Federal Tech Leaders Summit

Seval Oz serves as Senior Advisor and Nominee for Assistant Secretary for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she drives innovation deployment and aligns R&D with national strategic goals. A pioneer in autonomous and connected mobility, Seval formerly served as Head of Global Partnerships for Google [X]’s Self-Driving Car Program (Waymo) and as CEO of Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems, where she launched Continental AG’s Silicon Valley division.
Her extensive leadership experience includes serving as CEO of Aurima and holding public board positions with Microvision (MVIS) and Pioneer Electronics. An expert in AI, ADAS, and digital transformation, Seval holds nine patents in vehicular technology and is a published author in MIT Technology Review. She earned her MBA from the Wharton School and her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and MIT.

Ms. Theresa Kinney; Senior Deputy Program Director/Manager for the NASA SEWP Program Office. Ms. Kinney manages the strategic direction, planning and operations of SEWP – a premier Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) providing Federal Agencies access to the latest in Information Technology & Communication and Audio-Visual Technology solutions. Ms. Kinney is a 20+ year veteran to NASA. In this capacity, she is the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for the SEWP Program overseeing 190+contracts. Ms. Kinney is an ACT/IAC Fellow and Board member, an active member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), and Board Member for ATARC. Ms. Kinney was the winner of the Federal 100 award for 2022, for her work with Supply Chain Risk policies and requirements. She prepared NASA’s first Working Capital Fund (WCF) business case and worked to fit the WCF model within the framework of the existing SEWP architecture while insuring continuation of NASA’s Executive agent designation from Office of Management and Budget (OMB). A native of Montana, Ms. Kinney graduated with academic honors from Strayer University in Maryland. Following graduation, she continued her education at George Washington University to receive her master’s Certificate in Federal Contracting.

Jim Tunnessen is the CIO & Chief AI Officer for the National Endowment for the Arts, where he provides executive leadership and oversight of the agency’s Office of Information & Technology Management in support of the NEA’s mission and strategic goals. He is a Doctor of Engineering (AI/ML) candidate at George Washington University, with research focused on multi-agent governance in the federal IT environment. Jim is a member of the Forbes Technology Council, the Society for Information Management – Capital Area Chapter, and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

Austin Clark is the Enterprise Security Architect at the Department of Transportation (DOT), bringing 15 years of dedicated government civilian service to his role. He’s currently spearheading critical cybersecurity initiatives, including enterprise logging, phishing-resistant MFA, zero trust architecture, and SASE, fortifying the DOT’s digital defenses. Before his tenure at the DOT, Austin served as a Defensive Cyber Branch Chief for the Department of the Army. Beyond his civilian contributions, he is also a Chief Warrant Officer 4 in the Army Reserve’s cyber branch. Academically accomplished, Austin holds an MS in Information Security Engineering from SANS and a suite of industry certifications.

Tommy Gardner is HP’s Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, spanning the US Federal Agencies, Higher Education, as well as Federal Systems Integrators. His current responsibilities include technology leadership, strategic technology plans, product and technology strategies, sales force technical support, and customer and partner relationships.

Previously, Tommy has served as the Chief Technology Officer for Jacobs Engineering, Scitor, and ManTech. Earlier in his career he was a senior technical executive at Raytheon. In the U.S. Navy he served as the Deputy for Science and Technology for the Chief of Naval Research. He oversaw the Navy’s Deep Submergence Program as well as its Advanced Technology Program. He also commanded the nuclear submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751).

Tommy’s educational background covers multiple disciplines and fields of interest including: cybersecurity, data science, digital supply chains, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, high performance computing and systems integration.

Tommy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, an M.S. in Management of Technology from MIT and a Ph. D. in Energy Economics from George Washington University. He is a Professional Engineer, an ASME Fellow, and serves on the ANSI Board of Directors. He is currently on the U. S. Council on Competitiveness and serves as the Co-chair of the Advanced Computer Roundtable.

Christine Pacheco is a highly accomplished professional, and currently serves as the Director of Federal Civilian Sales at Equinix. In this role, she leads a team of sales professionals focused on driving digital transformation at federal civilian agencies, including Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, and Treasury.

Prior to her current position, Christine held the role of Director Client Executive at AT&T, where she led the financial vertical sales team within the public sector division. She successfully managed a $150M book of business, which included the Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce, and various financial independent agencies. Throughout her tenure at AT&T, Christine served in leadership roles, including leading the Contract Modifications team and serving as Chief of Staff supporting the President of AT&T Government Solutions and National Business.

Christine currently resides in Alexandria, VA, with her husband, two active children, and their rescue pup, Sonny. She values the importance of work-life balance and finds joy in spending time with her family.