Twenty twenty-two has been a banner year for Customs & Border Protection (CBP): a new influx of refugees from Ukraine, working through changing COVID mandates, the threat of terrorism, transnational crime, drug and people smuggling, cybercrimes, not to mention new requirements necessitated by Executive Order. This year’s critical conversation will focus on how the agency has adapted to changes in priorities, missions, and mandates.
We will revisit CBP's 12 strategic initiatives designed to harness and apply the power of data, intelligence, and advanced analytics, develop and maintain top-quality IT infrastructure and access, and expand our international and intelligence partnerships to leverage the benefits of interoperability and collaboration to protect the country.
Join us to understand the ways CBP has adapted and how the private sector can collaborate to achieve their critical missions.
8:45 AM - 9:00 AM
Kristina Tanasichuk
CEO, Government Technology & Services Coalition
Linda Jacksta
Chair, BORDER SECURITY 2022
Former Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner, CBP Operations Support.
Olivia Trivisani-Bowker
CEO, Amivero
Co-Host, BORDER SECURITY 2022
Kiran Gullapalli
Chief Operating Officer, Anika Systems
Co-Host, BORDER SECURITY 2022
Ryan Scudder
Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner, Enterprise Services
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Ryan J. Scudder assumed the role of Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner (EAC) for Enterprise Services (ES) at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Washington, DC on November 21, 2021. In this position, he leads nearly 5,000 ES personnel at over 200 locations across the United States, providing mission-critical support to all CBP employees and operations. The ES portfolio includes programming for a $15B+ annual appropriated CBP budget, 95 acquisition programs valued at $5B, more than 7,000 facilities, over 24,000 vehicles, $8.1B in property assets, over 3,000 hiring actions per year, six national training academies, and an IT infrastructure consisting of a data center supporting the over 60,000 users and 26 mission-essential systems.
Keynote
Speaker
Manuel Padilla Jr.
Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner, Operations Support
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Manuel Padilla Jr is the acting Executive Assistant Commissioner for Operations Support at CBP. The Operations Support Office (OS) brings together experts, analysts, innovators, and facilitators from across multiple functional areas that directly support the operational offices to strengthen mission effectiveness. These specialized capabilities that OS provides play a critical role in making a more agile, innovative, and stronger CBP. Manuel Padilla Jr., was Director of Joint Task Force – West (JTF-W) of DHS' Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Plan (SBACP) in 2018. Previously to his appointment, Director Padilla served as Chief of the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector and Commander of the Joint Task Force – West, South Texas Corridor. He entered on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol on Aug. 11, 1986, and his first assignment was at the Sierra Blanca Station in Texas. In 1990, he became a member of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), eventually providing instruction on tactical procedures to host country police forces in Bolivia, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Diane Sabatino
Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner, Field Operations
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Diane J. Sabatino became the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Office of Field Operations in July 2020. In this role, Mrs. Sabatino oversees nearly 31,250 employees including approximately 25,400 CBP Officers and CBP Agriculture Specialists that protect U.S. borders. An annual operating budget of $6.5 billion provides for operations at over 330 ports of entry, and many programs that support the national security, immigration, customs, and commercial trade-related missions of CBP. Prior to her current assignment, Mrs. Sabatino served as the Director, Field Operations of Miami and Tampa Field Offices for nearly five years starting in August 2015.
Christopher Mocella
Deputy Director / Assistant Director for Operations, Interdiction Technology Branch, Laboratories and Scientific Services
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Under U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Chris Mocella is the Assistant Director for Operations and currently Acting Deputy Director within the Interdiction Technology Branch (ITB) of Laboratories and Scientific Services (LSS). LSS is the scientific, technical, and forensic wing of CBP, with ITB as the engineering and test-and-evaluation group handling Rapid Technology Assessments (RTA) of systems and technologies that could provide solutions to CBP’s mission needs. The disciplines and expertise within ITB includes cargo and conveyance inspection technologies, counternarcotics systems, cross-border tunnel threat solutions, and digital forensic technology. Chris joined CBP in 2006 as a Duty Scientist at the 24/7 Teleforensics Center. Prior to that, Chris studied the chemistry of energetic materials and pyrotechnics under Dr. John Conkling at Washington College in Chestertown, MD, and is the primary author on The Chemistry of Pyrotechnics, 3rd Edition (CRC Press).
John P. Leonard
Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Mr. John P. Leonard is the Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner (DEAC) of Office of Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Mr. Leonard oversees a diverse portfolio of trade enforcement, security, and facilitation to enable legitimate trade, contribute to American economic prosperity, and protect against risks to public health and safety. His work ranges from enforcing over 500 U.S. trade laws, to overseeing 14 trade agreements, to directing CBP’s seven Priority Trade Issues in collaboration with 49 partner government agencies.
