Panelists

• 

  Carrie Parikh

  Chief Data Privacy Officer

  Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield

• 

  Edward Buck

  Edward Buck is the Vice President of Technology and Service delivery at VPLS. Ed’s executive responsibility includes the design, delivery, maintenance, operations, and support of all VPLS services. Prior to joining Evocative, Ed was a VP at UnitedLayer a San Francisco based Colocation and Hosting Company. Ed also founded ASPextra in 2003, a company focused on providing scalable and highly available managed hosting solutions. At ASPextra, Ed built a network and service delivery internet infrastructure compromising of multiple, geographically dispersed data centers serving clients in the US, Europe, and Asia. Ed was a senior manager at Oracle where his responsibilities included corporate business development, technology acquisitions, and strategic alliances. While at Oracle, Ed was deeply involved in technical evaluation, acquisition, and implementation of Internet and e-commerce technologies that shaped much of the Internet ecosystem in its early years. Ed is a regular contributor to a number of open-source projects. He received his B.A. from Pomona College.

  VPLS

  VP, Technology & Service Delivery

  Edward Buck

  VP, Technology & Service Delivery

  VPLS

• 

  Dr. Curtis Levinson

  Dr. Levinson is responsible for key strategic projects and relations for both Industry and Government with over 30 years of cyber security experience. Prior to joining MetTel, Levinson served in a number of executive and consulting roles at leading technology and telecommunication companies, including NATO, Qwest Government Services, Secorix, AT&T Communications, CSC and KPMG

  MetTel

  CISO

  Dr. Curtis Levinson

  CISO

  MetTel

• 

  Francisco Salguero

  Francisco Salguero serves as the Deputy CIO for the US Department of Agriculture. Mr. Salguero has over 20 years of experience in the information technology industry. Mr. Salguero started his career in the private sector within the technology and telecommunications industry, working on start-up and established organizations. He began working with state and local governments at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as a senior technical project manager for law enforcements systems. He began his federal service in 2005 at USDA Food Safety Inspection Service as a Project Manager in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Mr. Salguero also served as the Planning & Governance Branch Chief; and then as the Associate CIO Infrastructure Operation Division where he was responsible for the agency data center operations and continuity, WAN/LAN network, and infrastructure engineering. He has served carious IT roles within USDA to include: OCIO/ Technology Planning, Architecture, & E-Government Deputy Associate CIO (DACIO) for, OCIO/ International Technology Service DACIO, and is currently the Chief Information Officer for USDA Rural Development (RD). As the USDA Rural Development (RD) CIO Mr. Salguero successfully led the administration of RD’s Information Technology (IT) portfolio management and service delivery activities for over 40 RD loan, grant, and loan guarantee programs. These programs represent a $216 billion loan portfolio. He provided executive management and leadership in all aspects of the information technology services to RD. He was responsible for providing key leadership in the Agency IT modernization project, Comprehensive Loan Program (CLP), a major multi-year undertaking to modernize the IT systems within the Agency. Oversee the day-to-day operations and provide leadership to manage large complex, geographically dispersed IT operations. This includes managing a budget of over $85 million operational budget and over $160M multi-year modernization CLP initiative. Plans and oversees the RD IT governance structure. Participates in agency budget formulation and oversees an IT investment management process for selecting, controlling and evaluating IT investments. Mr. Salguero attended the Federal Executive Institute and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Strayer University.

  USDA

  Deputy CIO

  Francisco Salguero

  Deputy CIO

  USDA

• 

  Christopher Steel

  Chris Steel is the Senior Director of Machine Learning and AI at IQVIA where he oversees machine learning efforts across the company and accelerates IQVIA’s adoption of AI/ML technologies and capabilities. Previously, he founded a consulting company that led a large modernization effort at FINRA and was also the Chief Architect for Pay.gov. He holds a patent for synthetic data generation using a generative adversarial network. Chris is the co-author of Core Security Patterns and is known for envisioning innovative ways to solve business problems and assembling stellar teams to productize that vision. He is a regular speaker on the AI/ML, Big Data, and Java circuits. Chris earned his B.S. in Physics from Dickinson.

  IQVIA

  Senior Director, AI & Machine Learning

  Christopher Steel

  Senior Director, AI & Machine Learning

  IQVIA

• 

  Jeffrey Potter

  Jeffrey Potter, CISSP is the Chief Technology Officer at Davenport & Company LLC, a regional stock broker/dealer and retail investment advisor based in Richmond, VA. He has over 25 years of experience in Cybersecurity & Technology, spanning the Finance, Healthcare, and Technology industries. He has vast experience creating and securing software products, highly scalable and reliable services, building highly successful teams, and performing cybersecurity investigations. He has held various roles throughout his career including Program Manager, Software Test Manager, Software Developer, Network Engineer, and Infrastructure Manager for companies like S&P Global Market Intelligence, UVA, Wake Forest, and Microsoft, where he worked on the highly successful XBOX Live! Team. Mr. Potter is also a Firefighter and certified Fire instructor, holding various leadership positions throughout the fire service including Chief Officer. He has served as a Director on the board of the Seattle-King County Disaster Team (DMAT WA-1), is a former member of FEMA NMRT-E, DMAT-NC1 (SORT), and PHS-1. He is a founding member of the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Potter is currently serves as President of the Richmond, Va. Chapter of InfraGard and Finance/Banking Sector Chief. InfraGard is the FBI’s Public/Private cyber intelligence sharing partnership.

