Currently, Paul Peabody is the Chief Information Officer at Palomar Pomerado Health. Prior to this position, Paul Peabody was the Vice President of Healthcare Business Development for Oracle Corporation. In that role, he was responsible for developing sales strategies and campaigns for the healthcare technology market. Prior to that, he was with Beaumont Hospitals for 36 years and was responsible for Information Technology as the CIO for 30 years. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Care Administration from the University of Michigan.

Some of his major accomplishments include, introducing one of healthcare’s first bedside based electronic medical record systems in 1984, connecting over 2000 Beaumont physicians to the EMR remotely in 1987, generating over $60 million in supply chain savings through process re-engineering and work flow improvement, managing the hospital patient billing services and reducing net A/R to a best ever 43 days and installing Epic in the newly acquired Grosse Pointe hospital in a record 4.5 months. His proudest achievement is introducing Industrial Engineering into IT and establishing a cooperative education partnership with Kettering University, one of the leading engineering schools in the country.

Paul is active in the Society for Information Management and is a past president and on the Board of the Detroit Chapter of SIM. He is a Trustee of the Kettering University Board of Directors. He teaches in the EMBA program, and is a member of the Board of Visitors for the Oakland University School of Business.

Gary Baker is the Director of IT / CIO for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) which is the world’s leading professional society advancing manufacturing knowledge and influencing more than half a million manufacturing practitioners annually. Headquartered on SME Drive, in Dearborn with another office in Toronto, and recently purchased, ToolingU, a provider of over 400 interactive courses for online learning in Cleveland, SME has over 370 professional and student chapters, members in more than 70 countries, and represents manufacturing practitioners across all industries.

Gary is formerly the SVP and CIO of Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, academic institutions, and businesses. Previously, he was the VP of IT Delivery Services at Borders Group, Inc. a retailer of books and music, and in addition to other responsibilities served as the Chief Information Security Officer of this publicly-traded company. Prior to joining Borders, he was a Director in IT Transformation Services for AlixPartners, LLP, an internationally-recognized firm of corporate turnaround, performance improvement, IT and financial advisory professionals. Before that, Gary was the Process Executive and Managing Director for EDS on the General Motors account leading both Global Purchasing & Supply Chain and Global Business Services, two of GM’s five global process areas. As a Partner in the Advanced Technology Group in Business Consulting for Arthur Andersen, he led numerous client engagements in IT strategic planning as well as application development. In early 1994, Gary was co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Online Technologies Corporation, one of the oldest ISPs/ASPs in Michigan providing hosting, comprehensive Internet solutions and Web services for businesses. He sold the company in 1999, however Online Tech continues to be a market leader in its market segment on a regional basis. Listen to Gary now in his 14th year as a co-host of the Internet Advisor radio program on WJR 760AM in Detroit. Gary is an MBA graduate of the University of Michigan.

David Behen is co-founder and Chief Business Officer for InfoReady Corporation, an Ann Arbor based SaaS company. InfoReady Corporation is a spinoff from Ann Arbor based GDI InfoTech where David is the Vice President and CIO and has the responsibility for the Public Sector and Health IT practice. He is a member of the executive team responsible for the design and implementation of business plans and growth strategies for the both companies. Additionally, he has oversight for all sales and marketing, personnel management, financial management and public relations.

Prior to joining GDI and InfoReady David served as the Deputy County Administrator and Chief Information Officer for Washtenaw County, Michigan. Under his leadership in a number of key roles in the organization, Washtenaw County was named twice to the prestigious CIO 100 list of the top 100 IT programs by CIO Magazine, and six times as one of the nation’s Top Ten Digital Counties by the Center for Digital Government with the National Association of Counties (NACo).

In 2007, Mr. Behen was named to influential Crain’s Detroit Business “40 Under 40” list for outstanding professional achievement before the age of forty. Mr. Behen is the past co-chair of the CIO Council for Public Technology Institute (PTI), the national non-profit technology research and development organization based in Washington, DC. He was named on of the region’s “Top 50 Digital Innovators”, by The Great Lakes IT Report and WWJ Radio.

He is presently serving on the several Boards including the Washtenaw Area United Way Board of Directors, Midwest Technology Leaders Executive Board and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

He lives in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, with his wife Rosalie, and three children: Isabel, Joshua and Olivia.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson appointed Phil Bertolini as Deputy County Executive/CIO for Oakland County in January 2005. Prior to that, Bertolini served as Oakland County’s Director of Information Technology. He began his career with Oakland County in 1988 with the Equalization Division.

