Cindy is a senior executive with 20+ years of diversified management, technology and operations experience and has a proven track record of designing and delivering technology driven transformational programs in many blue-chip firms, including Factset, New York Life Insurance Company, ALICO, Merrill Lynch, Marsh & McLennan, Prudential, Booz Allan & Hamilton and MetLife. Cindy’s passion is for people development. She has sponsored various mentoring programs and Women in Technology initiatives.

Cindy has an MBA from NYU in Corporate Strategy/Entrepreneurship, and a BS from SUNY/Albany. Cindy is a Board member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) NY chapter, actively participates in SIM Women and serves on the Board of Success Academy.

Tony Leng was formerly Managing Director of Diversified Search and led the firm’s Digital Transformation and CIO practice from its San Francisco office.  Previously, Tony was Managing Partner of Hodge Partners. Tony has conducted many “C” level searches for organizations where leaders are transforming/building organizations that are taking advantage of digital technologies.  He has conducted “C” level searches conducted for organizations such as Aurora Healthcare, Axalta, Catholic Health Initiatives, Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Delta Dental, Dignity Health, Esurance, Kaiser Permanente, Novant Health, PG&E, Polycom, Sutter Health, Symmetricom, TE Connectivity, and Wellmark. 

Prior to his executive search experience, Tony was a Board member of three public companies and CEO of a $600 million Public Company. Before that, Tony ran a $1 billion division of a telephone company focused on corporate users and had responsibility for all data services and networking products. While at the telephone company, he was founder and Chairman of its ISP and a board member of its 2 million-subscriber cell phone subsidiary. 

Tony uses his operating experience from being a CEO, financial background as a CPA and CA, and technical knowledge from the work that he has done for Tech companies to drill down and understand at a nuanced level what his clients are seeking to achieve as they build their teams. He has written numerous papers on technology leadership and the challenges facing technology leaders today and authors a blog, ‘Resources for the Modern CIO” (www.tonyleng.com).

The core of Tony’s consulting has been with senior leaders who are seeking to transform their organizations as they face a future of rapid change, digitization, regulation, shifting markets, and increasingly connected and informed customers.

Tony has facilitated the Fisher CIO Forum for the past 12 years.  The Forum is a monthly venue for CIO’s and CTO’s to discuss topics of relevance in their daily lives, and has afforded these leaders the opportunity to develop a close network to discuss current challenges in a peer group environment on a confidential basis.  Participating companies have included: Blue Shield, Clorox, Cost Plus, Delta Dental, Dignity Health, Esurance, Facebook, FitBit, Franklin Templeton, Gap, Genentech, Kaiser Permanente, Levi Strauss, McKesson, Macys.com, Matson, Mulesoft, Okta, PG&E, Restoration Hardware, Ross Stores, Safeway, Salesforce.com, Schwab, Splunk, Uber, VMWare, and Williams-Sonoma among others. 

Tony received a Bachelor of Commerce (with honors), University of Cape Town, South Africa and is a Chartered Accountant and CPA.

Sean Patrick Lennon, a visionary leader who drives transformation of global, multi-billion dollar organizations from the inside out, was previously with Allergan where he pushed them to become the fastest-growing, most dynamic pharmaceutical company in global healthcare. In his previous role with Allergan IT, Sean has successfully directed integration and divestiture activities for 40+ acquisitions and divestitures since 2010. His know-how enabled the business to rapidly scale, setting the stage for Allergan’s record growth. With Sean’s unparalleled expertise in highly-efficient integration, Allergan IT has captured over $300 million in cost savings by realizing synergies and strategically restructuring during the mergers and acquisitions process. With an eye on aligning the company’s IT strategy and business strategy, Sean spearheads all aspects of technology vision, product development, and digital delivery of customer-oriented technology services, guiding more than 20,000 Allergan associates around the world. 

Prior to joining Watson Pharmaceuticals, now Allergan, Sean served as Vice President of Global Infrastructure Services at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest healthcare companies globally. At Novartis, he consolidated client services to their highest satisfaction ratings and reduced budget by $100 million. In 2002, Sean was recruited by pharmaceutical services company C3i to fix its struggling business, a turnaround that he resourcefully executed in less than 60 days as Senior Vice President and General Manager. Sean found his start in the industry with Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals. In 1996, he characteristically rolled up his sleeves to convert Schering Plough’s Managed Care and Health Management group from an entity not delivering value, to a top team in the business with the highest IT satisfaction. Sean initially proved his worth to the company as a consultant in 1994, when he designed and developed the first Third-Party Data Warehouse system in the industry, enabling Schering Plough to deploy its field sales organizations up to 10 days faster than the competition and at a reduced cost.  

Sean is in the highest echelon of experience for managing large technical organizations and leading the development and implementation of business-driven digital IT programs.  He also has extensive operational and financial experience, overseeing all IT Financial Planning and Analysis, leading IT business plan development, financial forecasting, financial analysis, and capital commitment planning, as well as competitive analysis and benchmarking.  Sean possesses strong communication acumen, skilled at delivering technology-oriented messages to nontechnology-oriented people. He has succeeded in breaking down the walls between IT and other business units positioning IT as a key strategic partner. Sean is consistently recognized as a top performer in both measurable results and organization-shaping behaviors. He is very organized and results-oriented with strong process management abilities; he also possesses the insight required to build and focus the high energy of creative teams. Extremely customer-focused, Sean has extensive experience working internationally, having traveled to and done business in more than 50 countries worldwide. He sits on several advisory committees and has received numerous industry honors and recognitions for leadership in delivering innovative technology solutions.  Sean was named 2015 “CIO of the Year” by NJ Tech Council. 

Sean has 33 years of technical and IT management experience, including 22 years specific to Life Sciences. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Business Management from St. John’s University in New York.  

Mr. Lux brings more than 30 years of experience in Information Technology and 20 years of experience in Financial Services to his position at Cenlar. He is responsible for providing overall technology strategy and oversight of Cenlar’s Information Systems to all areas of the company. Prior to joining Cenlar, Rob worked at Freddie Mac as EVP, Chief Information Officer, where he managed all IT systems, performed IT legacy remediation, and performed regulatory oversight. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Drexel University, and a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Vipul Nagrath joined ADP in 2015 as SVP and Global Chief Information Officer (CIO) with responsibility for all infrastructure, operations, enterprise applications, enterprise technology systems and processes, end user compute, and mobile & telephony across the globe.

In 2020, Vipul was promoted to a new role as SVP, Head of Product Development for Major Account Solutions & Human Resources Outsourcing.

Vipul and his team work closely with ADP’s senior business leaders to execute ADP’s business strategy and identify, prioritize and execute technology solutions that are cost effective, efficient and scalable globally. The focus of Vipul’s organization is to work collaboratively across the organization to ensure that we build strategic capabilities that support an excellent service experience for our clients and associates.

An industry leader in technology, Vipul brings more than 25 years of experience in developing forward-thinking solutions. Vipul previously served at Bloomberg L.P. from 2003 to 2015, where he started as a project manager in 2003 and rapidly rose through the engineering organization to become Bloomberg, L.P.’s Global Head of Research & Development. In this role, he oversaw technology research and development for all Bloomberg products.  He continued his growth & responsibility as the CIO and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Bloomberg’s Enterprise Solutions business.

Vipul started his career as a developer with Granada Systems Design, Inc., then moved on to run his own boutique firm specializing in computer telephony integration from 1995 to 2003. Vipul earned a bachelors and master’s degree in computer science from Pace University.

