Workshop Speakers

Join us virtually for our line of excellent speakers

Ann Dunkin

Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Energy

Ann Dunkin currently serves as Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she manages the Department’s information technology (IT) portfolio and modernization; oversees the Department’s cybersecurity efforts; leads technology innovation and digital transformation; and enables collaboration across the Department. She served in the Obama Administration as CIO of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior roles include Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Dell Technologies; CIO, County of Santa Clara, CA; CTO, Palo Alto Unified School District, California; and various leadership roles at Hewlett Packard focused on engineering, research and development, IT, manufacturing engineering, software quality, and operations.

Ann is a published author, most recently of the book Industrial Digital Transformation, and a frequent speaker on topics such as government technology modernization, digital transformation, and organizational development. Ann received the 2022 Capital CIO Large Enterprise ORBIE Award, and she has been given a range of previous awards, including DC’s Top 50 Women in Technology for 2015 and 2016, ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2016, StateScoop’s Top 50 Women in Technology list for 2017, FedScoop’s Golden Gov Executive of the Year in 2016 and 2021, and FedScoop’s Best Bosses in Federal IT 2022.

Ms. Dunkin holds a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a licensed professional engineer in the states of California and Washington. In 2018, she was inducted into Georgia Tech’s Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni.

Clare Martorana

Chief Information Officer, Federal Government

Throughout her career, Clare Martorana worked to improve and simplify the digital experiences people have when interacting with businesses and government. Martorana most recently served as Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, where for the past two years she stabilized and secured agency operations to deliver better digital-first services for the Federal workforce. Martorana began her public service career as a member of the U.S. Digital Service team at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, establishing the agency’s enterprise-wide Digital Modernization effort to deliver for veterans the 21st-century digital experience they deserve. Prior to joining the government, Martorana was President at Everyday Health and Senior Vice President and General Manager and editor-at-large at WebMD.

Jeanne Beard

Director, Office of Information Systems in the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Environmental Management (EM) and Federal Sponsor for the EFCOG Cybersecurity Working Group

Ms. Jeanne Beard serves as the Director, Office of Information Systems in the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Environmental Management (EM). She leads EM Information Technology (IT) and cybersecurity operations and serves as the principal IT and cybersecurity technical advisor to the Assistant Secretary with responsibility for the protection of EM’s mission information; IT governance, enterprise architecture, and capital planning; the EM public web site and internal communications portal; corporate support to video teleconferencing and web conferencing; oversight of EM information systems and cybersecurity programs; data center virtualization in support of DOE energy efficiency goals and “Green IT” initiatives; and records management.

Most of Ms. Beard’s 34-year career has been spent in EM. She has led EM communications, human capital, and business services, and managed multi-million-dollar contracts to support IT and cybersecurity services. During her three years with the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Ms. Beard directed the planning and implementation of IT services across multiple HQ organizations and managed a key Departmental E-Government initiative to consolidate common IT systems and services across HQ.

Ms. Beard had the privilege of starting her career as a member of the Department’s Management Intern Development Program right out of graduate school, first supporting the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management in the development of the Department’s Mission Plan; and working at the Savannah River Operations Office in support of the development of the Waste Acceptance Criteria for Defense Waste Processing Facility vitrified high-level waste for two years before returning to HQ. She became of member of the Senior Executive Service in 2008.

Under Ms. Beard’s leadership, EM has won a number of prestigious awards including personally winning a FED100 award. She has also led EM to win more than 40 sustainability awards presented by the Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Green Electronics Council (GEC) to EM for “Green IT;” and various awards from the OCIO and EM, including the OCIO Executive Leadership Award for collaboration among EM HQ and field sites, resulting in significant cost savings for EM.

Ms. Beard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Arts in Public Policy Analysis and Administration, from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Tom Summers

Vice Chairman, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

Thomas A. Summers of Rochester, Pennsylvania was designated Vice Chair of the Board on August 17, 2020. He served as Acting Chair from September 13, 2020, to January 20, 2021. Mr. Summers was twice confirmed by the Senate on July 2, 2020, for service through October 18, 2025. Mr. Summers previously served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Administrator and as the Deputy for Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation in the Office of Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with over three decades of active duty in a variety of command, teaching, military staff, and scientific positions.

Mr. Summers earned a B.S. from Saint Vincent College, PA, in Physics and Mathematics and four M.S. degrees: Applied Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, OH; Administration from Central Michigan University, MI; Military Operational Art and Science from Air Command and Staff College, AL; and National Security Strategy from the National War College, DC.

Chris McFearin

Director, Office of Cyber Assessments, Office of Enterprise Assessments, U.S. Department of Energy

Chris McFearin is the Director of the Office of Cyber Assessments within the Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Mr. McFearin is responsible for implementing an independent oversight program focused on evaluating the effectiveness of classified and unclassified cybersecurity policies and programs throughout the Department. The Office is responsible for developing and implementing technologies and processes to maintain advanced, risk-informed assessment capabilities and knowledge management processes that produce results and recommendations needed to support the critical missions of the Department. Prior to becoming Director, Mr. McFearin served as the Director of the Office of Cyber Assessment Operations within EA where he was responsible for the conduct of the Office’s cybersecurity assessment program across DOE and reporting on the implementation and cybersecurity posture for the Department.