Bertolini is a vocal advocate for enterprise solutions in government, cross-boundary resource sharing, and inter-jurisdictional cooperation. He has overseen the development of unique government technology programs and created successful models that can be implemented by other governments interested in improving operations while containing costs. Bertolini has traveled extensively to speak about eGovernment best practices and has authored a growing collection of resources to help other organizations modernize IT within today’s rapidly changing technology landscape. He has promoted his philosophy of “Build it once, pay for it once, and everybody benefits” to many other government agencies, including those within the U.S. and others as far off as Australia and Dubai.

Leadership/Awards:

• Oakland County placed first in the 2009 Digital County rankings, a nationwide survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government
• Oakland County placed first in the 2008 Best of the Web County Portal rankings
• Honored as the 2010 Outstanding Alumni for the College of Communications, Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University
• Member of the Harvard Policy Group for Network-Enabled Services and Government at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University
• Named among the 2007 “Top 25, Doers, Dreamers and Drivers” by Government Technology, along with Oakland County Executive L. Brooks PattersonNamed as the 2004 CIO of the Year for Automation Alley

Bertolini received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunications from Michigan State University. He resides in Oakland County with his wife and two children.

Karlin Bohnert is CIO of RGIS, which provides global inventory services to multiple industries in 48 countries. She has extensive experience in creating business value through IT innovation for major corporations like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Prudential, Nationwide Insurance and others. She has been able to apply a unique IT perspective across the multiple industries, drawing on the vast and deep experiences gained from each company.

During her thirty-five years of experience, Karlin has held senior IT positions for major corporations where she has been a catalyst in the IT development for global expansions, the IT strategy for mergers and acquisitions, and the technical company transformations to support company growth and strategic advantage.

Karlin has also held IT Advisory Board positions at Ohio State University, University of Oregon, and the University of Arkansas. She is a frequent guest speaker at CIO Bootcamps, and other professional seminars and sessions.

She is a tireless advocate serving on non-profit Board of Directors and offering her time and efforts to support various non-profit initiatives. She can often be found swinging a hammer on Habitat for Humanity and/or Rebuilding Together events.

Her philosophy is voiced best by author George Matthew Adams, “There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.”

Bio coming soon

Education
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
BA, Economics Management & Accounting
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Graduate Coursework towards MBA
Association for Investment Management and Research, Charlottesville, VA
Former Chartered Financial Analyst CandidateProfessional Background

• Gary’s career includes 32 years’ experience in sales, marketing, public relations, finance, strategic planning, organizational development and administration. His professional background includes careers in banking, automotive manufacturing, consulting, computer training and professional services.
• Gary is the Managing Director – Michigan Business Development for our Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and North American Automotive Practices and serves as lead sales professional on many of our global automotive account relationships. Gary’s responsibilities include target account assessment, account strategy development, executive relationship management, opportunity identification and assessment, proposal and presentation development and coaching, and client satisfaction monitoring.
• Gary serves as Accenture’s Executive Champion with the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
• Gary is also an integral member of the Accenture City Council which is the leadership team that develops and manages the local community commitment activities for our company.
• Gary is a Lifetime Member of the Detroit Economic Club and serves as Chairman of the Membership Committee and sits on the Advisory, Nominating, and the Speakers’ Reception Committees.
• Gary is also active in the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce as a member of their Detroit Regional Economic Development Partnership Board and a multi-year participant in the Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Leadership Conference. Gary is also a graduate of the Leadership Detroit Class XXVI and serves as Chairman of the Chamber’s TransLinkeD initiative.
• Gary is also and active member of the Marketing & Sales Executives of Detroit organization, and serves as its President and Treasurer. He is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club and has participated on the Finance, Membership Development and Facilities Committees and is also a member of the Country Club of Detroit and serves as Vice Chairman of the Membership Development Committee.
• Gary also serves the community through his leadership roles with Focus:HOPE, the YMCA of Metro Detroit, Junior Achievement, Habitat For Humanity, as a member of the Finance Committee for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and former Chairman of the Board of the MINDS non-profit organization.
• National Bank – Manager of bank branch operations and sales calling efforts on corporations, high net worth individuals and non-profit organizations in the Detroit metropolitan marketplace.

