Gov 2.0 Expo Keynote Speakers

Anne Armstrong has more than thirty years experience in technology journalism and publishing. She was a member of the Federal Computer Week launch team in 1987, and has worked on both the editorial and business sides. She began her career as a science journalist, and started Langley Publications, a research and newsletter company. Armstrong served as president of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) from 1999 to 2002. She holds degrees from Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins University, and represents 1105 on ABM’s Government Affairs Committee.

Tim Berners-Lee graduated from the Queen’s College at Oxford University, England, 1976. Whilst there he built his first computer with a soldering iron, TTL gates, an M6800 processor and an old television.

He spent two years with Plessey Telecommunications Ltd (Poole, Dorset, UK) a major UK Telecom equipment manufacturer, working on distributed transaction systems, message relays, and bar code technology.

In 1978 Tim left Plessey to join D.G Nash Ltd (Ferndown, Dorset, UK), where he wrote among other things typesetting software for intelligent printers, and a multitasking operating system.

A year and a half spent as an independent consultant included a six month stint (Jun-Dec 1980)as consultant software engineer at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. Whilst there, he wrote for his own private use his first program for storing information including using random associations. Named “Enquire” and never published, this program formed the conceptual basis for the future development of the World Wide Web.

From 1981 until 1984, Tim worked at John Poole’s Image Computer Systems Ltd, with technical design responsibility. Work here included real time control firmware, graphics and communications software, and a generic macro language. In 1984, he took up a fellowship at CERN, to work on distributed real-time systems for scientific data acquisition and system control. Among other things, he worked on FASTBUS system software and designed a heterogeneous remote procedure call system.

In 1989, he proposed a global hypertext project, to be known as the World Wide Web. Based on the earlier “Enquire” work, it was designed to allow people to work together by combining their knowledge in a web of hypertext documents. He wrote the first World Wide Web server, “httpd”, and the first client, “WorldWideWeb” a what-you-see-is-what-you-get hypertext browser/editor which ran in the NeXTStep environment. This work was started in October 1990, and the program “WorldWideWeb” first made available within CERN in December, and on the Internet at large in the summer of 1991.

Through 1991 and 1993, Tim continued working on the design of the Web, coordinating feedback from users across the Internet. His initial specifications of URIs, HTTP and HTML were refined and discussed in larger circles as the Web technology spread.

In 1994, Tim founded the World Wide Web Consortium at the then Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) which merged with the Artificial Intelligence Lab in 2003 to become the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Since that time he has served as the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, a Web standards organization which develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. The Consortium has host sites located at MIT, at ERCIM in Europe, and at Keio University in Japan as well as Offices around the world.

In 1999, he became the first holder of the 3Com Founders chair. He is currently the 3COM Founders Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at CSAIL where he also heads the Decentralized Information Group (DIG). In December 2004 he was named a Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Southampton, UK. He is co-Director of the Web Science Trust (WSTrust) launched in 2006 to help create the first multidisciplinary research body to examine the World Wide Web and offer the practical solutions needed to help guide its future use and design. He is a Director of the World Wide Web Foundation, started in 2008 to fund and coordinate efforts to further the potential of the Web to benefit humanity.

In June 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that Tim Berners-Lee will work with the UK Government to help make data more open and accessible on the Web, building on the work of the Power of Information Task Force.

He is the author, with Mark Fischetti, of the book “Weaving the Web” on the the past present and future of the Web.

Kate joined Pro Bono Net in August 2006 and coordinates projects related to automated document assembly as the NPADO Project Coordinator. Kate earned a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. After graduating in 2002, she became an Americorps*VISTA for Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) in Helena, Montana and worked on Montana LawHelp.org and Montana ProBono.net. After her year of service, she transitioned to MLSA’s Technology Project Coordinator and her role expanded to include working on document assembly, video conferencing, and LiveHelp. She lives in Baltimore.

André Blas is an anthropologist and documentarian, whose experience stems from his work in both main-stream media conglomerates (AOL Time Warner), non-profit cultural organizations such as the Getty and Freewaves, and in the public sphere.

Blas is currently working with WebCitizen, an innovative Brazilian company that aims to foster civic engagement and bring citizens closer to each other, and to their governments, working towards their goal of a more transparent and open society.

Blas is a board member of Freewaves, which produces the the largest biennial media arts festival in the US.

danah boyd is a researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She recently completed her PhD in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley.

