Donald P. Addison II, DM, MSM

Terry College of Business, Institute for Leadership Advancement
University of Georgia

Dr. Addison is currently employed as a lecturer within the Institute of Leadership Advancement in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Don is also a managing partner with SC&E Partners. Prior to coming to UGA, Don was a senior vice president for Bank of America Merrill Lynch working in leadership development. Additional roles within the bank included a client facing role as a change management executive where he offered counsel to bank clients related to organization development and change management. Concurrently, Don worked in academia as an adjunct professor at Queens University of Charlotte and University of South Florida where he taught a variety of graduate and doctoral courses including Executive Leadership, Negotiating Agreement and Conflict Resolution and Organization Development. Don was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Member award by Queens University of Charlotte in recognition of his teaching efforts. Don has contributed research to multiple organizations including the Academy of Management, the American Marketing Association and the Association of Finance Professionals.

Taka Ariga

Chief Data Scientist and Director of the Innovation Lab
US Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Taka Ariga is GAO’s first chief data scientist and director of the Innovation Lab. As an integral part of the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team, he will help GAO develop and implement advanced analytical capabilities for its auditing practices. Prior to joining GAO, he held executive positions at Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with audit, compliance, legal, and regulated entities.

Taka earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He is natively fluent in both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, Taka is a serious amateur classical chamber musician (performing on cello throughout the Washington DC region), as well as a competitive tennis player.

Taka will present the keynote session on Thursday, March 28 on "How to Build a Data Analytics Capability in Your Agency or Organization"

Angie Bell

Vice Chancellor, Research and Policy Analysis
University System of GA

Angela Bell is the vice chancellor of Research and Policy Analysis for the University System of Georgia. Her division is responsible for meeting the information needs of the university system ranging from overseeing collection of campus data, responding to internal and external data requests, and conducting research and analysis to guide planning, policy, and decision making. A key responsibility is harnessing the system’s vast data holdings into actionable information for campus and system leadership. Before coming to the USG, Angela worked at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission as the vice chancellor of Policy and Planning. She earned a doctorate in Higher Education Administration at the University of Georgia.

Nathan Berger

Crime Analyst, Police Department, University of Georgia

Nathan Berger is a crime analyst for the University of Georgia Police Department. He worked previously as a crime and intelligence analyst at the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from Georgia Gwinnett College and a master's degree in GIS (Geographic Information System) Administration from the University of West Florida.

He is a First-Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy Reserve, which he joined in 2012, and his unit is based out of Atlanta, in support of EUCOM operations (United States European Command HQ). He is a current NCO, supervising a team of Geospatial Intelligence Analysts and enlisted personnel consisting of almost 30 sailors as the Unit Lead Petty Officer. 

James Byars

Scientific Computing Professional Specialist
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

James Byars joined the State Services and Decision Support unit in 2014 as a graduate assistant before transitioning into his current role as a scientific computing professional specialist. He primarily assists with data processing, visualization, and modeling for projects relating to higher education policies at the institutional and state level while also providing support on other projects using large statistical and geostatistical datasets. Prior to joining the Institute of Government, James worked at the University of Georgia’s Office of Institutional Research.

Dr. Timothy M. Chester
Vice President for Information Technology UGA
Vice Chancellor for Information Technology USG

VPIT Dr. Timothy M. Chester provides the thought-leadership and tactical perspectives necessary to guide the university in developing effective IT. He also implements, through the Enterprise Information Technology Services, EITS, the university’s strategic goals in academics, research, and outreach.

The vice president for information technology (VPIT), reporting directly to the Provost, is the university’s highest-ranking technology executive. Responsible for the implementation and accessibility of information technology and systems, the VPIT is also a key contributor to the technology vision for UGA, where IT touches every aspect of the educational process.

Dr. Chester will present the keynote session on Wednesday, March 27 on "Practical Uses of Generative AI"

Nikhil Deshpande
Chief Digital and AI Officer
Georgia Technology Authority

Nikhil J. Deshpande is chief digital officer for the state of Georgia. He heads the Office of Digital Services (DSGa) under the Georgia Technology Authority.

Nikhil envisioned and led Georgia’s user-centric digital transition to an enterprise open source web publishing system, GovHub. Under his direction, Georgia became the first state in the United States to use enterprise Drupal and meet special needs of constituents with a range of disabilities affecting vision, hearing, motion, and cognition, making GovHub Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 AA compliant. Nikhil strongly advocated and set the framework for the use of social media for Georgia, back when using social media for government was not common. He established a presence for the state on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to quickly address citizens’ questions and concerns.

