CIO & CISO STRATEGY MEETING

Facilitators Include:

Dr. Peter Holowka is passionate about digital transformation and technology leadership, particularly in education.  His doctoral research was in cloud computing adoption and organizational leadership in K-12.  His professional work and academic research aim to support teaching and learning by transforming the educational environment.  He has received multiple awards for leadership and academic excellence.  In 2020, he was recognized as Member of the Year by the CIO Association of Canada and currently serves as the President of the Vancouver Chapter.  Beginning his career as a network and web design specialist, Dr. Holowka also advises several independent/private schools, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations. 

Riaz Yusuff is the Chief Information Officer at William Rainey Harper College. Before joining Harper College, Riaz was the Chief Information Officer of OHR at the University of Minnesota. Riaz has started his career as a developer and played various roles including project manager, IT manager, and IT director. Before the University of Minnesota, Riaz has worked at Capella University and Computer Science Corporation.

During his two decades of experience in IT, Riaz has implemented several on-premise and cloud applications. With his dual Master’s Degree in IT and Business Administration, combined with broad IT experience, Riaz has developed strong business acumen and skill to align IT’s culture to business culture.

Sayee K. Vaitheesvaran, Chief Information Officer and Director of Technology
Washington State Gambling Commission

Sayee Vaitheesvaran brings 25 years of technology and leadership experience in both private and government. He is the CIO and Director of Technology in Washington State Gambling commission.

Sayee has a Bachelor and Master  degree in Computer Science and a MBA  from University of Washington, Foster School of Business. He is also a certified project management professional. (PMP)

Among other past employers, he worked for  Employment Security Department, Department of Transportation (WA State Agencies) and Chempoint.com in Bellevue (Startup Company), Univar, Walmart.

Sayee has played multiple roles as a Programmer, Project Manager, Product manager, Director, Consultant and now as the CIO.

Brian Lee, Chief Information Officer
Clover Park Technical College

Dr. Brian Lee has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of information technology, business, and academia including non-profit, for-profit, and government enterprises. He has been involved at a strategic level in managing institutions delivering e-learning, curriculum development, compliance, international operations, and traditional educational activities for the past ten years. Throughout his career he has been a desktop support technician, network engineer, manager, consultant, and Vice-President in charge of Business Operations including information technology infrastructure, security, database, and software development. He has a BA from Baylor University, an MBA from California State University, San Bernardino, and a DBA from California InterContinental University. He currently serves as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Washington.

Huzefa Tinwala, Director (Data & Technology)
Slalom

Huzefa has 16+ years of leading strategy, design, and delivery teams on $250M+ B2B and B2C solutions. He specializes in constructing business transformation strategies that leverage Cloud, iPaaS, Data, and Application Development to empower businesses in embracing the next frontiers of Data and Technology.

Mark Gallen, Principal
Slalom 

Mark is a seasoned architect with experience building hybrid infrastructures supporting system integration and API solutions for large companies in multiple industries. He brings practical experience in implementing scalable and resilient solutions for front-end and back-end solutions. Including solutions developed across multiple cloud platforms and programming languages.

Christopher Fielder, Field Chief Technology Officer
Arctic Wolf

Christopher Fielder has been in the cybersecurity world for over 22 years with experience in a range of military, government, and corporate environments. Christopher holds 18 industry certifications including the CISSP, GPEN, GISP, GCFE, GSEC, GCIH, CEH, and more; along with a Master’s Degree in Information Security. Today he is the Field CTO for Arctic Wolf where he enjoys researching emerging security trends and highlighting the expertise of the Arctic Wolf team.