Alisa Bearfield is a Senior Vice President leading the Civilian Business Unit at CGI Federal, a leading provider of IT and business consulting services. With two decades of IT leadership experience spanning all three branches of the Federal Government, Ms. Bearfield has consistently demonstrated her commitment to delivering mission-focused outcomes. She has successfully led enterprise-level federal modernization programs across several agencies, delivering tangible results on-time and within budget, even in the most challenging and dynamic environments.

Ms. Bearfield's inclusive leadership style and dedication to building deep relationships with clients, CGI Partners, and industry peers have been instrumental in establishing a clear vision, building consensus, driving decision-making, and tackling complex challenges head-on. Her expertise in business consulting has enabled clients to gain transparency and operational efficiencies, bridging technology and business goals to achieve innovative and sustainable outcomes in areas such as veterans' services, economic development, financial management, transportation, and pension benefits.

Ms. Bearfield places a high priority on mentoring others and fostering a culture of growth and development within CGI Federal. Her dedication to nurturing talent and guiding the next generation of leaders sets a powerful example of how team building can be done, inspiring her colleagues to strive for excellence. Through her commitment, she not only enhances individual careers but also strengthens the overall success and innovation of the organization.

Amanda Bonser serves as the Public Sector Industry Leader for Huron, delivering top-tier innovative solutions to government clients and achieving record growth for Huron in this sector. She is responsible for setting Huron’s government strategy, achieving market growth, and ensuring high quality results are delivered to clients that help them achieve their mission.  Under her leadership, the team’s portfolio of clients has expanded to over 24 agencies and continues to diversify by bringing industry leading capabilities in healthcare, digital and organizational transformation to the government.  Building on over 20 years of experience across healthcare and government, she has focused on thought leadership and shaping policy around key topics such as high reliability organizations, human capital management, customer experience, and intelligent automation. 

In addition to her significant career accomplishments, Bonser is passionate about giving back. For over a decade Bonser has worked to bring greater equity to the workplace, co-chairing Huron’s Diversity and Inclusion Council and sponsoring their employee resource group that helps advance women in the workplace.  She championed Huron’s first Women in Leadership Summit, and companywide initiatives partnering with international social services organizations Dress for Success Worldwide and National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. She also serves on the Host Committee for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, passionately giving back to military and Veteran caregivers in our community.  Bonser’s achievements in the consulting industry have been highlighted by her being named one of Consulting magazine’s Women Leaders in Consulting. Bonser earned  a MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

As Partner and Global Leader for Government and Public Sector at BearingPoint, Andrew Montgomery is responsible for the firm’s public services business across all the international regions in which the firm operates, and in addition he is a member of BearingPoint’s firmwide leadership team.  His consulting and technology experience includes over 30 years working with KPMG Consulting and BearingPoint, both in Ireland and internationally. He has led, advised on, and delivered a wide range of consulting, technology and digital transformation projects for clients across the government, commercial and financial services sectors.

BearingPoint’s Government and Public Sector business has experienced significant growth over the last five years, driven by the firm’s ability to combine its industry consulting know-how and technology delivery capability to deliver improved experiences, better outcomes and tangible value for all the core stakeholder groups in the public services ecosystem – citizens, businesses, public servants and Government organisations themselves.  BearingPoint’s Government and Public Sector client base includes a wide range of central and federal government ministries and agencies; state, regional and local government; defence organisations; healthcare providers; educational institutions; EU and international government across all sectoral and functional areas.

Prior to beginning his consulting career, Andrew completed a Master of Arts with Honors in Management Science and Industrial Systems Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. He later obtained his CDipAF qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He has also completed BearingPoint’s Senior Management Development programme and Executive Leadership programme at the Yale School of Management.

Jeff Bankowski is a Partner at Guidehouse, a global consultancy providing advisory, digital, and managed services to the commercial and public sectors. Bankowski has more than 25 years of experience leading enterprise performance improvement and cultural transformation in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. He helps clients in the areas of risk management, performance, strategy, and transformation.

Bankowski spearheaded the team that implemented the state's first Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework as well as enterprise performance management metrics, lean process optimization efforts, and state-wide employee engagement programs.

Prior to joining Guidehouse, he served as the Chief Performance Officer for the State of Michigan. Bankowski is a graduate of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and received a MBA from DePaul University. He is a registered Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Internal Auditor, and a Certified Risk Management Assurance professional.