Relevant Experience

• Global Automotive Supplier – Chief Financial Officer responsible for strategic planning, organizational development, finance, information technology, administration, risk management, employee benefits, union negotiations and relations, and relationships with bankers, lawyers, accountants, insurance carriers and governmental entities.
• National Top 10 Bank – Officer responsible for sales development for the Corporate and Institutional Trust Division serving the Fortune 500 corporate marketplaces in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. Responsibility included target market analysis, sales plan development, executive relationship development and management, internal sales and marketing to other bank officers who could serve as referral sources, and external professional referral development.
• Statewide Computer Training Company – V.P. of Sales & Marketing for a multi-location sales and marketing organization serving the corporate and individual marketplaces. Developed and managed a 65 person sales organization and a 4 person marketing department. Developed an effective Major Accounts Program and a Key Accounts Program focused on the Fortune 500 marketplace selling multi-year multi-million dollar contracts.
• Big Five Professional Service Firms (2) – Director – New Business Development and Client Satisfaction. Responsible for sales strategy, global account development and management, key account development, customer relationship management technology selection and deployment, and served as the Director of the firm’s Political Action Committee. He also lead the initiative for integrating the sales and marketing efforts of the firm for the marketplace.
• Global IT Consulting and Outsourcing Company – Regional Vice President of Sales for the e-commerce line of business. Responsible for sales and marketing strategy development, hiring, training and management of the sales force, major account development and management and community relations. Responsible for the integration of this line of business with three other lines of business during major account pursuits.

After graduating from Wayne State University with an MBA in Finance in 1966, Terry Cross entered the machine tool business in Detroit, Michigan, with The Cross Company, (publicly traded) the world’s leader in Automated Machine Tools. From 1964 through 1968, Mr. Cross worked in many departments of The Cross Company, learning the business from the ground up.

In 1969, Mr. Cross co-founded, CP Systems Company specializing in high-speed, small parts, automated assembly machinery, and built it up to an annual revenue base of $ 10.0 million. In 1972, Mr. Cross sold CP Systems Company to Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, a NYSE listed company.

Mr. Cross entered the securities business in 1972 through a training program with Eastman Dillon Union Securities. In 1974, Mr. Cross joined Kidder, Peabody & Company in their Detroit, Michigan office and remained there until 1985 when he was transferred to Kidder’s flagship Park Avenue office in New York City. In 1985, Mr. Cross was elected a Senior Vice President and shareholder of Kidder, Peabody & Company. In 1988, Mr. Cross was a transferred to Kidder’s San Francisco office and remained there until 1998. During his years in San Francisco from 1989 until 1998, he focused almost entirely on the companies and venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. In 1995, Kidder was acquired by PaineWebber. Mr. Cross left PaineWebber in July of 1998 to pursue private investments and then joined Highland Capital Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor where he specialized in technology investments. Highland managed portfolios on a discretionary basis for high net worth individuals and was the manager of The Drake Passage Fund, LP a private investment partnership. In February 2000, Mr. Cross co-founded Sonoma Photonics, Inc in Santa Rosa, CA where he served as CEO and Chairman until he resigned to return to Michigan in August 2002. During his tenure, Mr. Cross spearheaded the development of the business plan and raised $ 10.7 million in venture funding from domestic and European investors. Sonoma Photonics was sold to Lockheed-Martin in 2008 for a significant return. In August 2002, Mr. Cross returned to Michigan and is currently the founder of Windward Associates, a venture consulting business.

Mr. Cross’ past board memberships include: G2 Networks, Inc. of Los Gatos, CA, Safari Technology Inc. of Lawton, Michigan, GCB Technologies of San Jose, CA, InGenius Technologies of Kalamazoo, MI., Wordenglass Inc. of Kalamazoo, MI., Machine Vision International of Ann Arbor, MI, and Inivest of Detroit, MI, and Triumph Resources of New York City.

Mr. Cross was a founding investor of three companies resulting from MIT’s Technology Transfer Department: Intellitec, Axiomatics, and LNL Technologies. He served as a board member for Axiomatics and Intellitec. He was also a member of MIT’s Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity. He has served as a financial advisor to Triscend Semiconductor of Mountain View, CA, Macropore Corporation of San Diego, CA. and All-American Semiconductor of San Jose, CA.

He currently serves as an Advisor to Municipal Financial Consultants, Inc. of Grosse Pointe, as a Director of Monarch Antenna, a Delphi Corp spinout, as a Director of RealKidz of Ypsilanti, Mi., as Chairman of MIST Innovations, Inc. of Detroit, MI., as a Director of Fisher Coachworks, Troy, MI, as Chairman of Pure Entropy, LLC of Rochester Hills, MI., and as an advisor to ArdentCause L3C.

Mr. Cross was named The Distinguished Alumni in 2005 by The School of Business Administration at Wayne State University where he is also their first Executive in Residence-Entrepreneurship. He also serves on the Business School’s Board of Visitors and on The Critiquing Committee for their Entrepreneur Course relating to business plan development. He also administers the prestigious Adams Family Fellowship for Entrepreneurship at Wayne’s Business School.

In September of 2007, Terry was named to the Task Force for a World Financial Center by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, one of Korea’s most prestigious educational institutions.

