The Future of Cyber:
Activating Underutilized Talent

Thomas L. Monahan III is responsible for articulating the University’s vision, mission and values with internal and external stakeholders, as well as supporting and enhancing the institution’s academic mission and overall operations. Monahan drives execution and innovation aimed at three objectives: ensuring DeVry’s current and future students realize their career ambitions through in-demand degree programs; enabling employers to bring their strategies to life through partnerships that meet their needs for in-demand skills; and helping society meet the urgent need to reskill working adults to thrive in a work world reshaped by technology and automation.

Ashwin Bharath is a leader in talent transformation. He co-founded Revature 17 years ago, an organization that is now the top employer of emerging tech talent in the United States. His company was the first talent transformation firm to offer hire-train-deploy services at scale, a model that disrupted the status quo by providing careers in tech for thousands of aspiring software engineers without a path to get there. Today, Ashwin leads the quickly growing organization as the CEO with his sights set on the future. Ashwin's deep belief in servant leadership guides his day-to-day interactions, while his belief in the power of opportunity to transform lives guides his strategic planning. His passion and unique style have led to measurable results as the firm doubled in size year-over-year in the past 3 years. Revature has trained over 10,000 software engineers who now work at Fortune 500 companies, including Google, T-Mobile, Accenture, Capital One, Bank of America, Allstate and Lowes.

Lydia Smyers is the Vice President of US Education for Microsoft. She leads the sales teams supporting the adoption and sales of Microsoft’s solutions across K-12 organizations and higher education customers in the United States. Smyers is a member of the EDUCAUSE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Board and has been named as one of CRN’s “Top 100 Women of the Channel” 2009–2013 and named to its advisory board. She is also committed to empowering the next generation of leaders and supporting her local community. She serves on the board of several community nonprofits including Friends of Marblehead Public Schools, MassCUE, and the Marblehead Family Fund.

Michael Schutzler is an entrepreneur, engineer, science geek, and first-generation immigrant. He is the CEO of the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA). Before joining the WTIA, Michael led the merger of Livemocha – a community of 17 million language learners – with the popular education software company Rosetta Stone. He also built Classmates.com into the first profitable social media application and grew the online gaming business at RealNetworks to become a global leader. He teaches part time at the University of Washington Foster School of Business and serves on several boards. As a successful Internet start-up entrepreneur, angel investor, and CEO advisor, Michael has raised over $50M in financing for more than a dozen companies.

Christie Gragnani-Woods is a senior vice president for Bank of America’s External Community Partnerships (including Pathways) and the Regional Banking Talent Acquisition Executive. As the leader for External Community Partnerships, including Pathways, she is responsible for strategic efforts to hire a total of 20,000 people by 2025 from low-to-moderate income communities. In her Regional Banking leadership role, Christie is responsible for leading the design, development, implementation and execution of the strategic direction for global recruitment solutions that align with Bank of America’s culture and growth objectives. She manages a team of approximately 200 employees and has indirect leadership responsibilities across the enterprise.

Ken has been instrumental in the development, growth, and leadership of transformative organizations for over twenty-five years. He has extensive leadership experience in Higher Education as well as with Fortune 500, Public Sector and Nonprofit organizations. Ken is an active member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Information Advisory Council, ITAA and AFCEA. Currently with the Charles Koch Foundation, Ken is working to advance and lead grant making initiatives that engage with a wide variety of social entrepreneurs and stakeholders in Postsecondary Education - developing strong champions, fostering ideas and coalitions, and creating environments that ensure all students can succeed in college, in their careers, and in life.

Mike Volk has over 25 years of sales, financial management and operational experience spanning both the public and private sectors. He currently serves as the Managing Partner at GuidePoint Security and is responsible for the overall company strategy, vision, growth and profitability. Along with the other GuidePoint partners and principles, Michael ensures the operational efficiency and execution of the company’s strategic plan.