Calandra Cleveland is an IT Manager at AutoZone where she leads a team of engineers in desktop engineering, end user services and collaboration. Prior to joining AutoZone, she held Information Technology (IT) positions at International Paper, FedEx Services and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She brings to the board 16 years of IT experience that ranges from data center operations to IT project management. She is a University of Memphis graduate, with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Science Business Administration in Management Information Systems. She is also a University of Memphis Alumni Association (UMAA) life member. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated where she serves as the technology chair of her chapter. She is a devoted wife, as well as a mother to a teenager and 8-year old twins.

Sidney D'Mello (PhD 2009) is a Professor in the Institute of Cognitive Science and Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is interested in the dynamic interplay between cognition and emotion while individuals and groups engage in complex real-world activities. He applies insights gleaned from this basic research program to develop intelligent technologies that help people achieve to their fullest potential by coordinating what they think and feel with what they know and do. D’Mello has co-edited seven books and has published more than 300 journal papers, book chapters, and conference proceedings. His research has received 17 awards at international conferences and has been funded by numerous grants. D’Mello serves(d) as Associate Editor and on the Editorial Boards of 11 journals. He leads the NSF National Institute for Student-Agent Teaming (2020-2025), which aims to develop AI technologies to facilitate rich socio-collaborative learning experiences for all students.

Thomas Davis has 20 years in the Information Technology Field, with 16 years dedicated to Information Security. He spent 8 years with First Horizon National Corp and 7 years at ServiceMaster. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with a concentration in Information Systems Security.

He currently holds the following certifications: CISSP, SANS GCIH, and SANS GSEC. He previously held the following certifications: CCNA, CCDA, CISA, ISA (PCI DSS v3.2), PCIP, ITIL (v3 Foundations), A+, MCP, and ISSCU.

Luke Deryckx is the CTO of Ookla. His 23-year career has been focused on building, measuring, and improving networks and internet-based services of all kinds while working for mobile network operators, regional and national ISPs, and software companies.

Ookla is the worldwide leader in mobile and fixed broadband network intelligence, testing applications, and related technologies. Ookla’s portfolio includes the flagship Speedtest platform, which provides invaluable insights into the performance, quality, and accessibility of networks worldwide; Mosaik, a suite of network coverage, spectrum and infrastructure data and mapping software solutions; and Downdetector, the premier real-time services monitoring platform, among others.

Brett C. Doty is the Chief Information Officer at Christian Brothers University.

Previously, he was the Vice President of IT and Engineering for Versant Supply Chain where he had the overall responsibility for Software acquisition, development and maintenance, IT Infrastructure, and recently Versant’s Engineering team. In this position, Brett managed Versant’s support service teams and lead operational partners to create and implement flexible, portable, scalable, and economical IT solutions in support of Versant’s core business lines.

Prior to joining Versant, Brett worked at Technicolor as the North American Business Analyst Manager responsible for Distribution and Returns. Before employment with Technicolor, Brett worked at Prudential Securities as a Vice President responsible for a variety of initiatives including architecting and implementing service center automation, as well as leading corporate level Trading System re-engineering in support of the Financial industry’s T+1 Migration initiative.

Brett holds a BS in Political Science from Texas A&M University and minors in Finance and Economics with concentration in Computer Science and Mathematics.

Meka Egwuekwe is Executive Director of CodeCrew, an innovative, mentorship-based youth coding initiative guiding young people in Memphis to be tech producers. Since founding CodeCrew with Petya Grady and Audrey Jones, Meka has worked tirelessly to make computer science education available to kids across the city. Formerly Director of Software Development for Lokion Interactive, Meka has been a professional software developer for more than nineteen years, building software systems for governments and Fortune 500 companies around the world. Meka has been a local leader in the youth coding movement since founding the Memphis Chapter of Black Girls Code in late 2012. Under his guidance, the chapter became one of the country’s most active, hosting more than a dozen workshops teaching hundreds of girls how to build mobile applications, web pages, video games, and robots. Meka is also a longtime mentor in StartCo’s business and technology accelerators, where he has mentored various companies in tech. Meka has a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from Morehouse College and Duke University, respectively. He resides in Memphis with his wife, Pamela, and their two daughters.