He is a past Board member of Great Lakes Angels, a founding member of Michigan Venture Capital Association, a Board member of Automation Alley’s Entrepreneurial Initiative of Southeast Michigan, a former Trustee of Mariners’ Church of Detroit, and a former trustee of The Professional Children’s School of New York City.

Jeff Freyer serves as the Regional Vice President of Business Services for Comcast’s Heartland Region based in Plymouth, MI. In this role, he is the senior leader responsible for developing, facilitating and implementing strategies aimed at growing Comcast Business Services across Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas, and Central Kentucky. Jeff provides direction and oversight to the development of regional operations, marketing, sales and customer care capabilities, and ensures our sales goals and forecasts are consistent with the Division and Corporate strategic direction.

Since starting at Comcast, Jeff has immersed himself in the local community, living Comcast’s mission to giving back to the communities the company serves. From attending Chamber of Commerce meetings to taking part in business speaking opportunities, panel discussions, volunteering with the United Way, and going on service calls to meet personally with businesses owners, Jeff is a true champion of the community.Jeff currently serves on the Board of Directors for Midwest Technology Leaders in Michigan and Techpoint in Indiana. Jeff was named to the Crain’s Detroit Business 2011 40 Under 40, which recognizes the best and brightest in Southeast Michigan who have made their marks in business before age 40.

Jeff has more than 13 years of experience in the telecommunications and cable sector, and has managed organizations for industry leading communications companiessuch as MCI, TelCove (formerly Adelphia Business Solutions) and Level 3 Communications. Jeff began his career with AT&T Solutions in Florham Park, NJ, where he worked on Enterprise Outsourcing deals for some of the world’s largest corporations.

Prior to joining the Comcast Heartland Region, Jeff served as Regional Vice President of Business Services in Comcast’s Western New England Region based in Berlin, CT.Jeff was responsible for building the Business Services organization from the ground up in this Region during 2007-2010. The Western New England Region won the coveted “System of The Year” designation in 2009 as the Top Region for Comcast. Jeff specifically was named to the 2009 Comcast Business Services President’s Club and also to the Hartford Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, recognizing the most promising young Executives in CT.

Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics from the University of South Carolina and has a Minor in Psychology. He then went on to earn his Master of Science degree in Statistics from the University of Tennessee.

With a technology career spanning over 18 years, Michael is the Chief Operating Officer for Cirrus Group LLC, a software-as-a-service development company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan that specializes in building financial and operationalmanagement solutions for schools, child care facilities and community centers. As COO, he is responsible for all company operations, sales and marketing, legal and driving growth into new markets. Cirrus Group lists some of the nation’s largest school districts and child care chains as clients.

Formerly engaged as the Senior Director of Information Technology and Customer Development for Palace Sports & Entertainment and the Detroit Pistons, Michael led the organization through several high capacity system deployments including large scale wireless networks, point-of-sale platforms, digital broadcasting and video-over-IP technologies. He also oversaw all customer relationship management (CRM), websites, e-commerce and e-marketing initiatives and the growth of the organization’s social media channels. Palace Sports & Entertainment’s ownership includes The Detroit Pistons, The Palace of Auburn Hills, DTE Energy Music Theatre and management of the Meadow Brook Music Festival on the campus of Oakland University. Combined, PS&E’s Michigan venues average 300 events and 3.5 million guests annually. The Palace was voted Arena of the Year eight times by Performance magazine and twice by Pollstar magazine and was listed annually among North America’s top-grossing arenas. Voted “Best Outdoor Concert Venue” in Pollstar’s 2000 Readers’ Poll, DTE Energy Music Theatre has been listed as the nation’s most attended amphitheater each of the 19 years of PS&E ownership.

Prior to joining Palace Sports &Entertainment, Michael held positions for CareTech Solutions Inc.and Wayne State University School of Medicine. While at CareTechhe helpedestablish their managed services model to provide high quality, cost effective computer operation, and telecommunication and application development services to Oakwood Healthcare, a provider of health care services through several hospitals and health centers within southeast Michigan.

Michael holds a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from Michigan State University and a Masters of Business Administration in Information Systems Management from Wayne State University. Michael is a member of the Sports & Entertainment Alliance in Technology Consortium (SEAT) which facilitates the sharing of ideas, insights, resources and strategies to create empowerment for business leaders from all sports and entertainment venues. He is also an active member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) and was a recent Governing Body Member of Detroit CIO Executive Summit. He co-authored a patent for an event ticket distribution application and published several articles in research journals.

Jason A. Lambiris is Chief Executive Officer of Apex Digital Solutions, a leading provider of Managed, Traditional and Green IT Services based outside of Detroit, Michigan. Lambiris founded Apex in 1998 with a vision of building a company that is committed to excellence, personal and professional growth, and shared success through innovation, integrity, respect and teamwork.