Mark has extensively recruited chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief information security officers and other senior IT leadership talent across varied vertical sectors including Industrial, Consumer, Life Sciences and Higher Education. His consultative approach to search encompasses talent strategy, organization design, search process and diversity recruiting. Mark ’s clients range from the Fortune 100 (McKesson, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Boeing) to smaller high-growth companies (Under Armour, Regeneron, DirecTV) as well as prestigious public and private universities (Harvard, Rockefeller, University of Florida).

Before entering the search field, Mark developed and marketed information systems within the Financial Services and Higher Education sectors. He currently serves on the Advisory Committee for Columbia University’s executive graduate program in Information Technology Management.

Mark frequently addresses conferences and writes on information technology and career management topics. He is the creator of the “Executive Career Counsel” column in CIO Magazine and on CIO.com. He is a member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and has served as President of the New York Chapter. He sits on the Advisory Boards of The Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), the national organization dedicated to fostering executive talent among African-American IT professionals, and HITEC, the Hispanic Information Technology Executive Council.

Mark holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from Pratt Institute and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering from Union College.

John Repko is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of AIG. He leads AIG’s global technology and sourcing functions, overseeing core shared infrastructure, applications, technology partnerships, procurement and vendor management. He also works closely with AIG’s leaders in support of technology-enabled cross-business collaboration, process improvement and strategic sourcing to meet the changing needs of clients.

Prior to joining AIG, Mr. Repko was Global Chief Information Officer of Johnson Controls (JCI) since 2016, taking up this position with the merger of JCI and Tyco. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Transformation Leader at Tyco from 2012. Mr. Repko also held chief information officer roles at Covance Inc., SES Global and General Electric’s GE Americom division. He began his career as Senior Accountant, CPA, with Ernst & Young.

Mr. Repko currently serves as a member of the Insight Venture Partners CIO Advisory Board and the Lightspeed Venture Partners CIO Innovation Advisory Network. He also is a CIO Mentor for the New Jersey Society for Information Management and the Columbia University Graduate IT Management Program.

Mr. Repko holds an M.B.A. in Systems from Drexel University and a B.S. in Accounting from Villanova University.

Gary Sorrentino currently serves as Global CIO for Zoom Video Communications. A former Managing Director for J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, Gary was the Global Head of Client Cyber Awareness and Education.  For over 12 years, Gary was the Chief Technology Officer for J.P. Morgan AWM’s global technology infrastructure initiatives, where he managed its Data Privacy program and was responsible for Infrastructure, Application and End User Technology Production Support. In 2014, he assumed a new role as the lead for their Cybersecurity efforts and developed a firm wide “Protect the Client” Cyber program designed to raise cybersecurity awareness among employees and clients.  With almost 40 years of experience in Information Technology, Gary has served in various other IT leadership positions in firms across the financial services industry. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2005, Gary was Head of Global Infrastructure and Head of Technology Efficiencies at Citi Private Bank, where he was responsible for Global Infrastructure Support and strategic technology initiatives. Other roles he has held include Global Technology CFO at Credit Suisse and North America IT Controller at UBS 

Scott Strickland will spearhead the ongoing effort to enhance and implement Wyndham’s overall technology strategy and the continued migration of the company’s 18 brands to the Sabre SynXis property management and central reservation system. Wyndham Hotel Group was the first global hospitality company of its scale to roll out the system helping economy and midscale hoteliers grow their business by more efficiently managing pricing and inventory

With 25 years of experience in the field of information technology, Strickland joins Wyndham from D+M Group where he led the company’s information technology function as chief information officer. Prior to this position, Strickland held the role of executive director, information technology with Nissan North America. Previously, he held technology roles at Stanley Black & Decker, IBM and Mars, Inc.

James (Jim) Swanson previously served as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and as Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Head of Digital Transformation for the Crop Science division of Bayer. Based in Monheim, Germany, Swanson led teams across the world using digital innovation and data science to transform and deliver world-class products and services sustainably. 

Most recently, Swanson was the Chief Information Officer at Monsanto for the past five years. His breadth of experience also includes executive and scientific roles at Merck, Johnson & Johnson and SmithKline Beecham. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Bioscience and Biotechnology and a master’s degree in Computer Science, both from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Swanson is a member of the St. Louis CIO Board, Washington University’s Information Technology Advisory Council and the External Advisory Committee of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy at Washington University. 

Swanson is married with three daughters. In his free time, he enjoys running, biking, skiing, scuba diving and boating. Swanson volunteers with the Greater St. Louis Honor Flight Organization, United Way Ready by 21 and the American Heart Association. 

Sigal Zarmi is an award-winning Chief Information Officer (CIO) and former International CIO and head of Digital
Transformation at Morgan Stanley. She currently serves on two public company boards, ADT Inc. (NYSE: ADT, $5B+
revenue) and Hashicorp (NASDAQ: HCP) as well as BigID (Tech, VC sponsors). At Hashicorp, a hyper growth Tech
company which went public in December 2021, Sigal is the chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and
serves on the on the Audit committee which includes Enterprise Risk Management. At ADT, where Sigal also serves on
the Audit Committee, she was involved in the acquisition of SolarPro.

With over 35 years of experience in driving large scale digital transformations, technology operations, strategic planning,
and talent development, Sigal is an expert in how technology increases revenue and improves organization’s efficiency
and effectiveness. In addition to her board roles, she is a Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley and BCG, acting as a trusted
strategic advisor to CEOs, CFOs, CIOs on digital transformation, disruptive technologies, cyber and workforce planning.

Bashir Agboola is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the Hospital for Special Surgery, the global leader in musculoskeletal care. Bashir has an extensive leadership and varied professional background, ranging from IT Systems integration, Consulting and Healthcare IT. He has spent much of the last two decades serving in various capacities at top-tier academic medical institutions. Prior to joining HSS in 2014, he served at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he ran the Enterprise Systems group.

Bashir is a former board member of the New Jersey chapter of the Society for Information Management (SIM), and a current member of VMWare’s Healthcare Customer Advisory Board.

He holds a number of professional certifications, as well as  Bachelor and Master Degrees in Computer Science, and an MBA degree with a concentration in Finance.

Roota Almeida is the Head of Security Governance at Amazon Stores where she leads the Security, Governance and Risk Management area to drive transformative changes and enhance information security program effectiveness. With over 15 years of experience in establishing and maintaining global security strategies, architectures, standards, and compliance, Roota is a recognized industry thought leader. Prior to Amazon, Roota has served as a CISO for Covanta and then for Delta Dental of NJ and CT and held security leadership positions at Merck and Pfizer. She serves on the Board of Advisors at several organizations, sits as a governing body chair, is an SC Magazine awards judge and also moonlights as a Faculty.

Snehal Antani is co-founder & CEO of Horizon3.ai, a cyber security startup focused on AI-enabled red teaming. Prior to starting Horizon3, Snehal served as CTO for the US Department of Defense, responsible for transforming the technology capabilities of the command to include cyber security, advanced R&D, AI, and data analytics. Snehal was formerly the CTO of Splunk, and before that, a CIO at GE Capital. Snehal started his career at IBM as a software engineer, where he earned 16 patents for his work in cloud, distributed computing, and large-scale data processing. Snehal earned in BS in Computer Science from Purdue, where as a freshman he watched Tom Brady play Drew Brees. He earned is MS in Computer Science from RPI, where he never attended an RPI football game.