Tim serves as the Chief Technology Officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and joined Methodist in June of 2019. Tim has 29 years IT experience and most recently served with Orlando Health as Chief Technology Officer. Tim has a demonstrated success in technology planning and execution to support strategic business objectives. He is recognized for implementing technology standards, processes and initiatives to deliver optimal patient care. Tim’s broad spectrum of expertise includes technology management, security and compliance management, software development, service and support desk, data centers, strategic planning, networking and telecommunications, consulting, and vendor management.

Prior to Orlando Health, Tim served Ascension Health’s Information Systems. Prior to Ascension, Tim was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA), a national ambulatory surgery center management company.

Tim has a Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science from Millsaps College and a Masters in Information Technology from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Following nine years at Mississippi State University where she was Assistant Department Head in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Sarah Lee joined The University of Southern Mississippi as Director of the School of Computing Sciences and Computer Engineering. She entered academia in 2011 with a passion to broaden participation in computing following a 19-year career at FedEx Corporation. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from the Mississippi University for Women and a master's degree in computer science from Mississippi State. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Memphis.

Xuan Liu is the Vice President of Information Security at FedEx Services. He joined FedEx in 2002 as a developer and later moved to the Information Security team. He became a manager in 2007 and a director in 2011, playing a key role in implementing the FedEx Identity Management program and converging information security with physical security. In his nine years in InfoSec, Xuan was responsible for standards and policies, access control, firewalls, remote access and multi-factor authentication.

In 2013, Xuan assumed a newly created director role in the FedEx Enterprise Foundational Services organization, with responsibility over package tracking and visibility, as well as a new enterprise solution for real-time shipment processing. His team collaborates with numerous IT and business partners through a federated development model to quickly bring value to market. They are heavily involved in FedEx IT modernization efforts.

In 2007 and 2017, Xuan received FedEx Five Star awards, the company’s highest individual achievement award. He is a certified FedEx Quality Driven Management (QDM) Expert. Xuan holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering economics from Tianjin University, China, and holds master’s degrees in economics from the University of Memphis and computer science from the University of Mississippi.

David Mabury is Director of User Experience at Lokion, where he leads the team responsible for strategy, user experience, user interface design, and quality assurance.

David works with cross-functional teams to identify business goals, map customer experiences, prioritize features, and create interaction designs across channels and devices. He’s also a passionate trainer and mentor of colleagues in creating interactive prototypes and UX pattern libraries.

He has worked with teams in education, banking, insurance, manufacturing, hospitality, and logistics; and clients like Hilton, FedEx, Hogan Lovells, LexisNexis, ALSAC / St. Jude, Viking Range, Smith & Nephew, and Colgate-Palmolive.

David joined Lokion in 2007. Prior to Lokion, he worked with several agencies in Memphis, including Towery Publishing, Ringger Interactive, and Archer Malmo.

John Marsalis has been with FNC, and now CoreLogic, for over 15 years. In his time there, he has served in many roles, including the development of cutting edge products, managing highly productive engineering teams, and leading organizational transformation in the adoption of agile methodologies. In 2011, he co-founded FNC’s 80/20 program and enjoys continuing to drive an innovative culture at FNC.

Today John is focused on setting technical direction and strategy for the FNC technologies within the Valuation Solutions Group. He is passionate about evolving engineering practices and driving technology excellence. Their latest strategic initiative is the establishment and growth of CoreLogic innovation labs, which embraces extreme programming (XP) techniques and cutting-edge technology.

While FNC has historically been a Microsoft shop, at the heart of it all, their goal is to use technology to solve interesting and complex problems in the financial technology industry. They work to leverage the best tools available in order to provide outstanding solutions to their clients, and are not bound to any one technology. The problem drives their choice of tools, not the other way around.