Mr. Lambiris is responsible for the management of Apex’s overall strategy and technology direction. In addition, he actively plays a role as a trusted advisor and virtual CIO/CTO for many of his clients and focuses on achieving the proper balance of people, process and technology with their business goals. He believes strongly that through proper education technology can drive innovation within an organization and should not simply be viewed as a commodity.

Jason joined the Macomb-Oakland University INCubator as a Corporate Partner and Advisory Board Member in early 2009 and is passionate about helping out a community that has given so much to him. In September of 2009 he was selected as Corp! Magazine’s Entrepreneurs of Distinction and also served as a panelist on challenges facing entrepreneurs during tough economic times. In 2008 he led Apex to earn Corp Magazine’s Best of Michigan Businesses award for Technology Companies. He is a former Board Member of Marketing and Sales Executives of Detroit from which he was a Finalist for their Platinum Award for Sales and Marketing Success in 2005. As a member of the Distinguished Clown Corp, Jason leads an independent effort each year to raise funds to send underprivileged children from the Detroit area to America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade each year.

He attended Macomb Community College where he earned an A.A.S. in Construction Technologies. He then attended Oakland University to pursue a B.A. in both Computer Science Engineering and Management Information Systems.

Dann R. Lemerand has over 13 years of healthcare information technology experience and is currently serving his 5th year as President of the Michigan Chapter of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), has served on its Board of Directors for over 8 years and is a HIMSS Fellow.

Dann is an Adjunct Professor of HIT for the Macomb Community College HIT Grant Program through the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT (ONCHIT) and serves on the programs’ Advisory Board. The HIT Grant Program is funded under the HITECH Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) signed by President Obama in February of 2009.

In addition to Midwest Technology Leaders, Dann is a trusted advisor and serves on numerous advisory boards including the We Build Character Elevate Mentoring Programs as well for several local HIT vendors and organizations.

Matt Loria is a Partner and Vice President at Re-Source Partners where he is responsible for business development, client management, and strategic direction all with the purpose to help Re-Source Partners’ clients protect and maximize their investments in technology. Matt has been in the IT Asset Management business for 13 years and brings broad experience in all aspects of IT Asset Management, including IT Acquisition, IT Asset Disposition, Tracking, Consulting, and IT leasing.

Matt holds a BA in Finance from Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI. He has developed several successful programs that have helped clients achieve better than expected outcomes in terms of savings, efficiencies, and best practice ITAM excellence. Matt is well known and respected within many local and national Industry Networks and he utilizes this network to continuously grow our customer base.

Matt is a proud supporter of Pat Lafontaine’s Companions in Courage Charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Salvation Army. He lives in Washington Twp with his wife, two children, and two St. Bernard dogs.

Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Pat Milostan is senior vice president (SVP) and chief operating officer (COO) of CareTech Solutions, an information technology and Web products and services provider for more than 200 U.S. hospitals and health systems.

Pat is responsible for the 24/7/365 availability and reliability of all client clinical and business systems. He accomplishes this work through a nationwide network of more than 800 Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) professionals. Either on-site at the hospital, or located in CareTech’s state-of-the art Infrastructure Operations Center, this technically-trained and clinically-certified team oversees all hospital client IT infrastructure and application operations.

Joining CareTech Solutions in 2002 as its Chief Technology Officer, Pat has more than 25 years of experience in HIT. He is well known for developing industry-leading, flexible IT solutions that reflect clients’ unique business and clinical needs. One example is Pat’s creation of the company’s shared services business model which allows CareTech clients the ability to access, as needed, specialized technical talent without increasing headcount. This shared services approach includes a core group of technical experts certified in all major healthcare hardware and software platforms including: Cerner, Epic, McKesson, Meditech and Lawson as well as Citrix, Cisco, Oracle and many others. Additionally, anticipating the growing support needs of hospitals post Meaningful Use, Pat developed and commercialized the company’s Service Desk offering, the industry’s only 24/7/365 hospital help desk, and launched CareTech’s data center hosting for healthcare operation. Before joining CareTech, Pat was vice president and chief information officer of Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich., where he had operational responsibility for Information Services, Medical Records, Service Access Management and Admitting. Prior to Hurley in 1995, he was director of Financial, Administrative and Managed Care Systems at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

Customer service is Pat’s number one priority which is reflected in CareTech Solutions’ four consecutive Best in KLAS awards for IT Outsourcing (Extensive) as ranked by healthcare executives and professionals in the Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Professional Services report. In addition, CareTech’s clients are consistently recognized as Healthcare’s Most Wired by Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN) magazine of the American Hospital Association.