Dr. boyd’s dissertation “Taken Out of Context: American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics” focused on how American youth use networked publics for sociable purposes. She examined the role that social network sites like MySpace and Facebook play in everyday teen interactions and social relations. She was interested in how mediated environments alter the structural conditions in which teens operate, forcing them to manage complex dynamics like interacting before invisible audiences, managing context collisions, and negotiating the convergence of public and private life. This work was funded by the MacArthur Foundation as part of a broader grant on digital youth and informal learning.

At the Berkman Center, danah co-directed the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to work with companies and non-profits to identify potential technical solutions for keeping children safe online. This Task Force was formed by the U.S. Attorneys General and MySpace and is being organized by the Berkman Center.

Dr. boyd received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brown University and a master’s degree in sociable media from MIT Media Lab. She has worked as an ethnographer and social media researcher for various corporations, including Intel, Tribe.net, Google, and Yahoo! She also created and managed a large online community for V-Day, a non-profit organization working to end violence against women and girls worldwide. She has advised numerous other companies, sits on corporate, education, and non-profit advisory boards, and regularly speaks at industry conferences and events.

danah maintains a blog on social media called Apophenia.

Michelle Chronister is a Presidential Management Fellow in the Federal Citizen Information Center at the U.S. General Services Administration. She works as a web content manager for USA.gov.

Linda Y. Cureton is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As NASA CIO, she provides the requisite leadership to transform the management of information technology (IT) capabilities and services to support and enable NASA’s mission. She ensures that the Agency’s information resource management (IRM) strategy is in alignment with NASA’s vision, mission, and strategic goals. Accordingly, Ms. Cureton ensures the development of integrated IRM strategies, including standards, policies, NASA Enterprise Architecture, IT security, management, and operations. She has the responsibility, authority and accountability for ensuring that NASA’s information assets are selected, controlled and evaluated consistent with federal policies, procedures, and legislation.

Ms. Cureton was appointed as the NASA CIO in September 2009. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Linda Y. Cureton served as the CIO of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and led the Information Technology and Communications Directorate. As the GSFC CIO, Ms. Cureton was responsible for ensuring that GSFC’s information assets are acquired and managed consistent with Agency and Federal Government policies. She was responsible for ensuring that the Center’s Information Technology strategy aligns with NASA’s vision, mission, and strategic goals.

Prior to her arrival at GSFC, Ms. Cureton was the Deputy Chief Information Officer of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and led the Office of Science and Technology as Deputy Assistant Director. The Office of Science and Technology is responsible for providing leadership in the innovative and efficient application of science and technology used to collect, clarify, and communicate information needed to reduce violent crime, collect revenue and protect the public. As the ATF Deputy CIO, she was responsible for ensuring that the use of Information Technology for the Bureau’s mission and business requirements fulfill customer and stakeholder needs.

Previously, Ms. Cureton served in executive positions at the Department of Energy and the Department of Justice.

As a strong advocate for the practical application of technology, she has served as a member of organizations such as the Government Information Technology Investment Council, the American Council for Technology, and Women in Technology.

Ms. Cureton earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Howard University in 1980 graduating magna cum laude with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Latin. She also received a Master of Science Degree in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1994, and a Post-Master’s Advanced Certificate in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 1996. She performed extensive research in numerical analysis and has been published in the “Journal of Sound and Vibration.”

She currently resides in Maryland with her husband and mother.

Jack Dangermond is the founder and president of Esri. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Redlands, California, Esri is widely recognized as the technical and market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, pioneering innovative solutions for working with spatial data on the desktop, across the enterprise, in the field, and on the Web. Esri has the largest GIS software install base in the world with more than one million users in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide.

Dangermond fostered the growth of Esri from a small research group to an organization of over 2,900 employees, known internationally for GIS software development, training, and services.

Dangermond holds nine honorary doctorates from California Polytechnic University-Pomona, State University of New York at Buffalo, University of West Hungary, City University in London, University of Redlands in California, Ferris State University in Michigan, Loma Linda University, University of Arizona, and University of Minnesota.

Anil Dash began Dashes.com in 1999 as one of the earliest and most influential blogs on the Internet. Described as a “blogging pioneer” by the New Yorker, Dash is a co-founder and partner in Activate, the new strategy consulting firm that advises companies at the intersection of media, entertainment and technology. He is also the founding Director of Expert Labs, an independent non-profit which invents new web technologies to help policy makers in the White House and the Federal Government use social networks to tap into the expertise of the public.

