Smart Cities Connect  Conference & Expo

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


Mariela Alfonzo

Founder & 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

Jim Beach

Chief of Staff, City of Trenton, NJ

Jonathan Beam

Community Innovation Manager, US Ignite

Melika Belhaj

Research Specialist, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Bob Bennett

Ward 2 Alderman, City of Parkville, MO

Katrina Besner

Chief of Growth, Partake

Eddie Bowling

Deputy City Manager, City of Thomasville, NC

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

Lauren Charlesworth

Director over State & Local Government and Education, Insight Global

Premith Chilukuri

Senior AI Specialist, ABB

Keith Chinchar

General Manager, Smart Street Lighting, Ubicquia

Jason Cooley

Executive Director, Allen Community Development Corporation, City of Allen, TX

Nicole Coughlin

Chief Information Officer, Town of Cary, NC

Sarah Coulter

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

Jim Cowling

Director, Outdoor Lighting, Duke Energy

Sarah Craft

Chief Operating Officer, JustAir

Lee Davenport

Director of Community Development, US Ignite

Debbie Davidson

Mobilility Manager, County of Lee, NC

Honorable Hardie Davis, Jr.

Special Advisor, The U.S. Mayoral Roundtable

Aaron Deacon

Founder and Managing Director, KC Digital Drive

Cayla Denning

Innovation Lab Manager, Town of Cary, NC

Shree Dorestant

Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Greensboro, NC

Grayson Dorr

Senior Project Manager, Advanced Technology International (ATI)

Jayson Dunn

State and Local Government - Leader (East Americas), NVIDIA

Nina D’Amato

Chief Technology Strategist, Public Sector Team, Lenovo

Rich Fahle

Vice President, Marketing, Airspace Link

Fritz Feiten

National Smart Streetlighting Consultant, Ameresco

Al Ford

Senior Sales Manager, Supermicro

Chris Foreman

Chief Executive Officer, Marketplace.city

Stormie Forte

At-Large Councilmember, City of Raleigh, NC

Brennon Fuqua

Director - Integrated Mobility Division, North Carolina Department of Transportation

Tamika Gadsden

Director of Sustainability, City of Charleston, SC

Charlie Gonzalez

Director of VisionAI, Centific

Jay Grant

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

Mike Grigsby

Executive Advisor, MWGrigs, LLC

Alison Grodzinski

Managing Director, Prevention Research Collaborative, University of Michigan School of Public Health

Hayat Hachem

Data Scientist, City of Dearborn Department of Public Health

Carter Hall

Deputy Chief Technology Officer, City of Knoxville, TN

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

Justin Heinze

Associate Professor, University of Michigan

Jessica Heinzelman

Chief Operations Officer and Co-Founder, Throne Labs

John Holden

Smart City Manager, City of Raleigh, NC

Charlie Jones

Deputy Director, Transportation, 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

Chip Kennedy

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, CivicReach

Andrew Kieve

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Tolemi

Chase Klingensmith

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

Maureen Knight

Director of Category Development, Sourcewell

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

Henry J. Lofton, Jr.

Deputy Chief Technology Officer, Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), Washington, DC

Leilani Martínez

Founder & Principal, Kultura Tech

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

Stephen McPeake

Founder & CEO, Civic Dollars

Chris Medina

CEO/Founder, Nureal.ai

Roshanak Mehdipanah

Associate Professor, University of Michigan

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

Chief Operating Officer, Fractional Source

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

Jaison Morgan

CEO, Carrot Division, ATI

Jen Morgan

Community Director, RIoT

Laura Murphree

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

Hamid Nikvan

Public Services Utilities Director, City of North Miami Beach, FL

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

Konner Petz

Head of Special Projects, Mayor’s Office of Mobility Innovation, City of Detroit, MI

Tarek Rakha

Co-Founder and 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

Jim Rice

Vice President, Public Sector, Vantiq

Denise Riedl

Head of Public Sector Technology, Partners for Public Good

Bud Ritchie

Cybersecurity and Compliance Specialist, City of Harrisonburg, VA

Caroline Robinson

Director of Innovation Pilots, Sourcewell

Jennifer Rocha

Strategic Partnerships, TechConnect Division, ATI

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

Caleigh Ryan

Account Manager, Insight Global

Jen Sanders

Executive Director, North Texas Innovation Alliance

Gabriela Scarritt

Senior Innovation Designer, City of Raleigh, NC

Naman Sharma

Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow, City of Trenton, NJ

Asia Sheikh

Global Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Smart Sports & AI Innovation, Lenovo

Kyle Shipp

Mayor, Town of Pittsboro, NC

Steven Sierra Alcalbes

Process Engineer Officer, City of Midland, TX

John Siggins

Strategic Account Manager, Ericsson

Eric Skomra

NVIDIA AI Technologist - BDM, Lenovo

Tom Snyder

Executive Director, RIoT

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

Jen Tifft

Director of Strategic Initiatives, City of Syracuse, NY

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

David Wedel

Senior Director, Vision AI GTM, Centific Global Solutions

Ryan Welch

Technology Programs Manager, City of Long Beach, CA

Matt Whitaker

Director of Mobility Innovation Platform, Michigan Central

Robert Whitfield

IT Support Manager, Wake County Government

Gregory Williams

Energy Management Project Coordinator, City of Greensboro, NC

Leonardo Williams

Mayor, Durham, NC

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



Sponsors & Partners, Supporting Organizations





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