare and Medicaid. Narang spearheaded GDIT’s collaboration with the Defense Health Agency’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, a network of 14 military hospitals and two Veterans Affairs medical centers nationwide. His leadership also supported exemplary customer service to over 500,000 veteran personnel through the VA Enterprise Service Desk program, which exceeded performance goals in 2022, demonstrating his commitment to providing real-world impacts.

Robert S. Niewood

Director, Systems Team, Assisted Acquisition Services Program Management Office, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Big-picture thinker. Niewood took his appetite for eliminating internal and customer “pain points” to the next level in 2022, ensuring the proper stewardship of billions of taxpayers dollars while spearheading the agile-based ASSIST modernization effort, which saw the unification of GSA’s Office of Assisted Acquisition Services business processes into a single business system. Niewood demonstrated his ability to lead change management efforts while scaling internal data systems to meet the agency’s needs. He further collaborated with peers to design and implement automation of contract administration activities, providing relief to acquisition professionals and maximizing quality for contract files.

Maj. Gen. John M. Olson, Ph.D.

Chief Data and AI Officer (former), Department of the Air Force

Modernization trifecta. Being successful as the Air Force’s first Chief Data and AI Officer would have been a heady task on its own, but Olson excelled while simultaneously serving as Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations Mobilization Assistant and its Lead for Joint All-Domain Command and Control. Olson led multiple information technology, digital and data initiatives in 2022, ranging from the data migration of more than 850,000 personnel records to saving $430 million on 71 critical systems as part of the JADC2 integration, while standing up the digital infrastructure framework for the Advanced Battle Management System.

Michael D. Parrish

Chief Acquisition Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs

Inside man. Parrish knows what it’s like to do business with the Department of Veterans Affairs as a contractor, and he’s bringing those lessons to the fore as leader of the agency’s contracting operations. He has led a number of new initiatives, including opening better channels for collaboration and engagement between the agency and the private sector and implementing VA-wide category management analysis and infrastructure. Parrish also led the development of the online Pathfinder tool as a resource for anyone looking to do business or innovate with VA. Launched in June 2022, the platform has attracted submissions from hundreds of interested vendors and external innovators.

Mark A. Patterson

CIO, Department of Defense Education Activity, Department of Defense

Updating a global school system. Overseeing the educational IT environments of children in military families across the world, Patterson was at the forefront of maintaining distance-learning capabilities even before the pandemic. In 2022, DODEA continued its efforts to provide innovative online education capabilities and resources through initiatives like migrating Microsoft 365 for Education and launching a portal to connect families outside of the DODEA to DOD benefits such as tutoring or academic support for learning difficulties. These efforts bring innovation and equitable opportunity to a network serving more than 72,000 children in 160 accredited schools in 11 countries and the U.S.

Max Peterson

Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services

Passionate collaborator. When you represent the world’s largest cloud service provider, you need to work with everyone. For Peterson and AWS, that means leveraging technology with passion. For example, Peterson launched the AWS Health Equity Initiative to support organizations trying to improve health outcomes. AWS has supported some 90 organizations over the last year. Peterson also has opened the AWS Accelerator program to space and health care startups to lift their concepts to the next phase of development by using the cloud. The same passion led him to work with the Ukrainian government to maintain continuity of online citizen services.

Elizabeth Puchek

Chief Data Officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security

Automation through analytics. A firm believer in connecting the right people with the right data, Puchek led the creation of the Director’s Catalog, a set of dashboards for decision-makers that provide fast, easy access to deep agency data on immigration benefits requests. Her data advocacy accelerated case processing by prioritizing requests likely to be approved and reducing the number of manual reviews. The result: USCIS doubled the number of automated green card renewals, cut backlogs for employment authorization and ensured benefits don’t expire, helping reduce risk, serve constituencies and build public trust.

Tee Ramos

Director of Participant Services, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board

Mr. Modernization. In 2022, Ramos led a sweeping online and information-sharing overhaul at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, one of the largest defined-contribution systems in the world. He directed the rollout of the new Converge system, a top-to-bottom modernization effort for the Thrift Savings Plan, in only 18 months. The move was years in the making, after Ramos directed an evaluation of the entire organization upon taking the director role, determined to act quickly to transition away from old and outdated systems. Now, the new system has handled 65 million transactions in the last six months.