Jeffrey Artis is an accomplished business development executive passionate about improving economic opportunities for individuals to achieve sustained economic mobility. In his teens, Jeff was a beneficiary of the A Better Chance Program aimed at providing highquality educational opportunities for youth by connecting them to the country’s top secondary institutions. Through this experience, he saw first-hand the transformational impact of highquality education and professional networks on achieving sustained economic mobility. His participation in the ABC Program served as the foundation for his academic and professional accomplishments and sparked a life-long commitment to expanding opportunities for youth that not only prepare them to enter corporate America, but also offers the knowledge, support, and resources needed to thrive there. Jeff joined Genesys Works as President and CEO in January 2021 and is responsible for leading the organization through its next phase of growth, including expanding its geographical footprint and skilled development curriculums and strengthening its position as a strategic talent pipeline for corporate America’s diverse, professional talent needs. Prior to joining Genesys Works, Jeff spent seven years at the helm of Corporate Engagement for nonprofit Year Up, where he served as the architect of its enterprise growth strategy. He led a team of more than 100 employees in placing 3700 young adults into internships with top employers each year. Under Jeff’s leadership, Year Up grew its non-philanthropic revenue by more than 300%, generating $90 million in 2020 alone. Jeff has more than 40 years of experience leading workforce development solutions for Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies and leading sales for industry leaders like Agile-1, BMC and IBM where he achieved sales goals ranging from $50 million to $300 million a year. Jeff earned a B.A. in English Literature and Psychology from Williams College. He is a former board member of the Indianapolis Urban League. He is a native of Harlem, New York and currently resides with his family in Atlanta, Georgia.

Andrew Campbell was appointed Vice President, Chief Information Officer of Terex Corporation on November 7, 2016. He is responsible for all information systems for Terex globally, and serves as the principal technology advisor to the senior management team.

Previously, Mr. Campbell served as Vice President and Group Chief Information Officer of Xerox Document Technology. Prior to Xerox, he held IT leadership positions at General Electric, Ceridian Corporation and Dais Analytic Corporation.

Mr. Campbell is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration, majoring in marketing and computer applications.

Lynne Chernow is currently the Interim CIO at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a private, not-for-profit research and education institution with researchers focusing on cancer, neuroscience, genomics & quantitative biology, and plant biology.

Previously, she was a strategic consultant to CIOs and CISOs in the NYC area working with Information Technology leaders at the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Cybersecurity team at Fordham University.

Prior to consulting, Lynne was SVP of IT at HBO, guiding the media company\’s technology department in building innovative applications across the media supply chain in support of content distribution with HBO GO, HBO On Demand, iTunes, Xbox, and Amazon.

Lynne is a Distinguished Fellow at Avasant and was named a National Fellow of the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute. She volunteers with many organizations, with a focus on facilitating underserved women\’s entry into technology careers.

Marlowe Cochran has been working in the IT field for over 24 years, with 11 plus years in information security roles. He has worked in the federal and state government, health care, not-for-profit, elementary education, and Higher Education sectors in his previous roles. In his current role at the New York State Department of Education, he is the Chief Information Security Officer. Marlowe currently collaborates with external stakeholders, and other NYSED program offices, to lead, manage, and further develop NYSED’s information security program. He is the inhouse consultant for internal and external stakeholders on information security topics and projects. He oversees data risk assessment/management, incident response, the development of policies, procedures, and programs that ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and industry best practices.

Michael Coden is a Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Platinion, the arm of BCG that specializes in business-critical IT architecture, digital transformation, risk management, and cybersecurity solutions. Joining in May 2016, Michael has been instrumental in growing BCG Platinion North America from $30 million to $200 million in sales, and is a Global Leader of Cybersecurity for B of BCG’s Cybersecurity Practice. Michael advises Boards, CEO’s, and C-suite executives at companies in telecommunications, media, technology, financial services, insurance, manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, pharma, and other industries.

Michael is also Associate Director of the MIT research consortium: Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan (http://cams.mit.edu), which he co-founded in 2014. CAMS currently has 25 research sponsors including: Google, Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Cisco, SWIFT, State Street Bank, Liberty Mutual, Verizon, and others. From 2003 through 2016, Michael was Vice President of NextNine (now Honeywell), an Israeli technology company where he was recruited by the Board to lead US operations and global sales, developing C-suite relationships with ABB, ExxonMobil, Honeywell, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Shell Oil, Yokogawa Electric, and others, tripling sales two years in a row. During 1999 through 2003 Michael was an independent consultant with selected assignments including: serving as interim CEO leading a successful turn-around of Digital Fairways Corporation (acquired by DXC/HP/EDS), a leading telecom and enterprise operational support system (OSS) software company by reducing costs and increasing sales approximately 10-fold; developing new business strategies for SMARTS (acquired by Dell/EMC) in the cable TV industry. In 1979 Michael co-founded, was CEO, and Board Chairman of Codenoll Technology Corporation, a leading fiber optics and networking company, that went public in 1980. Codenoll was acquired by ADC Telecommunications (now Arris) in 1996, where Michael continued for four years as Vice President of Marketing and Technology, increasing sales of Metropolitan Area Networks and Cable TV backbones to $300 million. Prior to Codenoll/ADC, Michael was Division Manager for Optical Information Systems (OIS) a subsidiary of Exxon, where his organization became the third company (after AT&T and Hitachi) to produce commercially viable semiconductor lasers. OIS was acquired by McDonnell Douglas. Prior to OIS, Michael was CIO of Maher Terminals (now Maersk), where he designed and implemented advanced automation of the second largest container shipping terminal in Port Elizabeth, NJ. He began his career as a hardware/software engineer at Hewlett Packard and Digital Equipment Corporation.

Board and Advisory Positions:

• Advisor to the National Security Council on the development of Executive Order 13636 and Presidential Policy Directive 21, on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, receiving a letter of appreciation from the White House for his leadership.
• Member, Advisory Board HMG Strategy CIO and CISO Summits
• Technology Advisor, B Capital Group, Venture Capital
• Community of Chairmen, World Economic Forum, developed and conducted cybersecurity training
• Member, the Business Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY
• Member, Executive Advisory Board of Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now NYU Engineering)
• Advisor, SenaHill Investment Group, LLC, Fin-Tech investments
• Entrepreneur in Residence at SAS Investors evaluating and advising technology investments for Canaan Partners, Rho Capital, and Sevin Rosen funds.

Michael has published numerous scholarly articles and a book, appeared on radio and television discussing advanced technologies and their business impact, and holds 16 patents in semiconductor devices, fiber optics, networking, and high efficiency cybersecure data protocols.

Michael has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from MIT, a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Applied Mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU. Michael received an Award of Merit from the American Chemical Society, and an Award of Merit from the Laser Institute of America. 

Mignona Cote is a proven problem solver with a unique ability to find, assess and fix information security vulnerabilities across a variety of industries. With more than two decades of experience in information security, risk management, compliance and auditing, Mignona helps Fortune 50 companies ensure the security of their data. She has a proven track record of transforming technical operations and building strategic solutions for companies like Aetna, Bank of America, PepsiCo and Verizon. Her expertise spans incident response, vulnerability management, access management, vendor management, risk and compliance, as well as auditing. She has completely reshaped secured solutions throughout large enterprise networks.