Prior to his career in digital government, Nikhil worked in advertising and digital media.

Stephen Elsaker

AI Advisor for Georgia Public Service
Accenture

Steve Elsaker is a senior manager within Accenture’s Song Service - AI Advisory practice. He serves as the deputy generative AI GTM lead for public service in the south region. Steve has extensive experience delivering end-to-end AI solutions across industries. Most recently, he has focused on delivering generative AI powered solutions across several state and local accounts in North America. He specializes in cloud solutions focused on customer experience, virtual assistants and artificial intelligence, including generative AI solutions. Steve has over 8 years of experience delivering complex programs within the health & public service, communications, and high-tech industries.

Adam Fouche

Executive Director, Office of Emergency Preparedness
University of Georgia

Adam Fouche is the executive director of the University of Georgia Office of Emergency Preparedness and Insurance and Claims Management. He oversees a comprehensive emergency management program for the university to save lives, protect property, promote continuity of operations, and reduce the overall effects of large-scale disasters. Adam also manages administration of UGA’s insurance and associated claims functions, handling property and casualty insurance needs for over $5 billion in UGA assets across the state.

Adam is a 20-year veteran of UGA with most of his career spent at the UGA Police Department. During his time at the police department, he rose to the rank of deputy chief of police and was responsible for the planning, emergency response, and coordination of multiple large events and emergency incidents at UGA. Adam served on multiple interdisciplinary teams focused on the well-being, mental health, and success of UGA students. Adam has taught first responders across the state in topics including legal issues, emergency medicine, mental health interventions, active shooter response, and leadership. Adam developed and helps instruct the UGA Finance and Administration Mentoring for Operational Success program, an 80-hour leadership development curriculum for Finance and Administration leaders.

Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and a Master of Public Safety Administration from Columbus State University. He is a member of the UGA Institutional Review Board, the Georgia 4H Advisory Committee, and treasurer of the executive leadership board for Project Safe, Inc. 

Laura Gray

Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Instructional Specialist
Gwinnett County Public Schools

Laura Gray's journey began in the corporate world, as an IT controls auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC and Hospira Inc., before becoming program manager of Business Intelligence at General Electric Healthcare Services, where she earned accolades including the TDWI Enterprise BI Award and General Electric Management Awards. Transitioning to education in 2015, Laura authored three data sciences and AI courses with the Georgia Department of Education and was recognized as a standout educator, earning titles such as STAR Teacher and Teacher of the Year. She also received the NCWIT Georgia Educator Impact Award in 2022. Currently serving as a GCPS Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science instructional specialist, Laura supports over 100 educators across 62 schools. She champions equitable access to CS education, providing tailored support and resources to foster engaging instruction.  She also supports the development of learning that incorporates the GCPS AI Framework and Continuum. Laura holds a degree in Computer Information Systems from Indiana University (2003) and a Master’s in the Art of Teaching (Secondary Education Mathematics) from the University of Georgia (2015).

Colin Gunter

Partner
McKinsey & Company, Atlanta

Colin Gunter is a partner based out of Atlanta. He leads McKinsey’s legacy modernization service offering and is an expert in driving complex IT transformations for federal and state agencies and F500 companies.

Vinay Gupta

Senior Knowledge Expert
McKinsey & Company, Boston

Vinay Gupta is a senior expert based in Boston with 13 years of experience in service operations transformation using AI. He leads AI in customer care at McKinsey. He has conducted over 100 call center transformation programs across the globe and helped organizations with topics such as contact volume reduction, conversational AI implementation, workforce management, and AI-driven performance management. He is very passionate about frontline transformation and how AI can enable the frontline to achieve operational and customer excellence. 

Sid Johnson

Public Service Faculty
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Sid Johnson is a part-time public service faculty member at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. In 2022, he was appointed by Governor Kemp to serve as chairman of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. Previously, Sid has served in a variety of leadership roles in state government, including commissioner of the Georgia Department of Administrative Services, where he provided leadership to the state’s procurement, human resources, risk management, fleet management, and surplus property functions and served as an ex-officio member of the Employee Retirement System board of trustees and executive secretary for the State Personnel Board and Employee Benefit Council.