  Davenport & Company

  CTO

  Jeffrey Potter

  CTO

  Davenport & Company

• 

  Chris Boynton

  Director, Operations - McLean Facilities

  MITRE

• 

  Eric Crabtree

  Chief Investment Officer

  International Finance Corporation

• 

  Sean Baillie

  Sean Baillie has served as CMO and Chief of Staff of the QTS Ashburn site since 2018. With over 20 years in the industry, Sean has a deep understanding of the communications market and industry trends. He has worked in the IP, Fiber, Data Center, Software and Equipment sectors with roles ranging from sales to executive management. Prior to joining QTS, Sean was most recently Senior Vice President of Fiber Services at Zayo and held P&L responsibility for $230M business. Sean has also served as Chief of Staff for Global Sales at Ciena, Vice President of Commercial Management/Global Analytics and Business Intelligence at Ciena, President of 24/7 Mid Atlantic Fiber and Senior Vice President of Fiber Services at Windstream. In those roles, Sean led organizations that either directly oversaw or supported high revenue and margin growth within each respective company.

  QTS

  CMO & Chief of Staff

  Sean Baillie

  CMO & Chief of Staff

  QTS

• 

  Clint Heiden

  Clint Heiden joined QTS in 2018 to lead the company’s Hybrid Colocation Sales and Marketing organization. Clint has more than 26 years of sales leadership experience in the data center, telecommunications and internet technology industries. Prior to joining QTS, Clint served as Chief Commercial Officer for five years at another data center company where he helped sell and deliver more than 80 megawatts of critical capacity to customers. He also previously served as President of Sidera Networks and held senior leadership roles at PAETEC, Cable & Wireless America and UUNET. In these roles, Clint led organizations responsible for over one billion dollars of annual enterprise revenue while at the same time generating significant organic revenue growth. Clint received his BBA in Computer Information Systems from James Madison University, where he continues to sit on the Board. Clint lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife and four children.

  QTS

  CRO

  Clint Heiden

  CRO

  QTS

• 

  Derek Garnier

  Derek Garnier is a 30-year industry veteran in digital infrastructure, specializing in corporate strategy, and has successfully built, operated, and sold companies. He was most recently co-founder of Arcadian Infracom, a long-haul fiber optic company operating in the Southwest. Prior to Arcadian, Derek served as President and COO of Evocative Datacenters, the predecessor to VPLS, which he again joins as President and COO. Derek also served as the CEO of Layer42 Networks, a national network services and colocation provider, which he successfully exited in 2015 through a sale to Wave Broadband. Post-acquisition, Derek continued as Wave’s SVP of Datacenter services. Before his tenure at Layer42 Networks, Derek held management positions at QTS Datacenters and AboveNet Communications through the acquisition of Sitesmith, a global managed services provider of which he was an early employee. Derek began his career as an engineer, serving in the rolefor network and data center provider ISI, later renamed Global Crossing via multiple acquisitions, as well as at network companies MFS Datanet and Cabletron Systems.

  VPLS

  President & COO

  Derek Garnier

  President & COO

  VPLS

• 

  Vinay Nagpal

  26+ years of global experience in Data Center & Connectivity industry specializing in Product & Business Management Vinay Nagpal is an industry leader and visionary with global experience developing products and solutions in wholesale and retail colocation data centers with a strong focus on connectivity, subsea and terrestrial fiber. Currently, he is the President of InterGlobix LLC, a global consulting and advisory firm focused on the convergence of data centers, subsea and terrestrial fiber. Vinay is also the Co-Founder and Member of QTS Richmond NAP, which is a global Internet Interconnection hub in Virginia offering the lowest-latency, highest-capacity subsea connectivity. He is the Founding Member & Executive Director of Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee (IEIC), an independent global committee that promotes Internet diversity and forming of Internet nexus points. Vinay also serves on the Leadership Board of NVTC Data Center & Cloud Committee, and actively leads Northern Virginia’s data center and connectivity initiatives. Vinay has been involved in the subsea developments in Virginia. He also serves on the Submarine Networks EMEA Customer Advisory Board, LINX NoVA Customer Advisory Board, and NVTC’s Executive Circle. As an active participant in industry forums, Vinay is a member of the PTC Membership Committee, Marketing & Communications Committee and SubOptic Diversity & Inclusion Working Group. Vinay’s past endeavors include being part of the Open-IX Association board to build open standards for data centers and IXPs. As the Vice President of Product Management at Digital Realty / DuPont Fabros (DFT), he led product management of DFT’s Data Center, Connectivity and Managed Services. During his tenure, he developed company’s carrier-neutral data center connectivity and peering services, designed and implemented dark fiber networks and supported customers’ network requirements. His senior-level network-centric positions at Tata Communications, Verizon, MCI, Digex and UUNET allowed his to productize data center and connectivity services across US, Canada, London, Singapore, Australia and India. Vinay holds an MBA in Information Systems, a B.S. in Computer Science, an ITIL certification and a Higher Diploma in Software Engineering. He has authored white papers, blogs, and industry publications on datacenter and connectivity services. He has been invited a speaker to several renowned conferences across the world.

  InterGlobix | IEIC

  President | Executive Director & Founding Member

  Vinay Nagpal

  President | Executive Director & Founding Member

  InterGlobix | IEIC

• 

  Hunter Newby

  Hunter Newby is an American entrepreneur, investor, conservationist and the owner of Newby Ventures. His primary field of interest has been network infrastructure. As Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer and a Director of Telx, he pioneered the carrier-neutral Meet-Me-Room and the development of carrier hotels and data centers in the United States leading to massive value creation and economic development throughout the Country. Since the sale of Telx he has been and continues to be a founder, developer and investor in the creation of multiple network-neutral infrastructure businesses all across North America. Mr. Newby is a recognized authority in the network-neutral interconnection and data center industry. He has served on multiple company boards, is a published author, public speaker and has been quoted in several publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards including being named to the Global Telecoms Business Top 40 Under 40 in 2010. Mr. Newby earned a B.S. in Communications from Drexel University.