Greg Pearson

Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice

Greg Pearson is a Senior Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, where he has worked for over 20 years. He primarily handles False Claims Act cases, including investigations and litigation. He has a nationwide practice that covers matters involving many federal agencies including the Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior, the Postal Service, and the General Services Administration.

Amy Hamilton, PhD.

Visiting Faculty Chair, Department of Energy, National Defense University
College of Information and Cyberspace

Amy S. Hamilton, Ph.D. is the Visiting Faculty Chair from the Department of Energy to the Department of Defense (DOD) National Defense University (NDU) College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC). She has served for the past three years as the Senior Advisor for National Cybersecurity Policy and Programs at the Department of Energy. She spent two years as a senior cyber security policy analyst at the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President. She served in the Michigan Army National Guard as a communications specialist and was commissioned into the US Army Officer Signal Corp, serving on Active Duty and later the US Army Reserves. She has worked at both the US European Command and the US Northern Command & North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on multiple communications and IT projects.

She became a certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute in 2007 and earned her Certified Information Security Manager certification in 2011. She presented on the “The Secret to Life from a PMP” at TEDxStuttgart in September 2016. She taught Project Management Tools at Colorado Technical University and was a facilitator for the Master’s Degree Program in Project Management for Boston University. She is an award-winning public speaker and has presented in over twenty countries on overcoming adversity, reaching your dreams, cyber security, and project management.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Geography, from Eastern Michigan University, a Master of Science (MS) in Urban Studies from Georgia State University, Master in Computer Science (MSc) from the University of Liverpool, Master Certificate in Project Management (PM) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) from the National Defense University, and completed the US Air University, Air War College. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Regent University in their Organizational Leadership Program with a dissertation on “Unexpected Virtual Leadership: The Lived Experience of US Government IT and Cybersecurity Leaders transitioning from physical to virtual space for COVID-19.”

Amy’s motto is “A woman who is passionate about project management, public speaking, and shoes.”

Gary Stoneburner

Senior Professional Staff, John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Gary Stoneburner is a member of the senior professional staff of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) where is supports APL and government sponsors as a system security engineer. His prior experience includes civil service at NIST where he was one of two US technical representatives to the international Common Criteria project, the lead for NIST’s first publication on managing cyber-related risks, and a major contributor to many of the NIST cybersecurity publications. Previously he was with The Boeing Company where he served as lead hardware engineer for a very high assurance router (TCSEC, Orange Book Class A1) and as the company’s security architect. He is an Army Signal Officer with 8 years of active duty and retired from the reserves where his assignments included Deputy Chief IA Branch, J6, USSOUTHCOM; technical advisor to the INSCOM (US Army Intelligence and Security Command) accreditor; Deputy Team Chief Army Information Operations Red Team; and Watch Officer Army Global Network Operations and Security Center. In addition he is retired from the state defense force of Maryland, having served as the defense force CIO and Assistant Chief of Staff, Signal.

Mike Holcomb

Fellow, Director of Cyber Security, Control Systems Global Cyber Security Leader, Fluor

Michael Holcomb is the Fellow of Cybersecurity and the ICS/OT Cybersecurity Global Lead for Fluor, one of the world’s largest engineering, procurement, and construction companies. His current role provides him with the opportunity to work in securing some of the world’s largest ICS/OT environments, from power plants and commuter rail to manufacturing facilities and refineries. He is currently completing his Master’s thesis on the attack surface of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) with the SANS Technology Institute. Additionally, he maintains cyber security and ICS/OT certifications such as the CISSP, GRID, GICSP, GCIP, GPEN, GCIH, ISA 62443, and more.

As part of his community efforts, Michael founded and leads the UpstateSC ISSA Chapter and BSides Greenville conference. He also wrote and taught all six cyber security courses for Greenville Technical College’s cyber security program which focused on helping educate the cyber security practitioners of tomorrow. In 2023, he was awarded CyberSC’s MG Lester D. Eisner Award for Cyber Excellence in Leadership for the State of South Carolina.

Mark Baggett

Senior Cyber Security Engineer, SANS Institute

Mark has a master’s degree in information security engineering and is the 15th person in the world to receive the prestigious GIAC Security Expert certification (GSE). He also holds several other several other industry certifications. He is a senior instructor for the SANS institute, and the author of three different courses. Mark wrote SEC573 – Automating Information security with Python on which the GPYC industry certification for Python Coding is based. He also wrote SEC673 which covers Advanced Python coding and SEC406 which is Linux for Security Professionals.

An active participant in the information security community, Mark is the founding president of The Greater Augusta Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) chapter. He’s also co-founder of the BSidesAugusta Information Security Conference and a frequent speaker at security events.

Brad Rhodes

Security Operations Domain Lead, Accenture Federal Services

Brad Rhodes is a Senior Manager at Accenture Federal Services in Denver, CO. He has 26+ years of experience in the government, military, and private sectors, in addition to holding numerous professional certifications. Brad is a combat veteran who continues to serve as Colonel in the US Army Reserve as the G6/Chief Information Officer for the 63rd Readiness Division delivering sustaining base communications across California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Brad’s major research includes utilizing Open-Source capabilities to help organizations close security gaps, characterize their cyber operating environment and key terrain, and gain visibility into stacks of data. He’s been known to drown Lego people illustrating the reality of cyber effects.

