Featured Speakers

Jeff D. Toney is the director of the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services (OES), overseeing all phases of emergency management within the county. He joined the OES in December 2019. Jeff started his career in emergency management in 2014 at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Jose R. Rodriguez is the division director of geospatial technologies for the Miami-Dade County Information Technology Department and has over 25 years of experience. Jose leads the development and implementation of geospatial technologies to support the effective delivery of government services to Miami-Dade County constituents.

Soheila Ajabshir is the senior software developer for the Miami-Dade County Information Technology Department and has over 20 years of experience. She is assigned to the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) and the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) as the lead for the geographic information system (GIS) unit during EOC activations.

Sara Palmer is a program specialist within the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's (NCMEC) child sex trafficking programs. She has worked for the analytical services division of NCMEC since 2011. Her passion for working gang-related cases allows Sara to bring experience and resources to all divisions at NCMEC.

John Morrison, CFO PMP, is the data analytics strategy manager of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, the largest fire department in Virginia. In this role, he oversees a team of professionals in data analytics and GIS, synergizing data from numerous sources to inform decision-making across the organization.

Amanda Haas has over 19 years of experience in systems integration, project management, and implementing technical systems from concept to fully functional status. She currently serves as the senior manager for the systems integration and project management team at Lockheed Martin supporting the Global Emergency Operations Center (GEOC).

Scott Creighton is the director of global security and crisis management at Lockheed Martin. He leads corporate international security operations, a GEOC, and crisis management. These teams strive to promote a collaborative and innovative work environment that pursues risk appropriate international security, GEOC, and crisis management solutions across the enterprise.

David Wittmann has over nine years of experience in software engineering focused on creation of 3D content and development of virtual environments for training and simulations solutions. He currently serves as the technical lead for the systems integration and project management team within Lockheed Martin supporting the GEOC.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

Dr. Naomi Adaniya serves as the chief data officer and senior advisor to the DEA administrator. She identifies data-driven opportunities to bring high-impact mission value across the enterprise and in communities nationwide. Her work intersects law enforcement, public health, and national security.

Esri

Chris Albert is the director of public safety business development at Esri. His team provides sales and business development support to national, state, and local government public safety organizations around the globe. The team he leads is also responsible for private sector security and business resilience sales.

Esri

Kevin Armstrong has over 20 years of experience configuring and deploying GIS apps in the global public safety community. He recently helped lead Esri’s efforts to develop GIS strategies to support the corporate security needs of Fortune 100 organizations, with a special focus on collecting, understanding, and responding to multisource threat feeds.

Esri

Jeff Baranyi serves as the lead solution engineer on Esri’s public safety team for emergency management and disaster response. He works closely with the community to discover, develop, and promote best practices in the use of ArcGIS to support the emergency management mission. Jeff also helps lead Esri’s Disaster Response Program (DRP).

Esri

John Beck is the director of law enforcement solutions at Esri. He works with law enforcement agencies at all levels globally, helping police understand and adopt technology that can enhance their responses to the many complex issues being faced by modern law enforcement. John was a police officer and crime analyst prior to joining Esri.

CAL FIRE

Frank Bigelow is an assistant deputy director for CAL FIRE, where he has served for 19 years. He started his career as a firefighter and progressed through the ranks working in various programs, including fire operations, aviation, and prefire planning. Frank currently directs 15 statewide programs across two divisions.

US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Dan Cotter is a senior advisor in the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). Prior to this, he served as the director of support for the DHS S&T Homeland Security Enterprise and First Responders Group, DHS chief technology officer, and DHS geospatial management officer. His public sector experience also includes twelve years with FEMA.

Lebanese Red Cross (LRC)

Kassem Chaalan started with the LRC in 1993 as an emergency medical technician in the Tyre branch. He now serves as the director of the LRC Disaster Risk Reduction unit. Kassem has been instrumental in the expansion of the DRR to achieve national coverage. He is also an instructor within the LRC on topics such as mass casualty incidence.