Bryce Pippert is the Market Leader of Booz Allen’s Domestic Resilience account within the Civil business. He and his teams help clients in global and national priority missions—climate and infrastructure, law enforcement and immigration—predict and plan for change, ensure the integrity of critical infrastructure, assess and respond to threats, and accelerate transformations. He helps clients respond to their most pressing challenges, while staying ahead of emerging technologies. During his 15 years with Booz Allen, Pippert has helped clients across federal civilian agencies implement changes from major reform and legislation, including the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, Pension Protection Act, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, among others.

Pippert’s federal clients include the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Energy, State, and Transportation, along with other departments and agencies. He serves on the Advisory Boards for the Border Patrol Foundation and The Center for Open Data Enterprise. He has also held past leadership roles in technology startup companies, including XBRL Solutions, Inc. and UBmatrix Inc. (now part of Donnelley Financial Solutions), and at ManTech International Corporation. Pippert has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in philosophy and political science from Wheaton College.

Brian Sheridan is the senior vice president for GDIT’s defense portfolio, overseeing the delivery of mission-critical services and solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense and other government customers. Prior to his time in industry, during which he’s also served as GDIT’s vice president and general manager of the Joint, Air Force, Naval and Coalition sectors within the defense division, he held a variety of roles within the Department of Defense, including as assistant secretary of defense, special operations and low-intensity conflict. He began his career working for the CIA.

Charles Kozel serves as the Huron Market Leader for the VA, delivering top-tier innovative solutions to the VA and other government clients and significantly contributing to record growth for Huron in this sector. He is responsible for setting Huron’s strategy, achieving market growth, and ensuring high quality results are delivered to clients that help them achieve their mission. Under his leadership, the team’s portfolio with the VA has doubled and continues to diversify by bringing industry leading capabilities in healthcare, digital, and organizational transformation to the VA. Building on his almost 20 years of experience across healthcare and government, he has focused on thought leadership and shaping the agency’s future around key topics such as intelligent automation, large-scale transformation, workforce engagement, and customer experience.

In addition to his client work, Kozel is passionate about giving back. He is involved in multiple employee resource groups at Huron, having served as sponsor of the working parent’s group for several years and a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Council. He is a work-life balance advocate and is a member of Huron’s women and veterans’ employee resource groups, having played a large role in many increases to parental leave for Huron employees. Outside of work, Kozel is involved with numerous local service organizations, most notably a non-profit that supports rehabilitation for breast cancer patients.

Prior to joining Huron, Kozel was an analyst with McKesson Provide Technologies working with various health systems to improve revenue cycle operations and performance. He holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration in finance from the University of Georgia and is Six Sigma green belt-certified from Georgia Tech University.

Clay Goldwein is the NSJ business unit leader and Senior Vice President at CGI, where he leads the development and execution of the business and solutions strategy for a diverse client portfolio within national security and justice agencies. CGI is an independent IT and business consulting services firm with 90,000 consultants and professionals worldwide. The firm delivers a range of services, including strategic IT and business consulting, systems integration, managed IT and business process services, and intellectual property solutions.

Previously, Goldwein led the U.S. Department of Homeland Security account, where he was responsible for the strategy and execution of DHS projects. Throughout his career, Goldwein has been a leader in IT modernization, cloud and cybersecurity. His notable accomplishments include standing up CGI’s cloud under the U.S. General Services Administration’s Infrastructure as a Service Blanket Purchase Agreement, and achieving one of the first Authority to Operate designations by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

Goldwein also served as a Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation project manager, serving seven agencies. He was responsible for achieving an aggressive two-year schedule implementing a credential management solution at 26 federal agencies under the CDM program. His prior work spans a range of federal, state, and commercial customers across various domains and technical areas. Goldwein holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke University and is a certified Project Management Professional. He holds two United States patents for an environmental permit web portal.

Charlotte Warburton is the Lead Partner of the Government and Public sector at Deloitte UK, a business consulting company that provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, tax, and related services. Warburton leads Deloitte’s UK transport business, supporting clients to turn complex, multi-year strategies into reality through technology, innovation, and change. She works with multi-modal transport clients to deliver and manage complex business transformation programs.

Previously, Warburton was a partner at PA Consulting Group and before that a director in the middle east at The Advance Consultancy. Earlier in her career she worked with Accenture as a senior consultant. Warburton earned an MBA from Manchester Business School and an undergraduate degree in business and economic studies from Newcastle University.

