Federal IT Efficiency Summit

Amy Gleason is the Acting Administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service and Strategic Advisor to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where she leads national initiatives to modernize healthcare technology and improve data interoperability. Previously, she served as Chief Product Officer at Russell Street Ventures, where she led digital health innovation at Main Street Health and CareBridge. Amy also served with the U.S. Digital Service at the White House, where she created the national COVID-19 database and led major efforts such as the Pandemic Ready Interoperable Modernization Effort (PRIME) and Data at the Point of Care. She began her career in nursing and has spent her career advancing healthcare through technology. Amy brings a deeply personal perspective to her work, shaped by her experience as a caregiver to her daughter, who was diagnosed with a rare disease at age 11.

Mr. Warren J. Blankenship serves as the Director of the Category Management Service Center, within the Office of Acquisition Solutions Development (ASD) in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). The Federal Acquisition Service provides buying platforms and acquisition services to federal, state and local governments for a broad range of items from office supplies to motor vehicles to information technology and telecommunications products and services. As an organization within FAS, ASD provides access to a wide range of commercial and custom IT products, services and solutions.

Mr. Blankenship presides over 13 governmentwide IT contract vehicles, generating almost $82.1B in annual spend and are designated as Best-In-Class by the Office of Management and Budget. He is responsible for ensuring category management maturity based on Spend Under Management principles as well as priorities outlined in the President’s Management Agenda, the Federal Data Strategy, the SECURE Technology Act, the FY25 IT Government-wide Category Management plan and other areas designed to highlight successes at both the governmentwide and agencywide level. Additionally, his role entails bringing awareness to agencies regarding the technology life cycle and its impact on the acquisition process.

Previously, Mr. Blankenship served as the Director of IT Schedule 70 Governance Division where he was responsible for the overall direction of the organization’s acquisition workforce with respect to policy, guidance and procedures and their applicability under the larger Multiple Award Schedule Program. Additionally, he led the charge in training needs for the acquisition staff and served as the organization’s liaison with other GSA policy offices, other government agencies and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Prior to that appointment, Mr. Blankenship served as the Deputy Director of IT Schedule 70 Business Programs within ASD. In this role, Mr. Blankenship was responsible for fostering the image and brand of the program. He led a cadre of staff that focused on strategic initiatives as well as customer and vendor support with regard to the overall mission and vision of the Center. Some of the functions included meeting with customers to assist with program needs and requirements, assisting current vendors with training and marketing to ensure successful Schedule contracts and researching new and emerging technologies that could be incorporated into the program. He was also responsible for driving business volume and developing revenue forecasts that ultimately sought to keep the program sustainable and primed for growth.

Previously, Mr. Blankenship served as the Deputy Director, IT Schedule 70 Operations in the Office of IT Schedule Programs. In this capacity, he was responsible for over 5,000 contracts with annual sales revenue of $15 Billion along with leading a diverse workforce that included developing, coordinating and revising a wide variety of GSA and governmentwide procurement policies and for reviewing proposed changes to existing regulations and determining whether they should be addressed. These policies and regulations had far-reaching implications for all acquisitions throughout the federal government.

Mr. Blankenship has held numerous leadership roles throughout GSA and served as an Agency Expert in GSA’s Office of Government-wide Policy where he crafted various sections of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Mr. Blankenship is also a very active member in the DC Chapter of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). He has served on the Executive Committee Board since 2009 and has served in the role of Vice President of Membership for two years and served as Chapter President for two terms. Mr. Blankenship possesses over 30 years of experience in the field of contracting and policy. Aside from GSA, he has been employed with such agencies as the Department of Energy, the Department of State, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Mr. Blankenship is the recipient of the GovExec FED 100 Award in 2023; the NCMA Outstanding Fellow Award in 2024, the NCMA Fellow Award in 2018 and the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council Fellow in 2014. He also graduated from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Federal Executive Institute Leadership for a Democratic Society in 2022. He holds a FAC-C Level III Federal Acquisition Certification in Program Management, a Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers (FAC-P/PM), and Contracting and an Unlimited Contracting Officer’s Warrant.

Mr. Blankenship holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Media and Communications from the University of the District of Columbia and a Master of Arts Degree in Business Communications from American University.

Mangala Kuppa is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. She is a go-getter with a unique skill set that includes in-depth technical expertise, experience with industry best practices, and exceptional leadership and management skills. As Chief Technology Officer within the Department of Labor’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, she serves as a key advisor to the Chief Information Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officers on the development of short and long-range IT plans for all elements of the enterprise-wide technology environment. This includes providing technology leadership, advice, and guidance throughout the department in planning for implementation of all new or upgraded IT services in a managed architecture program. Mangala also serves as Chief AI Officer and the Director of Technology, Innovation and Engineering, making her responsible for overseeing the development and operations of the department’s Enterprise Data Platform and AI and Machine Language strategies and policies. Mangala previously served as the Department of Labor’s Director of Business Applications Services, where she oversaw the operation, maintenance, and modernization of the department’s mission and business-focused systems.

