John G. Bates, Manager, EY – Cyber Strategy, Assessment, and Compliance Program
John G. Bates was formerly Senior Counsel of the partner ecosystem at DocuSign. He was General Counsel and CISO for Clarity Insights (Accenture) in Chicago, IL. He has led legal, risk, IT security, data governance, and compliance programs and has successfully completed HITRUST and ISO 27001 certification projects.
Mr. Bates has spoken at numerous events including ISC² Security Congress, Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, ACC Cybersecurity Summit, ACC Chicago Summit, ACC Philadelphia Summit, Chicago Bar Association, and local ACC chapters.
Mr. Bates received a BA in Philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and JD from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Victor Hsiang, CISO, GATX
Victor Hsiang is an accomplished Information Security, Risk and IT Professional with over 19 years of experience working within the Financial Services and Healthcare sectors. He has an established track record of delivering successful IT and Information Security solutions that manages risk while supporting business requirements. His experience includes implementation of technology, security audits, risk assessments, information records management, privacy concerns, compliance and legal issues related to security, forensics, security practices and policy development. He currently leads the Information Security program at GATX Corporation.
Patrick Kinard, Senior Server Enterprise Operations Manager, Chicago Public Schools
Patrick Kinard is a Senior Server Enterprise Operations Manager at the Chicago Public Schools. He has more than 30 years of information technology management experience in the private and public sectors.
Today, Patrick has a senior role in managing the data service centers for one of the world’s third-largest school districts. He is responsible for all central data center, cloud, and on premise school-based server operations.
Patrick’s previous experience is as an Associate Vice President at J.P Morgan Chase as the leader of the virtualization engineering group, managing technical staff and private cloud environments around the globe for five years. He also served as an engineering manager at HP directing teams that supported brands like General Motors, American Airlines, and BP.
Committed to service and developing others, Patrick has more than 20 years of experience as an information technology instructor supporting underrepresented groups, which is easily one of the highlights of his career. He operates as a mentor and coach to some of Chicago’s most promising information technology students, leaders, and entrepreneurs.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and has earned multiple information technology management certifications.
Saad Mirza, Sr. Director of Solutions Architecture, Aviatrix
Saad Mirza is a Sr. Director of Solutions Architecture at Aviatrix with 20+ years of experience in networking and security. Saad has been solving enterprise’s complex challenges by providing guidance, architectural best practices and validated designs for hybrid and multi-cloud networks. These designs have been validated and adopted by Aviatrix enterprise customers.
James Mountain, Director of Information Security, Palmer College of Chiropractic
James Mountain is an experienced leader with over 16 years in IT. His current role is the Director of Information Security for Palmer College of Chiropractic providing strategic leadership and direction for campus academic technology applications and initiatives. His past work experiences include private, public and government industries. He has been a CISSP since 2011 while he worked for the Department of Defense. His main areas of focus are security, risk management, and infrastructure stability.
Richard Rushing, CISO, Motorola Mobility
Richard Rushing is the Chief Information Security Officer for Motorola Mobility where he leads the global security team responsible for tackling the emerging threats of mobile devices, targeted attacks, and cyber-crime.
With over 30 years of ground-up success in information security, Richard has led world-class security organizations by building and implementing custom methodologies and frameworks that balance information protection, business agility, innovation, and risk. He is a business and technology visionary with executive and hands-on experience in automating and managing multi-billion dollar enterprises including a strong record of success in deploying robust and flexible IT security architecture and infrastructure.
Prior to Motorola Mobility, Richard served as Chief Security Officer at Motorola AirDefense. Previously, he founded and served as Vice President of Technical Services and Chief Security Officer at LOCH Technologies, a global leader of next-generation wireless threat monitoring. In addition, he founded and served as Chief Technical Officer at SecureIT, a Security Services company, and held various senior security positions at VeriSign, GE Capital, and Siemens Energy & Automation.
Richard is an alumnus of Arizona State University. He participates in several corporate, community, private, and government security councils to set standards, policies, and solutions for current and emerging security issues.
Mike Skurko, Founder and Principal Consultant, PRE Consulting Inc.
Founder and principal consultant at PRE Consulting Inc. He’s an active Board Member and the VP of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the ISSA where he is responsible for bringing in industry speakers and sponsors for the chapter. Mike is an information security professional with over 15 years of experience in early phase cyber security startups. PRE Consulting, Inc. creates sales solutions globally and connects security solutions and practioners with end user customers in the SMB up to the Fortune 500. Additionally, he’s a mentor and advisor to angel and seed funded startups in the cyber security space. Mike is an active member of the community and has led and participated in panels ranging from CAMP IT in Chicago to FutureCon throughout the Americas, ISSA International and various security events in the Tokyo Metropolitan region. Mike was raised in Tokyo and continues to pursue “a lifetime of learning and *re-learning* the Japanese language.” Beyond language and cyber security he’s on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Independent Film Festival.
Tim Walter, Global Chief Information Officer/SVP/CISO, Randa Apparel and Accessories
Tim Walter is the Global Chief Information Officer/SVP/CISO of Randa Accessories. He is responsible for all technology of the company’s wholesale and direct consumer business. He works closely with all areas of the company to develop customer centered systems and operationally effective processes. He leads the core team responsible for continued development, implementation, and operations. Tim works to align the company’s informational infrastructure with its data-based client approach.
Prior to Randa, Tim served as Chief Information Officer/Digital Officer for The Packaging Wholesalers, where he developed B2b and B2C website brands. He also worked as the Chief Information officer at Xsport Fitness, RMG Network’s Mall Media Division, and Cross Corn national.
While at CrossCom National, his leadership resulted in the 2010 CIO 100 Innovation Award for Sustainable Innovation for their on-line mapping technology, which was used to monitor service staff across the entire United States. This technology built new revenue streams, while engaging customers to create lasting value.
He was instrumental in managing and scaling the technology at Uline Shipping Supplies as the Director of Web Programming and Infrastructure, which was responsible for the company’s explosive growth. During his career, Tim has held a number of key leadership positions in companies including Ameritech, Arthur Anderson, ServiceMaster, and Zurich American Insurance. His experience includes consumer and business websites, global Internet infrastructure, IT security, data center operations, and enterprise business applications.
Tim holds a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Software Engineering and Project Management from DePaul University. He received a Bachelor of Science from Valparaiso University. He is currently completing his MBA at Louisiana State University Shreveport.