RICHARD VARN

Richard Varn is the former CIO of Iowa. Prior to this service, He held the elected office of State Representative for four years and served as State Senator for eight years. During that time, he was twice elected Majority Whip, created and chaired the first Communications and Information Policy Committee, and chaired the Education Appropriations, Human Services Appropriations, and Judiciary Committees.

Varn left the legislature in 1994 to teach and be director of Telecommunications and IT Production Services at the University of Northern Iowa. He returned to state government in 1999 to create an IT Department and serve as its first director and as the state's first CIO.

Varn is currently president and CEO of RJV Consulting and serves both government and private sector clients. He also serves on the Board of Trustees and is vice-chair of the Audit Committee for the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

He is a member of the Harvard Policy Group and other advisory and research groups. Varn has received numerous awards and recognitions for his public service, including: being named twice to the Federal 100 in 1994 and 2003; the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Outstanding Achievement Award in the Field of Information Technology for Iowa's Return on Investment Program; and the Award for Outstanding Support for Distance Learning by the Iowa Distance Learning Association 2001.

AL SHERWOOD

Al Sherwood is the former deputy CIO of Utah. He served on the CIO leadership team that helped implement Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt's vision for the state’s digital government initiatives. He also served as the state’s chief privacy officer and authored the first state privacy policy. For the last three years, Sherwood served on the National Association of Chief Information Officer’s Privacy Subcommittee.

As one of the original architects of Utah's digital government strategy, Sherwood worked with the CIO and governor to create the Utah Electronic Commerce Council bringing about the coordinated delivery of Internet-based “citizen to government” and “business to government” services and served as its chair from 1999-2002. He is responsible for bringing more than 100 e-government applications online.

During his tenure as acting CIO and state electronic commerce coordinator, Utah moved from 35th place to fifth in the Digital State Survey. In 2002, Sherwood received national recognition from Government Technology magazine, receiving its first “GT Top 25, Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of Information Technology in Government” award. Gov. Leavitt also received this award. In 2003, utah.gov received the first-place Best of the Web award.

Sherwood has served on several distinguished boards and committees, including the Utah Health Information Network, Utah Tech Corps. Board, the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center, Utah Advisory Board, the Governance Board for the enterprise eligibility system known as eREP, and the Utah Educational Network Board.

Before retiring from state government to start an IT consulting firm, Sherwood’s career in public service spanned over 26 years.

TODD SANDER

Todd Sander has worked with federal, state and local government since the early 1990s to improve public service though the use of information technology. He has served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Tucson, Deputy CIO for the State of Washington and worked as a consultant in support of Department of Defense, national intelligence community and multi-state law enforcement initiatives. In 2002, he was named one of the original "Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of Information Technology" by the Center for Digital Government. He was also selected as the 2003 National Public Technologist of the Year by Public Technology Incorporated.

During his tenure, the state of Washington twice won the Center's Digital State award and the City of Tucson consistently ranked in the top 10 in the Digital Cities survey of large metropolitan areas peaking at number 2 in 2004.

During his career, Sander has demonstrated thought leadership by authoring numerous papers and presentations and held membership in the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, International City/County Management Association, Public Technology Incorporated Technology and Telecommunications Task Force and the Metropolitian Information Exchange. He served several years as Co-Chair of the Information Technology Association of Souther Arizona and was appointed by the Governor of Arizona to serve on the state Information Technology Authorization Committee.

LIZ WALLENDORF

Liz Wallendorf has more than twenty years of public service in Information Technology. Wallendorf is the former Policy and Planning Administrator for the City of Tucson. In this capacity, she created and led the city’s first information technology program office and helped create and implement the city’s digital technology strategies.

Prior to joining the city, Wallendorf was the product manager for a commercial software company. She also had a 14 year career in the U.S. Air Force, achieving a rank of Major. While in the Air Force, she held a variety of positions, including project management for the B-1and B-2 test programs.

Wallendorf is currently an independent consultant working with the AMBER Alert Portal, a unique public/private partnership dedicated to providing a free AMBER alert system to state governments and the public.

Wallendorf earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of Arizona, and a masters of business administration from Golden Gate University.

LIZA LOWERY

After serving nearly 20 years as an IT executive, Liza left public service to establish The CIO Collaborative to provide public sector research, benchmarking, and consulting services. In addition, Liza has joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as an adjunct professor in the College of Business for the Executive MBA program.