Megan Baird serves as the Deputy Administrator in the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) at the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training administration (ETA). She has responsibility for oversight and activities related to OA’s industry engagement, strategic partnerships, and investment activities. This includes providing leadership for over $1 billion in investments as well as OA’s engagement with industry, workforce, equity, labor, and education leaders across the private and public sectors to promote, establish, diversify, and expand the use of registered apprenticeship and ensure access to all.

Prior to this role, she was the Program Manager for H-1B grant programs in ETA’s Office of Workforce Investments. She is a proud graduate of Smith College with a bachelor’s degree in Government.

David Raley is the Chief Digital Business Officer at Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS), where he leads enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives that directly impact the quality of life for Marines and their families. As the founder of MCCS’s innovation capability and the architect behind its customer experience (CX) modernization strategy, David has redefined how mission-critical services are delivered across the Marine Corps.

He is the visionary behind Operation StormBreaker, a pioneering DevSecOps and pipeline-as-a-service framework that accelerates secure software delivery across the Department of Defense. Under his leadership, MCCS achieved the Marine Corps’ first authority-to-operate (ATO) via automated continuous delivery—setting a new benchmark for speed, compliance, and agility in government software development.

David’s work has been featured in FedScoop, Federal News Network, GovCIO Media & Research, and the ATARC Federal IT Newscast podcast, where he shares insights on agile ATOs, CX innovation, and cloud modernization. His efforts have saved MCCS an estimated $100K per application per month by reducing the cost of delay and streamlining acquisition and accreditation processes.

A frequent speaker at DoD and federal IT events, David brings a mission-first mindset to every conversation—bridging the gap between emerging technology and operational impact.

Anna Libkhen is a Cybersecurity and Technology Architect with 25 years of experience in software development, database administration and cyber defense.

Scientist/Engineer by day, and performing artist by night, Anna combines strong analytical and problem-solving skills with creative solutions, curiosity, critical thinking, and understanding complex situations.
Anna is a strategist, an architect, a dedicated professional, a dancer, a peacemaker, and above all — a mom.

Anna’s experience spans from software development for a major Wall Street company in NYC to technical team lead in Bangalore (India) to Database Administrator and cyber warrior defending government networks and operations in Washington, D.C.

Anna is an avid learner, a critical thinker, and an engaging speaker, passionate about her role as a cybersecurity specialist, always looking forward to collaborating with organizations and academia, where she can contribute, learn, and grow together in the ever-evolving world of IT and security.

Anna Libkhen holds MA in Global Security from Johns Hopkins University, Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, and BS in Computer Science with Minor in Economics from City University of New York (Brooklyn College).

Justin Ubert, D.Sc., is a seasoned cybersecurity and IT professional with over a decade of experience in managing and leading enterprise-wide security programs across federal agencies. Currently serving as the Cybersecurity & Operations Division Chief at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration, Justin oversees the IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and privacy programs for over 1,000 personnel and thousands of external users. He is a recognized leader in implementing advanced information technology/security strategies, including DevSecOps, cloud migrations, and zero trust while ensuring compliance with federal mandates such as Executive Order 14028.

In addition to his leadership roles in cybersecurity, Justin serves as an adjunct professor at Marymount University, where he teaches undergraduates in the College of Business, Innovation, Leadership, and Technology. He holds a Doctor of Science in Cybersecurity from Marymount University and multiple professional certifications, including CISSP and CISA.

Wade Zarriello is the Director of Infrastructure & User Services Group at CMS.

Kevin Walsh is a Director in GAO’s Information Technology and Cybersecurity team. He oversees work related to AI, Census, CIO authorities, legacy modernizations, and satellite and space systems. He has led reviews covering topics related to the authorities of federal Chief Information Officers, management of legacy IT systems, coordination of IT contracts, and assessments of IT-related risk.

Kevin joined GAO in June 2006, and led projects related to FITARA and GAO’s High Risk area on Improving the Management of IT Acquisitions and Operations.

Kevin earned a master’s degree in business administration from Virginia Tech. Kevin earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Mrs. Sweta Ladwa serves as Chief, Scientific Solutions Delivery Branch at the IT and Applications Center (ITAC) at NHLBI where she leads data science solutions delivery and product development to help NIH’s mission of turning discovery into health. She provides data management-related vision and leadership for NHLBI’s cloud-based data science ecosystem, BioData Catalyst (BDC). Additionally, she serves as the Scientific Program Director for the BDC Data Management Core, as well as Program Scientist for the NIH RECOVER Data Resource Core and Co-Chair for the NIH Cloud Platform Interoperability (NCPI) Steering Committee. She supports several NIH-wide efforts, including the Common Fund SysBio program, the Women’s Health Initiative, Controlled Access Data Repositories Taskforce, and the NIH FHIR Working Group, among many others.

