Speakers

Mark Frantz

BlueDelta Capital

Mark Frantz is co-founder of BlueDelta Capital Partners, a growth capital firm focused on the U.S. federal government technology (GovTech) marketplace. Frantz serves on the board of directors or advisory board for numerous privately-held growth companies and nonprofit organizations, as well as on the Board of Directors for CSRA. Frantz has served as managing general partner of In-Q-Tel; principal with Carlyle Venture Partners; partner at RedShift Ventures; associate to the senior chairman at Alex. Brown; economic and technology policy advisor to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge; and associate director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs under President George H. W. Bush.

John Czupak

ThreatQuotient

As the President and CEO of ThreatQuotient, John Czupak drives the company’s global expansion and manages financial growth. John has played a critical role in multiple companies that resulted in successful liquidity events. Prior to ThreatQuotient he served as General Manager for Cisco Systems’ Advanced Malware Protection (“FireAMP”) product line following its $2.7 billion acquisition of Sourcefire, Inc. John served in a number of additional roles during his 12-year career at Sourcefire, including Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development, General Manager FireAMP and Senior Vice President, International & Business Development.

Before Sourcefire, John was the SVP of Worldwide Sales for Mountain Wave, Inc., which was acquired by Symantec Corporation in July of 2002. Prior to Mountain Wave, John was the Vice President of Worldwide Channels for Riverbed Technologies, a leader in mobile and wireless computing. Earlier in his career, John was an original member of the management team and Vice President of Asia Pacific and Latin America for AXENT Technologies. John also serves as an Advisor and Board member to a number of technology companies, including Sonatype, PFP CyberSecurity and Cybrary.

Matthew Dunlop

Under Armour

Dr. Matthew Dunlop is Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer for Under Armour where he is responsible for global security across all of Under Armour’s corporate, retail, and eCommerce functions, as well as its numerous connected fitness applications.  He is also a retired Army Colonel with nearly 30 years of service.  During his time in the Army, Dunlop participated in the build of Cyber Command with his final position being the Director of Applied Research and Development. Dunlop also has a rich academic background that includes assistant professor of computer science at West Point, computer science faculty mentor at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, and adjunct faculty in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech.  He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech, a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a M.S. in Engineering Management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and a B.S. in Mathematics from Gonzaga University.

J.R. Williamson

Leidos

J.R. Williamson is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer of Leidos. In that role, he is accountable for all aspects of information security strategy, governance, risk, and full cycle cybersecurity operations for the corporation.  Specific duties include the oversight and protection of the corporation’s intellectual and digital assets  against existing and emerging cybersecurity threats; developing and implementing effective and risk-based security policies, procedures, and operating practices; executing cyber risk assessments and designing appropriate remediation plans; development and retention of our global cybersecurity workforce, and the evolution of our global information security technology and innovation processes.

Williamson has formally held positions at Northrop Grumman from 1990 until joining Leidos in September 2018 and served as the Corporate CIO, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Engineer, Chief Technologist, Director of the Enterprise OneNGC Program Office, and Executive Director of IT Infrastructure and Enterprise Services Operations.

Prior to Northrop Grumman, Williamson served a 4-year stint as a civilian working for Headquarters, United States Marine Corps in the Special Services unit.

Williamson holds a bachelor’s degree in decision sciences and information management from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. and a master’s in information systems from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, a Six Sigma Black Belt, ITIL v3 Foundations-certified, and a Northrop Grumman Technical Fellow Emeritus.  He chairs the Leidos Security Council, is a member of the Executive Security Action Forum, the Microsoft Chief Security Officer Council, serves on the CISO serves on the Gartner Advisory Board, serves on the Defense Industrial Base Sector Coordinating Council, and is the Vice Chairman of the Board of the Internet Security Alliance.

Williamson is blessed with a wonderful family of five and spends his free time with them and engaging in all things soccer (he is a professional soccer coach with a US Soccer National C license, a certified referee, and still plays the beautiful game every week in an over-40 league!).

