Executive Vice President of Policy, Information Technology Industry Council
Rob Strayer serves as the Executive Vice President of Policy at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). He leads ITI’s efforts to shape technology policy around the globe to enable innovation, competition, and economic growth, while supporting governments efforts to achieve their public policy objectives. With a team of experienced professionals at ITI, he is responsible for developing and executing policy strategies in every region of the world and on a wide range of digital technology issues, including privacy and data protection, cybersecurity, trade and market access, standards, artificial intelligence, and taxation.
Prior to joining ITI, Strayer served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy at the U.S. State Department. In that role, he led dozens of bilateral and multilateral dialogues with foreign governments on digital economy regulatory and cybersecurity issues. He was named as an ambassador by the President to lead the 90-plus person U.S. delegation to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2018.
Before joining the State Department, Strayer was the general counsel for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also practiced telecommunications law at WilmerHale, and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Strayer received a law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School, and earned his B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Denison University.
Raj M. Shah is currently the Co-founder and CEO of Arceo.ai, a start-up powering new approaches to cybersecurity through insurance and risk management. A seasoned entrepreneur and national security leader, Shah has transitioned often between the public and private sectors. Previously the Managing Partner of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), he reported directly to the Secretary of Defense. Shah led DIUx in its efforts to strengthen our Armed Forces through contractual and cultural bridges between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon.
Previously, Shah was senior director of strategy at Palo Alto Networks, which acquired Morta Security, where he was Co-founder and CEO. He began his business career as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Shah serves as a reserve F-16 pilot in the Air National Guard and has completed multiple combat tours. He holds an AB from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and an MBA from The Wharton School. Shah is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Chief Counsel, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Daniel Sutherland is the Chief Counsel for CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CISA is responsible for cybersecurity, telecommunications, risk management and infrastructure resilience, operating with a budget over $1 billion and a workforce of approximately 2,000. He leads an office of attorneys who negotiate complex technology agreements, provide daily operational support to a cybersecurity operations center, advocate the agency’s positions in litigation, draft and negotiate legislation, and respond to audits and investigations.
Mr. Sutherland’s position builds on a career focused on issues at the intersection of civil liberties and national security. In 2003, Mr. Sutherland was appointed by President Bush to serve as the first Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Department of Homeland Security. He provided advice to Secretaries Ridge and Chertoff on intelligence policy, disability law and policy, emergency preparedness and response, and immigration law. His speech on the need for the government to engage with American Arab and Muslim communities appeared in the publication Vital Speeches of the Day. Mr. Sutherland has also served in the Senior National Intelligence Service at the National Counterterrorism Center where he coordinated the government’s efforts to prevent violent extremism; Mr. Sutherland was referred to by Wired as “one of the government’s point people on stemming the appeal of al-Qaida.” Mr. Sutherland is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/G).
Mr. Sutherland started his federal career as a civil rights attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, where for 14 years he litigated cases in courts across the country. Mr. Sutherland is a graduate of the University of Louisville and University of Virginia School of Law.
Managing Director, SCF Partners
Daniel G. West invests in energy services, equipment, and technology companies at SCF Partners in Houston, Texas. He provides equity capital and strategic growth assistance to entrepreneurs and leaders of both start-up ventures and established, growing businesses.
Prior to joining the private sector, Mr. West served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. As a platoon commander with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Mesa Verde, he led the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel force in support of the NATO aerial campaign over Libya. He then served as executive officer of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines as it mentored Afghan forces to assume lead security responsibility and executed counter-narcotics missions in Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He also served as a clerk for Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mr. West holds degrees in law, business administration, and economics from Harvard University, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review and taught undergraduate courses in economics and government. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International & National Security Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute
Neil Chilson is the Head of AI Policy at the Abundance Institute. Prior to this position, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Growth and Opportunity. Chilson is a lawyer, computer scientist, and author of the book “Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World.”
Chilson was previously the senior research fellow for Technology and Innovation at Stand Together, where he guided efforts to understand and promote the legal and cultural paradigms that best enable people to discover, innovate, and improve all our lives.
Before Stand Together, Chilson was the Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, where he focused on the economics of privacy and blockchain-related issues. Previously, he was an attorney advisor to Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. In both roles he advised Chairman Ohlhausen and worked with staff on nearly every major technology-related case, report, workshop, or other FTC proceeding since January 2014. Neil joined the FTC from telecom firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer. Neil is frequently quoted by the press and his work has appeared in numerous news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USAToday, and Newsweek. Neil has a J.D. from The George Washington Law School, a M.S. in computer science from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in computer science from Harding University.
Policy Counsel for Competition, Public Knowledge
Charlotte is Policy Counsel for competition policy at Public Knowledge. Prior to joining Public Knowledge, Charlotte worked in the Anticompetitive Practices Division of the Federal Trade Commission, investigating and litigating antitrust conduct violations, including the 2017 case against 1-800 Contacts for manipulating Google search ad auctions. She previously worked as a Legislative Aide to Senator Al Franken, focusing on Judiciary Committee issues including competition, media, and consumer privacy.
Charlotte received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and B.A. in Government from the University of Virginia.
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