Overview

March 9

2020 was a year of rapid change and disruption for special district leaders around the country; it was also a year that rapidly accelerated the pace of change and expectations that special district leaders must face in the years to come. In this interactive webcast, we’ll breakdown key trends, technologies, and tactics that special district leaders need to know as they navigate their districts through uncertainty. We’ll also provide a glimpse of what we have in store with year five of the Special District’s Program.

Speakers

Tanya Acevedo

CIO, Houston Airport System

Tanya oversees the strategic planning and operational activities for a variety of technology systems and applications at Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby, and Ellington Airports. Her role is to lead a dynamic team that plays a key role in ensuring the successful execution of HAS’ mission through innovative and enabling technology. Key areas of focus will highlight technologies delivering way finding, passenger flow/tracking, a stronger cyber security posture and a renewed commitment to service level agreements. With almost three decades of experience, Tanya has a proven track record of successfully implementing innovative solutions that increase efficiency and automate processes resulting in revenue generation and cost savings. Previously, Tanya was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Travis County in Austin, Texas where she was responsible for the technology strategic direction of an operational budget of $35 million and 6,000 employees. She’s also held various technology roles within County of Orange in Santa Ana, California as well as Toyota Financial Services, Edmunds.com and Answerthink consulting. Tanya holds a Master's of Business Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Michigan State University. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Tanya received the 2013 IT Woman of the Year from the Austin Innotech 16th Annual IT Executive of the Year Awards, 2016 Public Sector Chief Information Officer of the Year from Public CIO Magazine and the 2017 Government Technology Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers Award.

Brian Benn

CIO, Atlanta Housing Authority

Brian Benn is Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of the Atlanta Housing Authority. Brian is responsible for the development and implementation of technology strategies that are aligned with and anchored by the overarching strategy of the agency. Consequently, he ensures the progression and timely completion of all technical projects as well as the agency's security program and is ultimately responsible for the function and successful execution of business solutions, governance, risk and compliance, records and information management, and technical operations. Brian studied Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and possesses a Master of Business Administration degree from Belhaven University. Brian volunteers as an Executive Ambassador for TechBridge, Incorporated, serves on the Executive Advisory Board for Atlanta Technology Professionals, and serves as Board Chair for the Technology Association of Georgia's Southeastern Software Association.

Paula Brehm-Heeger

Director, Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Library, Cincinnati OH

Paula Brehm-Heeger is the Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Director of the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County. With a focus on expanding access, community and civic engagement and innovation, Paula is a strong and passionate advocate for public libraries. She oversees our community’s 41 location system that includes 40 branches and a Main Library serving more than 800,000 people. She is responsible for the oversight of our ambitious facilities improvement plan made possible by voter support of a successful 1 mil levy approved in May, 2018. Prior to her current appointment, Paula worked in a number of leadership positions with our Library, most recently serving as the Chief Strategy and Technology Officer and the Chief Library Experience Officer.

Sree Pulapaka

VP Chief Information Officer, San Antonio Water System

Pulapaka joined SAWS in 2016. Prior to that, he was the Director of Enterprise Business Innovation and Analytics for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) in Washington, D.C., and has a successful track record of managing complex information technology programs across a number of sectors including aviation, healthcare, telecommunications, and water and wastewater. He was the section head for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, where he supported compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations/standards, including consent decrees for sanitary sewer overflows. After consulting for companies including Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) and SAP (BusinessObjects), Pulapaka was part of the IT executive management team at Johns Hopkins University and Health System. He earned his Master of Science in engineering from Texas Tech University.

Omar Sandoval

CIO, Naperville Park District

Omar joined the Naperville Park District in February of 2008, in January of 2017 to Director of IT. In 2019 Omar earned his Masters of Science degree in Business Analytics with a concentration in Business Administration from Benedictine University. He is also currently an adjunct professor at College of DuPage, in the CIT department. In 2018, he was one of the recipients of the “Four Under 40 Achievement Award”, presented by the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, his District was recognized by Government Technology Magazine with awards for Technology Innovation in their Operations and Citizens categories.

Bryan Sastokas

CIO, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Mr. Sastokas is a respected member of the technology industry as a writer, speaker, and thought leader on innovative technologies and open government. In addition, Bryan has been recognized nationally as one of Government Technology’s “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers”, and has been acknowledged by the San Francisco Business Times & Silicon Valley Business Journal as a “Community Champion” in the Bay Area CIO of the Year Awards. Bryan holds undergraduate studies in computer engineering from Pennsylvania State University and graduate studies in software engineering from Harvard University.

Devon Winthrop

Principal Architect, AT&T

Devon Winthrop has been with AT&T for 19 years and is currently a Principal Architect with the Technology Shared Services organization in AT&T’s Global Public Sector. Devon supports local government and education in northern California, Nevada and Hawaii. As a Principal Architect, he is involved with innovation strategy and technical architecture for AT&T. Devon collaborates with Enterprise Architecture and IT leadership teams to drive strategic roadmaps that align with your technology and business objectives. He works within the innovation spaces at AT&T to forward emerging and evolving technologies. He recommends technology standards, principles and best practices, while integrating market trends and industry insights to drive forward-looking solutions. Devon began his career as an Outside Plant Engineer, designing T-1 networks and developing AT&T’s original fiber switched Ethernet WAN services. He has over 13 years experience as an industry consultant; developing complex solutions involving traditional and emerging services in the areas of networking, voice transformation, security, mobility, IoT and Smart Cities, and network integration.

Dustin Haisler — Moderator

Chief Innovation Officer, e.Republic

Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer of Government Technology's parent company e.Republic. Previously the finance director and later CIO for Manor, Texas, a small city outside Austin, Haisler quickly built a track record and reputation as an early innovator in civic tech. As Chief Innovation Officer, Haisler has a strategic role to help shape the company’s products, services and future direction. Primarily, he leads e.Republic Labs, a market connector created as an ecosystem to educate, accelerate and ultimately scale technology innovation within the public sector.

Webinar

Forward Together - What Special Districts Need to Know About 2021 and Beyond