Esri

Mike Cox is the director of fire, rescue, and emergency medical services (EMS) at Esri. His responsibilities include advocating how fire and EMS agencies can leverage GIS to optimize their response and recovery. Mike retired from the Henrico County Fire Department in Virginia after 27 years of service.

Center for Naval Analyses (CNA)

Angie De Groot is a senior research scientist at the CNA Institute for Public Research. She has more than 15 years of experience in emergency preparedness and homeland security analysis and planning. She focuses on infrastructure resilience, supply chains for life-sustaining commodities, and public safety issues.

Esri

Chris Delaney is the product owner for law enforcement solutions at Esri. He previously worked for the Rochester Police Department in New York and he is a certified law enforcement analyst. Chris holds two degrees from Rochester Institute of Technology: a bachelor of science in criminal justice and a master of science in public policy.

International Association of Fire Chiefs

Jeff Dulin is the strategic advisor for national and global programs for IAFC. Jeff also oversees several IAFC GIS projects, working with programs that collect, analyze, and disseminate information. In this role, Jeff leads all technology research projects, working closely with state, local and federal partners to help bring real-time data to decision-makers.

Esri

Tiffany Glenn is a senior product marketing lead for Esri’s operational intelligence suite of products. She drives go-to-market strategy, customer engagement, and the planning and execution of marketing activities to support law enforcement, public safety, corporate security, and national government users.

Lebanese Red Cross (LRC)

Chahine Hamze is currently the ICT manager for the LRC. Chahine joined LRC in 2002 as an EMT volunteer. In 2010, he became the information technology (IT) manager, providing strategic oversight of LRC IT activities, sponsoring IT committees, and working with IT service units across the organization.

DEA

Aaron Jabbour is the geospatial information officer (GIO) at the DEA. He advises leadership and empowers the agency on all matters related to geospatial data, information, and intelligence. Aaron works to geographically enrich the maps, applications, and visualizations used throughout the enterprise.

Esri

Ryan Lanclos the director of national government and public safety solutions at Esri. He coordinates strategic initiatives across public safety and national security, defense and intelligence, global development and humanitarian affairs, federal civilian and sciences, and geospatial authorities.

Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM)

Kristin Lentz is an emergency management professional with a specialized interest in hazard mitigation and planning. Kristin currently works for FDEM as the mitigation planning unit manager. She oversees the planning unit, the review of local mitigation strategy plans, the statewide mitigation working group, and the state hazard mitigation plan.

Esri

Betsy Leis is a senior principal consultant and manager for the health and public safety services department. Betsy has been with Esri for 7 years and has worked with ArcGIS for over 20 years. She actively supports customers with their adoption and use of the ArcGIS platform through thought leadership, technical advisory, and enablement.

Vermont State Police (VSP)

Captain Shawn Loan is the special investigations commander for the VSP. He oversees the Vermont Intelligence Center (VIC) and the VSP narcotics investigation and fire and explosion investigation units. He served as the director of the VIC from 2018 until 2023. He began his career with the Vermont State Police in 2007.

Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management (DEM)

Amy Lucas is the planning and resilience program manager at Snohomish County DEM. She heads the Hazard Mitigation Program, the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, and the Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program. Two of her current projects involve facilitating community wildfire protection plans and assessing where populations may become isolated after an earthquake.

Franklin Fire Department

Captain Clay Mackey has served the Franklin, TN, fire department for 36 years. Prior to his role as a captain, he was a firefighter, engineer, and lieutenant. He worked in fire operations on an engine company until his reassignment to fire administration in 2016. Clay works with the city’s IT department to manage the fire department’s technology systems.

Berkeley Police Department (BPD)

Arlo Malmberg is a data and policy analyst for the BPD working in business intelligence and management strategy. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from University of California Berkeley and has previously worked in data science education and international development.