Dr. Ernest M. Reed

Director, Category Management Support Office, Executive Sponsor for Analytics, Data and Decision Support Unified Platform, Department of Veterans Affairs

Acquisition authority. Data-driven acquisition saves time and money that can be redirected to improving veteran health and care. That’s the idea powering Reed’s work building greater efficiency into the Department of Veterans Affairs’ category management practices. He improved vendor and demand management, met small-business goals, built strategic sourcing capacity and led development of the Analytics, Data and Decision Support Unified Platform that integrates disparate data sets to improve acquisition decision support. Through savings, cost avoidance, increased efficiency and energetic leadership, Reed created opportunities for over 5,200 more physicians and nearly 11,000 more nurses to serve veterans.

Dr. Lindsay R. Riegler

Innovation Specialist and Speech Language Pathologist, Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs

Telehealth multiplier. As remote care grows more essential for veterans, Riegler designed a scalable framework that aligned clinical and administrative policy incentives for remote patient monitoring that ensures veterans receive seamless care no matter where they are. Lessons from a pilot program monitoring remote patients at risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers helped Reigler create the systematic coding and protocols required for staff to respond to alerts from monitoring devices and escalate care. By positioning remote patient monitoring as the standard of care, she has increased veterans’ access to health care, reduced hospital admission rates and improved patient experiences with VA providers.

Maria Roat

Deputy Federal CIO (former), Office of Management and Budget

Embracing the challenge. Roat finished her government career as deputy federal chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget in March 2022. As deputy CIO, Roat led a charge to pilot governmentwide inter-agency collaboration tools like cross-agency chat tools. Roat told FCW she first started talking with colleagues about the issue in 2014 — a testament to the problem-solving and people-motivating abilities that those who’ve worked with her often reference. Other recent action items included helping update government capital planning and investment control data-collection practices — removing over 100 data fields and setting up a standard taxonomy — and updating the IT dashboard.

Col. Adolf Rocko Rodriguez

Strategic Military Advisor/Reserve Advisor, Department of the Air Force

Cyber planner. Rodriguez led a task force focusing on cyber readiness in the event of a conflict with China. The effort included identifying critical Air Force assets in the Pacific and assessing existing capabilities for their defense. The result was a cybersecurity and cyber defense plan that reduced enterprise vulnerabilities while modernizing key components, including sensors and data transport and backhaul, creating a blueprint to establish the service’s first-ever operational defense of critical weapon systems, control systems and information systems to deter and respond against a peer adversary. The plan was instrumental in securing a $1 billion investment.

Clayton Romans

Associate Director, Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security

Cyber guardian. Leading CISA’s main hub for the coordination and communication surrounding major cyber threats, Romans helps ensure that both industry and government are aware of the developing risk to their IT infrastructure. In 2022, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative released 30 major cyber advisories, while coordinating with partners to respond to various threats, ranging from activity following the invasion of Ukraine to rapid response in the wake of the Log4Shell software vulnerability. With ransomware continuing to pose a persistent threat to critical infrastructure, Romans aim to expand the collaboration underway in the JCDC to analyze and share threat intelligence across industry and government technology systems.

James L. Saunders

Chief Information Security Officer, Office of Personnel Management

Security success. Saunders took his new role of chief information security officer at the Office of Personnel Management in stride in 2022, making gains in OPM’s cybersecurity posture for the human resources systems that serve over 100 agencies, 2.1 million federal employees and 2.8 million retirees. Among his 2022 accomplishments: ramping up two-factor authentication, implementing an identity, credential and access management strategy and standing up cloud-based security solutions. Under Saunders’ leadership, OPM also made a zero trust implementation roadmap and set up a provisional authority-to-operate process to help systems get into production more quickly while remaining secure.

Dr. Jay J. Schnitzer

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer/Chief Medical Officer, MITRE Corporation

Coding it forward. As the head of MITRE’s $100 million independent research portfolio, Schnitzer is widely credited for recognizing a serious risk to both patients and health providers from the lack of interoperability between electronic health records. His work led to the development of a standard set of oncology data elements and a strategy for promulgation across cancer patient data and systems. He also helped launch the Oncology Moonshot, the development of the mCODE (minimal Common Oncology Data Elements) and the formation of CodeX, a public-private partnership formed to identify use cases and promulgate the mCODE standard.

