Smart Cities Connect  Conference & Expo

MARCH 10-12, 2026 | RALEIGH, NC
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  KEY SPEAKERS  


Mariela Alfonzo

CEO, State of Place

Elizabeth Anderson

Director of Great Streets & Retail, Government of the District of Columbia

Lindsey Appiah

Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, Washington, DC

Christopher Awe

Councilman, City of East Orange, NJ

Eleni Bardaka

Associate Professor, North Carolina State University

Dave Basil

President and CEO, TerraGo Technologies

Jonathan Beam

Community Innovation Manager, US Ignite

Bob Bennett

Ward 2 Alderman, City of Parkville, MO

Katrina Besner

Chief of Growth, Partake

Brandon Branham

VP Connected Solutions, Juganu

Alison Brooks

Research VP, WW Smart Cities and Public Safety, IDC

Elizabeth Buehler

Director of Innovation & Project Management, City of Salt Lake City, UT

George Burciaga

Managing Partner, The US Roundtable

Lori Bush

Mayor Pro Tem, At-Large Councilmember, Town of Cary, NC

Mario Castillo

City Council Member, District H, City of Houston, TX

Premith Chilukuri

Senior AI Specialist, ABB

Keith Chinchar

General Manager, Smart Street Lighting, Ubicquia

Nicole Coughlin

Chief Information Officer, Town of Cary, NC

Sarah Coulter

Assistant Director of Strategic Initiatives, Houston Public Works, City of Houston, TX

Sarah Craft

Chief Operating Officer, JustAir

Lee Davenport

Director of Community Development, US Ignite

Debbie Davidson

Mobilility Manager, County of Lee, NC

Aaron Deacon

Founder and Managing Director, KC Digital Drive

Shree Dorestant

Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Greensboro, NC

Grayson Dorr

Senior Project Manager, Advanced Technology International (ATI)

Rich Fahle

Vice President, Marketing, Airspace Link

Al Ford

Senior Sales Manager, Supermicro

Chris Foreman

Chief Executive Officer, Marketplace.city

Tamika Gadsden

Director of Sustainability, City of Charleston

Jay Grant

Administrator of Housing and Neighborhood Services, City of Newport News, VA

Mike Grigsby

Executive Advisor, MWGrigs, LLC

Hayat Hachem

Data Scientist, City of Dearborn Department of Public Health

Douglas Hammer

Senior Vice President, Strategy, Vaidio

Pokey Harris

Executive Director, North Carolina 911 Board

Melissa Faith Hart

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, eBodyGuard® LLC

Andrew Hayhurst

Sr. Manager, Innovation, City of Pittsburgh, PA

Jessica Heinzelman

Co-Founder, Throne Labs

John Holden

Smart City Manager, City of Raleigh, NC

Charlie Jones

Deputy Director, Strategic Mobility, City of Charlotte, NC

Nicole Jones

Operational Research Psychologist, eBodyGuard® LLC

Kerry Joseph

Chief Digital Officer, City of South Bend, IN

Preston Judkins

Senior Director of Engineering and Software, Parsons

Marlaina Kaine

Civic Innovation Specialist, City of Pittsburgh, PA

Briggs Kellogg

Go-to-Market, ElevenLabs

Andrew Kieve

Chief Executive Officer, Tolemi

Chase Klingensmith

Civic & Technology Policy Analyst, City of Pittsburgh Department of Innovation & Performance

Sergey Kobelev

Energy Manager, Office of Sustainability & Resilience, City of Greensboro, NC

Kate Kotan

Chief Digital Officer, Information Services Agency, City of Indianapolis and Marion County

Billy Kronenwetter, P.E.

Senior Solution Developer, Duke Energy

Brian Larkin

Director of the National Land Bank Network (NLBN), Center for Community Progress

Cristina Leos

Strategy & Innovation Manager, City of Raleigh, NC

Bonnie Locke

Justice and Public Safety Counsel, eBodyGuard® LLC

Chelsea McCullough, PhD.

Strategic Advisor, Smart Cities Connect Media & Research

Heather McDougall

Senior Manager - Strategy & Innovation, City of Raleigh, NC

Janelle McGregor

Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships, City of Tampa, FL

Connor McKinnis

Innovations Consultant, Town of Apex, NC

Chris Medina

CEO/Founder, Nureal.ai

Harry Meier

Deputy CIO, City of Mesa, AZ

Ryan Mellow

Chief Technology and Innovation Strategist, Dell Technologies

Jon Minshew

Chief Technology and Innovation Strategist - SLG, Dell Technologies

James Mitchell

Special Advisor, Cooperative Services

Kai Monast

Associate Director, Institute for Transportation Research and Education

David Montgomery

Senior Planner, City of Sanford, NC

Nellie Moore

The Lab @ District Department of Transportation Manager, City of Washington, DC

Jen Morgan

Community Director, RIoT

Laura Murphree

Senior Marketing and Program Manager, TechConnect Division, Advanced Technology International (ATI)

Hillary Orr

Deputy Director of Transportation, City of Alexandria, VA

Michael Owens

Mayor, City of Mableton, GA

Pushpendra Pandey

Director of Architecture, Fidelity Investments

Mihir Patel

Deputy CIO, City of Midland, TX

Alex Pazos

Senior Business Development Manager, NVIDIA

Tarek Rakha

Chief Executive Officer, Lamarr.AI

Greg Ramsey

Public Works Director, City of Peachtree Corners, GA

Nathalie Rayter

Project Leader of Technology, Partners for Public Good (PPG)

Jessica Reid

Senior Sustainability Strategist, City of Raleigh

Denise Reidl

Head of Public Sector Technology, Partners for Public Good

Jim Rice

Vice President, Public Sector, Vantiq

Bud Ritchie

Cybersecurity and Compliance Specialist, City of Harrisonburg, VA

Caroline Robinson

Director of Innovation Pilots, Sourcewell

Christopher Rodriguez, PhD

Assistant City Administrator, District of Columbia

Raimundo Rodulfo

Director of Innovation and Technology / Chief Innovation Officer, City of Coral Gables, FL

Tom Rogers

Network Engineer, North Carolina 911 Board

Gabriela Scarritt

Senior Innovation Designer, City of Raleigh, NC

Naman Sharma

Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow, City of Trenton, NJ

Steven Sierra Alcalbes

Process Engineer Officer, City of Midland, TX

John Siggins

Strategic Account Manager, Ericsson

Jeff Soplop

Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Nimble Energy

David Spencer

Transportation Engineering Manager, Town of Cary, NC

Rachel Stark

Mobility Innovation Manager, City of Charlotte, NC

Trever Stoll

Civic Innovation Specialist, City of Pittsburgh, PA

Willow Stuart

Director, GovAI

Tyler Svitak

Executive Director, Colorado Smart Cities Alliance

Cody Taylor

Assistant Professor, Appalachian State University

Howard Waldie IV

Chief Innovation Officer, City of Myrtle Beach, SC

Leigh Wall

Chief Training Officer Smart, Safe Cities, eBodyGuard, eBodyGuard® LLC

Andrew Watkins

President & COO, Marketplace.city

Matt Whitaker

Director of Mobility Innovation Platform, Michigan Central

Mark Wittenburg

Chief Information Officer, City of Raleigh, NC

Jay Yankeloff

Senior Sales Manager, Supermicro

Ruthbea Yesner

Global Research Lead & Vice President of Government Insights, Education, Transportation and Smart Cities, IDC

Energy Management Project Coordinator, City of Greensboro, NC



Sponsors & Partners, Supporting Organizations





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