Mrs. Ladwa has served as a consultant to agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on complex programs, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), The National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) supporting various data management, interoperability, FHIR development and testing, standards development and implementation, and other efforts to support the HHS mission.

Mrs. Ladwa earned her master’s degree in Public Health, with a focus in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, from The George Washington University, and her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sarah Moffat is the Senior Advisor of Innovation and Change Strategy at NASA.

Colin Crosby is a Service Data Officer for the USMC, and Deputy CDO at the DON.

Martin Stanley, AI and Cybersecurity Researcher, leads the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) efforts at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Information Technology Laboratory. Martin previously led the Emerging Technology and R&D Program at CISA and the Enterprise Cybersecurity Program at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prior to his federal service Martin held executive leadership positions at Vonage and UUNET Technologies.  Martin co-authored “Digital Health”, an Oxford University Press Publication.

Matt Barry is the Chief Operating Officer for HP Federal, a wholly- owned subsidiary of HP Inc., and leads our Public Sector Innovation and Business Operations teams. In this role, he is responsible for defining and delivering strategic growth initiatives and orchestrating operations to maximize client outcomes and business performance. In addition, he is focused on driving a thought leadership agenda to elevate HP’s public sector presence in market and increase our capability and capacity to better serve our customers. Most recently, he was asked to help lead a Global Public Sector program effort to accelerate our momentum. Matt is passionate about delivering superior experiences and outcomes that align with evolving customer needs.

In previous roles over his thirty-plus year career with HP, Matt served in a variety of leadership roles across Sales, Category, Operations and Finance.

Matt is based in the Pacific Northwest and enjoys time with his family and playing outdoors.

Hemant Baidwan is Executive Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Knox Systems, the largest federal AI-managed cloud provider. Hemant previously served as CISO at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an inaugural member of the FedRAMP Board, and Vice Chair of the federal CISO Council. He advanced cybersecurity strategy for one of the largest federal enterprises, strengthened and modernized mission-critical networks, and earned the DHS Innovation Award and a spot in the FedScoop 50.

Kayla Gunter serves as the Acting Associate Chief Information Officer of Information Technology and Director of Federal IT Program Management within the Office of the Chief Information Officer at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Ms. Gunter manages 225 IT professionals, drives collaboration across the federal government, and oversees over six networks and seven major IT and cybersecurity portfolios—including emergency communications, classified cloud, and international collaboration—while advancing digital transformation.

Before joining NNSA, Ms. Gunter held senior roles at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where she led cloud migration efforts and played a key role in establishing DHS’ first Cloud Hosting Blanket Purchase Agreement. She has more than a decade of federal IT experience and holds a Master’s in Leadership and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Truman State University. Her certifications include senior-level Federal Acquisition credentials and the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Jonathan Plante serves as a senior cloud, hardware, and software strategist providing cloud, hardware, and software technology and acquisition expertise to GSA and government agencies for the IT Product Subcategory, within the Office of Information Technology Category in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.

The Federal Acquisition Service provides buying platforms and acquisition services to federal, state, local and tribal governments for a broad range of items from office supplies to motor vehicles, to information technology and telecommunications products and services. ITC provides access to a wide range of commercial and custom IT products, services and solutions.

Mr. Plante has over 19 years of experience providing technology and acquisition assistance to various government agencies, including time as a Patent Examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and as a Computer Engineer for the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command. Since joining GSA in 2015, Mr. Plante has worked as an IT Project Manager for GSA Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS), among other roles.

Mr. Plante holds a B.S. in computer engineering from the University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana, an M.S. in Information Systems Technology from The George Washington University, and is a Federal Acquisition Institute-certified Contracting Officer Representative and Program and Project Manager.

Tom Guido joined Salesforce in August 2022, where he now helps agencies transform, work more efficiently, scale IT Modernization efforts and realize a maximum return on their investments. He brings over 28 years of technology experience including hundreds of implementations in the government sector. Tom is considered a leader in managing complex, enterprise IT programs and has a proven track record of automating and modernizing mission delivery. Before his role with Salesforce, Tom oversaw the Department of Veterans Affairs Digital Transformation Center, and served as the Director of the Disaster Credit Management Systems Operations Center for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Assistance.

Eric Shen is the Inspector in Charge of the Criminal Investigations Group for the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), where he oversees the investigative and preventive initiatives for violent crimes, financial fraud, mail theft, election crimes, child exploitation, and money laundering.

Eric has 20 years of federal law enforcement experience as a U.S. Postal Inspector.

In September 2005, he was assigned to the Los Angeles Division where he worked fraud workers compensation, identity theft, mail theft, and workplace violence cases.