Garrettson Blight is an executive for Booz Allen Hamilton and leads the Global Government market focused on solving national security challenges across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has a specialty and professional emphasis on countering the escalating Pacing Threat challenge in the Pacific. Garrettson has over 20 years of experience in national security and cyber defense. 

In his role, Garrettson contributes to U.S. and international efforts to increase resiliency at the national and sectoral levels in the public sector. This includes strategic and technical efforts in the telecommunications and energy sectors as well as military capability building for various countries. This is complimented by his passion for research and development of new cyber and artificial intelligence platforms where he works with Booz Allen’s DarkLabs group to accelerate advanced capability integration for U.S. partner nations.

Garrettson volunteers in Scouting America, supports private sector and nonprofit Boards of Directors and Advisors, and as a U.S. Navy veteran. He holds degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy and Naval War College and retains multiple industry certifications.

Horace Blackman is a Senior Vice President at CGI Federal, where he leads the Defense, Intelligence and Space Business Unit. In this role, Blackman is responsible for strategy development and delivering business and information technology solutions to a diverse set of clients within this market.

For over twenty years, Blackman has worked with government and public sector organizations to support their missions and deliver impactful change through business and information technology solutions. This includes supporting mission-critical programs within the DOD and Intelligence sectors.

Prior to joining CGI, Blackman held leadership roles focused on business development, program execution, and strategic planning at major defense contractors. Additionally, he spent six years in various IT leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Appointed by the Governor of Virginia to serve on the George Mason University Board of Visitors, Blackman currently serves as the Vice Rector. He also serves on the board of 1455 Literary Arts. Blackman holds bachelor’s degrees in American studies and English from George Mason University and an MBA in management from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

James Davies is the Global Managing Partner at Consulum, a strategic advisory firm dedicated to supporting government clients, including heads of state, ministries, and state-owned enterprises. Consulum advances client objectives with integrated strategy, policy, and communications programs across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. As part of The Stagwell Group, with a network of over 13,000 staff in 34 countries, James plays a pivotal role in expanding Consulum’s capabilities and reach.

Previously, James held prominent roles within the UK Civil Service, including positions at 10 Downing Street under Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and David Cameron, and as a Senior Policy Adviser and Head of Budget Policy at HM Treasury. He led teams in developing fiscal, economic, and regulatory reforms, including a joint review with HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority. With extensive experience across three continents, James has worked with government leaders and organizations to drive economic and social development, enhancing their global influence and impact.

John Wolff leads Kearney’s global Aerospace and Defense practice, serving Government and industry defense clients around the world. John is now in his 28th year with the firm, and after working across multiple industries for eight years he began working with the US DoD in 2005. He has been in the practice lead role since 2020, achieving unprecedented growth and rapidly expanding the firm’s presence to multiple countries’ Defense Agencies and industrial bases. 

In 2024 John helped launched Kearney’s Advanced Mobility Institute, that serves as the global hub for the firm’s innovation and market activities across a wide range of stakeholders in the advanced mobility ecosystem, encompassing governments, energy transition, infrastructure, technology innovation and investors. 

John has also helped expand Kearney’s Women in Aerospace, Defense and Security network, which has hosted events around the world that promote interaction and advancement of female executives and senior military officers across the sector.

John helps spearhead Kearney’s current work with the World Economic Forum on two major initiatives, Airports of Tomorrow sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and AVIATE advanced air mobility (AAM). These initiatives’ aims are to help establish SAF and AAM policies and address operational challenges as the aviation and mobility sectors advance these technologies and markets. 

Kam Bhatoa is the Global Head of Government at BJSS, where she leads the growth and development of the government sector. With over 25 years of industry experience, including 15 years dedicated to the public sector, Kam has successfully managed complex projects and multi-million pound budgets. She has extensive experience working with key government bodies such as the Home Office, DVSA, Central Government, and Defence.

Kam is a strong advocate for cross-government collaboration, working closely with various departments to share BJSS's expertise in delivering effective solutions. She is particularly skilled in navigating complex, multi-vendor environments to ensure the best outcomes for government departments while recognising the value each supplier brings.

Kam is passionate about promoting technological inclusivity and strives to develop open, forward-thinking, and collaborative environments. She believes that industry leaders have a responsibility to work closely with government entities to deliver the best possible outcomes for taxpayers. Her commitment to inclusivity and effective technology adoption underscores her approach to problem-solving for the benefit of citizens.