  Newby Ventures

  Owner

  Hunter Newby

  Owner

  Newby Ventures

• 

  Todd Aaron

  Todd is the Founder and Managing Partner of SDC. He has spent his entire career building, operating and investing in IT and communications infrastructure businesses. Prior to forming SDC, Todd co-founded Sentinel Data Centers in 2001 and led the company as its co-CEO since its founding. During Todd’s leadership of Sentinel, the company emerged as one of the largest private data center platforms having developed over two million square feet of enterprise-class facilities. Sentinel’s clientele included numerous Fortune 500 enterprises ranging from “hyperscale” cloud providers to the largest global financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and health care providers. Sentinel twice built ground-up, multi-asset platforms that it ultimately sold to public data center REITs, first in 2010 via a $375 million portfolio sale to Digital Realty Trust and then in 2017 through a $490 million sale to CyrusOne. Todd began his career at investment bank Wasserstein Perella & Co. focused on technology and media investments for the firm’s affiliated private equity fund. Todd is a graduate of Dartmouth College. He is involved with multiple non-profits and has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards.

  SDC Capital Partners

  Managing Partner

  Todd Aaron

  Managing Partner

  SDC Capital Partners

• 

  Allen Tucker

  Allen Tucker has more than 25 years of corporate real estate experience exclusively focusing on enterprise / tenant representation. His goal is to create and deliver real measurable value for his clients and shareholders, in advising on optimizing acquisitions / dispositions of complex real estate transactions (corporate headquarters, regional offices, land development, contact centers, data centers and manufacturing facilities). This is his passion and commitment to his clients. His specialties include: National Site Selection, Corporate Headquarters Relocations, Mission Critical Facilities / Data Centers, Call Centers, Land Acquisitions, Workforce Labor Demographics, Financial and Relocation analysis.

  DC ConnX

  Founder

  Allen Tucker

  Founder

  DC ConnX

• 

  Buddy Rizer

  Buddy Rizer serves as the Executive Director for economic development in Loudoun County, Virginia, which was named the 2021 Economic Development Organization of the Year by the International Economic Development Council. He leads the agency responsible for encouraging growth and developing relationships with Loudoun’s business community in both the commercial and agricultural- based business sectors. During his tenure, Rizer and his team have attracted more than $65 billion in new commercial investment and more than 60 thousand new jobs. During this time, the growth in the commercial based has helped lower the tax rate in Loudoun by more than 48 cents on the dollar, saving residents thousands of dollars annually on their tax bill. Mr. Rizer has been named a Tech Titan eight times by Washingtonian Magazine (2017 – 2024), one of the 50 most influential Virginians six times by Virginia Business Magazine (2018 – 2023), a five-time member of Virginia’s Power 500 (2020 – 2024), and three times named to the Washington Business Journal’s Power 100 as one of the most influential businesspeople in Washington, DC (2020, 2022, 2023). In 2024, he was named as one of the 50 most influential people in Northern Virginia by Northern Virginia Magazine. Mr. Rizer is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a certified Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP), has a master’s in business administration/economics from Longwood University and is a graduate of Virginia Tech's Local Government Management Graduate Program.

  Loudoun County Economic Development

  Executive Director

  Buddy Rizer

  Executive Director

  Loudoun County Economic Development

• 

  Rob Rockwood

  Rob Rockwood serves as President of Sabey Data Centers and has been with the company for four years. Prior to joining Sabey, he served at CoreSite from 2001-2014 finishing as a Senior Vice President and General Manager. After graduating from West Point and serving in the US Army, Rob earned master’s degrees in construction management and public administration from the University of Illinois and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, respectively. Rob draws on his training and experience as a soldier and business leader to build teams that create the very best opportunities for customers and employees to grow and prosper. He lives with his wife Meg in Northern Virginia.

  Sabey Data Centers

  President

  Rob Rockwood

  President

  Sabey Data Centers

• 

  Lee Kestler

  Lee is a 25-year data center industry veteran with extensive experience working with hyperscale and enterprise customers. As CEO, Lee is responsible for setting and managing the strategic priorities of the company to drive profitability and growth. He is based in our Northern Virginia office. Prior to joining EdgeCore, Lee served as Chief Commercial Officer of Vantage Data Centers, a Digital Bridge portfolio company, in a role focused on invigorating sales and marketing performance and expanding into new US and European markets. Additionally, Lee served as Senior Vice President Sales and Leasing for wholesale data center pioneer DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT), playing a key role in all aspects of the go to market strategy within North America as well as making significant contributions to the S-11 process for taking DFT public in 2007 by raising $740+ million. As founder of Kopend Ventures, Lee focused on management consulting for several firms. In particular, he managed a 300MW development project in Palm Beach County, Florida where he led the successful effort to get a data center sales and use tax exemption approved by the Florida Legislature. He is an advocate of low carbon and advanced energy generation solutions and has been active in digital infrastructure industry thought leadership forums throughout North America. Lee attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County majoring in Computer Science.

  EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

  CEO

  Lee Kestler

  CEO

  EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

• 

  Tom Brown

  Thomas (Tom) Brown is responsible for planning and implementing the company’s strategy, and managing the overall revenue growth of the company. Mr. Brown joined Hudson IX (formally DataGryd) in 2018 and brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in start-up, turnaround and high-growth operations. He has a proven track record of success in strategic and tactical market development, creation of brand awareness and customer relationship management. Prior to joining Hudson IX (formally DataGryd), Mr. Brown led the content, cable, and data center verticals within Windstream’s Wholesale Business Unit. From 1999 to 2009, he was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at FiberNet Telecom Group, Inc., where he was an integral part in the sale of the company to the Zayo Group. Mr. Brown earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

  Hudson Interxchange

  President & CEO

  Tom Brown

  President & CEO

  Hudson Interxchange

• 

  Phillip Marangella

  Phillip has over 20 years of international marketing, strategy, and business development experience working in the Data Center, Telecom and Technology sectors for leading service providers. Prior to joining EdgeConneX, Phillip most recently worked for Equinix in various capacities in both marketing and business development. In addition, Phillip had stints at Coresite, Verizon, MCI, Nortel and Globalstar. Phillip was also a partner and founder of a tech consulting firm focused on international technology transfer and venture funding of university developed technology. Currently serving as the Chief Marketing Officer at EdgeConneX, Phillip is focused on developing, evangelizing and executing the marketing strategy and ecosystem development for the company. Phillip also serves on the advisory boards for Apomaya and Infrastructure Masons. Phillip holds a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of California San Diego, and a Masters in Multinational Commerce from Boston University.