Pat holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwood University in Midland, Mich., and numerous certifications in information technology from ITT Institute. In 2011, he was appointed to the executive board of Midwest Technology Leaders, a team of well-known IT executives that convene annually to discuss the advancement of information technology in the region.

Jill has spent the last 20 years in the technology field, in various Sales and Sales Management roles, the last 7 at Cisco Systems as a Regional Manager. Jill has been leading Government and Education teams across the Midwest the last three years. Currently she is leading Cisco’s $80 Million Government and Education sector across Michigan and Ohio. Jill is very involved in the community and has served on several Boards and Committees including several years as the Partnership Co-Chair for MCWT. In her role at Cisco she speaks to all types of schools from K-12, to Community Colleges and many 4 year institutions. She is involved in the discussions around 21st Century learning environments and how our students compete on the global stage and use technology as a tool for transformation. She and her team are very involved with the Cisco Academy programs and often interact with the High school and Community College students.

Since joining Fast Switch, Ltd. in 2003 as Vice President of Business Development and Operations,Carey Pachla has directed business development, client management, recruitment and operations at the information technology consulting organization. Fast Switch provides IT resource and staffing solutions, executive search expertise, contract-to-hire programs and consulting services. Fast Switch is serving clients in over half of the states in the U.S.

With a career spanning over 19 years in business development and management in the information technology and logistics sectors, Pachla’s business philosophy of offering an adaptive and accessible approach internally and externally is serving Fast Switch’s valued clients and valued team members well. The northern division of Fast Switch has experienced growth year over year since it opened operations in 2003.

Pachla has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Western Michigan University and a Masters of Business Administration from Wayne State University.

As an active member of the Michigan Council of Women in Technology (MCWT) for over 9 years, Pachla is committed to increasing career development and scholarship opportunities for women in IT by holding various roles, including the management and support of major fundraising events. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for MCWT as the Advisory Board Co-Chair. Additionally, Pachla and Fast Switch, Ltd. support numerous IT intern programs such as their partnership with Focus Hope that is building a strategic community outreach program. Pachla lives in Novi with her husband, Marc and two daughters, Madeline and Josie.

Stephen Pickett is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Penske Corporation, a closely-held diversified transportation services company which includes: Penske Truck Leasing Corporation; Penske Motor Group, Inc; Penske Automotive Group, Inc.; Penske Transportation Components, LLC; Transportation Resource Partners, LLC; Penske Performance, Inc.; and Penske Racing, Inc. Penske Corporation and its subsidiaries manage and operate businesses with annual revenues approximating $14 billion and employ 36,000 people at more than 1,700 worldwide locations. Prior to joining Penske Corporation, Pickett spent many years in the automobile industry with OEMs on two continents (American Motors, Volkswagen) and automotive suppliers in North America. He also held the position of President of SIM, is a member of their Advanced Practices Council and a member of the SIM Detroit board. Established in 1968, the Society for Information Management (SIM) is the premier network for IT leaders comprised of over 3,600 members, including CIOs, senior IT executives, prominent academicians, consultants, and other IT leaders In partnership with its 30 chapters, SIM provides resources and programs inspired by IT leaders for IT leaders that enable CIOs to further develop the leadership capabilities of themselves and the key and emerging leaders in their organizations. He plays an important role in the local community as Chairman of Oakland Family Services a private, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) human service organization established in 1921, OFS has been dedicated to strengthening families by providing quality treatment, education and prevention services throughout southeastern Michigan. Pickett holds as Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from the Advanced Management Program at Michigan State University.

Steven Robert is the Chief Information Officer at Billhighway.com in Troy, MI. Steve was responsible for building a ground-up financial platform catering to membership-based organizations during the company’s startup in 1999. After spending several years building the business, Billhighway has emerged as a market leader in Financial Performance Optimization, serving hundreds of thousands of customers internationally and processing billions in financial transactions.

Billhighway’sSaaS platform provides real-time integration of cash management and accounting, helping membership-based organizations enjoy improved financial health, operate more efficiently, and reduce the risk of fraud. In 2010, Billhighway was awarded a $1.1 million mega-credit through the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and was recently recognized as one of Michigan’s 50 Companies to Watch, which celebrates high-performing second-stage businesses.

Steve has experience in numerous industry disciplines, such as QS9000, ISO 9001, Lean Manufacturing, CMMI, Six Sigma, ITIL, Agile, XP, and Scrum.Corp! Magazine named Steve an entrepreneur of distinction and a 2009 Michigan top executive and presented his company the 2010 Business of Science and Technology Award for excellence in technology. He is a contributor to several [pending] business method patents, is a certified Scrum Master and was recognized with a Leader & Innovator Award in 2010 by Lawrence Tech University.

