Event Recaps & Photos

Ron Gula is President at Gula Tech Adventures which focuses on cyber technology, strategy and policy. Since 2017, GTA has invested in dozens of cyber start-ups and funds and supported multiple cyber nonprofits and projects. From 2002 to 2016, Ron was the co-founder and CEO of Tenable Network Security. He helped grow the company to 20,000 customers, raise $300m in venture capital and grow revenues to $100m, setting up the company for an IPO in 2018. Prior to Tenable, Ron was a cyber industry pioneer and developed one of the first commercial network intrusion detection systems called Dragon, ran risk mitigation for the first cloud company, was deploying network honeypots in the mid 90s for the DOD and was a penetration tester for the NSA and got to participate in some of the nation's first cyber exercises. Ron is involved in a variety of cyber nonprofits and think tanks including Defending Digital Campaigns, the Cyber Moonshot, the National Security Institute and the Wilson Center.

Mr. John C. "Chris" Inglis, was appointed to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Chris Inglis is a former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency, currently serving as the Looker Distinguished Visiting Professor of Cyber Studies at the United States Naval Academy.

He began his career at the NSA as a computer scientist within the National Computer Security Center and was promoted to the agency’s Senior Executive Service in 1997. While at the NSA, he served in a variety of senior leadership assignments, including eight years as its Chief Operating Officer, responsible for guiding strategy, operations and policy.

Mr. Inglis is also a Managing Director at Paladin Capital Group; a Director on the Boards of FedEx and Huntington Bank; a Trustee for the National Intelligence University; and a member of the Strategic Advisory Groups for the United States Strategic Command and the Director of National Intelligence. A 1976 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and retired command pilot and Brigadier General in the US Air Force, Mr. Inglis holds advanced degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science from Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University and the George Washington University.

Diane is a senior executive & leader whose career spans legal, policy and executive management positions in the US Government at the National Security Agency, the Pentagon and the White House. Her expertise in cyber education, privacy & technology, information security, cyber/fiscal law, data governance & information security, export control/foreign military sales, resource management & inclusion/diversity has informed all her work.

Awarded 2019 Cyber Warrior Women of the Year by CAMI, as well 2019 Women in Cybersecurity Affiliate Leadership Award by WiCyS! Diane leads 5 colleges that deliver offerings for the nation's civilian/ military intelligence global workforce in the areas of signals intelligence, cyber/network security, cyber resilience, and encryption, and she also teaches courses in the Graduate Program of the National Intelligence University.

Earlier as Chief of Staff, NSA Technology Directorate, Diane managed personnel, provided guidance for compliance/data governance reporting, and oversaw audits responses. Before, serving as Assoc. Director of Technology for Information Security and Deputy CISO for NSA, Diane proactively directed and managed information security/protection programs for key NSA systems.

Diane led legal/compliance review of privacy controls of key intelligence programs as Chief Legal Officer, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Served as chief ethics officer & advocate for declassification of facts on collection programs. As NSA Deputy Associate Director for Policy & Records, Diane led export control, CFIUS, Foreign Military Sales, classification & cyber policy. She ensured NSA corporate governance, assisted w/enhancing information sharing/transparency & served as NSA's senior official to the Pentagon on export control. Diane was also Asst. to General Counsel of the Navy, and served as an attorney at the White House Counsel's Office.

Dr. Samantha F. Ravich, was appointed to the Commission by then Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Dr. Samantha Ravich is a defense and intelligence policy and tech entrepreneur. She is the Chair of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and its Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab; the Vice Chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board; and a member of the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board and AI subcommittee.

Dr. Ravich is also a managing partner at the data analytics firm, A2P, LLC; a Board Governor at the NYSE-listed company, International Game Technology (NTSE:IGT) where she sits on the Nominating and Governance Committee; and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) where she sits on the Audit and R&D Committees.

Previously, she was the Republican Co-Chair of the Congressionally-mandated National Commission for Review of Research and Development Programs in the United States Intelligence Community and served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Vice President Cheney. Her groundbreaking work on Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare is shaping a growing field of study on this threat and the term was cited in the 2018 National Security Strategy.

Ravich received her Ph.D. in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School and her MCP/BSE from the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School. Her book, “Marketization and Democracy: East Asian Experiences,” (Cambridge University Press) is used as a basic textbook in international economics, political science, and Asian studies college courses. Ravich is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Ravich is a frequent keynote speaker on: Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare; What Corporate Boards need to know about Cyber Security and Warfare; The Longer-Term Trends in International Security; and the Future of Intelligence Collection and Analysis.

Lieutenant General Karen Gibson retired in March 2020, culminating a 33-year military career as Deputy Director of National Intelligence for National Security Partnerships, where she was responsible for National Intelligence Management for the Cyber, Space, Aviation, and Maritime domains, and for strategic relationships between the Intelligence Community, domestic intelligence producers, private industry, academia, and consumers at the Federal, State, and Local level against domestic security threats and vulnerabilities ranging from cyberattacks and espionage to terrorism.

As Deputy Commanding General at U.S. Army Cyber Command from 2014-2016, she stood up U.S. Cyber Command’s Joint Force Headquarters for Cyber, an integrated operations center that conducts offensive and defensive cyberspace operations in global networks to support military priorities. She stood up the 780th Military Intelligence Brigade, the Army’s premiere offensive cyber organization from 2010-2012 and performed cryptologic operations at NSA-Hawaii, Washington, and Georgia throughout her career. A seasoned combat veteran with a depth of experience supporting U.S. national security objectives in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Africa, Korea and the broader Middle East, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, a Master of Science in National Security Studies from the National Defense University, and a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University.

Grant Verstandig was named the chief digital officer in March 2017 of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), a company with nearly $250b in annual revenues. In this role he is responsible for the strategic direction, governance, and performance expectations of UnitedHealth Group’s digital platforms and capabilities.

Before assuming this role, Grant was the founder and CEO of Rally Health, Inc., a consumer-centric digital health company covering over 25 percent of the US healthcare population that develops online and mobile tools to empower people to take control of their health and well-being, and to manage their health care needs.

Grant started Rally at 21, after experiencing over 12 surgeries on his right leg. Rally raised several hundred million dollars from several strategics including UnitedHealth Group, who acquired a majority stake in the business in 2014 and in 2017, Rally was fully acquired by UnitedHealth Group as part of a multi billion dollar all stock deal, making it the largest digital health exit to date.

Grant has served as an advisor to several organizations in the health, defense, foreign policy, and intelligence space, and is a senior advisor to the National Security Agency on advanced analytics, technology, and AI.

A serial entrepreneur, he is the co-founder and chairman of Epirus, a venture-backed defense company focused on creating advanced aerospace, kinetic, and directed energy weapons platforms for the special operations community. Grant is also the co-founder of the venture-backed CRISPR gene editing company, Tavros, which aims to use edit the genome of patients to use the immune system to fight disease. Grant is also the co-founder of SpyCraft Entertainment, a movie and streaming company focused on the most important intelligence and military operations that have shaped the world around us, but few know. Grant also is on the National Council for the American Enterprise Institute and is a founding member and Director of the Greater Washington Partnership. He resides in the Washington D.C. area.