As a member of the CA Department of Technology Executive Leadership Team, Tamara Armstrong serves as the Executive Director for the California Project Management Office (CA-PMO). The CA-PMO provides centralized project management leadership to the State of California Information Technology (IT) projects through the provision of world-class IT project delivery services, resources, education, and training.
Mrs. Armstrong has also held executive leadership positions on two of California’s largest IT Projects, the California Child Support Automation System project and the Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) project, one of the largest business transformation and ERP implementation projects in the world. Additionally, Mrs. Armstrong has extensive experience in Project and IT Management and has successfully managed complex multi-million dollar projects of a technical and non-technical nature.
Mrs. Armstrong has served in Executive and Leadership positions in the private and public sector in various IT and Financial Management related capacities. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration in Technology Management.

Cathy Cleek is FTB's Chief Information Officer and Chief of the Technology Services Division.
Cathy develops information technology policy and formulates the department's vision and strategic direction for its use of technology. She represents the department's technology interest to the Government Operations Agency, the state's control agencies, and other departments.
Cathy started her career with FTB in 1983, as a tax auditor. Since that time she has held a variety of positions in the Audit, Collections, and Filing Divisions as well as leading major technology projects for FTB. She was also FTB’s Executive Sponsor of the Department of Child Support Services technology project, Child Support Automation System (CSSAS). She currently is Executive Sponsor of the Enterprise Data to Revenue (EDR) project to modernize FTB’s tax systems.
Cathy is a Certified Public Accountant and Project Management Professional. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with an accounting concentration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, a Master's degree in taxation from Golden Gate University and a Certificate from Harvard’s Senior Leaders in Government Program.

Liam Crawford is the Senior Manager of State, Local and Education Technology for the Information Technology Alliance for the Public Sector (ITAPS), a division of ITI, where he advocates at the state and local level focusing on cybersecurity, IT terms and conditions, and improving technology acquisition in education institutions.

Previously, Liam served as a legislative associate at the National Governors Association, where he provided legislative support to NGA’s Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee, Health & Human Services Committee, and Education & Workforce Committee. He also served as a legislative staffer to the presidentially appointed Council of Governors, where he provided support on cybersecurity and defense issues. Liam has worked closely with the “Big Seven” state organizations including the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, the Council of State Governments, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities.

Prior to his work at NGA, Liam served as a coordinator of federal government affairs at TechAmerica, where he focused on cybersecurity, immigration and workforce reform. Liam studied political science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and proudly volunteers with the university’s alumni relations program in D.C.

Chris Cruz is the Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Technology and the Deputy State Chief Information Officer for the State of California.
Prior to this position, Mr. Cruz served the Department of Technology as the Chief Deputy Director of Operations. In this capacity, Mr. Cruz oversaw the delivery of California data services to over 400 state and local government entities, was responsible of the state’s consolidated email systems, and for operating the largest telecommunications network in the state.
Cruz has served at the CIO at the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) from 2010-2011. At DHCS, Cruz oversaw a $1 billion project portfolio and some of California’s biggest IT initiatives, including a mission-critical Medicaid Management Information System expansion and upgrade. Cruz has spearheaded a cloud readiness assessment of the state’s major health IT systems. Under Cruz’s leadership, the department enacted a voluntary teleworking and virtual desktops plan for IT workers in order to attract and retain top talent.
Cruz has worked for the state government for more than a decade after beginning his career in the private sector as a project manager and consultant. He was CIO at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (2007-2010) and an IT manager at the Department of Health Services (2004-2007).
Cruz earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from California State University at Sacramento and attended the UC Davis Executive Program in Leadership Excellence.

Shell Culp is a principal with Almirante Partners and the former agency information officer and chief deputy director of Office of Systems Integration for the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS). Shell was an early instigator for open data in CHHS and continues to work toward interoperability in state and local government. In her work at Almirante Partners and with experience in health and human services, as well as four other agencies, Shell is focused on helping organizations target strategic initiatives with innovative perspective gained from a lifetime of experience in many different areas of government, with particular emphasis on improving IT project management. Always a thought leader, Shell's passion for performance improvement in government also makes her a champion of interoperability, open data and organizational change management, and she speaks about these topics across the country.

Scott Gregory is the Deputy Director of the Office of Digital Innovation and the State Geographic Information Officer. In his role, he provides executive management and strategic direction for the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), open source technology and open data as part of the larger IT portfolio of the state. Scott Gregory is a seasoned IT professional with over 20 years of experience in developing and managing technology implementations across local, state and federal government, as well as the private sector and academia. His experience as an expert in the field of GIS has allowed him many opportunities to apply this knowledge to solve problems related to government efficiency. Gregory’s focus is on providing technology solutions to solve some of government’s most pressing needs and issues. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Geography from Sacramento State University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Regis University.

Peter Kelly is a fearless servant leader for the newly formed Child Welfare Digital Services. He is a long-time agilist, hacker and supporter of the open-source community; believing strongly that public investments should create public goods. Peter has welcomed the opportunity to lead cultural, technology and procurement changes within the State of California. He is building public sector capacity to deliver new technology to our social workers, who support the most vulnerable population of children in California.