Steve is a self-motivated leader with a results-driven philosophy. He’s an information junkie who strives to interpret the climate of the internet economy to maximize opportunities and create value. Having spent the past 10 years as a serial entrepreneur, Steve enjoys the diversity CIO responsibilities offer; business/technology alignment and the delicate balance between a 30,000-foot vision and strategy session to the occasional 2” deep-dives into various technical rabbit-holes.

Steve is a member of the Collaborative Group & Society for Information Management. He’s passionate about Detroit and supporting Michigan’s Entrepreneurial community.

You can reach Steve online via: Twitter | LinkedIn

Michael Saad is the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Henry Ford Health System. In this capacity, Mr. Saad is responsible for overseeing all IT infrastructure services including servers, network, storage, desktops, phones, mobile devices and oversight of data center operations.

Mr. Saad also oversees Information Security at HFHS. Under Mr. Saad’s direction, a new Information Security program was created to help protect sensitive employee and patient information. This program has become a model for other health care institutions across the country.

Mr. Saad came to Henry Ford Health System from Omnicom where he served as Vice President of Information Technology for nearly 8 years. Prior to working at Omnicom, Mr. Saad worked in IT management at General Motor’s international headquarters.

Mr. Saad holds several professional IT certifications including certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, Comptia, and ITIL. Mr. Saad attended college at Colorado Technical University and is a regular speaker at various technology events.

Joseph F. Sawasky is the Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice President for computing and information technology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan (http://wayne.edu). Wayne State University is a large urban research university with the largest single campus medical school in the United States. In his role as CIO, Mr. Sawasky is responsible for the university’s computing and networking facilities, datacenter operations, enterprise software applications, learning management environments, high-performance research computing, voice services, information security, and information technology support services.

Mr. Sawasky is also an active board officer of Michigan’s Merit Network, Inc. (http://www.merit.edu), one of the nation’s premier providers of advanced regional optical network services.

Mr. Sawasky has broad IT leadership experience in higher education, healthcare and manufacturing. Prior to joining Wayne State, he worked at the University of Toledo and University of Toledo Medical Center as Chief Information Officer and associate Vice President for information technology (http://www.utoledo.edu). During nearly 22 years with UT, he served in a series of increasingly responsible positions, focusing on IT strategic planning, organizational leadership, project portfolio management, and customer satisfaction/quality programs. In a unique and highly publicized event, the University of Toledo merged with the Medical University of Ohio on July 1, 2006. So, in addition to leading the information technology division of a research extensive institution of higher learning, he was given the opportunity to also lead IT for the University of Toledo Medical Center hospital and clinics. Merger activities involved team integration, ERP integration, infrastructure integration and launching a transformational Digital Hospital initiative.

Mr. Sawasky and his IT organization are presently helping drive Wayne State forward to support its urban research university mission, by working with the campus to provide a superior technology experience to students, faculty, researchers, staff and other constituents.

Mr. Sawasky is a University of Toledo graduate and a Michigan native. His e-portfolio may be found at http://www.epsilen.com/jsawask.

George Surdu is Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Comerica Bank. He is responsible for supporting Comerica’s business applications on a national basis and for leading more than 850 technology professionals in the areas of:

• Business Technology Services including application development and production support
• Infrastructure and Engineering Technology Services including network, mainframe, server and storage operations, desktop/laptop management and end-user engineering
• Corporate Information Security Services
• Information Services Strategy including technology architecture and strategy, and emerging technology research
• Enterprise Project Management Office

He has over 30 years of experience in the field of information technology. Surdu joined Comerica in early 2006, where he has led the IT Transformation and Strategy focused on implementing simplified and standardized technology solutions while increasing cost effectiveness and speed of delivery. As part of this strategy, he has introduced innovative technology to meet business operations and customer needs and improved risk management and disaster recovery capabilities for the bank.

As a representative of Comerica Bank, Surdu also serves on several technology advisory boards, including AT&T, Midwest Technology Leaders, CSC and BITS/FSTC.

Prior to 2006, Surdu served in numerous senior executive positions within Ford Motor including CIO for Ford Parts Distribution Systems and the Office of the General Counsel, head of Global Application Development Services and Global IT Infrastructure, and Strategic Planning Manager for Ford Credit. While at Ford, Surdu developed the IT strategy to support the business as it consolidated operations throughout North America. He also reengineered efforts for Product Development and implemented a global simplification and defragmentation strategy to reduce operating costs.

Among his professional affiliations, Surdu serves on many charitable and technology boards including: The Detroit Science Center, Financial Services Technology Consortium and the AT&T Technology Advisory Board. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a master’s degree in Pure and Applied Mathematics, both from Eastern Michigan University. George and his wife of 40 years, Margaret, live in Novi, Michigan. They have two children and three grandchildren.