Tim Crawford is ranked as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Chief Information Technology Officers (#4), Top 100 Most Social CIOs (#7), Top 20 People Most Retweeted by IT Leaders (#5) and Top 100 Cloud Experts and Influencers. Tim is a strategic CIO & advisor that works with large global enterprise organizations across a number of industries including financial services, healthcare, major airlines and high-tech. Tim’s work differentiates and catapults organizations in transformative ways through the use of technology as a strategic lever. Tim takes a provocative, but pragmatic approach to the intersection of business and technology. Tim is an internationally renowned CIO thought leader including Digital Transformation, Cloud Computing, Data Analytics and Internet of Things (IoT). Tim has served as CIO and other senior IT roles with global organizations such as Konica Minolta/ All Covered, Stanford University, Knight-Ridder, Philips Electronics and National Semiconductor. Tim is also the host of the CIO In The Know (CIOitk) podcast. CIOitk is a weekly podcast that interviews CIOs on the top issues facing CIOs today. Tim holds an MBA in International Business with Honors from Golden Gate University Ageno School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Golden Gate University.

Cliff Cree is a technology and business visionary with over 30 years of executive and hands-on experience. He spent 20 years with Viacom and is now in his 12^th year as the CIO at Horizon Media. He has help build Horizon into one of the world’s largest media agencies with over 8.7 Billion dollars of annual media spend .

Cliff has a strong record of success in creating robust and secure IT infrastructures, world class customer service organizations and tools that make his customers efficient and successful. He has proven to have the ability to bring the benefits of IT to solve business issues while managing cost and risk. He provides leadership through strategic thinking and decision-making. Cliff is known for seamlessly coordinating and collaborating with internal organizations as well as third-party partners. He builds and leads high-performance teams to manage, implement, and streamline complex IT infrastructures. He prides himself on his success on delivering complex projects within tight timeframes.

Cliff holds a BA in Business Administration and Technology from the University of Florida.

Over the past 25 years Saeed provided transformative leadership for industry-leading companies including Oracle, Ericsson, and the Ooredoo Group. Led efforts to apply innovative and complex technologies to generate business value and to improve IT organizations, align IT and business goals, translate business strategies into IT solutions, and facilitate enterprise growth.

Saeed worked on groundbreaking innovations to include the first successful mapping of the human genome at Celera Genomics, delivered complex CRM projects with real time charging and billing for three telecom providers. Saeed moved organizations from legacy on premise solutions and architecture into the cloud with Office 365, deployed legacy applications into Azure, and AWS, delivered innovative mobile Finapp using Google cloud and tools. He created new revenue streams, and delivered mobile, big data, social media, and piloted with a blockchain and AI solutions.

Saeed is a thought leader, a member of the Forbes Technology Council, and frequent presenter at industry conferences and contributing writer on CIO and innovative technology topics.  Recently published article:  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/03/29/the-problems-with-bitcoin-and-the-future-of-blockchain/#60967c0d68dc 

Richard Entrup is a global technology leader with significant experience leading technology operations, digital transformation and innovation, digital marketing, cybersecurity, and product development. Richard has led global technology and digital transformation programs at many prominent global brands including Verizon, Christie’s, Disney/ABC, Time Warner, The Museum of Modern Art, Viacom, and Tiffany & Company. He also served as CIO/CDO and CISO at several healthcare companies and an international law firm, with documented success aligning technology investments to strategic business objectives.

Richard is currently serving as a Sr. Advisor to KPMG US, focused on Enterprise Innovation, a Startup Mentor for leAD Sports & Health Tech Partners at Lake Nona, a Mentor to students in the Executive master’s in technology management Program at Columbia University, and a Strategic Advisor to various early-stage startups focused on Web3, Blockchain, Metaverse, Online Art & NFT platforms, Generative AI, Visual Search, and Quantum Resistant Cybersecurity. Richard is also a trusted advisor to the venture capital community and is a CIO Advisory Board member at Greylock, Mayfield Fund, Lightspeed Ventures, and Landmark Ventures. 

Lookman Fazal is a senior IT executive who specializes in building high-performance teams that work together to drive and implement the vision and strategic goals of the business.

Lookman has been responsible for delivering large-scale information technology transformations. He is credited with introducing and successfully overseeing innovative programs such as cloud enablement, B2B and B2C strategies and improvement initiatives, infrastructure modernization, IT and PMO professionalization, and full-scale cybersecurity initiatives, all with a focus on increasing investments and creating fiscal solvency.

With over 25 years of executive management experience, Lookman has consistently driven change by teaming with his business partners to rapidly deploy cutting-edge technology strategies across multiple teams and departments.

Lookman’s dedication to inclusion in leadership has been widely recognized with his being awarded Inclusion Lab’s 2022 Top Inclusive Leader for prioritizing an inclusive and empowering workplace, and additionally being recognized in the 2022 Top 50 Multicultural Leaders in Technology for exemplary leadership in the field of technology.

Lookman firmly believes in technology’s ability to create a positive influence on the world and change lives for the better, and continues to build forward-thinking IT strategies with this goal in mind.

He has a Masters in Management from Stevens Institute of Technology and has 10 certifications and 5 patents.

Prior to joining NJ TRANSIT, Lookman Fazal worked with several Fortune 500 companies in various leadership roles at EmblemHealth, Avaya, Lucent, and Novartis. His last role was serving as the Executive IT Leader and the Global Head of Technology and Security for Argo Turboserve Corporation. In his role at Argo, Lookman managed a multimillion dollar budget, a global staff across 3 continents and 28 locations around the world.

Specialties: Strategic IT Planning, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security, IT Risk Management & Compliance, Application Development, Organization Design & Governance, Leadership Development, Data Center Integration/Consolidation, Portfolio Management, Process Improvement, Specialization in Strategy, endorsed by Harvard Business School

Michael Frankel is Founder and Managing Partner of Trajectory Capital.  He has held c-level executive roles (corporate development, strategy/innovation, CFO, COO) at large and small growth companies.  He is a Corporate Development, Innovation, Strategy and Corporate Venture leader who has driven disruptive innovation and aggressive growth/expansion at global technology, information services and professional services companies including Deloitte, LexisNexis Group, IRI, GE Capital and VeriSign.  Michael has a track record of executing growth strategies using:

– Acquisitions (110+ acquisitions and strategic transactions)
– New offering/product development and innovation
– Complex ecosystems (alliances, co-development, licensing, partnerships)
– Market and geographic expansion
– Corporate venture investments (18+ CVC investments)

Michael has extensive experience supporting integration of acquired businesses and operational improvement and scaling of existing business units.  Michael has served as a growth operator in CFO/COO and GM roles for high growth technology businesses and units as well as leading a portfolio operations team that builds operating capabilities in portfolio businesses including product development and management, pricing, sales and sales enablement, marketing and back-office operations.

Tsvi Gal is Head of Enterprise Technology Services at MSK. Reporting to Remy Evard, CDO, Tsvi oversees the technical vision and leads MSK’s digital transformation and technological development. In addition to creating and delivering the multi-year strategy, Tsvi is leading the move to the cloud, enacting Agile and DevOps, and working closely with MSK clinical, research, and administration to enable and enhance the fight to cure cancer.