  EdgeConneX

  CMO

  Phillip Marangella

  CMO

  EdgeConneX

• 

  Daniel English

  Daniel English is the President and Co-Founder of Legacy Investing, an investment firm focused on technology impacted real estate. Legacy has completed >$3B in transactions across 19M SF in data centers, e-commerce industrial assets, and life science buildings. Prior to co-founding Legacy Investing, Daniel was a tech start-up executive with leadership roles across M&A, corporate development, strategy, and product management. Daniel studied engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and Economics and Finance at Emory University.

  Legacy Investing

  Managing Partner

  Daniel English

  Managing Partner

  Legacy Investing

• 

  Eli Scher

  Eli D. Scher is the founder of New Continuum Holdings Corporation, and serves as its Chairman and CEO. Mr. Scher is also the co-founder of United Internet Exchange, LLC and serves as its CEO. He is an entrepreneur with a broad array of investing and operating experience. Prior to New Continuum, he worked as an analyst at prominent New York hedge funds where he analyzed corporate securities. Previously, Mr. Scher co-founded and served as CEO of GSME Capital Partners, a private, early stage investment partnership, and GSME Acquisition Partners I, a publicly traded acquisition vehicle. Additionally, he was Chief Financial Officer and director of MCG Group a Shanghai-based LED-advertising company, and was the co-founder, President and CFO of Fundamental Films. He currently serves as on the board of directors of HMMI, a specialized manufacturer of extremely large and complex steel components. Eli serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Open-IX Association and previously served as the Chairman of the Data Center Committee. Mr. Scher received his AB from Princeton University.

  Open IX Association

  Chairman

  Eli Scher

  Chairman

  Open IX Association

• 

  Martin Hannigan

  Founder, Board Chair & CTO

  Deep Edge Technologies

• 

  Lance Black

  Lance Black is President and CEO of VAZATA, founded by him in 2000. As CEO, Lance plays a fundamental leadership role in investor relations, strategic partnerships, and the day-to-day operations at VAZATA. Under his guidance, VAZATA has developed and been recognized as an innovative, reliable provider in the data center, virtualization/cloud and managed IT services markets. Lance strives to challenge the bounds of technology with products that include VAZATA’s own vStructure™ IaaS platform. His ability to interest and engage visionary IT professionals and industry experts reflects in his 20 years of active, forward-thinking experience in the IT industry. Outside of VAZATA, Lance has served several local charities, nonprofit boards, and has been recognized for his commitment to civic and altruistic work from several organizations over the past 20 years. Lance holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Midwestern State University.

  VAZATA

  Founder, President & CEO

  Lance Black

  Founder, President & CEO

  VAZATA

• 

  Eric Hulbert

  Eric Hulbert is Co-Founder and President at Opus Interactive, a Portland-based hosting company that was founded in 1996 and provides services from Tier III+ data centers in Portland, Hillsboro, Dallas and Virginia. With 20+ years of IT experience, Eric provides leadership and sales for Opus Interactive’s strategic development and business growth goals that contributed to the company’s placement on Oregon’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies list multiple times. Eric also plays a key role in the company’s operations and is known for his hands on approach, hard work and determination. Eric studied at Oregon State University and received his degree in Computer Science Engineering. In 2013, Eric was named recipient of Portland Business Journal’s Forty under 40 Award and received the 2010 Oregon State Council of Outstanding Early Career Engineers Award.

  Opus Interactive

  Co-Founder & President

  Eric Hulbert

  Co-Founder & President

  Opus Interactive

• 

  Wayne Dietrich

  Based in Northern New Jersey, Wayne brings 25 years of diverse experience in executive sales leadership, global strategic alliances, technical operations, business development, channel optimization and go-to-market execution across data center, telecommunications, enterprise, logistics & manufacturing, and research & development environments. Prior to joining Element Critical, Wayne served as the Chief Sales Officer for Cologix, leading all aspects of customer acquisition and management. Previously he held positions of Head of Strategic Alliances at Ciena Corporation where he lead global partnership strategy, technology solutions design and go-to-market distribution, VP of Strategic Sales at Siemens Enterprise Communications (now Unify), progressive leadership roles culminating as VP of Channel Sales & Alliances at Level 3 Communications (now CenturyLink), and various management positions at Qwest Communications (also now CenturyLink), Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent), AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Wayne holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Physics from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania and achieved a graduate degree in Interdisciplinary Telecommunications from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

  Element Critical

  CRO

  Wayne Dietrich

  CRO

  Element Critical

• 

  Mary Jane Horne

  Senior VP, Network Operations & Engineering

  iBASIS

• 

  Tim Bright

  As Executive Vice President – Hyperscale / Enterprise Markets for T5 Data Centers Tim is responsible for leasing T5’s international portfolio of Tier 3, concurrently maintainable and fault tolerant enterprise grade data centers, focusing on large enterprise and hyperscale markets, and build-to-suit pursuits. Spanning a construction, development, and real estate career over twenty-five years, Tim has managed the construction, development management, and leasing of a myriad of project types including data centers, call centers, switch locations, colocation facilities, corporate headquarters and regional offices, condominiums and multi-family rental projects, and raw land. In addition to being a LEED Green Associate, Tim holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture, a Masters of Building Construction, and a Finance Minor from the University of Florida.

