Speakers

Kiran Ahuja serves as the Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). After more than two decades in public service and executive nonprofit work, she was nominated by President Joe Biden for her current role before being confirmed by the United States Senate on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Director Ahuja is the first South Asian American and first Asian American woman to lead OPM.

In her role, Director Ahuja leads OPM in its work to recruit, retain, and honor the American workforce that’s landing rovers on Mars, fighting climate change and cancer, and building the country back better.

Previously, Director Ahuja served as OPM Chief of Staff from 2015-2017. In this role, she worked on policies and initiatives that reached over 2.1 million workers at every federal agency and department. While Chief of Staff, Director Ahuja led inter-agency efforts to engage federal workers, attract skilled talent into government, and expand opportunities in federal service to every American. She also worked to strengthen OPM’s internal operations as an agency and provide stable leadership at a challenging time.

Her deep commitment to OPM’s mission, track record of bringing people together to solve tough problems, and expertise in human capital issues led to her appointment in November 2020 to then-President-Elect Biden’s Agency Review Team as Team Lead for OPM.

Director Ahuja knows how important investing in America’s workforce is because of her years of experience in the federal government in both career and appointed positions. She started her career first as an attorney at the Department of Justice and later spent six years as President Barack Obama’s Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

In addition to her federal service, Director Ahuja spent years as a leader in the non-profit sector. She previously served as the founding Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and most recently served as CEO of Philanthropy Northwest. Director Ahuja is a graduate of Spelman College and the University of Georgia School of Law.

Bethany Blackwell is Vice President of Sales overseeing a portfolio of complementary cloud vendors including Zoom, Salesforce, Mulesoft, DocuSign, Box, and over 100 ISV vendors in the public sector space. With over 10 years of experience in the cloud industry, Bethany has helped grow the public sector portfolio of these vendors from less than 10M annually to 1B in 2020 with customers at each State and Federal Cabinet level agency. Her specialty includes bringing new SaaS vendors to market as well establishing purchasing contracts and BPAs to ensure government agencies also have access to the digital transformation tools like their commercial counterparts.

 Stephen Ellis serves as Zoom's Government Solutions Lead, supporting market development and strategy across Zoom's Federal, State, Local and Global government market. He is a recognized public sector thought leader and frequent speaker at events and symposia serving this vertical. Stephen comes to Zoom with a robust career history in the government space, most recently with Dell. He has worked at Deloitte, and as a contractor to the Federal Government, Microsoft, and businesses now part of GDIT, Boeing, and Perspecta.

Kevin Hall is a Senior Principal Product Success Manager on the Employee Workflows product team at ServiceNow. He has 20 years of experience in the Federal Human Capital Management domain in both the public and private sectors. Prior to ServiceNow, he worked for Chainbridge Solutions, a ServiceNow implementation partner. While there, he created and led their Human Capital solutions practice focused on the US Federal Government. His previous experience includes thought leadership in talent acquisition and talent management with Monster Government Solutions, working at the U.S. Coast Guard as a civilian HR Specialist, and SRA International (supporting PeopleSoft projects with the U.S. Public Health Service and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts). He retired from the U.S. Coast Guard as an HR IT Program and Project Manager managing the Officer Career Management and document imaging applications. He first discovered a passion for making technology useful for the end user when he led a project to manage training tasks and competencies for Coast Guard boat crews. 

Colonel Kevin R. Mantovani is the Vice Commander Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The center serves as an intermediate-level headquarters responsible for providing installation and mission support capabilities to 77 Air Force installations, nine major commands and two direct reporting units with an annual budget of approximately $10 billion. One of six centers assigned to AFMC, the unit's cross-functional team integrates security forces, civil engineering, base communications, logistics readiness, installation ministry programs, public affairs, services, operational acquisition and financial management across 10 detachments and four primary subordinate units. Those units are the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Air Force Security Forces Center, and Air Force Services Center.

Prior to this assignment, Colonel Mantovani was commander of the 51st Mission Support Group, 51st Fighter Wing, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea where he led five squadrons totaling more than 2,700 personnel, supporting the Air Force’s most forward permanently deployed wing, a Numbered Air Force and 24 tenant units. While at Osan, he also served as Engineering Director, Headquarters 7th Air Force. Colonel Mantovani completed SDE as the Secretary of Defense Executive Fellow at the Union Pacific Railroad and served at Headquarters Air Force, Pentagon where he managed the Air Force’s Installation Support portfolio worth over $14B/year. He commanded a 481 person Civil Engineer Squadron with a $49M/yr budget to provide support to over 9,000 people, 52 fighter jets and 1,700 facilities in Aviano, Italy. He also served as the senior executive officer and strategic planner at Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Installation and Mission Support Directorate. While there he deployed as the Special Operations Command Forward-Pakistan Engineer providing $123 million in security assistance to Pakistani Special Forces. While assigned as Director of Operations, 818th Contingency Response Group, he supported countless joint exercises and real-world contingency missions and also deployed for one year as the J7 Director, Combined Air Power Task Force, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan where he led a combined team to advise and construct all of the infrastructure valued at over $350M required to build the Afghan Air Force.