Tsvi joined MSK in early 2021 after serving as Chief Technology Officer at Morgan Stanley, where he was the recipient of the Einstein Award for Technology and Science from the President of Israel for pioneering online banking and trading. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Tsvi served in various CIO and CTO roles in several banks including Merrill Lynch/Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo as well as in non-banks including Exigen Capital (a private equity firm) where he was a General Partner, AT&T where he was President of ATT.COM and Time Warner Music where, as CIO, he led the launch of the digital transformation towards online music.

Tsvi holds a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from Rutgers University and an MBA from Golden Gate University. Tsvi is a board member of Israel Discount Bank (USA) and Exadel, a technology services company and several advisory boards. Tsvi is also a senior advisor for McKinsey. Tsvi served as the New York Chapter Chairman of the Society of Information Managers (SIM), a CIO association with more than 3,500 members nationwide, and was a technology advisor to the president of Rutgers University.    

Robert Galvin joined the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in December 2013 as the agency’s Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Galvin has over 25 years experience in both public and private sectors, including leadership roles at one of the largest specialty design-build contractors in the world – and as an executive at a leading supplier of ERP and field service management software for the construction industry. Prior to joining the Port Authority, Mr. Galvin was CTO of the School Construction Authority where he reorganized the Technology department and modernized their enterprise applications by deploying data warehousing, cloud, and mobile technologies.

Alex Golbin is senior technology executive with over 20 years of leading IT transformation, complex organizations, and leveraging state of the art technology.  In his current role at BNY Mellon, Alex leads Technology Third Party Governance.  Alex is accountable for managing costs, minimizing risk, and ensuring regulatory compliance for technology vendors and affiliates across the enterprise.

In his prior roles Alex established and led multiple global functions and programs, including IT Cost Optimization, Workforce Management, Vendor Management, Business Process Management, Workplace Technology, and Global Trade Technology.

Demonstrable results include delivery of $240MM in savings.  Alex is a frequent speaker at industry conferences for BPM, Innovation, Vendor Management, IT Finance.  

Alex has MBA in Finance and Management, BS in Computer Science, and Project Management Professional (PMP). 

As Global CIO of Conair Corporation, Jon Harding holds worldwide responsibility for the company’s IT in support of both day-to-day operations, and future business growth. Harding joined Conair Corporation at the start of 2004 in the new position of Global CIO. A graduate of the University of Sheffield in England, he has 20 years of IT management experience in the consumer products industry. The Conair IT team led by Harding has completed the global rollout of a centralized ERP system that provides one central source of management information to support business growth. Along the way several acquired companies have been integrated into this central IT infrastructure in a 3 to 6 month timeframe. The IT team is customer service focused with the flexibility to meet dynamic business priorities.

Fred Harris is an accomplished Technology Executive with over 30 years of cross-industry experience in the Professional Services, Financial Services, Technology, Media, Telecommunications, Retail, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Performing Arts and Healthcare industries. Fred is currently the Head of Cybersecurity and Technology Risk at Société Générale. In this role Fred is responsible for the Second Line of Defense for all Technology Risk (Algorithmic Trading Risk, Cybersecurity Risk, Business Continuity Risk, Data Risk and IT Risk). Fred received both his Bachelor of Science and MBA from NYIT where he is also an Adjunct Professor, member of the Executive Counsel for School of Management and serves on the Executive Board of the Alumni Association.     

Jean Hill is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal’s Corporate Performance Improvement in New York, and is also the National Solution Leader for CPI’s Digital and Technology Services practice. She specializes in leading initiatives that re-imagine enterprise strategy and leverage technology to drive transformative change and results. With more than 25 years of experience, Ms. Hill has provided leadership for complex engagements, delivering actionable plans to ignite change, address leadership gaps and drive value. She has worked across multiple business contexts including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), enterprise transformations and periods of rapid growth.

Currently at A&M, Ms. Hill is working with a $30 billion financial services company to establish new capabilities in an effective and compliant manner, including a multi-business line transformation to improve overall regulatory compliance. She also recently developed and implemented a strategy for a major healthcare provider that entailed a new sourcing model, revamping their technology offerings and restructuring their technology organization that led to $400 million in savings.

Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Hill was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of First New York Securities, where she built a technology platform that allowed the business to transform from a prop shop into an asset management company. She held a number of senior roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Merrill Lynch and DLJ. As a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, she led both its global wealth and institutional technology services organizations. She created and implemented managed-services models with strategic partners in the service desk and desktop support, among others. These initiatives led to steady service improvements and savings of more than $100 million.

Ms. Hill earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a J.D. from Fordham University. She is admitted to the New York Bar. She is an active Cornell alum and serves on the Cornell Council, the President’s Council of Cornell Women and the Advisory Board for the Cornell undergraduate business program. Ms. Hill also sits on the Board of Directors for Per Scholas, a workforce development non-profit. She is a passionate advocate for diversity in the workplace and frequently speaks and leads panel discussions at diversity forums and events.

Brian is the Chief Commercial Officer for Aon Intellectual Property Solutions.  In this capacity, he is part of the senior leadership team of Aon IP Solutions, which delivers IP solutions that enhance our client’s enterprise value through executing IP?based value creation strategies and mitigating IP risk exposure. Brian helps lead the efforts for Aon in seizing the generational opportunity to establish market?accepted standards for assessing and valuing the IP asset class for businesses and investors.

Brian Hinman has over 30 years’ experience in the field of intellectual property, having held senior executive positions at some of the world’s leading companies.  Most recently, he served as Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Philips, based in the Netherlands. In this capacity, he also held the position of CEO of Philips Intellectual Property and Standards where he led a worldwide team of over 400 intellectual property professionals in 9 different countries.  He formulated and executed a robust IP strategy for each of Philips’ business units including IP portfolio management, all IP litigation matters (offensive and defensive), active participation in various industry standards, and conducting all forms of IP monetization including patent, technology and brand licensing and formation of various IP Ventures. Previous to Philips, he was co?founder and Chief Operating Officer of Unified Patents Inc., and prior to that, he held positions of Vice President of IP and Licensing at IBM, Verizon and InterDigital, and was founding CEO of Allied Security Trust.  

Risé Jacobs is the Senior Vice President, Technology at Astoria Bank and is responsible for collaborating with the business leaders to design and deliver IT services to the Bank.   She has been with Astoria since 2001, and has been in Information Technology for over 25 years.   Ms. Jacobs and her team have been awarded the Best Practices award by the Technology Managers Forum and she recently received the Diamond Award from LISTnet for her achievements and leadership in technology.  Ms. Jacobs also received an Individual Performance Award from the Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) for contributions to the organization and the technology profession.  She is on the membership committee of the Wall Street Technology Association and the Board of the LI/NYC chapter of the AITP.   She has presented to organizations including the AITP, Technology Managers Forum and InfraGard.  Ms. Jacobs has an MBA from Baruch College and holds several certifications, including Certified in Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) and the CISSP.

John Kehoe was named Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Xylem in September 2018.  Reporting to Xylem President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Decker, he leads the Company\’s global information technology organization and global shared service teams. Xylem is a leading producer of global water and water technology solutions.

Prior to Xylem, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Valmont Industries and was a senior IT executive at Rockwell Collins, where he managed a wide portfolio of global enterprise services.

Earlier in John’s career, he held senior leadership roles at L-3 Vertex Aerospace and at Raytheon Aircraft.  John served in the U.S. Air Force in multiple roles and countries, including the first Gulf War conflict.

John received his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems at Friend University in Wichita, Kansas and his Master of Business Administration from Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi.