  T5 Data Centers

  Executive VP, Hyperscale & Enterprise Market

  Tim Bright

  Executive VP, Hyperscale & Enterprise Market

  T5 Data Centers

• 

  Arthur Valhuerdi

  Arthur Valhuerdi brings over 30 years of management experience in the telecommunications and data center fields. With a proven track record, he has held key leadership positions including Vice President of Engineering for Zayo Colocation and Vice President of Infrastructure for FiberNet Telecom Group, Inc. Arthur’s expertise extends to engineering and construction management roles within Bell Atlantic. Mr. Valhuerdi holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College, an M.S. in Information Systems from Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and is EIT certified, showcasing his commitment to excellence and professional growth. Arthur’s diverse skill set, combined with his passion for innovation, makes him an invaluable asset in driving success and delivering exceptional results.

  Hudson Interxchange

  CTO

  Arthur Valhuerdi

  CTO

  Hudson Interxchange

• 

  Terry Rennaker

  Partner

  Eagle Rock Partners

• 

  David Robinson

  Mr. Robinson is General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Strategic Development, responsible for all legal, development and HR matters for the Company. He has been in practice for over 25 years, cultivating strategic relationships, identifying and analyzing development opportunities, finalizing sales and commercial transactions, and handling all matters involving all types of contractual matters globally, business development, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities transactions (public and private), intellectual property (including patents and trademarks), construction, and regulatory matters. Prior to joining Company in 2011, he held senior executive positions within telecommunications and service providers, including general counsel of Con Edison Communications and general counsel and co-CEO of Glowpoint, a managed video services provider, and counseled many other businesses. Before going in-house, he was an associate with the New York City law offices of Kaye Scholer LLP (now Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer) and Battle Fowler LLP (now Paul Hastings). Mr. Robinson received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (magna cum laude) and a Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School.

  Aligned Energy

  General Counsel & Executive VP, Strategic Development

  David Robinson

  General Counsel & Executive VP, Strategic Development

  Aligned Energy

• 

  Chris Curtis

  Global Head of Data Centers

  Prologis

• 

  John Diamond

  VP, Engineering

  Evoque Data Center Solutions

• 

  Phillip Sandino

  Phillip Sandino is Vice President of Data Center Operations at RagingWire Data Centers, managing end-to-end operations of all RagingWire’s facilities. In addition to critical facilities operations, he has responsibility for corporate safety and security, infrastructure services and commissioning. Philip is an experienced operational and business development executive with a demonstrated history of business growth and operational excellence working in the energy and data center industries. Prior to joining RagingWire, Phillip spent 13 years at Dominion Energy as the executive responsible for running power generation facilities, liquid natural gas operations, and directing key customer accounts. He began his career and spent eight years at GE Energy working in engineering and sales worldwide. Mr. Sandino earned an MBA degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech University. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington DC Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. Phillip is a veteran of the United States Navy.

  RagingWire Data Centers

  VP, Data Center Operations

  Phillip Sandino

  VP, Data Center Operations

  RagingWire Data Centers

• 

  Craig Deering

  Director, Design & Construction

  CyrusOne

• 

  Michael Whitlock

  Michael Whitlock is the General Manager of Sabey Data Centers, Intergate Ashburn. He is a driven and dedicated business development professional and leader with a determination to devise win-win solutions and an aptitude for solving critical problems and leveraging strategic partnerships. He has significant experience managing all aspects of data centers including electrical/mechanical critical infrastructure, capacity planning, security and compliance. Prior to his current role as General Manager, he served as the Operations Manager of Intergate Ashburn and managed all aspects of the Data Center. Prior to joining Sabey Data Centers, Michael served as the Director of Facilities for the East Coast at CoreSite. Michael has over 25 years of experience in the government, commercial and critical infrastructure industry. He has proven to have strengths in team building, staff development, remote staff management, geographically dispersed operations, standardization, vendor management and data center builds. Michael is a huge advocate of building future leaders in the Data Center community. Michael is also an active partner in the data center community, lending his time and efforts to AFCOM, 7x24 Exchange and NVTC Data Center and Cloud. He is currently serving on the board of the AFCOM Potomac Chapter, as the Director of Memberships. Michael’s “can do” attitude, along with his fight to win, has established him as one of the premier leaders in the most competitive data center market in the world, Ashburn VA. In Michael’s spare time he likes attending sporting events such as the Kentucky Derby, NCAA Final Four and various golfing tournaments. Michael also loves to hit the open road on his Harley and having quality time with his family.

  Sabey Data Centers

  General Manager

  Michael Whitlock

  General Manager

  Sabey Data Centers

• 

  Matt Souders

  VP, Data Center Infrastructure

  Oracle

• 

  Jeff Hudson

  Jeff is a Data Center Manager with OVH. In this role, Jeff manages the data center including controlling budgets, mentoring the team, devising strategies, sponsoring projects and proposing solutions. He has also participated in construction management and project management during the retrofit of the DC. Before joining OVH in 2017, Jeff worked for 27 years for a diverse range of organizations including colocation datacenters, semiconductor manufacturing and the United States military. Jeff's varied background in the Nuclear Navy, the high tech field of semiconductor manufacturing and data center management provided the perfect background for success as a systems manager at COPT and a Data Center Manager at OVH.