Matt Howard

Sonatype

A proven executive and entrepreneur with over 20 years experience developing high-growth software companies, Howard leads Sonatype’s corporate marketing, product marketing, and demand generation initiatives. During his tenure, Sonatype has grown revenue 500% and established itself as the world’s leading provider of open source governance and software supply automation tools. The company has also been recognized 2 years in row as a Deloitte Fast 500 company, three years in row as Inc. 5000 company, and the 2019 Emerging Growth Company of the Year by ACG . Further the company was named a Best Workplace for Innovators by Fast Company, and a Best Place to Work by The Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine.

Prior to Sonatype, Howard co-founded, developed and successfully sold two software companies, SMB Live and ZoomSafer. Earlier in his career Howard led sales and marketing teams at USinternetworking (acquired by AT&T) and Groove Networks (acquired by Microsoft). Howard holds a BA from The George Washington University and a MA from George Mason University. He lives in Leesburg, Virginia with his wife and three children.

Terry Dolce

Tenable

Terry Dolce is the Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and Channels at Tenable, where he is responsible for accelerating and strengthening the company’s global partner ecosystem. With nearly 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Dolce brings a strong background and diverse set of skills to Tenable’s sales leadership team.

Prior to Tenable, Dolce was a principal at Crowe, LLP, a top ten advisory firm, where he led the company’s GRC go-to-market strategy. Previously, he served as the CEO of TRU-8 Solutions. He was RSA’s Vice President of Sales for North America and Global Sales Chief of Staff. Dolce joined RSA through the acquisition of Archer Technologies, where he helped lead the company as its first Vice President of Sales.

Ryan LaSalle

Accenture Security

Ryan LaSalle leads the North America practice for Accenture Security. He is responsible for nurturing the talented teams that bring transformative solutions to better defend and protect our clients. He is also accountable for delivering on our commitment to clients for high-quality, innovative delivery to address their most critical issues.

During more than 20 years with Accenture, LaSalle has led client engagements across commercial, non-profit and the public sector by integrating emerging technologies into advanced solutions to drive agility and meet business needs.  His recent engagements with Media, Energy and Banking clients help leverage new models and practices across the unique business challenges of each industry.  He consults with customers on focused solutions that bring together analytics, knowledge discovery, and cyber-security to improve threat assessment and response methodologies.

A widely recognized thought leader, he is a Ponemon Institute Fellow, active with the Greater Washington Board of Trade and sits on security innovation advisory councils for clients across multiple industries. He holds patents in human resource management, knowledge discovery and establishing trust between entities online. LaSalle is a frequent speaker at international security conferences and has authored numerous articles on cybersecurity.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Melissa and two children.

John Ackerly

Virtru

As CEO and Co-Founder of Virtru, John Ackerly is proud to be helping millions of individuals and thousands of organizations take control of the information they store and share online. A longtime privacy advocate, Ackerly was responsible for technology policy at the White House and was the Policy and Strategic Planning Director at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Prior to co-founding Virtru, Ackerly was an investor at Lindsay Goldberg LLC, working with entrepreneurs to dramatically scale their businesses.

He graduated summa cum laude from Williams College, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School with Highest Honors.

Jack Huffard

Tenable

As President and Chief Operating Officer of Tenable Network Security, Jack Huffard drives global revenue growth and leads Tenable’s corporate strategy and growth. Jack co-founded Tenable in 2002 along with Renaud Deraison and Ron Gula.

Before Tenable, Huffard was the Director of Corporate Development for Enterasys Networks, developing strategy for addressing network security market needs. Prior to Enterasys, Huffard held management and sales positions at John Hancock and Marriott Corporation.

In 2013, he received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for defense and security, together with Ron Gula and Renaud Deraison. Huffard also serves on the Washington & Lee University Entrepreneurial Advisory Board and the SunTrust Bank Greater Washington Advisory Board.