Clarice Kennedy is Vice President at RGP, a publicly traded global consulting firm (NASDAQ: RECN) providing strategy and execution for Fortune 500 companies across many industries. www.rgp.com

With more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Clarice brings a wealth of experience to her current role, driving the strategic development of RGP’s Information Management practice, specifically in the areas of IT governance, business process transformation and program/project management.

Clarice began her career as a systems programmer and supported European traders at Security Pacific Bank, now Bank of America.  Recognizing the emerging demand for technology services as North American companies began using computers enterprise-wide, the entrepreneurial 24-year-old founded CCN, Inc., a technology consulting firm.  As CCN’s Chief Executive Officer for over two decades, she guided the company’s growth and expansion into a full-service provider of technology services and talent management solutions for some of the world’s leading companies.

Clarice serves on the Board of Directors for Dress for Success, a global non-profit organization that empowers women transitioning back into the workforce.  She is a mentor for Columbia University’s Executive Technology Management program, co-organizer of Women in Blockchain NYC meetup and serves as an advisor for the Society of Information Managers (SIM) NY Chapter.

Clarice holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems Management from Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York. She lives in New York with her husband and her three greatest accomplishments – her children, Dylan, Connor and Aidan.

Michael Lederman is Vice President of Information Technology at The Leading Hotels of the World, one of the largest luxury hotel collections in the world comprised of more than 400 hotels in 80 countries.  He is a business technology strategist with a track record of transforming IT operations and driving innovation. His career spans a broad range of industries including higher education, financial services, non-profit and commercial real estate.  Michael earned his BS in Computer Science from Rutgers University and his MBA from Columbia Business School. 

Tony Leng was formerly Managing Director of Diversified Search and led the firm’s Digital Transformation and CIO practice from its San Francisco office.  Previously, Tony was Managing Partner of Hodge Partners. Tony has conducted many “C” level searches for organizations where leaders are transforming/building organizations that are taking advantage of digital technologies.  He has conducted “C” level searches conducted for organizations such as Aurora Healthcare, Axalta, Catholic Health Initiatives, Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Delta Dental, Dignity Health, Esurance, Kaiser Permanente, Novant Health, PG&E, Polycom, Sutter Health, Symmetricom, TE Connectivity, and Wellmark. 

Prior to his executive search experience, Tony was a Board member of three public companies and CEO of a $600 million Public Company. Before that, Tony ran a $1 billion division of a telephone company focused on corporate users and had responsibility for all data services and networking products. While at the telephone company, he was founder and Chairman of its ISP and a board member of its 2 million-subscriber cell phone subsidiary. 

Tony uses his operating experience from being a CEO, financial background as a CPA and CA, and technical knowledge from the work that he has done for Tech companies to drill down and understand at a nuanced level what his clients are seeking to achieve as they build their teams. He has written numerous papers on technology leadership and the challenges facing technology leaders today and authors a blog, ‘Resources for the Modern CIO” (www.tonyleng.com).

The core of Tony’s consulting has been with senior leaders who are seeking to transform their organizations as they face a future of rapid change, digitization, regulation, shifting markets, and increasingly connected and informed customers.

Tony has facilitated the Fisher CIO Forum for the past 12 years.  The Forum is a monthly venue for CIO’s and CTO’s to discuss topics of relevance in their daily lives, and has afforded these leaders the opportunity to develop a close network to discuss current challenges in a peer group environment on a confidential basis.  Participating companies have included: Blue Shield, Clorox, Cost Plus, Delta Dental, Dignity Health, Esurance, Facebook, FitBit, Franklin Templeton, Gap, Genentech, Kaiser Permanente, Levi Strauss, McKesson, Macys.com, Matson, Mulesoft, Okta, PG&E, Restoration Hardware, Ross Stores, Safeway, Salesforce.com, Schwab, Splunk, Uber, VMWare, and Williams-Sonoma among others. 

Tony received a Bachelor of Commerce (with honors), University of Cape Town, South Africa and is a Chartered Accountant and CPA.

John McCaffrey founded Cirrostratus Technologies in 2010, providing broad technology consulting services to municipal governments and educational institutions.  He is a noted speaker on the spectrum of topics in the IT arena, engaged by public sector entities as well as firms seeking to provide services and products to the sector.  He brings over 35 years of breadth and depth of tech knowledge in  assessment , planning, financing, procurement and project management to all clients.  He has been widely recognized for his expertise in the public sector information technology and finance, most recently being  named as a lead government innovator as one of Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers.  Mr. McCaffrey was also recently recognized in for Excellence in Cybersecurity in Government at the Smart Cyber Government Symposium. 

Mr. McCaffrey  joined the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) in Westchester County, New York in 2011 as Deputy CIO and in 2012, he was appointed as CIO.  He served as the county’s Records Management Officer and exofficio board member of the Westchester County Historical Society.  As CIO, he was the lead administrator on business process revolution as well as enterprise digital transformation.  Focus areas included governance, budgeting/cost control, tech development and security among, others.  Some of the major projects that McCaffrey initiated included comprehensive security implementations and controls, broad compliance management, consolidation, shared services, 9-1-1 public safety agency coordination and public safety radio systems enhancement.   

Mr. McCaffrey has brought distinction to Westchester as a Top 10 Digital County each year from 2013-2017, most recently in the number one slot.  CIO Magazine recognized Westchester DoIT in 2016 as a CIO 100 award winner. 

From 2005—2012, Mr. McCaffrey was CIO for Orange County, New York.  He was recognized for revitalization of IT, improved service, and cost reductions through staff training and technology programs.  Mr. McCaffrey was also responsible for the creation of Orange County’s security policies and business continuity infrastructure and plan.  He was on Team Orange employee management training committee and Orange County’s business retention committee and served as advisor to the Orange County Business Accelerator. 

From 1999—2005, Mr. McCaffrey was the first director of MIS for the Village of Skokie, Illinois, hired to create and manage the new MIS department.  Prior to that, he served seven years as Deputy Commissioner of Finance in North Hempstead, New York, culminating an 18-year career there in prior positions of system development and technical management. 

Mr. McCaffrey possesses a Masters of Business Administration degree with a focus on IT as well as a degree as Masters in Network and Communication Management.  He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance and has 3 Masters Certifications in Electronic Commerce, Information Systems Security, and Wireless Networking.  He serves as an advisory board member to a number of IT firms and organizations and is also on the governing body or advisory boards for various CIO and CISO summits. 

Steve Mills is Global Chief Information Officer for iHeartMedia, Inc.  As Global CIO, Mills is responsible for all aspects of technology for iHeartMedia\’s businesses, working closely with all divisions to ensure the alignment and optimization of the company’s overall technology systems with the business priorities of its multiplatform assets, and overseeing systems and applications, infrastructure, data center operations, IT security and employee productivity. Prior to joining iHeartMedia, Inc., Mills held CIO positions at Motorola Mobility and Rackspace. His experience also includes serving as Vice President of Enterprise Systems for T-Mobile USA, Director of Technology Delivery for Texas Online and in senior leadership roles at BearingPoint, Inc., Alex eBanking, Intelligent Technologies, Berkom USA, pcOrder.com and E-Systems.  Mills holds a PhD in Computer Science, as well as Masters degrees in Computer Science and Systems Engineering.