Lynn Payne Schug

Deputy CIO, Enterprise Operations and Shared Services, Department of Energy

Collaboration leader. Schug won plaudits from nominators for developing an organizationwide portal for information sharing called the Energy Hub. She led a “cultural shift” away from email and toward deeper collaboration with the launch of the Energy Hub, which brought together users of more than 50 production environments. Schug selected the technology and procured the resources to stand up the portal. The system was introduced to Energy Department personnel at the agency’s annual Cybersecurity and Technology Innovation Conference, setting the stage for wider adoption. In addition to innovating new solutions, Schug is widely recognized within DOE for effective management of enterprise IT.

Zach Schwartz

Acting CIO for the Office of the Secretary and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Department of Commerce

Interoperability savant. Connecting the sprawling, federated IT environment at the Department of Commerce to improve user experience is a Herculean feat. As acting CIO, Schwartz led an effort that helped standardize data, leveraged workflow optimization to reduce IT tickets in his office by 29% and provided centralized access to key data. These improvements allowed for better information sharing and collaboration across the enterprise and helped make component agencies more autonomous in activities like customer relationship program management. Schwartz’s work later informed the departments of Treasury, Energy and Interior on how to achieve interoperability.

James B. Sheire

Branch Chief, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security

Cyber shared services. Sheire transformed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Shared Services Office, investing over $125 million and building a team of more than 100 cybersecurity professionals. In 2022, he led the development and expansion of key services, including the Vulnerability Disclosure Policy platform, the Protective Domain Name System Resolver service and the Cyber Threat Indicator sharing services. These services help federal civilian executive branch agencies streamline disclosure and management of cyber vulnerabilities and neutralize malicious content. Additionally, Sheire added agencies to a mobile app vetting service and developed cloud security guidance for federal civilian agencies.

Faith V. Shelton

Senior Contracting Officer, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Dedicated innovator. With unmatched technical expertise and a commitment to excellence, Shelton played a pivotal role in managing several of the biggest and most complex technology contracts in the Office of Information Technology Category’s portfolio. Under her leadership, the multibillion-dollar Defense Enterprise Office Solutions blanket purchase agreement, which supports delivery of cloud-based Microsoft office applications to DOD customers, was successfully adjusted to meet changing mission priorities. Similarly, Shelton awarded and administered a $305 million BPA for the Department of Health and Human Services to migrate enterprise office software to the cloud and improve inventory management.

Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner

Director, Defense Information Systems Agency

IT for warfighters. Overseeing the DOD’s IT infrastructure and supporting more than 200,000 warfighters in 150 countries, Skinner has been instrumental in ensuring the secure operation of the DOD Information Network since he was chosen to lead the Defense Information Systems Agency in 2021. Skinner also helped stand up the agency’s Hosting and Compute Center, or HACC, by effectively combining DISA’s Services Enterprise Directorate Front Office, SE Cloud Services Division, SE Ecosystem and Cloud Computing Program Office into a unified office tasked with overseeing both DOD’s core data centers and enterprise cloud initiatives.

Kenneth D. Slaughter

Program Manager, DOD Healthcare Management System Modernization, Defense Health Agency

EHR implementer. Slaughter is driving the deployment of MHS Genesis, the commercial electronic health record system being implemented across the Department of Defense. In 2022, Slaughter hit a milestone by completing two-thirds of DOD deployments, with MHS Genesis reaching 127,000 users and 5.6 million beneficiaries. The tempo of deployments increased over recent years, with overnight and weekend work activated to meet the help-desk demand that typically surges when the system goes live in a new clinical setting. Additionally, Slaughter helped deploy a telehealth platform that improves patient access, engagement and outcomes.

Harrison Smith

Chief, Enterprise Digitalization Office, Internal Revenue Service

Digitalization director. Smith started out as the leader of an unofficial group of five aiming to digitize paper-based legacy processes in the IRS in 2020. His so-called #TeamDigi has since grown into an office of over 30, and in 2022, they made massive strides toward their goal to transform how the IRS handles paper. The iterative procurement tool the office uses, PilotIRS, has also garnered leadership support at the agency and will be critical to implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, Smith’s colleagues say. Another thing they’ll tell you is that the office wouldn’t have seen the success it has without Smith’s leadership.