EDUCATION
1997 Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
2004 Air Force Squadron Officers School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2006 Masters of Science degree in Engineering Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
2008 Air Command and Staff College, Correspondence
2012 Master of Arts, International Security Studies, College of Naval Command and Staff, Newport, R.I.
2012 Air War College, Correspondence
2017 Senior Developmental Education, Secretary of Defense Executive Fellow-Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Nebraska
2018 Leading Strategically, Center for Creative Leadership, Colorado Springs, Colo.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. January 1998 – February 2002, Systems Engineer, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, Space Missile Systems Center Headquarters, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
2. March 2002 – August 2004, Chief of Base Plans, Chief of Maintenance Engineering, 341st Civil Engineer Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
3. August 2004 – March 2006, Student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
4. March 2006 – July 2009, Director of Operations, 818th Global Mobility Response Squadron, 818th Contingency Response Group, McGuire AFB, N.J.
5. February 2008 – January 2009, Director J7, Combined Air Power Transition Force, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, Camp Eggers, Afghanistan
6. July 2009 – July 2010, Strategic Plans Officer, Expeditionary Combat Support Division, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
7. July 2010 – June 2011, Executive Officer, Installation Management Directorate, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
8. June 2011 – July 2012, Student, College of Naval Command and Staff, Newport, R.I.
9. July 2012 – July 2014, Commander, 31st Civil Engineer Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy
10. July 2014 – June 2016, Deputy Chairman-Installation Support Panel, Headquarters Air Force A4, Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
11. June 2016 – June 2017, Secretary of Defense Executive Fellow-Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Neb.
12. June 2017 – April 2018, Chief Engineering Division, Headquarters 7th Air Force, Osan AB, Korea
13. April 2018 – June 2020, Commander, 51st Mission Support Group, Osan AB, Korea
14. June 2020 – present, Vice Commander, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Joint Service Achievement Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Meritorious Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device and eight oak leaf clusters
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
Air Force Recognition Ribbon
National Defense Service Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Korean Defense Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon with 1 oak leaf cluster
NATO Medal

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
2008 U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Fox Award, Senior Military Manager of the Year
2009 Air Mobility Command Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Dec. 20, 1997
First Lieutenant Jan. 17, 2000
Captain Jan. 17, 2002
Major July 1, 2007
Lieutenant Colonel Dec. 1, 2011
Colonel March 1, 2018

(Current as of July 2020)

Allen McNaughton is the Director of Pre-Sales Engineering, Public Sector at Infoblox and leads the technical design and support for Federal, State/Local agencies and the Education vertical. He is also responsible for ensuring that Infoblox maintains the highest level of government certifications across product lines.  With over 20 years of experience in developing security solutions for Service Providers, Public Sector and Enterprise customers, Allen helps customers not only understand the technical, but also the business impacts of cyber-attacks and how to help mitigate those threats, specifically with a focus on DNS. 

Matisha Montgomery is the Chief Learning Officer at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In this role she oversees general training for employees across the Department, leadership development, learning technology and solutions, workforce and succession planning, and HR data analytics. Matisha has been a career Federal servant since 2005 with prior roles at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Matisha holds a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and certificate from American University’s Key Executive Leadership program.

Andy Nick, Managing Director, US Federal Civilian Modern Work Solutions, Microsoft

Rob Shriver is the Associate Director for Employee Services. In this role, Rob leads OPM’s government-wide HR policy team. His portfolio includes recruiting and hiring, pay and leave, labor relations, performance management, the Senior Executive Service, work-life, telework, and supporting governmentwide diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Rob previously served at OPM during President Obama’s Administration. From 2009-2012, Rob was OPM’s Deputy General Counsel for Policy, leading development and implementation of a number of government-wide initiatives, including expanding equality for LGBTQ+ Federal employees, improving Federal sector labor relations, and reforming the hiring process. From 2012-2014, Rob served as OPM’s Assistant Director for National Healthcare Operations, where he led the creation of a new program under the ACA called the Multi-State Plan program.

In the years between his OPM stints, Rob continued to work on the ACA, first in state government, serving from 2014-2018 as the Director of Marketplace Innovation, Policy, and Operations at the District of Columbia Health Benefit Exchange Authority. He then worked for a private sector IT company—IdeaCrew, Inc.—as the Vice President for Business Development, working with states to improve their health benefit exchange IT platforms.

Rob began his career as an Assistant Counsel for the National Treasury Employees Union, litigating cases on behalf of federal employees at all levels of the Federal judiciary from 1996-2009.

Rob earned his B.A. in International Studies from Virginia Tech and his J.D. from George Washington University Law School. He lives in Alexandria, VA, with his wife JoAnn and three children Robby, Mitch, and Justine.

Lori Ramirez is the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency’s workforce services and development. She provides executive leadership for the full range of mission support services including manpower, personnel, payroll, training, transportation, facilities and real property, logistics, security, and quality of work life programs to the worldwide DISA workforce of over 8,000 government personnel serving in 25 states, Washington, D.C., seven countries, and Guam.  Ramirez began her government career in the U.S. Air Force as a communications officer. She was commissioned in 1983 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Over her 27-year military career, she commanded squadrons in Altus, Oklahoma; and  Los Angeles, California; and an Air Base Group supporting U.S. NATO operations in  Izmir, Turkey. While on active duty, Ramirez also served with DISA on the 7th Air Force  staff, Osan Air Base South Korea, and the J6 Staff for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Pentagon.  She began her civil service career with DISA in 2010 as the deputy chief of staff  providing executive-level direction and oversight of Agency-wide administrative  functions. She served as the DISA Europe deputy commander in Stuttgart, Germany in  2014. Ramirez returned to DISA headquarters as the Operations Center deputy director  in 2017; and became the acting workforce services and development director in April  2019. She entered the Senior Executive Service in June 2020.  Ramirez has numerous military awards including the Legion of Merit. She received her  Bachelor of Science Degree from the USAF Academy, Master of Science Degree from  Texas A&M University, and Master’s Degree in strategic studies from the USAF Air War  College.