Ron Galperin is the 19th Controller of the City of Los Angeles, elected in 2013 and again in 2017. He serves as the watchdog for taxpayers at City Hall, making sure public dollars are spent efficiently and effectively. He is also the paymaster, auditor and chief accounting officer for the City of Los Angeles. Galperin oversees a team that conducts independent audits, manages the City’s payroll and spending, reports on the City’s finances, pursues fraud and waste, and works to create a more transparent, accountable and modern city for residents. Galperin launched ControlPanel LA, the City’s first open data portal, in 2013. It features details on the goods and services Los Angeles buys, along with information on assets and liabilities, employee compensation, operating indicators and much more. Because of his efforts, L.A. has been named the “No. 1 Digital City” by the U.S. City Open Data Census three years in a row. Government Technology Magazine put Controller Galperin on its list of the “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers.” In 2019, Galperin received the Tyler Public Sector Excellence Award. Read more about him here.

Brian Kursar is the Chief Technology Officer for Toyota Motor North America and Toyota Connected North America responsible for Software Engineering, Data, Infrastructure, and Advanced Technologies in support of their Manufacturing, Sales, Parts, Supply Chain, Customer, Dealers, Product Quality, and Autonomous R&D initiatives. He also leads the companies Technology solutions for Mobility, Safety Services, and Connected Vehicle. Prior to re-joining Toyota, he worked at Warner Bros. as VP and Chief Architect of Global Data Strategy. There he led a Digital Transformation initiative to enable a Data Driven Culture and build out their Advertising Technology capabilities. In 2020, he was recognized by D Magazine as one of the Top 50 Dallas Inventors in Technology having designed an invention that allows Toyota to partner with hospitals and caregivers to make the world safer for people who suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Michael Berman is the CIO for the California State University. Twenty years information technology management experience in higher education; 16 years as the senior campus technology leader at 4 institutions of higher education; extensive network of professional contacts in education and industry; Ph.D. in Computer Science with experience as a professor, consultant, author, and systems developer. Current member, Board of Directors, EDUCAUSE; Board of Directors, CENIC. Past Board of Directors Chair for NMC, publisher of the annual NMC Horizon Report, downloaded more than 3 million times a year from more than 100 countries around the world. Passionate about promoting equity, inclusion, and greater gender balance in technology and leadership.

Author/Lecturer at U.S. Department of State (Fulbright Specialist)

Dr. Jenny Grant Rankin is a Fulbright Specialist for the U.S. Department of State who has taught at University of Cambridge and other institutions regarding the best ways to communicate data. She has two doctorates (a Ph.D. and an L.H.D) and has written 12 books, 155 papers and articles, and writes an ongoing column for Psychology Today. Dr. Rankin has been featured on NBC News, National Public Radio (NPR), Newsweek, HuffPost, The Wall Street Journal, etc., and she was honored multiple times by the U.S. White House (for example, the American flag was once flown over The White House / Capitol Building in honor of Dr. Rankin and her work).

Peter Zaitsev is CEO and co-founder of Percona. As one of the foremost experts on MySQL strategy and optimization, Peter leveraged both his technical vision and entrepreneurial skills. Peter is a co-author of High Performance MySQL: Optimization, Backups, and Replication, one of the most popular books on MySQL performance. Peter frequently speaks as an expert lecturer at conferences.

Maria Malavenda is Founder and CEO of LOOK Enterprises, a personalized, data-driven care management platform for beauty and wellness services. Prior to LOOK, Maria catalyzed several award-winning high-growth ventures in healthcare, consumer products and technology -- including companies acquired by Microsoft, Bosch and IMG. She previously served as a Fortune 100 marketing executive for Johnson & Johnson, a Strategy Partner for Deloitte and Accenture, and immersed herself in the “digital data revolution” as VP of Strategy and Corporate Development for Monster Worldwide and ZoomInfo.

Brian Dolan, Founder of Verdant AI, is a leading mathematician, data scientist, and cyberneticist that has built thousands of AI products for over 20 years. Brian is a serial entrepreneur having co-founded Deep 6 AI, Qurius, and Discovix. He has led enterprise projects for clients like EMC, Havas, T-Mobile, and the government. Formerly Chief Scientist at Greenplum (EMC), Brian led data science at Yahoo! Inc. and Research Analytics at FOX and MySpace. An experienced author and speaker, he co-authored “MAD Skills: New Analysis Practices," delivered a TEDx talk, and wrote the chapter “Information Pathways” in "Transforming Healthcare with Big Data."