Mohamoud Jibrell

NormShield

Mohamoud Jibrell spent his entire career finding unorthodox but highly effective solutions to business problems. Prior to founding NormShield, Mohamoud was vice president and chief information officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the largest private biomedical research organizations in the U.S. There, he streamlined and optimized IT organization that supported groundbreaking biomedical research including research labs in major 79 universities, implemented innovative technologies like cloud-based business applications, virtualized data center infrastructure and high performance computing clusters while reducing overall IT cost by 25%. Prior, he was the chief technology officer for the Ford Foundation, where he transformed IT operations across 13 countries by consolidating global infrastructure and transitioning critical business applications to cloud/hosted model. He also held IT and business leadership roles at Thermo King Corporation, an Ingersoll-Rand subsidiary, including leading a product group that increased global sales from $3 million to $28 million in three years, while reducing product cost by 32%.

In all of these roles, Mohamoud witnessed the myriad technology related risks and security challenges faced by companies/organizations and their distributed supply chain networks and third-party partners. This served as inspiration for his journey to entrepreneurship and co-founding of NormShield in 2016.

Mohamoud is passionate about mentoring and cultivating emerging leaders. He believes the key to any business’s success is building high-performing teams and developing new leaders. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

Paul Beckman

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Paul Beckman serves as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Providing direct support to the Chief Information Officer, Mr. Beckman is principally responsible for protecting the Department’s information technology (IT) infrastructure from all threats.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Beckman served as Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for DHS Office of the Chief Information Security Officer where he directly assisted the CISO in all matters necessary to enhance, update, and improve the Department’s cybersecurity defense. Specifically, Mr. Beckman directed the operational side of DHS’s Cybersecurity program, overseeing the Enterprise Security Operations Center and security engineering and architecture teams. Using his years of experience, he identified changes, trends, threats, and residual risk in the department’s information system technology; interpreting their meaning to senior executive management.

Mr. Beckman joined DHS as the Chief Information Security Officer for DHS headquarters (HQ) in November 2005. In this position, he was responsible for HQ’s cybersecurity program, as well as its communication security, configuration management, and public key infrastructure operations. Most notably, Mr. Beckman built OCIO’s Risk Management Division (RMD) — HQ’s first independent IT Security Program — from the ground up. Through Mr. Beckman’s leadership, RMD developed into a fully-operational cybersecurity program that oversaw the three classifications of networks across DHS HQ: the sensitive but unclassified, collateral secret, and top secret networks.

Before his service to DHS, Mr. Beckman spent five years working for the Department of Defense under the Network Infrastructure Division as the Information Assurance Manager. During his tenure, he reported directly to the Director of Network Infrastructure on all security issues regarding the Pentagon’s backbone and core infrastructure. Mr. Beckman holds several certifications including CISSP, MCSE, CCNA, CWNA, and CWSP.

Mr. Beckman obtained a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University and received his Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Radford University. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Larry Grossman

Federal Aviation Administration

Larry Grossman is the Acting Chief Information Security Officer and Acting Director of the Office of Information Security and Privacy at the Federal Aviation Administration. In this role, he provides strategic leadership of FAA’s information security and privacy programs.  He chairs the Cybersecurity Steering Committee which provides executive oversight to cybersecurity activities across the FAA enterprise. Larry oversees the FAA Security Operations Center, compliance, governance, and risk management. Looking externally, he oversees the FAA’s new Aviation Ecosystem and Stakeholder Engagement Office that is engaging on cyber matters in the larger aviation ecosystem. He also leads the creation and evolution of FAA’s cybersecurity strategy, Security Operations Center modernization, and new program deployments.  Additionally, he represents FAA’s cybersecurity and programs at DOT and other agencies; he participates in government-wide and international cybersecurity initiatives and exercises; and regularly briefs Congress on FAA and aviation cybersecurity.

An avid aviation enthusiast, Grossman holds commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates in both land and sea and travels in his own aircraft whenever possible.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Stockton University.

Michael Powell

Department for International Trade

Michael has over 13 years of experience defining, delivering, and directing both managed and professional cyber security services to government and industry. He in on attachment to DIT-DSO as the UK Cyber Representative to North America, to lead delivery of the UK National Cyber Security Strategy and Cyber Export Strategy in region; and provide a focal point for UK and US cyber security companies.