  OVH

  Data Center Manager

  Jeff Hudson

  Data Center Manager

  OVH

• 

  Tamara Prazak

  Tamara is responsible for developing and implementing strategy for strategic partnerships along with creating and delivering marketing and sales enablement content for channel partner programs for secure infrastructure provider Cyxtera. Tamara has nearly 20 years of experience in technology. Prior to Cyxtera, she was part of the leadership team that built the ViaWest channel program from inception to greater than 30% of the company’s bookings. She then drove the development and execution of channel strategy for Flexential, formed when Peak 10 and ViaWest merged, which resulted in >30% YOY growth in channel bookings. Tamara serves on the board of directors for Cloud Girls, an invitation only Cloud Technology Think Tank for Women, the CompTIA Channel Advisory Board, was named to the Channel Partners Online 20 Tech Channel Thought Leaders You Should Know list in 2018 and has been a CRN Women of the Channel recipient for the past several years. Tamara has a business administration degree from University of Illinois and when she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and running.

  Cyxtera Technologies

  Director, Channel Strategy & Marketing

  Tamara Prazak

  Director, Channel Strategy & Marketing

  Cyxtera Technologies

• 

  TJ Ciccone

  CTO

  Menlo Equities

• 

  Chris Pumphrey

  Executive Director

  Douglas County Economic Development Authority

• 

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Jeff heads our Real Estate and Communications practices in New York and has significant experience in general commercial real estate law. Jeff’s general real estate practice includes acquisitions, sales, development, leasing, and borrower’s side financing. He also has a particular focus on real estate challenges facing communications, technology, and energy companies, and represents property owners and telecom companies in telecom real estate matters, such as data center leases. His clients include both large national companies and smaller, local clients. He is frequently invited to speak on real estate, data center, and telecom topics. He also writes for several industry publications, and he is regularly quoted in national media. Jeff was a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and led many of its major real estate and telecom transactions.

  Mintz

  Member

  Jeffrey Moerdler

  Member

  Mintz

• 

  Tad Deriso

  Tad Deriso serves as President and CEO of Mid-Atlantic Broadband (MBC), where he focuses on large business and economic development projects and partnerships, maintaining positive relationships with MBC stakeholders and providers of capital, and expanding MBC’s relationships with regional, national, and international organizations. He has been involved with the rural telecommunications industry for over 20 years, working with rural telecommunications providers and cooperatives. He has a deep understanding of the issues and resource needs surrounding broadband, wholesale optical transport services, and rural economic development issues.

  Mid-Atlantic Broadband

  President & CEO

  Tad Deriso

  President & CEO

  Mid-Atlantic Broadband

• 

  Greg Force

  Greg Force joined Tindall Corporation in 1988. He was named CEO in 2018 after serving as President and COO for 14 years. Greg is a civil engineering graduate of Lehigh University and obtained his MBA from Georgia College & State University. He is a registered professional engineer in ten states and has held positions in engineering, sales, and project management. Before becoming a corporate member, Greg was the Vice President and General Manager of the Virginia Division. Greg has been actively involved in the Precast, Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) for over three decades, serving as Chairman of the Board in 2012, Chairman of Design Handbook Committee for the 7th Edition, Chairman of the Parking Structures Committee, and a member of the Technical Activities Council. Greg remains active on several technical committees, and he is presently the Chairman of Research and Development Council, as well as a member of the PCI Foundation Board of Trustees. He is a Fellow of PCI and ASCE and was named a Titan of the Industry by PCI in 2014. Greg was the recipient of the Mario J. Bertolini Leadership & Innovation Award in 2018.

  Tindall Corporation

  President & CEO

  Greg Force

  President & CEO

  Tindall Corporation

• 

  Brad Bettencourt

  In 1986, Brad Bettencourt founded the first fuel filtering company in the Mid Atlantic area. For the past 33 years he has filtered and treated fuel for every major Oil Company, Fleet, Hospital, Marina, Data Center, and Back up Generator Companies. His customers extend from The State Department, Camp David, The Pentagon, the FBI, CIA, NSA, NASA, and numerous military bases and facilities and extend to the state and local levels throughout the region.

  Brad's Fuel Filtering

  President

  Brad Bettencourt

  President

  Brad's Fuel Filtering

• 

  Cary Frame

  Cary runs Polargy, sometimes into the ground, but most times to good success. He shows up for work mostly because he likes inventing things, with that he is trying to change the way data centers are built. He is particularly keen on figuring new ways to bring speed to the construction equation. For example, after two years of development Polargy launched its structural ceiling system with speed as must have. Today, builders are installing 75,000 square feet in a quick 8 days. On the personal side, Cary is easily distracted by shiny objects. However, when you’re talking to him you will have his full attention; he won’t be checking his text messages.

  Polargy

  Chairman

  Cary Frame

  Chairman

  Polargy

• 

  Blair Pritchard

  Blair Pritchard is the Economic Development Market Specialist for Dominion Energy’s Northern Region of Virginia. Blair is responsible for all economic development and site selection activity for Fredericksburg, Stafford, Prince William, Fauquier, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties. This extremely dynamic area of growth on the Dominion Energy electrical system is punctuated by the robust power requirements of the thriving data center industry. Blair has extensive customer service and sales experience coupled with years of service designing electrical infrastructure for Dominion Energy prior to his current role in Economic Development. Blair is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and currently resides in Winchester, VA with his wife and two children.

  Dominion Energy

  Economic Development Market Specialist

  Blair Pritchard

  Economic Development Market Specialist

  Dominion Energy

• 

  Dave Meadows

  David C. Meadows II has worked in data center cooling since 1999.  He is currently the Director of Technology with STULZ USA, a manufacturer of precision air conditioning, humidification, and dehumidification products specifically designed for the data center.  Previously David has served as both the Design Engineering Manager and the Applications Engineering Manager at Stulz.  David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  David is also a graduate of the United States Navy Nuclear Power School.

