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.
Eddie Pickle
Eddie Pickle is a highly accomplished executive in the public sector, open-source software, and geospatial technology industries, with a career spanning over three decades. He currently serves as a Senior District Manager for Snowflake, a role he assumed following Snowflake's acquisition of Crunchy Data, where he was the Senior Vice President, Public Sector. At Crunchy Data, he led the company's engagement with US government organizations and agencies, bringing over 30 years of experience in geospatial and open-source software to the leading provider of open-source PostgreSQL technology. Mr. Pickle’s open-source career began with pioneering geospatial leader OpenGeo. He went on to serve as the founding CEO when OpenGeo became Boundless Spatial, a leading provider of open-source product support and training, which was later acquired by Planet. Throughout his career, he has worked with commercial, government, and NGO organizations worldwide, serving in roles such as site location specialist, market segmentation analyst, program manager, and critical infrastructure data expert. A dedicated community builder, Mr. Pickle co-founded the popular FedGeoDay and FOSS4G North America conferences. He also serves as the Secretary of the American Geographical Society (celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2026). Mr. Pickle holds an MA degree in Geography from UCLA, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow, and a BA in Geography from the University of Tennessee.