Dash has also been recognized for his role in popularizing web culture and advocating for social and civic responsibility within the technology industry in venues ranging from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and his works have also been showcased in museums including the New Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2010 Dashes.com was named a Webby honoree in the Personal Blog category, in 2008 Dash was named one of the top ten most influential people in New York City by NowPublic, and in 2010 Dash was named second most media-connected person in technology by Forbes. He is also a member of the advisory board for the New York Tech Meetup and the Web 2.0 conference in New York City, an advisor to StackOverflow, a United Nations Social Media Envoy in the effort to control malaria, and a member of the National Advisory Council of noted education non-profit DonorsChoose.

Mary Davie is the Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). As the Assistant Commissioner, Mary is responsible for overseeing the acquisition and delivery of $4B in information technology and professional services products, services and solutions to federal agency customers worldwide.

Prior to her current position, Mary served as the Acting Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Customer Accounts and Research in FAS. Mary led business development and marketing efforts intended to increase customer awareness and satisfaction with GSA products, services and solutions. She was responsible for developing strategy and planning for new business, developing customer relationship management and account management strategies and policies, and leading teams of GSA employees to foster integrated solutions to meet customer needs.

Mary also co-leads the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative through the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Mary received an FCW Fed 100 award for leadership in strategic sourcing in 2007.

Mary obtained B.S. degrees in Business Finance and Business Management from Virginia Tech, and a Master’s of Business Administration with a focus in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.

Christopher Dufour is a former founding member of the IED Task Force Tech Team. He has worked for multiple defense and intelligence contractors on a variety of interagency irregular warfare, strategic communication, influence operations, and public diplomacy projects. He attained his MA in Government & Communications from Johns Hopkins University where his thesis, “Strategic Service: Reforming the U.S. National Security Apparatus for the 21st Century,” was accepted with highest honors.

Since then, “Du4” has sought to bring creativity and innovation to every partner and client with whom he has worked. He currently writes a blog – Must.Be.AWESOME!!! – that investigates the roots and wherefores of all things AWESOME. A musician, performer, and born entertainer by nature, Du4 also acts as a creative force for a number of federal and non-governmental clients. You can connect with him on Twitter via his handle, ”@Du4.”

An author, columnist and popular speaker, Bill is one of the country’s leading authorities on government reform. A global director for Deloitte Research and director of the Deloitte Public Leadership Institute, he is responsible for research and thought leadership for Deloitte’s public sector industry practice.

He coined the terms “Government 2.0” and (with co-author Stephen Goldsmith) “Governing by Network” in his 2005 and 2006 books of the same names. His writings have won numerous awards including the Louis Brownlow award for best book on public management, the Sir Antony Fisher award for best book promoting an understanding of the free economy, and the Roe Award for leadership and innovation in public policy research.

He is a former manager of the Texas Performance Review and director of e-Texas. He has advised governments around the world and his commentary has appeared in dozens of major media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Tribune. He splits his time between Austin, Texas and Washington, DC.

Price B. Floyd was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs on 8 June, 2009. He serves as staff advisor and assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense for public information, internal information, and community relations as well as information training and audiovisual matters in support of DoD activities, leading a worldwide public affairs community of some 3,800 military and civilian personnel.

Prior to joining the Defense Department, Mr. Floyd was the Director of External Relations for the Center for New American Security (CNAS). CNAS was an unheard of start-up national security think tank when Mr. Floyd joined their staff in 2007 and by the time he left in June 2009, it had become one of the preeminent national security think tanks in the country.