  STULZ Air Technology Systems

  Director, Technology

  Dave Meadows

  Director, Technology

  STULZ Air Technology Systems

• 

  Daniel Kennedy

  As Tate’s Director of Data Center Engineering and Sales, Daniel Kennedy leads the data center division in both a sales and product development capacity.  With more than 14 years of industry experience, Daniel uses his vast knowledge of data center disciplines, cooling technology, and IT infrastructure, to develop relationships and present to Fortune 100 companies. An established thought leader in the data center industry, he speaks on wide-ranging industry topics at events world-wide and his research has been compiled into several whitepapers focusing on the subject of raised floors in data centers. Daniel hold an MBA from George Mason University in Virginia and a degree in Electrical Engineering from Cedarville University.

  Tate

  Director, Data Center Engineering & Sales

  Daniel Kennedy

  Director, Data Center Engineering & Sales

  Tate

• 

  Jeff Ivey

  VP, Data Center Construction

  Crusoe

• 

  Ross Rebraca

  Ross Rebraca has more than 25 years of experience in the data center and mission critical sectors of the construction industry. Since 2006, Ross has worked at HITT and is now the vice president of the organization's technology division. He has been instrumental in launching the Technology market sector for HITT, which manages all data center construction. Ross plays an integral part in business development for the technology group given his numerous longstanding industry contacts nationwide.

  HITT Contracting

  VP, Technology Sector

  Ross Rebraca

  VP, Technology Sector

  HITT Contracting

• 

  Garay "Doc" Goglio

  Mr. Goglio has more than 40 years of experience in the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating & Air Conditioning) Service/Construction industry gained from performing trade work and extensive project management. He is also a senior- level resource in providing project development, troubleshooting mechanical systems, and retro-commissioning management. At Boland, Mr. Goglio serves as the Subject Matter Expert for Mission Critical Data Centers including account management, preparing service contracts, service repair, and retrofit and replacement work. Mr. Goglio also supports the development team in providing site surveys, troubleshooting, design review, and retro-commissioning support. He has developed strong client relationships and gained client trust through his ability to solve customer problems and generate solutions offerings.

  Boland

  Senior Account Executive, Mission Critical Data Centers & Industrial

  Garay "Doc" Goglio

  Senior Account Executive, Mission Critical Data Centers & Industrial

  Boland

• 

  Twyla Powell

  Twyla is an experienced business development professional who has worked for 20 years in private sector business development and project management and eight years in public sector economic development. Most recently, in her former role as Business Development Manager for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, she was responsible for attracting capital investment and new jobs to the Commonwealth. As the EDA’s Business Attraction Manager, she leads the Business Attraction program to bring new domestic and international businesses to Henrico.

  Henrico County Economic Development Authority

  Business Attraction Manager

  Twyla Powell

  Business Attraction Manager

  Henrico County Economic Development Authority

• 

  Marshall Sorenson

  Develops strategies for applications of precast/prestressed concrete building systems in the data center space. Leads the effort to engage technical staff in the design-assist effort of very fast-track projects, at the earliest stages of development. Works with end-users and their agents to create unique designs and unusual applications of precast concrete building systems. Drives Metromont’s practice of acting as a specialty precast subcontractor in the data center -- and not just the manufacturer of various precast parts and pieces. Metromont can self-perform 100% of the precast concrete work, beginning from structured design-assist engagement, through field erection of "all-precast" buildings. Leads the activities of Metromont’s VA Sales staff in pursuit of projects primarily in Virginia’s Data Center Alley, but across the U.S. Metromont has the capability of extending its reach beyond this area, on certain projects, where organizational strengths, financial capacity, and past experience -- particularly with regard to mission-critical projects -- are required. 35 years experience in the precast/prestressed concrete industry, including responsibilities for nearly every aspect of the ", get work" and "do work" functions. Directly involved in preconstruction through contract, in 20M SF of all precast data centers. Marshall is a 7x24 Exchange DC Chapter Board of Directors member and a member of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA).

  Metromont

  VP

  Marshall Sorenson

  VP

  Metromont

Moderators

• Moderator

  Gabe Cole

  Managing Director

  JLL

• Moderator

  Julie Forsht

  Manager, Eastern Region

  Powersmiths International Corp.

• 

  Kemal Hawa

  Kemal Hawa is a corporate partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Kemal represents many of the world’s largest private equity firms, infrastructure funds, real estate investors and lenders across a broad range of transactions in the digital infrastructure sector domestically and internationally, including mergers and acquisitions, investments, financing arrangements, joint ventures and development projects. Kemal counsels clients in complex transactions across the digital infrastructure and telecommunications, media and technology industries. This includes many of the world’s largest data center operators, telecommunications carriers, tower companies, cloud providers, fiber providers, media companies, submarine cable operators, fintech companies, wireless and international carriers, internet service providers, satellite companies, equipment manufacturers and electric utilities. In addition to M&A and financing transactions, Kemal represents companies in connection with the full spectrum of digital infrastructure transactions globally, including the negotiation of data center leases and colocation agreements, telecommunications master service agreements, licensing deals and other commercial transactions. Kemal is a frequent author and speaker on digital infrastructure topics and has consistently been recognized as an industry leading attorney in the sector. In 2023, Kemal was named as one of Capacity Media’s “Power 100” – a list of the 100 most influential people in the digital infrastructure sector globally, and was voted “TMT M&A Lawyer of the Year” by an independent panel of judges organized by TMT Finance.

  Kirkland & Ellis

  Partner

  Moderator

  Kemal Hawa

  Partner

  Kirkland & Ellis

• Moderator

  Mike Herwald

  Manager, North American Sales

  Munters Corporation

• 

  Ben Kaplan

  A native of Philadelphia, Ben has 30 years of construction management experience with Turner Construction Company. He currently serves as senior vice president of Turner Global Critical Facilities. Ben is responsible for managing Turner’s worldwide data center presence. Under his direction, the firm has delivered $3.0 billion in data center projects over the last five years with over $1.0B in place in 2016. Turner’s mission critical business is a strategic focus of the organization and a nationally recognized leader in the market segment. Ben’s approach to complex data center building starts with assembling a team composed of local and international data center experts. These experts provide clients with leading edge data center trends, technology, prefabrication, supply chain, value analysis and commissioning throughout the project planning and construction process.