Jane Sydlowski has more than twenty years experience in the telecommunications industry. As an engineer for Ameritech in the trunk engineering switched access department, Jane published opinion papers directed to the Federal Communications Commission and wrote methods and procedures for handling new services. Additionally, Jane coordinated the enhanced 911 circuit quantities for the City of Detroit. Jane’s experiences as an engineer, a consultant and a manager give her a unique blend of skills, which ultimately make her an effective leader in the technology field.

As President of AMI Strategies, Jane is responsible for assembling a dynamic and experienced team to design, build and manage her client’s technology infrastructure, while finding ways to lower their cost of communications. Jane has created a vision for AMI that includes 100% client satisfaction, profitable growth, and respect for the individual and employee empowerment. Additional responsibilities include: developing strategies for the creation of tools and processes that allow her to monitor AMI financial process, client communications and satisfaction, project performance and forecasts, sales and marketing and employee satisfaction. She also created an AMI volunteer organization, All Hands Matter, to foster community relationships and good will.

Under Jane’s leadership, AMI was recognized among the 2003 Deloitte Fast 500 public and private technology companies, 2002 and 2003 Inc 500 fastest growing private companies, and 2003 Crain’s Best Places to Work.

Jane has a Bachelors of Science in Applied Engineering from Michigan State University and a MBA from Wayne State University. She successfully completed the marketing program of Thomas Learning Center and is a Dale Carnegie graduate for both the Human Relations and Sales Courses.

Jane speaks to graduate students regularly for the Wayne State University entrepreneurial program and she serves on three boards, Michigan Council of Women in Technology and Greenpath, Inc and the Board of Visitors for Wayne State University.

Personal Achievements

• Michigan State University Applied Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award (2005)MSU selects one alumnus per discipline as a tribute to their program(s).
• AWC Award (2004)The Association of Women in computing selects a 5-10 women each year who are setting the bar high for women in the technology industry.
• Michigan’s 100 leaders (2004)Detroiter Magazine selected Michigan’s best and brightest for this notable award
• Leaders & Innovators (2007)Lawrence Technological University, WWJ Newsradio 950, The Great Lakes IT Report and Grant Thornton LLP celebrate Innovation and Leadership.

Mohan Tanniru is the Dean and Prof of MIS, School of Business Administration at Oakland University, Rochester, MI since 2007. Prior to 2007, he is the Salter Professor and the MIS department head in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. He also taught at Oakland University 97-2002), Syracuse University (82-97), and University of WI-Madison (78-82). Dr.

At each institution, he used business-academic partnerships in support of research and education. He established a center for integrated business research and education (CIBRE) to connect business research/education for economic development at OU, an Industry Research Council and Innovation Partnerships in support of doctoral student research at U of A, industry sponsors to direct an applied technology in business program for undergraduate students at OU, and corporate sponsors and an Artificial Intelligence Lab for graduate and doctoral education at Syracuse University. These business-academic partnerships were supported by companies such as Honeywell, Intel, Kaiser Permanente and Sanofi-Aventis (in Tucson, Arizona), GM, DaimlerChrysler, EDS, Lear, Comerica and Compuware (in Rochester, Michigan), Carrier-UTC, MONY, Bristal Myers Squibb and OnBank (in Syracuse, NY) and over 200 small businesses in Madison-WI.

He received his Ph.D. in MIS from Northwestern University and his research articles appeared in Communications of ACM, MIS Quarterly, Decision Sciences, Information Systems Research, JMIS, DSS, Information & Management, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, International Journal of Human-Machine Interaction, Expert Systems with Applications, and Australian Journal of IS. He is a member of DSI, ACM, and AIS organizations.

Mr. Douglas R. Wiescinski, a Partner in Plante & Moran and the Technology Consulting & Solutions practice, has more than twenty years experience in information technology. Mr. Wiescinski’s background includes systems design and development, technology planning, technology selection and contract negotiations. He serves a diversity of clientele in providing strategic technical assistance in initiatives such as business process redesign, outsourcing analysis, client/server migration, network planning and integration. He has assisted several clients in the assessment and tactical planning for emerging technologies such as electronic data interchange (EDI), imaging, bar coding, e-Commerce, and data warehousing. Mr. Wiescinski is a member of the Society For Information Management (SIM), the Association for Systems Management (ASM), and a Board member of Automation Alley. Prior to joining Plante & Moran, Mr. Wiescinski was in charge of the business systems consulting services for Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) in western Michigan. Mr. Wiescinski holds a BS degree in Management Information Systems from Ferris State University. In addition, he is a Certified Systems Professional (CSP).