Berkeley Police Department (BPD)

Lieutenant Matt McGee has served BPD since 2007. He currently leads the BPD Community Services Bureau overseeing the department’s community liaisons, public information officers, and the strategic analysis unit. As an ancillary assignment, he is a tactical commander for the BPD Special Response Team.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Jonathan Montenegro is the product owner for the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) and continuity unit within the FEMA Recovery Directorate. He is responsible for the oversight and implementation of PDA tools with the intention of increasing efficiency in field operation data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama)

Luiz Motta is an environmental analyst at Ibama. He works at the National Center for Wildfire Prevention and Suppression, a division of Ibama. To improve Brazil’s National Wildfire Information System, he uses ArcGIS to create GIS applications related to Integrated Fire Management.

San Bernardino County Fire Protection District

Fire Chief Dan Munsey (EFO, CFO, MPA) has been active in the fire service for over 27 years, progressing from firefighter-paramedic to fire chief of the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District. He is certified by the Center for Public Safety Excellence as a chief fire officer and as an executive fire officer by the National Fire Academy.

ALERTCalifornia

Brian Norton has over 30 years of experience in the California fire service. He retired from the Orange County Fire Authority after 28 years. He has served as battalion chief of prefire management crews and equipment and as division chief of special operations. Brian now serves as a Fire Agency Liaison with UCSD and ALERTCalifornia.

Esri

Patrick O’Brien is a senior solution engineer on Esri’s public safety team. He focuses on US federal law enforcement and national security, helping users tackle issues such as fraud and waste and abuse, and supporting special events and natural disaster response. Prior to Esri, he worked for the US Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Security and Law Enforcement.

FEMA

Melodie O’Hanlon is a project manager in the Recovery Technology Programs Division in the FEMA Office of Response and Recovery. She supports the Field Assessment and Collection Tools (FACT) system, which hosts applications suites for five different program and mission areas, including the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) program suite of applications.

City of Frisco, Texas

Susan Olson has worked across several technology disciplines for local government for over 30 years. Focusing on GIS data visualization, she partners with public safety personnel at the City of Frisco to build a reliance on geospatial technology in the fire and police services. She conceived of and helped lead the development of the GIS platform SAFER (Situational Awareness For Emergency Response).

University of Vermont

Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne is the director of the Spatial Analysis Laboratory at the University of Vermont. He is part of the ASSURE team, designing, developing, and delivering UAS training for first responders. Jarlath has over two decades of experience employing UAS technology for military and civilian applications.

Frontex

Filipe Paisana has been a Frontex GIS analyst for nine years. He also spent one year as a Copernicus project officer at the European Union Satellite Centre. Filipe has experience in the private sector and in the defense and security unit, working as a product manager, consultant, and training coordinator.

US Marshals Service

Dan Patcher is a deputy marshal assigned to an investigative program within the US Marshals Service. He has over 13 years of experience in federal law enforcement working in complicated fugitive investigations, high-risk warrant entry, protective operations, and high-profile trials. Recently, he has been tasked with implementing GIS solutions into critical operations.

City of Franklin, TN

Mike Proctor has had a diverse career spanning both military and civilian services. He is now chairman of the Williamson County Joint Communications Network Authority Technical Committee. He manages a regional Motorola P25 radio system that serves multiple agencies and jurisdictions. Mike worked in the City of Franklin IT department for 24 years.

US Fire Administration (USFA)

Michael Pritchard is the prevention and special operations branch chief of the National Fire and EMS Programs Division of the USFA. Prior to this, he served as the US Marine Corps Fire and Emergency Services deputy director and director. Mike graduated from the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program.

CNA Institute for Public Research

Mark Roberts, PhD, is a research scientist at the CNA Institute for Public Research and a certified GIS Professional. He recently supported the Puget Sound Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program project sponsored by Snohomish County, WA, to site community points of distribution where they are most needed.

DEA

Monica Ryan is the senior advisor to the DEA administrator. She oversees priority projects on behalf of the administrator, including DEA’s drug violence and overdose reduction initiative “Operation Overdrive”. Monica is on detail from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona where she serves as an Assistant US Attorney.

