David Carter
As Chief Data Officer at the U.S. Department of the Interior, David Carter oversees geospatial initiatives and data strategies, leveraging over eight years of leadership in geospatial information services. David’s role focuses on advancing data management practices and facilitating collaboration across the department’s 11 bureaus to support the Federal GeoPlatform and compliance with the Geospatial Data Act. With a strong foundation in program management, resource management, and management consulting, David is dedicated to optimizing geospatial resources and fostering innovation within the public sector. His mission is to enhance data-driven decision-making and sustain operational excellence for the Department of the Interior, building on a career that includes extensive experience in geospatial solutions for the private sector, Department of Defense, and Department of the Interior.
Denice Ross
Denice Ross is a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, focused on building a more resilient national data infrastructure. Most recently, Denice served as the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and as the U.S. Chief Data Scientist, where she led the charge to use disaggregated data to drive better outcomes for all Americans. Denice’s 25-year career in using data to serve the public interest has spanned federal and local government, academia, and the nonprofit sector, plus domains ranging from climate to policing. She served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow for the U.S. Department of Energy and as Director of Enterprise Information for the City of New Orleans. Prior to government, Denice co-directed the non-profit data intermediary Data Center, where she collaborated with Brookings to track New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina. She brought a data-driven approach to numerous post-Katrina community planning initiatives and co-founded the first new childcare center after the storm.
Nagendra Singh
Nagendra Singh is the Group Leader of the Geospatial Data Modeling Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he has worked for over 20 years. His research focuses on applying geospatial science to address complex challenges in national security and the resilience of critical infrastructure, supporting agencies such as the DOE, DOD, and DHS. He also leads the HIFLD program at ORNL and serves on the DOE’s Geospatial Sciences Steering Committee.
Maggie Cawley
Maggie Cawley serves as the Executive Director for OpenStreetMap US. She joined OSM US in 2019 after 15 years as a geospatial professional with experience across all sectors, with a focus on sustainability and urban planning. Maggie also currently serves as the vice chair of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee, and holds a MA in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA in International Studies from the University of Richmond.
Andrew Turner
Andrew Turner is CTO of ArcGIS Hub and Director of Esri’s R&D Center in Washington, DC, where he leads teams building open data and geospatial collaboration technology used by governments and organizations in the US and globally. He previously served as CTO of GeoIQ, acquired by Esri in 2012, and has worked with partners including the World Bank, United Nations, NOAA, and hundreds of municipal governments to scale public-facing data and mapping platforms.
Ron Jarmin
Ron S. Jarmin is the deputy director and chief operating officer of the U.S. Census Bureau. In these roles, he plans, coordinates and oversees daily operations at the largest statistical agency of the federal government. While best known for the decennial census, the Census Bureau conducts other surveys and censuses that measure changing individual and household demographics and the economic condition of the nation. Jarmin served as acting director from January 2021 to January 2022, performed the nonexclusive functions and duties of the director from July 2017 to January 2019, and previously served as the associate director for economic programs. In these roles, Jarmin championed modernization efforts across the Census Bureau including the introduction of internet response for the 2020 Census and moving to 100 percent internet data collection for the Economic Census beginning in 2017. He has overseen the introduction of new nonsurvey data to improve economic indicators, the consolidation of surveys, and the deployment of enterprise investments to minimize system, application, and dissemination costs. From 2011 to 2016, Jarmin served as assistant director for research and methodology where he oversaw a broad research program in statistics, survey methodology, and economics aimed at improving economic and social measurements within the federal statistical system. Since beginning his career at the Census Bureau in 1992, he has also served as the chief economist, chief of the Center for Economic Studies, and as a research economist. Jarmin holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oregon. An elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, he has published papers in the areas of industrial organization, business dynamics, entrepreneurship, technology and firm performance, urban economics, data access, and statistical disclosure avoidance.
Puneet Kollipara
Puneet Kollipara is a geospatial data scientist and outreach/communications specialist in Washington, DC. Leveraging open source, open data and open science, he helps clients find, analyze, provide, translate and integrate data for the benefit of people and the planet. He works with Fulton Ring and the Public Environmental Data Partners on HIFLD Next, a community-shaped geospatial data hub with tools for exploring and downloading archived layers from HIFLD Open, an infrastructure data portal discontinued in 2025. To support open ecosystems, Puneet mentors aspiring technologists via The Upskilling Labs and other apprenticeships, and helps plan convenings like FedGeoDay, FOSS4G North America and the SciPy Conference. Previously a science, environmental and public-policy journalist and blogger, Puneet holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and economics from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
Timothy Stryker
Tim Stryker serves as Principal for Hudson Passage, LLC, a consultancy which advises clients on effective science and technology policies and partnerships for a more secure and sustainable world. Mr. Stryker was previously employed as Chief of the Outreach and Collaboration Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey National Land Imaging Program, where he worked closely with stakeholders to advance the societal benefits of remote sensing systems. He also served as Director of the U.S. Group on Earth Observations Program at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this capacity, he coordinated civil Earth observation activities, including systems assessments and data management initiatives, among multiple Federal agencies and their international partners.