Michael is based at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. but is regularly in New York and spends his time at other posts across the network. Prior to moving to the US, he sat across the intersection of business development, technical capabilities, and policy in BT Security; a role that means he has a strong understanding of UK legal instruments and the need for both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. He has also delivered a number of UK/US trade missions involving academia and startup businesses.

Dr. John Zangardi

Department of Homeland Security

Dr. John Zangardi is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Beginning in December 2017, he oversees Information Technology and its related security and management for the Department.

Previously, Dr. Zangardi served as Department of Defense (DoD) Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer and later the Acting Chief Information Officer. As the Principal Deputy and Acting DoD CIO, Dr. Zangardi advised the Secretary of Defense for Information Management / Information Technology and Information Assurance as well as nonintelligence space systems; critical satellite communications, navigation, and timing programs; spectrum; and telecommunications.

Dr. Zangardi’s background includes acquisition, policy, legislative affairs, resourcing, and operations. He as served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information Operations, and Space (DASN C4I, IO, and Space), he was responsible for providing acquisition oversight for C4I, cyber, space, business enterprise, and information technology programs. In 2014 and 2015, he additionally served as the acting Department of the Navy Chief Information Office (DON CIO).

Dr. Zangardi is a retired Naval Flight Officer and served in a variety of command and staff assignments. After retiring from the Navy, Dr. Zangardi was selected for appointment to the Senior Executive Service (SES) and assigned as the Deputy Director Warfare Integration Programs (N6FB) within the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Communications Networks (N6) Directorate. With the stand-up of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Information Dominance (N2/N6), he was assigned as the Director for Program Integration and as Deputy to the Director for Concepts, Strategy, and Integration.

He is a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania and a graduate of the University of Scranton. Dr. Zangardi was awarded a Master of Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from George Mason University.

Melvin Greer

Americas, Intel Corporation

Melvin Greer is Chief Data Scientist, Americas, Intel Corporation. He is responsible for building Intel’s data science platform through graph analytics, machine learning and cognitive computing to accelerate transformation of data into a strategic asset for Public Sector and commercial enterprises. His systems and software engineering experience has resulted in patented inventions in Cloud Computing, Synthetic Biology and IoT Bio-sensors for edge analytics.  He functions as a principal investigator in advanced research studies, including Nanotechnology, Additive Manufacturing and Gamification. He significantly advances the body of knowledge in basic research and critical, highly advanced engineering and scientific disciplines. Mr. Greer is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and U.S. National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine, GUIRR.

Melvin is one of the 2018 LinkedIn Top 10 Voices in data science and analytics. He also received the Washington Exec inaugural Pinnacle Award as the 2018 Artificial Intelligence Executive of the Year. Melvin received the 2017 BDPA Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2012 BEYA Technologist of the Year Award which recognize his outstanding technical contributions that have had a material impact and high value to society as a whole. Melvin Greer has been appointed Fellow of the National Cybersecurity Institute where he assists government, industry, military, and academic sectors meet the challenges in cyber security policy, technology and education. Melvin is Professor, Master of Science in Data Science program at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and Adjunct Faculty, Advanced Academic Program at Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches the Masters of Science course “Practical Applications of Artificial Intelligence”.

In addition to his professional and investment roles, he is Founder and Managing Director of the Greer Institute for Leadership and Innovation, focused on research and deployment of a 21^st Century Leadership Model. Mr. Greer is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities and is an accomplished author; his fifth book “Practical Cloud Security a Cross Industry View” is his most recently published book. Melvin is a Board of Trustee at Capitol Technology University where he oversees and aligns its strategic direction, educational policy, finances and operations with the mission of the university.

As a popular educator and board member at a number of Historical Black Colleges and Universities, Greer is leading science, technology, mathematical and engineering (STEM) research initiatives, directly trying to shape a more diverse generation of up-and-coming technical talent. Greer received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and Technology and his Master of Science in Information Systems from American University, Wash. D.C. He also completed the Executive Leadership Program at the Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School and the Entrepreneurial Finance program at MIT Sloan School of Management.