Esri

Anthony Schultz is the director of wildland fire solutions at Esri. He has served in a variety of capacities in wildland fire management and operations, most recently as the fire management officer for the State of Wyoming. During his tenure in Wyoming, he served as chair of the Western State Fire Managers and as a Rocky Mountain Coordinating Group member.

Esri

Jeremy Schuyler came to Esri in 2007 as a project manager and consultant with the defense services team. In 2013, he joined the imagery services team, providing project management, consulting, and business development support for ongoing projects and new opportunities. His work focuses on helping utility, government, nonprofit, and other vertical markets maximize investments in imagery.

Esri

Baylie Scott is a product engineer on the ArcGIS solutions team. She helps create solutions for the fire service that use spatial data to streamline workflows. Baylie has a passion for helping fire departments leverage systems that empower them to better protect their communities. Prior to Esri, she worked for the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (NC HIDTA)

Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC)

Mike Sena serves as the executive director of the NC HIDTA and the NCRIC. He is also the president of the National Fusion Center Association, the chairman of the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council, and the co-chair of the HIDTA Directors' Information Technology Committee. Additionally, Mike is on several advisory committees for members of the President’s Cabinet, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Attorney General of the US.

US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region

Dana Skelly is the regional hazardous fuels program manager for the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region. She is also a fire behavior analyst for the Pacific Northwest type 1 incident management team number 2, and the chair of the Joint Fire Science Governing Board. She began work in wildland fire with AmeriCorps NCCC in 1996.

NENA

Brooks Shannon began his career in 911 as a software engineer, developing PSAP and mobile mapping applications, GIS data management tools, and Next Generation 911 (NG911) core services such as the Emergency Call Routing Function and Location Validation Function. As interoperability program manager at NENA, Brooks oversees several initiatives vital to the success of NG911.

Esri

Carrie Speranza (CEM) is the director of emergency management solutions at Esri. She is responsible for crosscutting industry-wide strategic initiatives. Previously, Carrie served as the deputy director of the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. Carrie also serves on the FEMA National Advisory Council Executive Leadership Team.

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED)

Dr. Kaoru Takara is the president of the NIED and professor emeritus at Kyoto University. He specializes in hydrology, extreme-value statistics, and disaster prevention technology and policy research. He contributes to international cooperation research activities and has published 25 co-authored books, more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, and over 130 articles in annuals, journals, and global conferences.

Esri

Carl Walter is the global director of homeland and corporate security solutions at Esri. He joined Esri in 2010, bringing over 20 years of government experience in law enforcement and intelligence operations. He also served as director of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center and director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Analysis for the Boston Police Department.

Ogden City Police Department (OPD)

David Weloth has worked for OPD for over 34 years. He has experience in major crimes investigations, intelligence-led policing, crime analysis, internal affairs investigations, patrol operations, SWAT operations, and the Area Tactical Analysis Center operations and management. He also worked for the State of Utah as an investigator for the Department of Commerce.

Sevier County, Tennessee

Stacey Whaley is the GIS director for Sevier County. She has worked with GIS since 2009. Stacey led GIS efforts during the 2016 wildfires in Sevier County. She also served as the chair of Sevier County’s Local Emergency Planning Commission. She is a member of the Tennessee Geographical Information Council and a 2018 Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award recipient.

Esri

Tony Wilby leads Esri’s European national government business development team, covering the national security, public safety, and geospatial authority sectors. He has over 30 years of experience working in defense and intelligence. Tony served in leadership roles in the British Army for 27 years, working as a combat engineer and as a GEOINT officer.

Berkeley Police Department (BPD)

Officer Matt Yee has been with BPD since 2017. After spending three years in patrol, he now works in the strategic analysis unit. Prior to joining BPD, he worked as an intelligence analyst for the District Attorney’s Office of New York, and later as a strategic analyst for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

Esri

As Esri global business development sales lead for security operations, Alison Yeloushan works with Esri customers and partners to understand their needs and find solutions for their unique challenges. Alison has worked in the geospatial industry for over 20 years, holding various leadership positions in GIS consulting, software development, and sales.