Subrata Mukherjee is a seasoned digital leader based in New York City with nearly 25 years’ experience advocating large scale business transformation initiatives standing at the crossroads of Technology, Marketing and Customer delight. He has helped S&P evolve their ratings process, conceived and led The Economist\’s Digital transformation, disrupted commercial real estate with innovative new solution and now presently disrupting publishing with innovative learning solutions. He is now the VP of Product management and Head of Digital innovation for the iconic Dummies brand.

He is an MBA in Marketing from Jadavpur university in India and MS in Tech Management from Columbia University. He is a guest blogger on cio.com on innovation, disruption and transformation. He has spoken at 30+ conferences in US / Europe / South America as keynote speaker, presenter and panelist. He has been interviewed by renowned British outlets for his transformation efforts at The Economist and was Folio\’s 2016 Top 100 people in Publishing. 

Mary Pauline Murphy is the IT Division Systems Officer (DSO) for the Consumer Products Division of L’Oreal USA where she advises and manages strategic technology investments across the portfolio of brands and functions including but not limited to sales, marketing, digital and supply chain. Mary Pauline has led numerous technology teams across the Americas in building robust solutions which power & propel the business. Prior to L’Oreal, Mary Pauline spent seven years at Johnson & Johnson in the Consumer Healthcare Division. She holds a master’s degree in Technology Management from Columbia University in the City of New York and an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. 

Sunil Notani was the AVP of Big Data & Cloud at JDRF (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) which is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research having contributed over $2B since its inception. He is an accomplished business and technology executive with two-plus decades of transformation and turnaround experience in Fortune Global 500 (Oracle, FedEx, Lufthansa) and high-growth multinationals (Hyperion, IDS Scheer, Singapore Airlines). Currently, he leads the digital transformation of the enterprise from disparate systems to the cloud at JDRF. He is a technology influencer with experience serving on the customer advisory boards of several leading cloud software companies to influence their product strategy and direction.

Prior to JDRF, Sunil had a distinguished career in the high tech industry. At Oracle Corporation, he led the global implementation of CRM that enabled the business to increase revenues by transforming all the sales, marketing and partner relationship processes. Prior to Oracle, he was at Hyperion Solutions where he led several business process optimization initiatives which contributed to increased revenue growth during an economic slowdown and acquisition by Oracle in 2007.

Sunil holds an Executive Master of Science in Technology Management from Columbia University; and a MBA majoring in Marketing; and a Bachelor’s degree with concentrations in Business Management, Computer Systems & French from the University of Bombay, India.

Nora is a service management leader and has expertise in the area of service management design, operation, and technical support. She is also a leadership coach, motivator and author.  With extensive accomplishments in operations management, service level management, network support, desktop support, sales support, and process engineering/design, her focus always remains on elevating customer service in all IT service delivery strategies.

Throughout her career of over 25 years, Nora has held several roles in different industries, including commercial insurance, software development, healthcare insurance, financial services, and health system services.  Her most recent role places her at the helm of the Service Management Office of a $7.5 billion healthcare organization (30,000 associates) in NY.   Under her profound leadership, IT Service Management has been playing a crucial role in elevating the quality of service delivery from IT around clinical care, educational services, and research.  She is a thought leader, with an entrepreneurial spirit, and a die-hard change agent.  Her ability to motivate individuals and lead successful initiatives has earned her team members multiple awards and recognitions at the national US level.

With a passion for learning, building diverse teams, and leveraging individual strengths, Nora has cultivated a culture of associate empowerment and caring.  She has served on the HDI NY Chapter Board, chairing the Analyst of the Year committee for several years.  Nora also currently serves on the board of SIM NY Metro (Society for Information Management) as well as Sharp Train.  Nora holds a degree in Business Management, an ITIL expert certification, and several other industry certifications.

Jim Panos is currently the Chief Information Officer at Central National Gottesman Inc., a privately held $4+ billion merchant in the paper and pulp industry. Prior to that, Jim was the Director of Strategic Programs for The Dannon Company, where he led a number of key initiatives, including the implementation of Advanced Sales and Operations Planning for North America. He was also a partner at Accenture leading multiple Supply Chain and ERP programs in the Consumer Goods and Pharmaceutical industry groups.

Ashish is an accomplished operations & technology leader with over 20 years of experience across retail, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics industries.

Ashish serves as the Chief Information Officer, Tapestry, Inc. and is responsible for global information technology strategy & operations for the house of brands.

 Prior to tapestry, Inc., Ashish gained his experience across a cross-section of industries, and spanning various roles in Supply Chain, Operations & Information Technology in global organizations: LF Logistics, Philips Electronics, Carpenter Technology, and Armstrong World Industries.

 Ashish has a Master of Science, Management from New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Bachelor of Science, Business Logistics from Pennsylvania State University.

He grew up in Delhi, India, has lived in Tokyo, Japan and has traveled extensively across Africa, Asia, and Europe. He resides in New Jersey with his wife, son, and daughter.

Anna Ransley is an experienced CIO and digital transformation executive, currently heading the IT function at Heineken USA as a Vice President, GIS.  This multi-faceted role consists developing and executing an ambitious technology transformation for a highly progressive organization by championing leading edge digital efforts as well as rebuilding core back-office systems to modernize the workplace.

Her extensive track record of setting and achieving business strategies by innovative application of technical solutions and re-engineering spanned roles in marketing and most areas of technology in a variety of industries and disciplines. These roles resulted in successful implementations of ERP and CRM Systems, leveraging big data and predictive analytics to uncover revenue generating insights and leading large organizational transformations of cross-functional and global teams.

Anna is an accomplished practitioner with career highlights that include international leadership roles at Boerhinger Ingelheim – a global Fortune 500 Pharmaceutical, Connolly, Inc – an audit recovery firm, Hyperion Solutions – a leading Software company acquired by Oracle, and consulting at Keane that exposed her to a number of fortune 100 companies and industries to frame her perspective.

Anna has a special interest in transforming teams into business differentiating partners, and believes that one of the best ways of accomplishing that is through developing organizational talent that has both depth in technology and business drivers to take advantage of rapidly changing landscape of technological advances.

Vito Sardanopoli is an accomplished executive with broad expertise in the areas of cyber security, information technology and enterprise risk management.  Over his career he has helped to build and advance cybersecurity programs and information technology initiatives for organizations across multiple industries including healthcare, financial services, and retail. 

Vito currently serves as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for U.S. Imaging Network, a national provider of advanced diagnostic imaging programs.  In this role, Vito is building a comprehensive security, privacy and IT risk management program to support this growing enterprise.  Previously Vito served in cybersecurity and technology executive leadership roles as CISO for Quest Diagnostics, Atlantic Health System, Tiffany & Co, and The American Stock Exchange. 

Vito previously served as an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force (HCIC Task Force), which focused on identifying and addressing opportunities to improve cybersecurity practices across the healthcare industry. Vito currently also serves as an active member of the Healthcare Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) Cyber Working Group, which is tasked with helping to implement many of the recommendations included in the HCIC Task Force published report.

Vito earned a M.B.A. in Finance, and Technology Management and Operations, from New York University – Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Iona College.

Danielle Schmelkin is Chief Information Officer for Madewell, a premium denim brand for women and men. Prior to Madewell, Danielle was the Head of IT for Coach, part of the Tapestry family of global brands. She previously held leadership positions at Barnes & Noble, Campbell Soup Company, and Pepperidge Farm with additional experience at PepsiCo. Danielle started her career at Andersen Consulting focusing on statistics, Business Intelligence and Data Management, and overall IT enablement. She holds her B.S. in Statistics and Biometry from Cornell University.