Eric has been recognized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on numerous occasions for his exemplary work in relation to financial crimes investigations. He is accredited as a subject matter expert in financial crimes and has testified multiple times in federal court.

In 2010, he was named the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for his exemplary work on the federal arrest and indictment of six members of a violent gang in Orange County, CA. In the same year, the team was recognized with the U.S. Attorney’s Task Force of the Year Award for the Central District of California.
In 2011, Eric was promoted to Team Leader, Identity Theft / Economic Crimes (ITEC) Team, Los Angeles Division, where under his leadership, the ITEC Team received the IAFCI Task Force of the Year award. In March 2015, Eric was promoted to Assistant Inspector in Charge (AIC), Los Angeles Division, where he managed various assignments, including mail theft, violent crimes, fraud, security, hazmat and narcotics. From 2012 to 2016, Eric served as a Director for the Asian Gang Investigators Association of California (AGIAC) where he coordinated an annual conference for Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) certification. In recognition for his service, he received the 2017 National Asian Peace Officers’ Association (NAPOA) award.

Since 2022, Eric has served as an Advisor on the Advisory Council for the IAFCI. In 2025, Eric was awarded the IAFCI Chairman’s award for his leadership and commitment to advancing public-private collaboration in the fight against financial crime.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminology, with a minor in Education, from the University of California, Irvine, where he is currently a member of the Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Alumni Chapter. He also completed the USPIS Career Leadership Academy and USPS Executive Foundations training.

Amy Johanek is Vice President of Okta’s Federal business. She has over 25 years experience working with US government agencies, in a variety of roles, at major software and services vendors, including IBM, Gartner and Splunk.

Mr. Kent is the AVP of Federal Engineering at Everpure. In this role he leads a team of architects and solutions engineers delivering data management and storage solutions to the Federal Market. Prior to Everapure, Mr. Kent was a Field CTO for Cloudflare and held several CTO positions overseeing technology strategy, product development, and professional services. Mr. Kent is a recognized leader in the fields of cloud computing and cybersecurity, having led Cisco’s public sector journey for over a decade in both areas. As Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Idemia and Red River Technologies, he led organizational transformations to support modernizing development, cloud migration and AI transformations.

Courtney A. Winship is the Diplomatic Technology Bureau Chief Data Officer at the U.S. Department of State. In this role, she leads bureau-wide data governance, analytics modernization, and identity management strategy, advancing Department efforts to strengthen data security, improve policy, and ensure reliable access to mission critical information. Ms. Winship has established foundational governance structures, enterprise standards, and tools that enhance leadership visibility, accountability, and operational resilience worldwide.

With nearly twenty years in federal service, Ms. Winship has led major programs in service delivery, data management, interagency information sharing, and large‑scale operational coordination. She has supported humanitarian and crisis responses through analytics and operational leadership and has driven major modernization efforts for government‑wide information‑sharing and online filing platforms within the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security. She is also a strong advocate for human‑centered design and improved customer experience, with a sustained focus on data‑informed decision‑making and secure digital operations.

Ms. Winship holds degrees from Tufts University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the London School of Economics.

Michelle Davis, Director, Solution Architects, Federal Division, Red Hat. Michelle has spent the last 20+ years designing and developing enterprise distributed architectures for businesses in the US, Government and abroad. In her present position, she not only architects cloud-native or hybrid cloud architectures, but she also provides guidance on the digital transformation journey in this ever changing landscape – edge, AI/ML, IoT; Michelle has been evangelizing and consulting around the beltway about cloud, (micro) service oriented architectures and obliging technologies which include, but are not limited to, web, webservices, Kubernetes, Docker .NET, JMS, JEE and EAI. Her Red Hat performance includes being Public Sector Architect of the Year 2 years in a row and her nomination into the elite Chairman’s community. Prior to joining Red Hat, Michelle dedicated her time to Progress Software, IONA, AT&T, IBM, Unify, and others. She holds a Masters and Bachelors degree in Computer Science from John Hopkins University and Drexel University. She is also a present and past judge for “Edge Woman of the Year” for Edge Computing World.

Cody Bell is a federal sales leader at NinjaOne, where he helps U.S. government agencies modernize their IT operations. With over 19 years of experience spanning the U.S. Marine Corps, Cisco, and high-growth software startups, he brings a rare combination of deep technical fluency and frontline execution to the federal market. His career arc, from establishing battlefield communications networks in Iraq and Afghanistan, to engineering Cisco telepresence deployments, to leading public sector sales, gives him an operator’s understanding of the security, compliance, and infrastructure challenges federal IT teams face every day. Known as much for solving complex problems as for being the cultural glue that keeps cross-functional teams aligned and moving forward, Cody specializes in cutting through complexity to connect the right technology to the right mission.