  Turner Construction Company

  Senior VP, Global Critical Facilities

  Moderator

  Ben Kaplan

  Senior VP, Global Critical Facilities

  Turner Construction Company

• 

  Miles Loo, Jr.

  Miles Loo Jr., CRE, FRICS, joined Newmark Valuation & Advisory in 2017 in the Downtown Los Angeles office, where he serves as Vice Chairman and the Global Lead for Newmark Valuation & Advisory’s Data Centers & Life Science group. Miles is well recognized as the industry’s leading appraiser of data center properties. His experience includes advising private equity funds, institutional investors, large pension funds, Fortune 500 companies, cloud companies and Global IT conglomerates on investments in all types of data centers, including mission critical, disaster recovery data centers, colocation facilities, carrier hotels, internet gateways and life science properties. These assignments have involved data centers owned and/or operated by Fortune 500 companies across numerous industries as well as Uptime Institute Site Certified Tier III and Tier IV facilities; U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Platinum, Gold and Silver buildings; and state and federal disaster recovery data centers. Miles has led valuations of large individual and portfolio valuations spanning multiple countries across six continents (NA, EMEA, APAC, LATAM and African regions) and has consulted on a number of the world’s largest data centers.

  Newmark Valuation & Advisory

  Vice Chairman, Global Practice Leader – Data Centers

  Moderator

  Miles Loo, Jr.

  Vice Chairman, Global Practice Leader – Data Centers

  Newmark Valuation & Advisory

• 

  Gary Murphy

  Gary has spent over 30 years in the built environment and specifically in data and construction of center design. Gary has a keen understanding of the overall market and data center business and is known for his focus on defining customers’ needs at any scale and assisting the team in developing creative solutions. He is the consummate connector of people and embodies the culture of HED – one of integrity, commitment and invention. Gary was a founding Principal of Integrated Design Group which merged with HED in March. HED seeks creative solutions that have a positive impact for its clients, the community, and the world. Since its founding in 1908, HED has earned a reputation for excellence in all facets of the design and built environment, including architecture, consulting, engineering, and planning services. The firm of 420 people serves clients in a broad range of market sectors with a deep range of data center projects through the US from eight U.S. offices including involvement in 40% of the 16 GW capacity in northern Virginia. www.hed.design

  HED

  Principal & National Studio Leader - Data Centers

  Moderator

  Gary Murphy

  Principal & National Studio Leader - Data Centers

  HED

• 

  Emily Naughton

  Emily Naughton focuses her practice on transactions in the telecommunications, media and technology space, with an emphasis on cloud computing.  Emily has represented clients in connection with real estate acquisitions, development projects and leases, mergers and acquisitions involving cloud service providers, and telecommunications network infrastructure deals.  Emily has represented some of the world’s largest content providers globally in connection with network procurement and colocation and data center leases involving providers ranging from multinational companies to single facility operators. Emily has experience representing property owners in the acquisition, financing and development of real estate; landlords and tenants in a variety of short- and long-term leases and subleases; and developers on complex land use and permitting matters. Emily has also represented contractors and subcontractors in the negotiation of construction contracts and disputes. In addition to assisting clients on transactional matters, Emily has also regularly advised clients on general governance and operational issues from entity inception to dissolution.

  Mayer Brown

  Partner

  Moderator

  Emily Naughton

  Partner

  Mayer Brown

• 

  Louie Sarracino

  With more than 25 years of experience, Louie has worked in all areas of the construction industry, starting with large manufacturing silicon wafer chips facilities and a dedicated focus on electrical, mechanical and building management systems. He began his career with DPR in Phoenix, Arizona working on highly technical laboratory facilities. During the dot.com data center boom, Louie was part of several mission critical projects with Digital Realty, MCI WorldCom and other confidential mission critical clients.    Since relocating to the Washington, D.C. area in 2012, Louie has been focused on bolstering regional sales and operational success in several of DPR’s Core Markets, specifically Mission Critical and Life Sciences. He manages key account relationships with several national DPR customers, including Equinix and other hyper-scale clients, coordinating efforts across the country. In addition to project specific roles and local responsibilities, Louie is part of the DPR National Advanced Tech Core Market Group, advancing the DPR’s Mission Critical business globally.

  DPR Construction

  Mission Critical Project Executive

  Moderator

  Louie Sarracino

  Mission Critical Project Executive

  DPR Construction

• 

  Jason Walker

  Jason came to Schneider Electric through the 2007 acquisition of APC, beginning his career there in 1996. From 2000-2002, he worked with Inflow (acquired by Sungard) helping launch their Atlanta data center.  Since returning to Schneider Electric in 2003 he has held a number of positions working with various customer segments, channel partners, and markets.  Jason has been a key contributor at multiple events related to data center infrastructure and design.  Currently Jason is leading Schneider Electric’s cloud, hyperscale, and edge business development efforts in North America. Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Georgia.  He currently resides in Haddonfield, New Jersey with his wife and two children.

  Schneider Electric

  Managing Director, Cloud & Service Provider Business

  Moderator

  Jason Walker

  Managing Director, Cloud & Service Provider Business

  Schneider Electric

• 

  Damian Whitham

  Damian Whitham brings 20 years of telecommunications, data center and cloud experience in support of the federal government. He has held leadership positions with Sprint Government Systems, Terremark Federal, and General Dynamics IT. He currently serves as the Vice President for Data Center Solutions at Corporate Office Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust that provides data centers to government, enterprise and Hyperscale cloud providers.

  COPT Data Center Solutions

  VP, Data Centers

  Moderator

  Damian Whitham

  VP, Data Centers

  COPT Data Center Solutions