Mr. Floyd also served at the U.S. Department of State from 1989 until 2007. He brings more than 15 years of communications and diplomatic experience with the U.S. Department of State, most recently as the Director of Media Affairs. There he developed and implemented media strategies to promote the foreign policy agenda of the Department, from elections in Afghanistan and Iraq to the responses to the tsunami in Indonesia and the earthquake in Pakistan. From 1998 to 2000 Mr. Floyd served as Executive Assistant to State Department Spokesman James P. Rubin, where he prepared the spokesman for daily press briefings, coordinated media appearances, and was chief interlocutor for the spokesman throughout the department. Mr. Floyd served on the staff of Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright from 1997 to 1998, traveling to over 50 countries to coordinate meetings and public events, including visits to North Korea in 1999, and trips to the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. From 1995 to 1997, he served in the Economics Section and the office of the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, Germany. Prior to serving in Germany, Mr. Floyd was seconded to the United Nations International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia (ICFY) where he served as Deputy Envoy to the government in Montenegro and reported on their compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions to halt the import of banned weapons and material to the Bosnian Serb-controlled areas of Bosnia. Mr. Floyd also served as the first Bosnia Desk officer from 1993 to 1994, working on the War Crimes Tribunal and negotiations for the signing of the Bosnian constitution. Mr. Floyd began his career at the State Department assisting the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1990-1993. Mr. Floyd has received numerous awards for his service including the State Departments Superior Honor Award for his work during the Bosnia War, Superior Honor Award for service during the Pakistan Earthquake Relief Effort, and the Service Medal from the United Nations and European Union for work in Montenegro as part of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia.

Mr. Floyd is a native of Ft. Worth, Texas and received a B.A. in political science from Texas Wesleyan University.

Mr. Floyd and his wife Elizabeth Waters live in Chevy Chase, Maryland with their three extremely active children, Matthew, Sabine and Benjamin.

Dave Girouard manages Google’s growing enterprise business worldwide. He leads a team responsible for sales, marketing, product development and customer support. Prior to joining Google, Dave was senior vice president of marketing and business development at Virage, a provider of multimedia search and content management software. Dave also founded and developed Virage’s application services business. He came to Virage from the worldwide product marketing organization at Apple, where he spent several years in product management. Prior to that, Dave was an associate in Booz Allen & Hamilton’s Information Technology practice in San Francisco. He started his career in enterprise systems development and integration in the Boston office of Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting).

Dave graduated from Dartmouth College with an AB in Engineering Sciences and a BE in Computer Engineering. He also received an MBA from the University of Michigan with High Distinction.

Clay Johnson is an open government advocate. He is the former director of Sunlight Labs at the Sunlight Foundation where he led the organization’s plunge into Open Source. He developed Sunlight’s contest model into Apps for America and Design for America and under his leadership, Sunlight Labs became a community of 2000 developers and designers working to open their government. He was one of Federal computing Week’s Fed 100 in 2010. Prior to Sunlight, Clay was one of the four founders of Blue State Digital, the organization that provided the technology and online strategy behind Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Jeff Jonas is Chief Scientist, IBM Entity Analytics Group and an IBM Distinguished Engineer. The IBM Entity Analytics Group was formed based on technologies developed by Systems Research & Development (SRD), founded by Jonas in 1984, and acquired by IBM in January, 2005.

Prior to the acquisition Jonas lead SRD through the design and development of a number of unique systems including technology used by the Las Vegas gaming industry. One such innovation played a pivotal role in protecting the gaming industry from aggressive card count teams. The most notable known as the MIT team featured in the book “Bringing Down the House”, and recent movie “21.” This work is frequently featured in documentaries appearing on, the Discovery Channel, Learning Channel and the Travel Channel.

Following an investment in 2001 by In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA; SRD began playing a role in America’s national security and counterterrorism mission. One such contribution includes an analysis of the connections between the individual 9/11 terrorists.

Jonas is a Member of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, a Board Member of the US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), on the EPIC Advisory Board, and a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Jonas also periodically testifies on privacy and counterterrorism in such venues as the Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee, and other federally convened commissions.

Timothy Kephart is the founder and CEO of Graffiti Tracker Inc., which has provided graffiti tracking and analysis service for cities since 2006. Kephart began his graffiti research as a graduate student at California State University, Long Beach in 2000.

Rita J. King is Innovator-in-Residence at IBM’s Analytics Virtual Center, a Senior Fellow at two think-tanks: The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York City, and the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in Washington DC. She is the Creative Director of the Imagination Age and CEO of Dancing Ink Productions. Her essays, various writings and works of art have been commissioned, published and exhibited globally. She thinks of technology as a prism held up to the bright beam of the imagination to create a new global culture and economy. @RitaJKing can be followed on Twitter.

Randi Levin is a proven leader and manager, with a track record for executing mission-critical corporate information technology projects. Randi believes that the City of Los Angeles should be on the forefront of using smart technology to make government more efficient, accessible and customer-friendly.