Chuck Weissenborn

Regional Manager of Defense and Intelligence Community, Dragos

Chuck Weissenborn is the Regional Manager, Department of Defense (DoD) / Intelligence Community, at Dragos. He leads the company’s efforts to support the DoD and Intelligence Community and their efforts to secure control systems and associated operational technologies. Prior to joining Dragos, Chuck worked at Symantec (later a Broadcom Corporation) where he was responsible for all business operations supporting the US Army worldwide.

Chuck is also a member of the Army National Guard, where he leads the cybersecurity detachment for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Battalion (CIPBN), West Virginia National Guard. The CIPBN provides mission assurance assessments and risk reduction recommendations across the DoD with teams aligned to HQDA G3-5-7, DISA, and others. Prior to joining the West Virginia National Guard, Chuck was a member of the Texas National Guard for over 18 years, with assignments that included the S6 NCOIC for the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade and the Texas Defensive Cyber Operations Element. He recently returned from a deployment to the CENTCOM AOR where he supported the Long-Range Precision Fires mission.

Chuck is an avid supporter of several non-profit organizations, and is the co-chair for the Critical Infrastructure/Control Systems cybersecurity committee at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). NDIA supports engagement and collaboration efforts between the Defense Department and the Defense & Organic Industrial Base.

Chuck has deployed four times in support of military operations since 9/11.

Barry Jones (pictured), Dr. Prakash Ranganathan, and Jamison Jangula

Barry Jones, Principal Network Security Engineer at WAPA, Dr. Prakash Ranganathan, Director for the C2SR, and Jamison Jangula, Cybersecurity Analyst at the C2SR

Barry Jones is responsible for the Western Area Power Administration’s (WAPA) Federal cybersecurity information security programs and strategic considerations in support of WAPA’s electric transmission marketing, operations and maintenance functions. His department provides cybersecurity program structure to ensure adherence to cybersecurity frameworks including FISMA and CIP and provides requirements and solutions for projects, policies, processes and technology. Work includes Cyber-Informed Engineering design and architecture in projects and processes, meeting Federal mandates and requests from the Executive Branch, CISA, DOE, and NERC for actions such as Inspector General (OIG) and NERC audits, Executive Orders, and Binding Operational Directives, as well as monitoring and gap analysis work aligning information security frameworks and programs (Six Sigma, just culture, CPI, controls) for WAPA.

Recent initiatives include multiple OIG audits, cloud systems security and Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) implementation.

Active outreach includes WICF, WECC CSF/PSF, CTAG, NERC Supply Chain Working Group, NATF Information Protection, Federal Coordinated Transmission Supply Chain Program, NERC Standards Drafting, NERC SER, NATF and at USEA’s East African conference on compliance and cyber security in contracts and project management.

Dr. Prakash Ranganathan is currently an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, and the Director for the Center for Cyber Security Research (C2SR) at the University of North Dakota (UND). His research activities involve identifying solutions to challenges in smart grids, cyber security, data science, and uncertainty quantification in renewable energy. Dr. Prakash has secured over $7 million dollars in externally funded awards and has over 133 publications. He is a frequent reviewer for DoE panels, workshops. Recently, he was invited at NERC’s GridSecCon’23 conference in Quebec, Canada to discuss growing challenges in Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). See Speakers – Event Page | GridSecCon 2023 (accelevents.com). Dr. Ranganathan has taught smart grid courses, published papers on solar wind, and Electric vehicle technologies, and conducted multiple workshops, symposiums, and webinars inviting speakers from national labs, industries, and smart grid experts across the US.

Jamison Jangula joined the Center for Cyber Security Research Center (C2SR) of the University of North Dakota College of Engineering & Mines (CEM) as a full-time Cybersecurity Analyst in January 2023. He has four B.S. degrees from UND: Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. He previously worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant under Dr. Prakash Ranganathan in the Data Energy and Cyber Systems Lab at the University of North Dakota, where he performed data analysis on GPS and ADS-B signal dropout for UAS and commercial airline environments. His current research focus is on power grid cyber security, smart grid communication protocols, and autonomous surveillance and deterrence frameworks.

Bridgitte Mase

CEO of DeMase Technical Services and EFCOG Cybersecurity Working Group Chair

Bridgitte Mase is the President/CEO of DeMase Technical Services, a women-owned business small business specializing in Cybersecurity, IT, and Nuclear professional services. She supports DOE, DOD, and industry in establishing and maintaining a secure, compliant cybersecurity infrastructure. Ms. Mase has an M.S. in Computer Science and 20+ years of industry experience at the executive level. Ms. Mase is heavily involved in initiatives supporting Women in Cyber Security and STEM. She serves on multiple Cybersecurity Advisory Councils and professional organizations and serves as the Chair of the Energy Facilities Contractors Group (EFCOG) Cyber Security Working Group.