As part of Governor Perdue’s administration, he served as director of Stimulus Accountability and director of implementation for the Commission for a New Georgia. In addition to his public service, Sid has worked in investment banking for SunTrust Bank and was a partner and general manager of The Leadership Center, an executive education company. Sid has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jacob Kamer

Data Strategist
Tennessee Higher Education Commission & Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (THEC/TSAC)

Jacob Kamer is the data strategist for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (THEC/TSAC). Jacob joined THEC/TSAC in January 2020 and has served in multiple roles in the agency’s Policy, Planning and Research Bureau. In his current role, Jacob facilitates THEC/TSAC’s data governance program, supports the agency’s agenda setting and policy objectives, and produces the Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book. Jacob earned his PhD in Higher Education Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in December 2020.

Minsoo Kim

Senior Data Scientist
US Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Minsoo Kim is a senior data scientist with a background in statistics and mathematics. His prior projects have focused on dashboarding, reporting, and modelling. Before joining GAO, he worked in federal consulting as a data analyst for multiple federal agencies.

Scott King

Scientific Computing Professional Specialist
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Scott King joined the Institute of Government in 2019 as a scientific computing professional associate with the State Services and Decision Support Division. Prior to joining the Institute of Government, he worked with Nelnet as a data specialist and consulted as a data scientist with faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Rich Loftus

Associate Vice ChancellorStrategic Implementation
University System of GA

Richard (Rich) Loftus has over 35 years in higher education with the last 20 plus years serving the University System of Georgia. He is currently serving as associate vice chancellor for Strategic Implementation for the University System of Georgia. For the last four plus years, he has overseen a broad range of projects designed to improve overall experiences for students, faculty, and staff.

Rich manages a Strategic Implementation (SI) staff that provides governance, project management, change management, and system integration for all major USG-wide projects involving the integration of people, processes, and technology. Current projects include efforts in all major divisions with a particular focus on data analytics and visualization along with planning and implementing a unified enterprise resource planning (Unified ERP) system that integrates finance, HR, and student information systems at the University System Office (USO) and our 26 institutions.

Stefanie Lopez-Howard

Director of Data and Analytics
Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD)

Stefanie Lopez-Howard is the director of Data and Analytics at the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. She joined DBHDD in July 2023 to develop a data governance, analytics, and reporting strategy for the organization. Prior to that, Stefanie served as the Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) director for the state of Georgia for 11 years.  During her tenure as director, the SAC grew from a staff of two to nine and secured over $6 million for various data-driven, data-sharing, or innovative research and implementation projects. Before being appointed SAC director, she served a brief time as Planning & Evaluation program coordinator, overseeing the programmatic functions for 10 federal funding streams. Stefanie started her career in New York City at Legal Momentum, formerly NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, first as a legal assistant and then as the program associate to the National Judicial Education Program. She attended graduate school at the University of Connecticut and holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Survey Research.  Her Bachelor’s degree is in English Literature with two minors in French and Legal Studies from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Mazhar Malik

Senior Solutions Architect
University System of Georgia

Mazhar Malik is currently working as senior solutions architect at ITS (Board of Regents of Georgia) in Athens. Prior to working at ITS, Mazhar worked at Georgia College and State University for over 10 years. Some prominent projects he designed and developed are USG INGRESS application, USG Podcasting Server, and USG DATA Mart. He is currently part of a team leading USG Executive Dashboards project.

Sarah Marshall

Associate Policy Scientist, Institute of Public Administration (IPA)
University of Delaware

Sarah Marshall directs communications for the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration (IPA), in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration. Sarah develops print and online resources for IPA’s public service and research projects, which span from education to regional planning and development. She has been teaching design workshops to non-technical audiences, from students to municipal clerks, for the past 10 years. Sarah guides the development of online professional development programs for government administrators and K–12 educators. She is a trained mediator and facilitator working with IPA’s Conflict Resolution Program. Sarah received her Master of Public Administration degree with a specialization in design thinking and innovation from the University of Delaware in December 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and geography from Syracuse University. Sarah is a 2018 Leadership Delaware Fellow and UD Leveraging Equity And Diversity (LEAD) Ally.

Patrick Moore

Client Account Lead for Georgia Public Service
Accenture

Patrick Moore serves as the client account lead for Accenture’s Georgia public sector business. In this role, he is responsible for the overall health of Accenture's client relationships and for bringing Accenture’s full set of capabilities to the clients they serve. Patrick joined Accenture in May 2022.  He has spent his entire career leading teams and organizations in government and technology, including a stint as the state of Georgia’s CIO.  Patrick is a recognized thought leader and implementer in the government technology industry. He has been a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Government and was recognized for his work as Georgia’s CIO by Government Technology Magazine.