Jen Sovada

President, Public Sector, SandboxAQ

Post-quantum pathfinder. To combat threats to the nation’s security posed by quantum computing, Sovada leads the team at Alphabet spinoff Sandbox AQ sounding the alarm on “store now, decrypt later” attacks. Already, threat actors can steal and store encrypted data from weapons systems, critical infrastructure and medical research for decryption later when quantum machines mature. Sovada advocated for the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act to push federal IT systems to post-quantum cryptography and worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology on quantum-resistant algorithms. Under her leadership, SandboxAQ was selected by NIST for its Migration to Post-Quantum Cryptography project.

Spence Spencer

Director of System Configuration and Delivery Automation Division, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Innovation engineer. As the architect of the USPTO software factory, Spencer used a DevSecOps approach to help developers rapidly create secure, consistent and efficient tools to simplify access to the 600,000 patent applications submitted each year. With software, operations, IT, security and business functions on one platform, roughly 220 newly formed autonomous agile teams leaned into AI, automation and other approaches for faster and cheaper delivery of patents and trademarks — all while supporting remote work for employees. Thanks to Spencer’s technical and cultural leadership, new products are now developed in weeks instead of years, and their implementation can be accomplished by a single person.

Laura J. Stanton

Assistant Commissioner for the Information Technology Category, Federal Acquisition Service, General Services Administration

Modernization mastermind. With a portfolio last year that extended over 6,000 contracts and more than $32 billion in federal IT spending, Stanton has continued to position her team at the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service as the government’s go-to experts on smart IT buying. Stanton has overseen the federal government’s transition to the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program, one of the most significant governmentwide modernization efforts for the government’s telecommunications and network infrastructure in modern history, all while assisting in the Biden administration’s push to secure federal networks and modernize the government’s digital infrastructure.

Timothy Strebel

Data Scientist, National Artificial Intelligence Institute, Department of Veterans Affairs

AI for health. Strebel developed an artificial intelligence model that helps clinicians make decisions about COVID-19 patients using aggregated data to predict the patient’s disease course. Ultimately, this COVID-19 mortality model helps identify high-risk patients and reduce health inequities. It was piloted at 13 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, creating an example of the use of AI in clinical settings. A two-time winner of VA’s own “shark tank” awards, Strebel is known at the VA for his innovations. More recently, he’s been collaborating with the Chief Human Capital Officer to create a standardized data scientist position description.

Col. Mark M. Taylor

Project Manager, Defensive Cyber Operations, Army Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems, Department of the Army

Cyber defense enabler. Taylor spearheaded a Defense Department pilot that realigns existing funds into a single appropriation for software tech. Called the BA-08 pilot, the effort helps ease budgetary constraints. So far Taylor has used the pilot across his nine Acquisition Category IV defensive cyber programs to mitigate the typical delays in software acquisition caused by reprogramming appropriations. He’s released six prototypes, enabling capability to cyber warfighters worldwide. Critically, Taylor used the pilot to rapidly shift funds to enable the accreditation and deployment of the Army’s big data platform, Gabriel Nimbus, on unclassified and classified networks.

Nathan Tierney

Chief People Officer, Office of Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

People person. Tierney led a push to improve hiring, onboarding and recruitment in the VA’s Office of Information and Technology. He’s been on the job for only about a year and a half, but already he led massive growth in 2022, increasing hiring speed by 267%, onboarding 639 employees and deploying an enterprisewide solution to manage all OIT recruitment actions in just 65 days. That’s in addition to innovations to streamline recruitment activities, a new evaluation system, actions to improve workforce diversity and inclusion and a focus on employee retention.

Trish Turner

Program Manager and Senior Advisor for Digital Assets, Internal Revenue Service

Crypto leader. Turner’s work has been crucial to the tax agency’s ability to meet the moment amid the rise of digital financial assets. Unreported cryptocurrency income and transactions are difficult to trace, but Turner’s efforts on the Digital Asset Strategy supported thousands of investigations into tax evasion and unreported assets. She led an effort to digitize the IRS’s ability to identify and track concealed asset holdings, a push that gave the agency invaluable tools for its taxpayer compliance efforts in this arena. In addition, Turner has provided training on investigative techniques for digital payments to participants in over 40 countries.

