Speakers

Jason Abernathy serves as the Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) Hosting and Compute Center (HaCC) 4th Estate User Engagement Principal. In this role, Abernathy is responsible for advocating for implementation of cloud technologies to support the 4th Estate, COCOM's, Intel Communities and DoD Warfighter, by overseeing several information technology-enabling projects and resolving enterprise capability gaps in support of the Joint Force.

Prior to becoming the UE Principal, Abernathy was the Director of DISA Data Centers in Europe of Southwest Asia. As the Data Center Director, he was responsible for the staffing, contract, and lifecycle management of the DoD Core Data Center (CDC) for the European and Southwest Asian Theaters, providing premier technical services supporting the vital business functions and capabilities of joint warfighters and coalition partners. Additionally, he represented the United States Government as NATO member of the Service Management and Control (SMC) Capability Panel, with the purpose to support the development and maintenance of Service Management policies and procedures pertaining to the NATO Enterprise and their Alliance.

Before joining DISA, Abernathy, worked as the Technical Director for NAVCOMTELSTA Sigonella, Sicily Italy (2007-2012), Network Engineer for NAVCOMTELSTA Souda Bay, Greece (2005-2007), System Architect for US Department of State (2001-2005) and served in the United States Air Force (1997-2001).  He has supported many organizations at multiple levels of leadership and worked in over 30 countries worldwide: coordinating, synchronizing, and directing the delivery and operation of enterprise information capabilities, in support of the United States Government interests.

Abernathy received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Networks and Cybersecurity from the University of Maryland.

Kevin is a seasoned professional with more than 28 years as a military and federal leader of organizations and teams who builds large-scale transformation initiatives. He has a proven track record of leveraging his skills to implement people and process solutions that increase satisfaction and drive growth.  During his career he has served increasing levels of responsibility while leading and developing high performing teams of cross functional experts in challenge environments.  He was the functional implementation lead of an Air Force-wide updated of the MyPers (HR) system, moving the platform to the Oracle Service Cloud and posturing it for future expansion as a modern HR system. While serving as Career Field Manager for USAF Force Support personnel, he championed the development of a more analytics savvy workforce across all levels of operations to better leverage emerging gains in predictive analytics and data focused decision making. 

Mr. Mark Chatelain is the Associate Chief Information Officer (ACIO) for 

NGA. Mr. Chatelain leads CIO specific issues and programs within NGA 

while collaborating across the Intelligence Community(IC), with top-level 

experts and consultants in other Department of Defense (DoD) organizations, IC agencies, and industry. 

Previously he served as the Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Adopt and Deliver Group in the IT Services (T) Directorate. He was responsible for definition, development, and maintenance of all application and infrastructure services within the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence (NSG). 

During the period 2012 - 2016, Mark served as the Chief of the NGA Support Team, US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offutt Air Force Base (Omaha, NE). He was also selected to serve as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) representative to the command. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring the integration of all Intelligence Community activities at United States Strategic Command. The Mission Statement of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is to promote global security for America by deterring attacks on US vital interests and defending the nation should deterrence fail.  

Previous assignments include deployment to Afghanistan for two tours as the NGA lead for Regional Command South, West and Southwest in 2012 and the Regional Command East in 2010. Mr. Chatelain also served as the Chief, International Programs Division where he managed the GEOINT acquisition relationships across the broad range of NGAs international partner community. He has served as a Program Manager and Contract Officer Representative for several of NGAs acquisition efforts over the years. 

In 1986, Mr. Chatelain began providing electrical and systems engineer support to NGA, developing image processing algorithms, imagery collection and management systems and GEOINT software/hardware solutions. He joined the Agency in 2005 leading the development of user access services, foundation GEOINT data systems, and the commercial imagery tasking, archive and dissemination systems. 

Mr. Chatelain was selected as an inaugural member of the NGA Supervisory Council and was elected to serve as the 2012 - 2013 Chairperson. The Supervisory Council is dedicated to creating a thriving 21st Century Supervisory Culture at NGA. He has also served as the Analysis Directorate Equality Executive in 2015 and 2016 and as the Senior Champion for the NGA Deaf and Hard of Hearing Council (DHHC). He currently is the Senior Champion for the T Employee Council (TEC). 

Educational accomplishments include a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University. He is DAWIA level III certified in Program Management and Information Technology and a member of the Department of Defense Acquisition Corp. 

Dr. Lindsey A. Saul became the Chief Data & Analytics Officer (CDAO) for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in July 2021.  As the nation’s combat logistics support agency, DLA manages the end-to-end global defense supply chain – from raw materials to end user disposition – for the five military services, 11 combatant commands, other federal, state and local agencies and partner and allied nations.