Most previously, Liza served as the Chief Information Officer for the City of Los Angeles, where she focused on both improving the IT Agency’s delivery of services and establishing a Citywide approach to the governance and use of valuable IT resources. She was with the City of LA at a very exciting time, leading a successful implementation of 3-1-1 and various other e-government initiatives. Liza also developed an IT Strategic Plan for the City of LA that is now being implemented. In 2004, she was recognized nationally in the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers of IT in Government and featured in CIO Magazine – The Importance of Being Strategic, in April 2003.

Prior to that, Liza served as San Francisco’s Executive Director of the Department of Telecommunications & Information Services (DTIS). Under her direction, DTIS took a leadership role in the City’s efforts related to improving government services through electronic government initiatives. As a result, San Francisco was listed in Civic.com’s Civic 50 Winners for using “technology — and the Internet in particular — to improve the way government does business.”

Liza co-authored a lessons learned guidebook, Smart Permitting – A Blueprint for Success.

She has a BS in Computer Science and Accounting, and a Masters in Public Administration.

KEITH COMSTOCK

Keith Comstock has over two decades of professional experience in Information Technology. Prior to launching his own consulting firm in June 2002, he was the CIO of West Virginia. In this capacity, he was instrumental in guiding the state through several major IT initiatives. He was the sole advisor to the governor and senior staff and was responsible for the state's IT procurement.

Prior to his work with the state of West Virginia, Comstock was president and CEO of Fenwick Technologies, an Information Technology firm. Earlier in his career, he also served in this role with two other IT firms.

Comstock holds a membership or is affiliated with several distinguished organizations, including the Federal CIO Council, the National Association of Chief Information Officers, GAO Partnership for Intergovernmental Innovation and Southern Growth Policy Board.

Comstock received his bachelor's degree from Douglas McGregor School of Business Management Program. He also completed several professional training courses at Harvard University.

BOB FEINGOLD

Bob Feingold is a Senior Fellow. Bob spent 26 years in the United States Air Force retiring in 1991 as a Colonel. During his career he occupied many Information Technology operational, policy, and command positions. After retirement, Bob provided project management consulting services to various large private sector firms, Department of Defense agencies, and several non-defense Federal agencies. In 2000, Bob became the CIO for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and in 2001 was appointed as CIO for the State of Colorado. After retirement in 2003, Bob continues to provide professional consulting services to state government and local business in Colorado. Bob was appointed by Colorado’s Governor to sever as a member of the Colorado Statewide Internet Portal Authority.

GEORGE BEARD

George Beard is founder of GovernmentWise Inc., a management consultancy that helps elected officials and executive managers institutionalize electronic government in the organizations they lead. His primary client is the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University, where he is a Hatfield Scholar and the director of the PSU lean government program.

Beard has over 20 years of experience in enterprise planning, acquisition, and deployment of information technology. His professional interests center on organizational effectiveness and the adoption of technology-driven change, particularly as affected by the Internet and network models.

Beard's federal, state, and local government experience spans 13 years and includes stints with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bonneville Power Administration, State of Oregon, Multnomah County, and Santa Barbara County.

During the last 10 years, George has worked for several technology and software firms in sales, marketing, corporate communications, alliance management and consulting. In addition, he has served as an adjunct faculty member at Willamette University, the University of Oregon, Portland State University, Lewis & Clark, and Marylhurst University, teaching graduate level courses on management uses of the computer, innovation, decision-making, data management and, currently, electronic government.

Beard holds degrees from Michigan State University, the State University of New York at Albany, and Portland State University.

CLAY JENKINSON

Clay Jenkinson began presenting Thomas Jefferson in character in 1984 and has since made presentations in nearly every state to thousands of gatherings, including school children, supreme court justices, a gala celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jefferson's birth at a White House event hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton, and many assemblies of state legislatures.

Mr. Jenkinson is a Rhodes and Danforth scholar and winner of one of the first five National Endowment of the Humanities highest honor - the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal). He has taught at Pomona College, the law school of the University of North Dakota, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Clay Jenkinson has served as a member of the Nevada Humanities Committee and is the founder and director of the Great Basin Chautauqua. He holds degrees in the humanities from the University of Minnesota and Oxford University.