As a leader in her field, Danielle has focused on Digital Transformation and has led Systems, Operating Model and Culture transformations focusing on acquisitions and divestitures.

Danielle is a member of the Society for Information Management and also serves on the board of URJ Eisner and Crane Lake Camps.

Bobby Singh, CISO and Global Head of Infrastructure, is responsible for delivering secure and highly available common technology services across TMX. As a member of the executive leadership team, Bobby is defining TMX\’s cyber security and technology vision and strategy, to advance the organizational agenda. He is responsible for TMX\’s information and IT systems and services, as well as all aspects of security, governance, risk, and compliance. He represents TMX in key forums focused on critical infrastructure, network evolution, intelligence, and availability. He has broad expertise in developing and implementing security programs for public and private sector organizations. Prior to joining TMX, Bobby has held positions at TD Bank, Rogers Communications and eHealth, where he designed multi-year technology and culture transformation programs. He received his MBA from University of Pittsburgh and holds CISSP, CISM, CISA and CPA designations.

Mary Sobiechowski is a partner in the European practice of Fortium Partners. She brings more than 20 years of technology leadership experience as a CIO and global IT transformation leader who drives organic growth and builds shareholder value through the creative use of technology resources. She is an enthusiastic technology pacesetter and transformation pioneer who boldly defines the strategic direction of product, process and innovation. Sobiechowski is recognized as one of the top 100 social CIOs on Huffington Post’s Tech blog for her widespread social media influence and collaboration. She is a mentor for Columbia University’s Executive Master of Science & Technology Management Program and current member and board member of the Society of Information Management NY Metro chapter from 2006- 2012. In her spare time, she is an avid cyclist and yoga instructor.

Leadership Roles:

• CIO, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
• Global CIO, Kantar Health (WPP Group)
• Global CIO, Sudler & Hennessey (WPP Group)
• IT Consultant, Disney, Miramax, Vanity Fair, Ann Taylor, Estee Lauder
• Mentor, Columbia University Executive Master of Science & Technology Management Program

Recent Recognition:

• HPE Matter Future Tech Blog – Five Women IT Leaders to Watch in 2016
• Huffington Post Tech Blog – Top 100 Most Social CIOs

As Chief Technology Officer, Ishit heads up Global Technology at A+E Networks responsible for Cloud, Infrastructure, Enterprise Products & Applications, Data Analytics, Operations & Cyber Security. Ishit is a seasoned Technology Executive with a strong understanding of the media industry and a track record for creating solutions that drive revenue, profitability and customer satisfaction. Ishit is a transformational leader with experience driving positive change and leading large global teams to deliver highly complex programs that improve business outcomes. Previously, Ishit has held several technology leadership roles at A+E and NBCUniversal.

Christopher Welga, a technology and risk management executive, has served the risk management, security and technology needs of Credit Unions for over 21 years. 

Chris has held the positions of Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President of Enterprise Risk providing leadership and development of teams in the financial institution areas of information technology, information and physical security, technology integration, business continuity, disaster recovery, financial regulation and compliance, financial crime and fraud investigations, loss prevention and recovery, anti money laundering, training, vendor management, enterprise and organizational risk management. 

In previous roles Chris had developed network, communication and application systems while managing Information technology, network, application and operational teams. 

He attended Dowling College, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) in Management and Leadership. He holds certifications as a Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert and Credit Union Compliance Expert in Financial Institution Law, Regulation and Compliance from Credit Union National Association (CUNA). He also holds information technology certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, Novell and CompTIA.

Chris is an active volunteer in the community serving on several Longwood Central School District Board of Education committees including Information Technology, Policy, Budget, Security, and Legislative committees. He is also an Advisory Board member at Pace University – Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.   

John Whiting is the (CSO) Global Chief Security Officer of DDB Worldwide, a large, global advertising network with 15,000 employees at several agencies around the world. John, is an established IT and Security executive with significant experience creating and implementing company critical initiatives in the disciplines of IT Operations, enterprise web infrastructures, agile software development, information security, security risk, business development, human capital development since 1994. A seasoned Cyber / InfoSec / Privacy executive with a comprehensive synergy of business acumen, enterprise technical, operational and security / control focused experience.

Steven Wolk is the CTO for PC Richard & Son. Founded in 1909, PC Richard is a family owned and operated chain of over 66 appliance, electronics, and mattress superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Steve\’s deep background in retail began on the sales floor while in college, and he\’s applied those lessons learned to many roles in IT throughout his 33+ year career with PC Richard. As CTO, Steve feels fortunate to lead teams of very talented and dedicated people who are collectively responsible for all phases of technology development, acquisition, deployment, and support throughout the company.

Always looking to the future, Steve enjoys speaking about the evolution of retail at conferences and events, along with subjects ranging from leadership and personal success to a wide variety of technical topics. Steve is passionate about applying technology to create business value, along with a world-class experience for PC Richard\’s customers. He\’s driven to teach and finds it very rewarding to help others reach their full potential.

Steve is an IBM i zealot and advocate, and is deeply involved in the IBM i community. Steve is proud to be a long-standing speaker at COMMON conferences, speaking at IBM i related conferences globally, a subject matter expert, a member of COMMON’s Strategic Education Team, and especially to be part of COMMON’s speaker mentoring program. Steve recently joined The LUG (Large User Group), a group of over 100 of the world’s largest users of IBM technology, and is excited to be a LUG board member and architecture officer. Steve is also a board member of LISUG, the Long Island Systems User’s Group, and enjoys his role as emcee of LISUG’s monthly educational and networking events.

Steve and his wife live in Commack, NY, and enjoy travelling as a family with their two daughters. If you’d like to strike up a conversation with Steve, mention anything related to Disney or Star Trek, and you’ll have his undivided attention.

Bob joined BUNGE in February 2015, bringing more than 25 years of experience in Global IT executive leadership to the Global IT Risk and Security organization. In early 2018, Bob added the role of Chief Technology Officer to his existing role as CISO. Prior to BUNGE, Dr. Zandoli was the Global Chief Information Security Officer at AIG and MetLife. He also has held senior positions leading global technology infrastructure at major financial firms including Bank of America. As Global Chief Information Security Officer at AIG and MetLife he managed the information security programs for their Global enterprises. Those responsibilities included IT Risk management; security policies, standards and procedures; compliance; threat and vulnerability management; cyber threat intelligence; Security Operations/incident response; Identity and Access Management; forensics; and eDiscovery, as well as Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. Bob is an active participant in several professional security organizations; has held board positions in many technology industry groups and participates in several industry councils and roundtables as both a panelist and speaker. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses. Bob holds a doctorate from Pace University in Information Technology, a MBA from Baruch College and is a Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) and a graduate of the FBI CISO Academy.

Gregory currently serves as the CIO for Veeco Instruments, a manufacturer in the semiconductor industry. In his role, he is leading a comprehensive technology program spanning business continuity, revenue growth, margin improvement, employee effectiveness, digital insights, and information security.

His career spans over 20 years of global transformations and IT turnarounds in the manufacturing, software, and media industries. He has worked for companies including CBS Corporation, CA Technologies (now Broadcom), IBM Business Consulting Services, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In his consulting role, his notable clients have included: Gillette, Raytheon, Roche, Warner Lambert (now Pfizer), and Novartis. In each of his roles, building and motivating high-performing teams have been critical to his success.