Juliana Vida

Group Vice President and Chief Strategy Advisor, Public Sector, Splunk

C-suite steward. Vida’s experience as a Navy combat pilot — one of the first women to serve in a combat role in the U.S. military — gave her a passion for the mission that she’s married with her technical expertise at Splunk. The combination lets her help customers find new ways to leverage technology to solve their problems, such as ferreting out unemployment fraud and making data-driven decisions. She’s also made it her mission to help other women find the right career path in technology. This work includes involvement with Girls Who Code and the Pepsico “Shecurity” summit.

Teresa A. Weipert

General Manager, Federal Services Segment, Maximus

Trust builder. In two years, Weipert has integrated three acquisitions that give Maximus capabilities to deliver more technology as well as build trust with the customer. Her work includes running hotlines for Medicare and the health insurance marketplace. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services receive 35 million inquiries a year, and technology-driven improvements from Maximus have brought CMS some of the highest customer satisfaction scores in all of government. For the Defense Health Agency, Maximus delivered a mobile app specifically for servicewomen that helps them before, during and after deployment. Weipert’s focus on modernization helps agencies deliver their mission and enhance trust.

Nicholas West

Acting Director, Office of GSA Acquisition Policy, Integrity, and Workforce, General Services Administration

Rethinking cloud acquisition. West’s expertise in cloud policy resulted in the issuance of a new cloud buying guide by the Federal Acquisition Service in 2022 that enabled greater flexibility in buying cloud solutions and better tracks with commercial practices. He ensured that the General Services Administration was the first to require software supply chain security training for its acquisition workforce, and over 80% of those employees have already completed the initial course. West was also a critical player in developing consumption-based cloud buying for the federal supply schedule.

Brian Whittaker

Founder, Humans of Public Service

People profiler. In 2022, Whittaker founded the Humans of Public Service program to profile public servants. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, he wanted to take action. In the federal government, representation of people of color continues to lag in the highest ranks. Whittaker decided to highlight the people of color doing great work in public service. The effort has resulted in nearly 100 profiles of government employees spanning levels of government, demographics and geography. Whittaker leads HOPS apart from and in addition to an already demanding position as the chief innovation officer at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Lloyd “Colt” Whittall

Chief Experience Officer, Department of the Air Force

CX pioneer. As the first-ever chief experience officer in the Defense Department, and one of few across the federal enterprise, Whittall is driving results for those who rely on Air Force tech. Much of his work is tied directly to user feedback, including through the Air Force’s weekly IT Pulse survey, to identify and address the biggest sore spots. Whittall’s 2022 Fix My Computer Campaign, scheduled to run through fiscal year 2028, has already resulted in modernization and user-experience wins like streamlining paperwork and replacing nearly 30% of PCs in the branch. The result of improved user experience? More effective warfighters.

Charles Worthington

Chief Technology Officer, Office of Information and Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs

App star. Worthington has long worked to bring veterans closer to their health and benefits data. When the Department of Veterans Affairs was looking to give veterans more options for managing their interactions with the agency, Worthington answered the call with the effort to develop the VA Health and Benefits Application. The mobile tool allows users to view and manage clinical appointments, send messages and documents to medical staff and view claims and appeals status. The app offers quick access to the VA Crisis Line, a 24/7 hotline for veterans and their families. The tool hit the milestone of 1 million downloads in late 2022.

Raylene Yung

Executive Director, Technology Modernization Fund, General Services Administration

Scaling up TMF. In 2022, Yung led the Technology Modernization Fund as it continued scaling to meet the $1 billion investment it got the year before via the American Rescue Plan. Tasked with overseeing all of the program’s operations, Yung managed the program management office, the TMF board and key agency and congressional stakeholders as the program navigated a significant increase in demand and investments. Last year, the TMF brought on technical experts and grew its staff more than fivefold. The team evaluated over 150 new proposals, and currently, the TMF portfolio includes over $650 million in 38 investments across 22 federal agencies.

Briana Zack

Project Manager for Mission Support Cost Transparency, NASA

Transparent spending. NASA tasked Zack with gaining insights into the cost transparency of its $3.4 billion in annual spend for mission support services, a first-of-its-kind effort, in early 2022. Working with a joint venture contract partner and senior agency executives, Zack mapped multiple functions of total spend in 12 weeks, identifying recommendations for increasing efficiency, improving pricing and contract terms and conditions, and reducing spend across functions. She also helped launch a cost transparency software tool to provide NASA with the ability to see all spend by function, regardless of funding source, providing clarity for the agency’s acquisition strategy.