Levin has 20 years of experience managing information technology departments for leading Fortune 500 companies in Southern California. For the last eight years, she has served as a Vice President for NBC Universal. In that capacity she was responsible for implementing and managing the company intranet, managing a Sarbanes-Oxley program for proper corporate accountability, and creating several new IT programs that improved the entertainment company’s efficiency.

Prior to NBC Universal, Levin worked as a corporate executive as well as an information technology consultant and has invaluable experience in project management, system development, strategic IT planning and business process re-engineering. Her previous experience includes work at the Walt Disney Company, L.A. Gear, Inc., Price Waterhouse, Goldman Sachs & Co., Korn/Ferry International, and Hughes Helicopters, Inc. While at Hughes she was able to program technology for the Apache helicopter used in Operation Desert Storm.

Senator Kate Lundy has represented the Australian Capital Territory in the Senate in the Australian Federal Parliament as a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1996.

She held many portfolios in opposition including Information Technology, Manufacturing, Consumer Affairs, Local Government, Sport and Health Promotion.

Elected for the fifth time, as part of the Rudd Labor Government Senator Lundy is currently Chair of the Joint Standing Committee for the National Capital and External Territories and a long-standing active member of the Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee. She is also one of the Federal Parliament’s representatives on the Advisory Council of the National Archive of Australia.

Carl Malamud is the founder of Public.Resource.Org, a nonprofit that has been instrumental in placing government information on the Internet. Prior to that he was the Chief Technology Officer at the Center for American Progress and was the founder of the Internet Multicasting Service, where he ran the first radio station on the Internet.

Tim O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, Inc., thought by many to be the best computer book publisher in the world. O’Reilly Media also hosts conferences on technology topics, including the O’Reilly Open Source Convention, the Web 2.0 Summit, and the Gov 2.0 Summit. Tim’s blog, the O’Reilly Radar “watches the alpha geeks” to determine emerging technology trends, and serves as a platform for advocacy about issues of importance to the technical community. Tim is on the boards of CollabNet, Safari Books Online, and Code for America.

Dr. John Ohab is a new technology strategist at the US Department of Defense, where he helps guide the planning and delivery of technology initiatives for the Public Web Program. John also hosts the Defense Department’s weekly science and technology podcast, “Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military,” which received the 2009 APEX Award for Publication Excellence and the PR News Non-Profit Award.

John received his B.S. in Biopsychology from UC Santa Barbara in 2002 and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCLA in 2007. His doctoral work in Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael’s lab focused on the role of adult neural stem cells in brain repair after stroke. John joined the Defense Department as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2008. He was previously an AAAS Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health.

John was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona, experienced a moderately successful run in high school varsity tennis, and would do anything for one Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl victory. Now in the Washington D.C. area, John is active in a variety of community endeavors, including work as a citizen forester with Casey Trees, and is a regular contributor to The Science Cheerleader blog.

Todd Park joined HHS as Chief Technology Officer in August 2009. In this role, he is responsible for helping HHS leadership harness the power of data, technology, and innovation to improve the health and welfare of the nation. Mr. Park co-founded Athenahealth in 1997 and co-led its development over the following decade into one of the most innovative, socially-oriented, and successful health information technology companies in the industry. Prior to Athenahealth, he served as a management consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton, focusing on health care strategy, technology, and operations. Mr. Park has also served in a volunteer capacity as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he focused on health IT and health reform policy, and as senior health care advisor to Ashoka, a leading global incubator of social entrepreneurs, where he helped start a venture to bring affordable telehealth, drugs, diagnostics, and clean water to rural India. Mr. Park graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College with an A.B. in economics.

Jay is a pediatrician and preventive medicine specialist with a masters in public health. He’s been called the Doctor of the Future and one of the top 10 most creative people in health care by Fast Company. I’m also one of Esquire’s 2009 Best and Brightest “Radicals and Rebels Who Are Changing the World.”

He started a practice in NYC on September 24, 2007. His practice became Hello Health via a partnership with Myca so other doctors could practice this way. Hello Health is a mixture of secure social network and electronic medical record that enables doctors and patients to connect both in their office and online via email, IM, and video chat.

He now has a design firm called The Future Well. They design innovative products and services that create health and happiness.

His is very active on his blog.

Alec Ross serves as Senior Advisor for Innovation in the Office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In this role, Alec is tasked with maximizing the potential of technology in service of America’s diplomatic and development goals.

Prior to his service at the State Department, Alec worked on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team and served as Convener for Obama for America’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Policy Committee.