Mr. Stryker’s other prior positions include Executive Officer of the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, and Deputy Director of the Office of Policy at the National Reconnaissance Office. He has also served in assignments at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Information Agency.
A former Presidential Management Fellow, Mr. Stryker earned his Master’s Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and his Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of Michigan.
John Crowley
Over 15 years working in humanitarian technology, John has built a career around data sharing and collaboration between large institutions. He wrote the field guide for the World Bank's Open Data for Resilience team, served on the United Nations committee managing the development of the Humanitarian Exchange Language, and built open-source or open data projects as manager of data teams at NetHope, Mercy Corps, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He also curated the field experiments at Camp Roberts with the National Defense University, where US federal agencies built the MapGive process by which the US State Department releases satellite imagery to the OpenStreetMap community. John holds degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Boston University in public administration, music, and the history of ideas.
Doug Newcomb
Doug Newcomb has a BS in Geography from the University of Illinois (CU) and an MA in Geography from the University of NC (CH). Doug has spent the past 34 years at different positions in the US. Department of The Interior and is currently a Cartographer at the USFWS Raleigh Ecological Services Field Office. Doug is a heavy user of open source geospatial software and is a charter member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
Jessi Breen
Dr. Jessica Breen is a critical human geographer whose work delves into the interplay between digital and physical worlds as they shape urban spaces. Her research focuses on digital geographies and creative placemaking, utilizing mapping and visual data to understand how these interconnected realms enable us to craft the environments we desire for living and working.
Josh Sisco
Josh Sisco is a geographer and technology executive specializing in the application of geospatial and open data technologies to real-world operational challenges. With over 20 years of experience across federal, state, and commercial sectors, he focuses on transforming spatial data into decision advantage through integration with enterprise systems, real-time intelligence, and mission workflows.
Adam Simmons
Adam Simmons is a strategic leader and geospatial industry expert with over two decades of experience bridging the gap between complex technology and mission-critical applications. As the Founder and Executive Director of Project Geospatial, a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization, he has dedicated his career to highlighting advancements in the geospatial ecosystem through hundreds of interviews and deep-dive industry analyses.
Karla Riso
Karla Riso is a seasoned Program Analyst with a rich background in spatial data management, project leadership, and cross-agency collaboration. Currently serving as a Team Lead at the U.S. Census Bureau, Karla excels in supervising teams, managing high-stakes projects, and driving strategic initiatives within the realm of geospatial data infrastructure.
Bill Dollins
Bill Dollins is the founder and President at Cercana Systems LLC — a boutique consultancy providing strategic and technical geospatial consulting to organizations in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Over his 30-yar career, Bill has implemented geospatial systems at all levels of government. He has also been a senior executive in the geospatial SaaS industry, most recently as the CIO at Fulcrum. Bill has a long-standing interest in the application of geospatial technologies to infrastructure analysis and operations. He has supported critical infrastructure protection across multiple infrastructure types, was founding member of the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) working group, and is currently supporting rural broadband expansion. Bill holds a MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus, and a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. His personal interests include physical fitness and he is a slow, ungainly runner who regularly finishes races in the back of the pack while enjoying the experience thoroughly.
Aaron Kelley
Aaron Kelley, a champion of open-source geospatial solutions, heads UpSlope Advisor, Inc. as its President. This distinguished 8(A) professional engineering federal contracting firm is recognized for its unwavering commitment to delivering IT and GEOINT solutions. Aaron's significant roles, notably as the GEOINT Services engagement lead and product manager for QGIS and GeoServer, have been pivotal in catapulting UpSlope to unparalleled growth—a staggering 11-fold increase in revenue and company stature since 2018. This trajectory is fortified by collaborations with DoD and Civilian government agencies. Amassing over two decades in test engineering, all-source analysis, system engineering, and program management, Aaron's contributions to the geospatial and aerospace sectors are decorated with numerous accolades. This expertise is underscored by his associations with prominent organizations including ESRI, USGIF, OGC, FedGeoDay, OSM US Government Committee, PMI, USMCA, NVBCC, CRMSDC, SECAF, CBDA, and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Jackie Kazil
Dr. Jackie Kazil is the Director of Geospatial Solutions at Bana Solutions, where she drives applied research and GIS initiatives. A former White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, she played a pivotal role in supporting the co-founding of 18F and championing “open by default” government initiatives.
Chad Blevins
Chad is a Geographer who has spent his career applying geospatial solutions to human challenges through the adaptation of geography. His work has proven to build partnerships and create scalable geospatial capacity within local communities around the world. He currently works at the intersection of technology and open data partnering with people and organizations who share a common goal of building safer and more accessible communities by improving openly available pedestrian data in major cities across the globe.
Carter Christopher
Dr. Carter Christopher is Section Head for Human Dynamics R&D in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Geospatial Science and Human Security Division. Dr. Christopher leads the Human Geography, Location Intelligence, Built Environment Characterization, and Geoinformatics Engineering research groups at the lab, to solve national- and global-scale challenges for Energy Security and National Security. He is also the Principal Investigator and/or Program Manager for a diverse portfolio of projects, ranging from hazardous material routing and risk characterization to large-scale human mobility modeling, to alternative PNT solutions for the electric grid.