At BJSS, Kam is known not only for her leadership but also for her dedication to ensuring comprehensive and relevant solutions on a global scale. Her practical and focused approach continues to shape the future of public sector consultancy, making her a respected figure in the industry.

Kate LaVoie is a Principal, Senior Benefits Consultant and the Public Sector Practice Leader at OneDigital. On a daily basis, Kate focuses on strategic initiatives catered to the public sector while giving consideration to clients’ philosophy, desired objectives, and financial stability. Elements of her work include managing the overall client relationship, the renewal process, RFP & negotiation processes, developing complex annual budget projections, formulating progressive plan designs through benchmarking and analysis, creating collective bargaining strategies, providing expert testimony at arbitration hearings and offering strategic guidance while managing ongoing and new initiatives/special projects.

Prior to joining OneDigital in November of 2018, Kate’s employment included working as an Area Assistant Vice President at Gallagher, an Area Assistant Vice President at Aon and a Senior Consultant at Paychex Insurance Agency. Most recently, she led a large municipal block of Health & Welfare clients and specializes in union negotiations, financial and contract analysis.

Kate is an active member of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, Connecticut Association of School Board Officials, Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the Connecticut Government Finance Officers Association, ConnPELRA, and COST. She also is involved in Cigna’s Women’s Leadership Council and OneDigital’s Women Executive Golf Committee, SWING.

She graduated from University of Connecticut with a B.S. in Economics. She holds a 2-15 license and is currently working on her CEBS, RBA and GBA licensing through IFEBS and the Wharton School of Business She is a member of Cigna’s Women’s Leadership Council and actively participates and various charity events and fundraisers.

Sharad Maheshwari is the Vice President of HCLTech, a global technology company employing more than 218,000 professionals across 59 countries, delivering capabilities centered around digital, engineering, cloud and AI. Maheshwari has over 22 years of experience providing business research and advisory services in industry sectors like mill products, space, aerospace and defense, and manufacturing automation technology.

During his tenure with systems, software, and technology solution providers like Siemens, SAP and HCL, Maheshwari was responsible for market and industry analysis, product management, and solution benchmarking. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and an MBA from the University of Mumbai.

Matthew Erchull is a Senior Managing Director at Witt O'Brien's, a leading government advisory consulting firm specializing in federal grants compliance, crisis response, and community development. He brings extensive expertise in managing complex federal funding programs, emphasizing operational efficiency, compliance, risk management, and strategic execution. Founded by former government practitioners, Witt O’Brien’s has long been an industry leader in emergency management, evolving into a multifaceted consultancy that addresses a wide range of public sector needs. Since joining Witt O’Brien’s in 2019, Erchull has played a key role in diversifying the firm's services for government clients.

In his role, Erchull serves as the Sector Lead for the firm’s Government Advisory Services practice, as well as the Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery practice. He is responsible for shaping corporate strategy, managing resources, and ensuring the successful delivery of consulting projects for federal, state, and local clients. In this capacity, he helps lead a team of over 700 subject matter experts, providing support to more than 200 communities nationwide. Erchull’s leadership has been instrumental in helping public-sector organizations across the U.S. develop streamlined programs, leveraging federal funding to achieve sustainable, long-term impacts.

Erchull has nearly 20 years of experience and previously served in senior leadership roles in New York and Texas, focusing on policy development, research, and strategic analysis. An advocate for effective and sustainable government processes, he frequently collaborates with policymakers, academia, and industry leaders to refine regulatory frameworks and improve funding mechanisms. His insights on federal compliance and emergency management have been published in industry publications, and he is a sought-after speaker on public policy, government efficiency, and the administration of federally funded programs.

As Executive Vice President, Marc Reinhardt heads Capgemini's Global Public Sector and designs strategic topics and initiatives at an international level.

His area of responsibility includes customers in the areas of public administration, defense, security, healthcare and social insurance worldwide.

He has decades of management experience in consulting, software development and application operations.

He worked primarily in the Public Sector, initially as an employee of a federal agency and most recently, in addition to his management role, also as an advisor to ministries and authorities at federal, state and local levels.

He has been President of the D21 Initiative, Germany's largest network for the digital society, consisting of business, politics, science and civil society, since 2023.

He is also Chairman of the Federal Working Group Modern Administration within the Economic Council of the CDU e.V., and Co-Chairman of the "Shaping Transformation - Using Data Intelligently" platform at the Federal Government's Digital Summit.