Mr. Leonard has over 30 years of experience at CBP and the former U.S. Customs Service, first beginning his career as an Import Specialist in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1989. Since then, he has worked in various leadership positions at CBP, from 2013 to 2017 as CBP Attaché to Singapore, and prior to this as the Area Port Director of San Francisco. As Area Port Director, Mr. Leonard oversaw the CBP clearance of nearly 5 million passengers per year at San Francisco International Airport and over 400,000 cargo containers per year at the Oakland Seaport. Read more here.
J. Eric “Mo” Morris
Director, Office of Intelligence's Transnational Organized Crime Division
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Director J. Eric “Mo” Morris, is the Director of the Office of Intelligence’s Counter Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) Division. In this role, Director Morris will drive the intelligence cycle related to TOC activities, facilitate a mutually supportive intelligence cycle between the Border Security Intelligence Center (BSIC), the Regional Intelligence Centers (RICs) and the CBP Watch and develop a trans-regional understanding and subject matter expertise in TOC activities to support the RICs and operational offices in enabling high impact operations and informing policy and resourcing decisions.
Sonny Bhagowalia
Assistant Commissioner & CIO
Office of Information Technology
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
At the United States (U.S.) Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mr. Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia currently holds the Senior Executive Service position of Assistant Commissioner (AC), Office of Information and Technology (OIT) and CBP Chief Information Officer (CIO). Mr. Bhagowalia has over 35 years of senior technical, managerial, and executive leadership experience in private industry, the U.S. Government, and state government. Mr. Bhagowalia has spent over 21 of those years in senior executive capacity, including over 17 years as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), one year as a Senior Level (SL) in the Federal Government, and three years as a Senior Executive in State Government. He has served in key CIO leadership roles at five agencies: Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, State of Hawaii, U.S. Department of Treasury and CBP, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He also served in Chief Executive Officer (CXO) roles as a Deputy Associate Administrator for Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies at General Services Administration, and as a Program Management Executive/Assistant Director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Bhagowalia also served for 14 years in Industry at Boeing, a Fortune 30 company, ultimately serving for five years in senior technical leadership roles as a Chief Engineer/Manager and an honorary Senior Principal Engineer in the Boeing Company. Read more here.
Keynote
Speaker
Sunil Madhugiri
Chief Technology Officer
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Mr. Madhugiri joined U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2019 as a Chief Architect. He was recently selected as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for CBP’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT). CTO’s office is CBP’s dedicated hub for technological leadership, drives innovation through a variety of crucial activities such as managing vendor engagement, researching emerging technologies, and arranging proof-of-concept demonstrations.
As CTO, Mr. Madhugiri is responsible for leading the creation and identification of novel technology products that are designed and developed iteratively using highly adaptable agile methodologies and open standards to strengthen CBP operations. Mr. Madhugiri also chairs the Technical Review Board, a governance body that focuses on improving the quality, cost effective-ness, sustainability, and resiliency of CBP’s IT solutions.
Andrea Bright
Assistant Commissioner Office of Human Resources Management
Ms. Andrea J. Bright serves as the Assistant Commissioner, Office of Human Resources Management, Enterprise Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In this role, she oversees human resource services to more than 60,000 employees in the United States and abroad in the following key areas: organization design, hiring, workforce planning and analysis, pay and compensation, retirement benefits and planning, executive services, employee benefits, occupational safety and health, labor and employee relations, workforce resiliency and wellness, and recruitment and placement. Read more here.
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Earl Lewis
Deputy Head of Contracting Activity and Executive Director
Procurement Directorate
Patricia Kiely
Chief
Contracting Office
Procurement Directorate
Jay Alalasundaram
Acting Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Software Applications & Services
Office of Information Technology
3:30 - 4:00 PM
Alalasundaram has over 20 years of technical experience in the private and public sectors. He joined the Office of Information Technology at CBP in early 2020 as Deputy Executive Director of Cargo Systems Program Directorate. In the private sector he was a Technical Lead and Manager for Pragmatics Inc.
BREAKFAST SPONSOR:
Anika Systems is an outcome-driven technology and services consulting firm comprised of highly skilled technology practitioners with robust Big Four and Fortune 500 experience. Our mission is to be a trusted advisor and innovation partner for our government clients to solve their most challenging problems using next-generation technologies. We focus on accelerating delivery in PMO, Intelligent Automation, Data and Analytics, Application Development, and Enterprise Modernization. With more than 15 years of providing federal technology solutions, we differentiate ourselves as a show me company, not a tell me company. Our engineering-focused teams and emerging technology experts bring shared experiences and insights from multiple federal environments to each engagement and guide stakeholders throughout their journey.
Using our cloud-based innovation lab services and leading vendor partnerships such as Microsoft, AWS, and UiPath, we deliver flexible, scalable, and forward-thinking solutions built for now and the future.
We are an SBA-certified 8(a), and Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business with multiple contract vehicles including OASIS SB Pool 1 8(a), 8(a) STARS III, and GSA MAS.
For more information, please visit www.anikasystems.com
Connect with us by email at info@anikasystems and by phone at 703-244-0158