As CDAO, Dr. Saul is responsible for the implementation of DLA's enterprise-wide strategic data and analysis mission. Dr. Saul oversees the development and implementation of Federal regulations and DLA policies, standards, and procedural guidance to ensure the success of this mission, as well as ensuring that all statutory and regulatory requirements are met. She is the principal advisor to the DLA Chief Information Officer (CIO) on all matters relating to the agency strategy, management and oversight responsibilities for the overall strategic data and analytics services programs, data protection and storage, data standards, predictive analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and data science. She is also responsible for managing the agency’s enterprise business standards and programs overseeing privacy and freedom of information (FOIA).

Previously, Dr. Saul held the position of DLA’s Lead Analytics Strategist. Prior to joining DLA, she served as Branch Chief for Data & Analysis for DoD’s Non-medical Counseling Program Office. There, she oversaw the collection, standardization, and delivery of office data to the program's stakeholders through program management of the Business Operations Support System. She was also a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) appointed to DoD's Defense Health Agency in the Office of Innovation and DoD's Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Community & Family Policy.

Dr. Saul holds a Ph.D. in Social and Behavioral Health from Virginia Commonwealth University, an M.S. in Forensic Studies and Behavior Analysis from Florida Gulf Coast University, and a B.S in Psychology from Duke University. She also earned a CDataO Executive Education Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dennis Reilly has been a Vice President at Gigamon for over nine years, leading the group to 43% compounded annual growth and a 58% market share in the visibility and analytics space. With over 30 years of technology and business experience, Mr. Reilly is a strong advocate for the Federal, State and local governments and educational institutions applying information technology to strengthen security and improve innovation and productivity. He has supported government agencies in Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program initiatives and implementations for 8 years.

Prior to joining Gigamon, Dennis held sales leadership positions at companies such as Oracle, Netscape, BEA, and Plumtree Software.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Reilly served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and earned his Bachelor’s degree at the United States Naval Academy and has a Master’s degree in business from Boston University.

Dennis resides in northern Virginia with his wife and has four adult children. 

COL Benjamin Ring was commissioned as an Armor Officer in 1996 with a Bachelor in Computer Science from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. After completing the Armor Officer Basic course, he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany with 1-77 Armor Battalion where he assumed duties as tank platoon leader, company executive officer, assistant Intelligence Officer (S2), and assistant Operations Officer (S3), to include tours in both Bosnia and Kosovo. With 1-8 Cavalry, 1st U.S. Cavalry Division, Ft. Hood, Texas, he served as the unit personnel (S1) and logistics officer (S4) and he commanded Headquarters Company and Alpha Company, which included deployment to Iraq. In 2006, he was assigned to West Point, NY where he served as both a Research Scientist in Cybersecurity and as an Assistant Professor in Computer Science teaching programming, graphics, and digital forensics. He later served as the Division Information Systems Manager for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and as Senior Systems Manager for Regional Command – East in Afghanistan; he was later the Academic Systems Manager for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. As a Cyber Officer, he was the Operations Officer for the U.S. Cyber Protection Brigade in Ft. Gordon, GA and Chief of Applied Research and Development for U.S. Cyber Command. 

A CISSP and member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies, he has several publications in both technical and leadership journals. In addition to his Bachelor’s degree, COL Ring has earned a Master’s in Computer Science from Boston University, and a Ph.D. In Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University; his thesis focused on adaptive asynchronous control and consistency in distributed data analytics to improve processing and analysis efficiency in both supercomputing and machine learning systems. A former Fellow at the National Security Agency, COL Ring currently directs the Capability Management Office for the Joint Cyberspace Warfighting Architecture (JCWA). In addition, he has previously been the head coach for the All Armed Force Judo Team. COL Ring resides in Laurel, MD and is married to Lt. Colonel (Ret) Ramit Ring. They have three children, Sara (18), Jack (15), and Sam (6).

Nick Ashworth, Engineer, Defense Digital Service

Robert Sivilli, Engineer, Defense Digital Service

Jeremiah Sanders is a Navy and Air Force veteran, DoD-certified Executive Program Manager  (PMP/PgMP-equivalent) with Top Secret/SCI clearance who joined VMware after co-founding the  DoD’s premiere software startup, Kessel Run, and growing it to 1,300 members. His diverse background  includes Joint, operational, and Navy nuclear power plant engineering, maintenance and operations  coupled with PM experience in all acquisition phases; particularly IT, software intensive systems, C4ISR,  and satellite development and sustainment.  

Jeremiah leverages government procurement system, mission operations, technology landscape and  entrepreneurial management experience to bridge the gap between government and the technology  industry. He guides industry to understand the applicability of commercial technologies and practices to  government use-cases while advising government organizations through people, process and technology transformations to deliver mission/business outcomes.

Chris Holmes, Founder and CEO, greymatter.io