Patrick Roche is a Senior Partner and former Managing Director of Boston Consulting Group's London office. BCG partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. The firm was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, it works closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholders—empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.

Roche has extensive experience working across industries and geographies on all aspects of strategy, transformation, digital, organization, and operations--and specializes in strategy, transformation, and large-scale change. Roche works primarily in the public sector, health care (biopharma, medtech), and infrastructure. He leads the Public Sector practice for the UK, and is the global lead for public sector transport, cities, and infrastructure. Prior to BCG, Roche served as a consultant for Deloitte. He earned a Master of Engineering in engineering science from the University of Oxford.

Richard Crowe is the President of Booz Allen Hamilton’s Civil Sector. Trusted to transform missions with the power of tomorrow’s technologies, Booz Allen Hamilton advances the nation’s most critical civil, defense, and national security priorities. Crowe drives growth by modernizing and transforming missions across federal civilian departments and agencies. In his 17 years at Booz Allen, Crowe has led some of the firm’s largest programs supporting challenging client missions across the business. Previously, Crowe was Booz Allen’s chief growth officer, building a best-in-class business development organization aligned to the firm’s business strategy and growth. He also led Booz Allen’s Health business; and presided over the firm’s entire portfolio of work supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Crowe has more than 30 years of strategy development and technology delivery experience – and in 2021 won WashingtonExec's Pinnacle Award for Business Development Executive of the Year. Before joining Booz Allen in 2004, he was the chief technical officer at PlasmaSol Corp. Crowe is the author of seven patents related to the method and application of non-equilibrium plasmas. He has a BE in electrical engineering from State University of New York Maritime College and an MS in technology management from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Robin Dufresne is an Executive Vice President and Senior Practice Director with CSG Government Solutions, a national leader in IT management consulting for complex projects that modernize the technology and business processes of large government programs. Dufresne leads market development and manages a large portfolio of projects within CSG’s Child Support, Child Welfare, and Program Modernization practices. She also previously led CSG’s Healthcare and Human Services practice for nine years. Since she joined CSG in 2012, Dufresne has had a significant impact on its growth and culture, supporting the expansion of its footprint to serve 49 states and territories, significantly growing its workforce, and establishing a reputation for excellence in management consulting. She serves as faculty for CSG’s internal Leadership Training course, investing her time in growing and mentoring future leaders.

Dufresne has 20 years of IT consulting experience and is a nationally recognized thought leader in government public assistance programs. She has collaborated with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as a member of the Medicaid Technology Alliance to help guide states toward the implementation of modular systems that lower operational costs and improve outcomes. She also served as the board chair for the Private Sector Technology Group and led collaboration activities between CMS and the State Technology Advisory Group. Dufresne previously served as the Medicaid Operations Director for MaineCare Services and has a Master of Science in Management degree in healthcare administration from New England College.

Susannah Heitger leads Crowe’s public sector services group, a team that provides strategic solutions and services that enables public sector agencies to enhance operational efficiency, improve service delivery, and provide sustainable, secure, and safe futures for constituents and stakeholders. With 20 years of experience working with the public sector, Susannah drives growth of Crowe’s diverse set of services targeted to government, higher education, and not for profit agencies nationally, embodying Crowe’s “Embrace Volatility” mission.  She helps agencies navigate uncertainty, ensuring the delivery of critical services needed in communities, including preparing for and responding to fiscal, operational, and technology realities, all while helping them to achieve their strategic goals amid crisis and change. She brings industry specialization across several sub-segments, including public safety, emergency management, and economic development. Her philosophy is to be in the trenches with clients, creating innovative solutions that are unique to each organization.  Her specialization includes policy and strategy development, public sector procurement model transformation, government innovation, and PMO-as-a-Service, for which she launched a consulting subscription offering for government agencies. Heitger has a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree from the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs in Economic Development and Public Management.

Tobias Aebi is a Partner of Arthur D. Little Middle East and part of the firm’s aerospace, defense and security leadership team. He first joined the company in 2015 as consultant. In his 12+ years of strategy consulting across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America, Tobias has developed strong expertise in advising aerospace, defense and security and public sector clients on their most pressing strategic and organizational issues to make them fit for the future.

Notably, Tobias has particular experience in defense and security, the space industry as well as economic development and all stages of investment attraction. He earned a master's in international management from CEMS - The Global Alliance in Management Education, an MSc in finance and CEMS international management from Esade and an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of St.Gallen.