In 2000, Alec Ross and three colleagues co-founded One Economy, a global nonprofit that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information about education, jobs, health care and other vital issues to low-income people. During his eight years at One Economy, it grew from a team of four people working in a basement to the world’s largest digital divide organization, with programs on four continents.

Alec started his career as a sixth grade teacher in inner-city Baltimore through Teach for America. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Sonal Shah heads the White House Domestic Policy Council’s Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (SICP). She also served on President Obama’s Transition Board overseeing the Technology, Innovation, Government Reform working group. Prior to joining the White House, Sonal led Google.org’s global development efforts, focusing on transparency, openness, and civic participation, as well as growing small and medium sized enterprises. Before her time at Google, she was Vice President at Goldman Sachs, where she developed and implemented the firm’s environmental strategy. Sonal also co-founded and directed Indicorps, a U.S.-based non-profit offering fellowships for Indian-Americans to work on development projects in India. Prior to that, she worked on trade, outsourcing and post-conflict reconstruction issues at the Center for American Progress, and developed and managed policy and advocacy programs for the Center for Global Development. She previously worked in the federal government from 1995-2002, first at the Treasury Department and later detailed to the National Security Council. Sonal received her MA in Economics from Duke University and BA in Economics from the University of Chicago. She is an Aspen Crown Fellow, Next Generation Fellow.

Kathy Sierra worked as a game programmer, interaction designer, and learning specialist (Sun Microsystems, UCLA Extension) before creating the best-selling Head First series for O’Reilly. She was the original creator of one of the largest software developer communities, javaranch.com, and the author of a Technorati Top 100 blog, “Creating Passionate Users.”

Brad Smith is Microsoft’s general counsel and senior vice president, Legal and Corporate Affairs. He leads the company’s Department of Legal and Corporate Affairs (LCA), which has just over 1,000 employees and is responsible for the company’s legal work, its intellectual property portfolio, and its government affairs and philanthropic work. He also serves as Microsoft’s corporate secretary and its chief compliance officer.

Since becoming general counsel in 2002, Smith has overseen numerous negotiations leading to competition law and intellectual property agreements with governments and with companies across the IT sector. He has helped spearhead the growth in the company’s intellectual property portfolio and the launch of global campaigns to bring enforcement actions against those engaged in software piracy and counterfeiting, malware, consumer fraud, and other digital crimes. As software has migrated online and into a computing “cloud,” one of LCA’s current principal goals is to help establish the legal foundation for this next generation of technology.

Smith has played a central role in ensuring that Microsoft fulfills its corporate responsibilities. In recent years Microsoft has consistently ranked in the top 2 percent of the S&P 500 for corporate governance scores. During Smith’s tenure, the company’s citizenship programs have reached 280 million people in 110 countries through technology training programs that help individuals develop the skills needed to obtain jobs. Smith has also helped advance several significant diversity and pro bono initiatives, both within Microsoft and in the broader legal profession.

Before joining Microsoft in 1993, Smith was a partner at Covington & Burling, having worked in the firm’s Washington, D.C., and London offices. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received his law degree at the Columbia University School of Law. He also studied international law and economics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Smith has written numerous articles regarding international intellectual property and electronic commerce issues, and has served as a lecturer at The Hague Academy of International Law.

Smith currently serves as chair of the Washington Roundtable, a leading Washington state-based business organization. He also chairs the Advocacy Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel, co-chairs the Board of Directors of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), and serves on the board executive committees of the Business Software Alliance, the Seattle Foundation, and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.

In 2010, Smith and his wife, Kathy Surace-Smith, general counsel of a Seattle medical devices company, will co-chair the annual campaign for the United Way of King County, the country’s largest United Way campaign.

Prior to his current position as the Department of the Army CIO/G6, he was the Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology).

Upon his graduation from the United States Military Academy, Lieutenant General Sorenson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in Field Artillery, serving in tactical units at III Corps Artillery and in Germany. Following his transfer into the Military Intelligence Corps, he served as the Division Artillery Intelligence Officer and completed several assignments at the division staff and operational level.