Scott MacDonald, the Deputy Director over the Department of Technology’s CalCloud Division, has more than 15 years of service in the public sector covering various aspects of information technology that range from security, application and database development, enterprise architecture, network management and server administration activities. Prior to coming to the Department of Technology in 2015, Scott was the Agency Information Security Officer at the California Department of Corrections. Additionally, Scott has experience in the private sector working with information technology and electronic communications.

Scott holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Information Systems, degrees in electronic communications, and holds the CISSP designation as well as many other IT certifications.

Concurrently, Scott is also the interim California State Information Security Officer and is responsible for all aspects of information technology risk, security and privacy policy.

Joseph Morris is director of market intelligence and a national keynote speaker on issues, trends and drivers impacting state and local government and education. He has authored publications and reports on funding streams, technology investment areas and public-sector priorities, and has led roundtables, projects and initiatives focused on issues within the public sector. Joe has conducted state and local government research with e.Republic since 2007 and knows the ins and outs of government on all levels. He received his Bachelor of Arts in government and international relations from the California State University, Sacramento.

Josh joined Deloitte as a Managing Director within State Government Programs in 2014, where he works with state governments across the United States. Prior to coming to Deloitte, he served for 5 years as Vice President in CGI’s government practice and more than a decade in similar roles at IBM.
Josh has market eminence as a thought leader in the state government industry. He currently serves as CRE for both State of CA and State of AZ. He also keeps a national perspective as Vice Chair of both CompTIA and ITAPS National Executive Advisory Councils, each dedicated to furthering the enablement of state programs through the use of business and technology best practices. He also participates regularly with state government national associations such as NASCIO, NASTO, NASBO, and NASPO. Josh resides with his wife and three children in El Dorado Hills, CA.

Jennifer Saha has served as an appointee under both Governors Brown and Schwarzenegger in the State of California. She most recently served as Deputy Director of Planning, Policy & Research for the California Department of General Services where she oversaw all strategic planning and policy development for the State of California's procurement and business management department.
Prior to DGS, Ms. Saha served as Chief of Staff for California Recovery Task Force. She advised the Administration and Task Force members on policy opportunities within the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 and helped to oversee implementation of the funds to benefit the administration’s agenda and the state’s overall economic vitality. Ms. Saha managed the Task Force staff and operations to achieve maximum economic benefit for the citizens of California.
Prior to joining the Task Force, Ms. Saha was the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency where she worked on issues including international trade, legislation, and business assistance. Ms. Saha led California’s participation in a number of trade shows and successfully managed projects aimed at improving the California economy. She also served on a number of state boards and commissions, including the California Employment Training Panel and the State Assistance Fund for Business Investment and Development.
She previously served as an Assistant Cabinet Secretary in Governor Schwarzenegger’s Office. In that role, she acted as a liaison between numerous state agencies and the Cabinet Secretary, who is one of the Governor’s Chief Policy Advisors.
Ms. Saha received her bachelor of science from the University of California, Davis and a masters of public administration from the University of Southern California.

Vice President of Research, e.Republic

Todd Sander is the Vice President of Research, providing leadership, management and development of e.Republic’s Research business operations. Todd also serves as Executive Director of the Center for Digital Government and is responsible for helping drive the strategic direction and development of the Center's programs and for providing thought leadership, strategic direction and hands-on expertise in expanding the Center’s services to both government and industry. Prior to joining the Center, Todd served as Chief Information Officer/Assistant City Manager for the City of Tucson and Deputy CIO for the State of Washington.

Governor Brown appointed Amy Tong as Director of the Department of Technology on June 30, 2016. She was serving as Interim Director of the California Department of Technology since April 1, 2016. Prior to joining the Department of Technology, Amy Tong served as the Chief Deputy Director of the Office of Systems Integration (OSI) and the Agency Information Officer of the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) since August 2014. As the Chief Deputy Director, Amy managed the daily operations of OSI, with the main focus on enterprise service functions, and provided oversight on processes and procedures to ensure the success of major project delivery. Amy’s highest priority was to strengthen OSI’s ability to provide excellent service such as project management and procurement management to customers, and being innovative in utilizing technology as the business enabler. As the Agency Chief Information Officer, Amy worked closely with CHHS and its departments’ key members to establish, promote, and implement a strategic governance body and process to govern the portfolio of technology investments in the CHHS. Prior to her joining OSI, Amy has 20 years of business, technology, and management experience in the public sector. Previously, she served as the Deputy Director and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at California Lottery, Chief Technology Officer at Board of Equalization; Chief of the Data Center at California Public Employees’ Retirement System; and was the acting CIO at the Water Resources Control Board. Amy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information System (MIS) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from California State University, Sacramento.
In addition to her professional career, Amy also spent the past 15 years serving the community as a volunteer. She is the former national vice-chair of a non-profit organization, with the mission to empower community members in civic engagement, youth leadership development, and community service collaboration. Amy is continuing her community involvement by serving as a member of the Planning Commission for the City of Elk Grove.

Matt Williams is the managing editor of TechWire. Read by opinion leaders, policymakers, the vendor community and government IT workforce, TechWire.net focuses on the public-sector technology industry in California. He has written about information technology and government for the past 10 years, and previously was the news editor for Government Technology.