Leigh Palmer

GDIT

Leigh Palmer is GDIT’s senior vice president for the defense division, reporting to President Amy Gilliland. She oversees the delivery of mission-critical services and solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense and other government customers. Leigh previously served as GDIT’s senior vice president for the national security division, which supported programs in the homeland security and intelligence communities.

Prior to GDIT, Leigh served as executive vice president for the intelligence group at CSRA. There she managed mission-critical support for the intelligence community by delivering a broad spectrum of IT services.

Leigh has held multiple senior-level positions within Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. At BAE, she served as vice president of national information technology mission solutions, vice president of advanced programs, cybersecurity director and other management roles overseeing technology deployment programs. Leigh earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Tom Knox

Morrison & Foerster

Tom Knox is a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department and Co-chair of the Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice.

Mr. Knox advises clients on corporate, financing, technology transactions and sourcing matters, serving as a strategic advisor to companies in the technology, media, life sciences, transportation, manufacturing and government services sectors, and to investors in such companies.

He provides advice on a wide range of corporate and securities transactions, including domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, venture capital and private equity investments and divestitures, joint ventures and other corporate finance and governance matters.

He also structures and negotiates enterprise outsourcing, realignment and optimization transactions, including traditional and vested sourcing deals, strategic alliances, performance partnerships, preferred supplier arrangements and other complex transactions. He advises on the sourcing and procurement of facilities management, logistics and supply chain systems and other business processes.

Since 2008 Mr. Knox has been listed as a Band 1 Leading Individual by the independent international rating firm Chambers & Partners. Chambers USA described Mr. Knox as “very knowledgeable and very direct” and “somebody you go to for the most strategic advice” who is known as a “top-flight dealmaker” with “excellent responsiveness.” A Chambers reviewer described Mr. Knox as “one of the best deal negotiators that I’ve ever worked with. He is tenacious in representing our interests”. Another noted that “he anticipates issues, has ideas on how to take them on and executes very well. He has good ideas about risks, keeps things practical and gets things done.”

Mr. Knox is rated AV (Preeminent) by Martindale Hubbell, was named by the Washington Business Journal as Washington’s Top Corporate Finance Lawyer and is consistently named to the Virginia Super Lawyers, Washington DC Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Chambers USA, and Legal 500 US lists.

Mr. Knox formerly served as co-chair of the firm’s Global Corporate Department of over 400 attorneys.

Representative company clients include Choice Hotels, HMSHost, MicroStrategy, Neustar, Novartis, Rail One, Sandoz, Veeco Instruments, and a wide range of high-growth emerging companies including Cigital, Fugue, SHIFT, Sonatype, and Virtru. Venture capital and private equity clients include Core Capital, Edison Ventures, Goldman Sachs, New Enterprise Associates, Novartis Venture Fund and Steadfast Financial.

Mr. Knox is a frequent speaker on corporate, sourcing and technology transaction topics. He has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University and as a guest lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan Law School and Middlebury College. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Middlebury College and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Business Council for International Understanding.

Matt Conner

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Mr. Matt Conner is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of the Cybersecurity Office at the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency.

As the CISO, Mr. Conner oversees the day-to-day operations of the cybersecurity program to protect and secure operation of NGA’s critical missions and information enterprise. Mr. Conner also serves as the Occupation Manger for the Cybersecurity Workforce. Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Conner was a Senior Technical Manager with General Dynamics Information Technology and served as the Lead Information Assurance Engineer for NRO’s Enterprise Security Services Contract. In this role, Mr. Conner led a group of security engineers and officers deployed worldwide in support of NRO operations.

Mr. Conner has 18 years of experience in the cybersecurity field, and has conducted risk management activities, penetration tests, vulnerability assessments and social engineering exercises for commercial and government customers including DoD, NASA and IC agencies.

Mr. Conner earned his Master’s Degree in Information Security in 2010 and holds numerous industry recognized certifications, including CISSP-ISSEP, CISM and CISA.