He has over 20 years of acquisition experience as a certified U.S. Army Material Acquisition Manager. His acquisition assignments include: Director, Program Control (Joint Tactical Fusion Program Office); Course Director for the Executive Program Managers Course (Defense Systems Management College); Director, Science and Technology Integration (Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Development); Product Manager for Ground Based Common Sensor-Light (GBCS-L) TEAMMATE TRACKWOLF programs; Project Manager for Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition; Director, Acquisition Directorate (Office of the Director of Information Systems for Command, Control, Communications, and Computers); Senior Military Assistant for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; and the Program Executive Officer for Tactical Missiles.

In addition to a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy, Lieutenant General Sorenson earned an MBA from Northwestern University, majoring in finance, accounting and decision sciences. He is a graduate of the Program Manager and Executive Program Managers Courses at the Defense System Management College; the Armed Forces Staff College; and the Army War College. He is also a registered Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.

His awards and decorations include being named the Army’s Project Manager of the Year in 1998, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and several other awards and decorations including the Parachutist Badge and Ranger Tab.

GARY GETS BUSINESS: Meet Gary Vaynerchuk (VAY NER CHUK), a 34 year old New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author who is also a self-trained wine and social media expert. From a young age, it was clear that Gary was a businessman. At 8 years old he was operating 7 lemonade stands in his neighborhood and by 10 he had moved onto selling baseball cards at local malls. In high school while working at his family owned liquor store, Gary started reading The Wine Spectator and wine books, and realized collecting wine offered an allure similar to his previous hobby of collecting baseball cards. With a wealth of knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit, Gary spent every weekend of his college years at his parents’ wine store. By 1997, Gary launched Winelibrary.com and helped grow his family business from $3 million to $45 million by 2005.

GARY GETS WINE: In 2006, with a flipcam and NY Jets bucket Gary began WineLibraryTV which revolutionized the wine world. Today, his irreverent wine reviews currently attract over 90,000 viewers each day and his email queue typically holds 1,000 messages from die-hard fans, self-named “Vayniacs.” Gary’s cult-like following is the result of his unconventional, often irreverent commentary on wine. Using comical expressions like “Sniffy sniff” and “The Oakmonster,” he encourages straightforward wine tasting and debunks wine myths. Wine Library recently launched Cinderella Wine, a wine website which features one wine per day beginning at 9PM EST for 24 hours sold at a severely discounted price. Gary also owns Cork’d, where wine lovers can review, share and discuss wine in a fun, interactive way.

GARY GETS SOCIAL MEDIA: Gary is one of the first Facebook users to maxed-out his friend limit, with over 17,000 requests still pending. He also has close to 1 million followers on Twitter and was included in BusinessWeek’s list of the top 20 people every entrepreneur should follow. Gary landed a 10-book 7 figure deal with HarperStudio. The first title, Crush It! Why Now Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion, released in October 2009, hit the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press Best- Sellers lists in its first weeks. The book maps out Gary’s road rules for how to “Crush It” in today’s business market by following your passion and building your own personal brand. In the spring of 2009, Gary and his brother AJ launched VaynerMedia, a Social Media Storytelling agency and angel investor in www.dailybooth.com that helps Fortune 500 companies and individuals expand and build brand equity with clients including his beloved NY Jets, the NHL and Cadbury.

GARY GETS NOTICED: Gary has appeared on countless programs from Jimmy Fallon, LateNight with Conan O’Brien and Ellen to FOX News, CNN and NPR. He was also notably featured in Decanter Magazine’s 2009 Power List which is a list of the 50 most influential people in wine and named Innovator of the Year at Wine Enthusiast’s 2009 Wine Star Awards. Additionally, Gary was one of Askmen.com’s 49 Most Influential Men of 2009. Gary’s ultimate goal is to one day own the New York Jets.

Zubin is a parallel technology entrepreneur with a passion for Open Data, Gov 2.0 and positive social impact. He is the founder of CiviGuard Technologies, RedRock IT Solutions and a partner at ImageWork Technologies. Over the last 10 years he has deployed complex process automation and content management systems for Government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.

He is especially familiar with the City of New York’s agencies such as FDNY, NYPD, Department of Health and the Department of Design and Construction. Over his career he has remained fiercely independent when it comes to technology platform choices – having implemented solutions on Java, Open Source, .NET and mobile platforms.

He enjoys programming whenever possible – with Scala, Erlang, Haskell being current favorites. Zubin was one of 40 students selected to attend the Graduate Studies Program at Singularity University, a institution sponsored by NASA and Google for the development of future technology leaders. He is the author of three books on software development and architecture in addition to being on the Java Content Repository 2.0 expert group.