John received his bachelor of business administration in management information systems at the University of Mississippi in 2001. While at Ole Miss, he studied under one of FNC’s founders, John Johnson, who was instrumental in shaping his decision to join FNC.

Outside of his work, he sits on the Industry Advisory Board of the University of Memphis computer science department. He also helped found and launch Base Camp Coding Academy in Water Valley, Mississippi, and serves on the board as a founding trustee.

Uma Ramamurthy is the Executive Director of the Office of Research IT and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has training/education in Electrical Engineering and Computer & Information Sciences, and over 3 decades of technology management experience in bio-medical and research computing. She started her career in the U.S. at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, before moving to Houston, Texas in 2011 to join Baylor College of Medicine.

Her expertise includes design, development, and management of IT systems for medical research, clinical trials, diagnostic imaging, basic and translational research, and research administration. She also has experience in managing hardware deployments and software systems development including databases, application software, Internet technologies and mobile apps. Her professional interests include architectures for health IT systems, paperless infrastructure for clinical trials, innovative IT solutions for medical research, and overall data security and data compliance.

She has taught computer science and computer engineering courses at University of Memphis. She continues her teaching as an adjunct faculty member in Computer Science at University of Houston, Houston, Texas.

Stephen Sloas is currently Senior IT Manager, HR, Legal & Corporate Communications at International Paper (IP). After earning his B.B.A degree in Management of Information Systems from the University of Memphis in 2011, he began his career with IP as a Systems Specialist and has held various roles of increasing responsibility during his twelve-year tenure with the company.

In 2017, Stephen was named IT Manager – eCommerce where he led a team responsible for web applications and analytics tools used by sales and marketing as well as several other web-based tools used by the enterprise. In 2019, Stephen moved to Kraków, Poland to become IT Manager – Finance, Cost, and HR, where he led a team that supported IP’s European footprint by supporting several merger & acquisition related projects, including the separation of IP’s North American Papers business into a new company—Sylvamo—until September 2021 when he was named IT Manager of the Cash Management, Capital & Assets, and Plant Maintenance teams.

Stephen has worked on several enterprise-wide initiatives: standing up an innovation program, leading efforts related to IT Outreach, leading IT recruiting efforts at University of Memphis, supporting the IT new hire organization, as well as many others.

Teodora is a business and technical leader with Amazon Alexa. Before Amazon, she worked on demand and capacity planning and pricing strategies for Microsoft Azure in Seattle. She also has spent some time as an econometrician with the International Monetary Fund, in Washington DC and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. She has an MBA from University of Chicago, a MS in Computer Science from University of Memphis and a bachelor degree in Cybernetics for the Academy of Economic Studies in Romania.

Tim Whitehorn is the CEO at Infodesk. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer at Asentinel and Dissertation Success. Tim came to Asentinel from ServiceU Corporation, where he served as CEO since founding the company in 1997. He has a long line of successes in a combination of telecommunications, software development and customer service focused organizations. These included work as a Regional Vice President at LCI Telecommunications, Founder and CEO at ATS Network Communications, Inc., Vice President at ATS Telephone & Data Systems, Inc., and a Senior Engineer at Federal Express.

Under Tim’s leadership, ServiceU grew to be a world-class software development company. In ten short years, it established itself as the leader in providing software that helps churches, schools, and nonprofits simplify and automate administrative processes by moving them online. The company has more than 2,000 clients, including churches of all sizes and businesses ranging from small nonprofit organizations to Fortune 500 companies in all 50 states and 5 countries. The company estimates that its software has coordinated the scheduling for more than 15 million events.

Tim is a graduate of the University of Memphis, where he earned his B.S. in Computer Science and his Masters of Business Administration. He is involved in community organizations and his local church, where he serves in a wide range of roles including deacon, bible study teacher, and member of numerous committees. He and his wife have three sons.