Jimmy Nolan

Local Government Project Manager
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Jimmy Nolan has been involved in GIS-related work since 1994. Prior to joining the Institute of Government's ITOS division as a project manager, he worked as chief appraiser for Morgan County, as GIS specialist for the Georgia Department of Revenue and as an independent real estate appraiser. During this period, Jimmy has been introduced to many facets of the GIS discipline, including data creation, GIS training and program and project coordination.

Jimmy currently serves with a Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) subcommittee that is developing cadastral (parcel level) data content standards for the eastern 31 states. He has also served as a board member with the Georgia chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and the Georgia GIS Coordinating Committee.

His primary responsibilities at ITOS include educating local government officials on how GIS can help them operate their agencies more efficiently and coordinating GIS data creation projects.

David Tanner

Associate Director
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

David Tanner is the associate director of the Government Services and Research Division at the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government. As part of the public service and outreach mission of the University of Georgia, David is focused on helping state and local governments plan and implement strategies that will improve operations and organizational effectiveness.  At the Institute of Government, he leads teams with expertise in human resource management, organization improvement and process improvement, local government operations, strategic planning, and data analytics and visualization.

Prior to joining the Institute of Government in 2012, he served as the deputy director at the Georgia Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB), where he worked with three different governors in addressing key budget and policy issues for more than 12 years.

Erik Thompson

Research Professional
Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

Erik Thompson joined the Institute of Government’s Survey Research and Evaluation division in 2022 as a research professional. Erik manages and provides research and evaluation support for multimedia survey projects. Prior to joining the Institute of Government, he served as a communications officer in the Air Force, specializing in the creation, evaluation and management of operational and administrative systems.

Megan Thompson

Crime Analyst, Police Department University of Georgia

Megan Thompson has been in law enforcement for two decades. She began her career as a 911 operator with the Oxnard (CA) Police Department, where she served as a communications training officer and line-level dispatcher for eleven years before moving to crime analysis. She was an analyst at that department for a few years before relocating to Athens, Georgia to become a crime and intelligence analyst at the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. In 2021, she became the analyst for the University of Georgia Police Department and helped oversee the expansion of the unit to one more analyst in 2023.

Megan has a bachelor's degree in Art History and Classical Civilizations from the University of California, Los Angeles. She studied Crime Analysis at California State University, Fullerton, and earned a DOJ-certified Crime and Intelligence Analyst certification there. She is also a Georgia POST-certified Crime Analyst. 

Eric Toler

Executive Director
Georgia Cyber Innovation & Training Center

Colonel (Retired) Eric Toler joined Augusta University in 2018 as executive director of the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (aka Georgia Cyber Center). Toler previously served in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence officer, retiring with over 27 years of leadership and national security experience. In addition to seven combat tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Balkans, Toler was a pioneer in leading and developing cyberspace operations capabilities for the Army and Department of Defense, serving in key positions within Army Cyber Command, U.S. Cyber Command, and the National Security Agency. 

In his role as executive director of the Georgia Cyber Center, Toler is responsible for fulfilling the Center’s mission to create an ecosystem of collaboration among government, academia, and private industry partners that helps solve the state and nation’s most challenging cybersecurity problems through innovative education, training, research and development, and practical applications.

In addition to numerous military schools and training, Toler holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Henderson State University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from National Defense University.

Toler has numerous military awards and decorations, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and two Bronze Star Medals.  In his current role, Toler has been twice named to Georgia Trend magazine’s Georgia 500 most influential leaders and three times named in JAMES Magazine as one of Georgia’s most influential men and women.

Joni Tyson

Data Manager, Office of Performance Analysis and Quality Improvement
Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

Joni Tyson is data manager for the Office of Performance Analysis and Quality Improvement at the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. In this position, she coordinates program performance initiatives by providing consultative support to promote quality data collection, analysis, and program design. Prior to this, Joni served 26 years as an assistant director of Housing Operations at Emory University in Atlanta. She holds a Master of Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Janki Vashi

Strategy & Consulting Lead for Georgia Public Service
Accenture

Janki Vashi leads strategy & consulting for Georgia Public Service clients at Accenture. Janki has over twelve years of experience in government and non-profit consulting. She is also the team lead of the Accenture North America Workforce Development Practice, where she helps agencies with their workforce development and shortage challenges. Throughout her career, she has successfully delivered IT strategy, project management and business process reengineering projects, resulting in streamlined processes, data-driven decision-making, increased transparency and improved user experience. She has led and conducted countless current state assessments, developed future state roadmaps and transformed business processes and operations for local and state governments. She grew up in Augusta, Ga., and received her undergraduate degree in Business from Georgia Tech and her Masters in Public Health from George Washington University.