Join us in Phoenix, AZ

Verizon Frontline
5G Innovation Sessions

TJ Fox

TJ Fox is President of Industrial IoT and Automotive for Verizon Business, responsible for catalyzing Verizon’s growth in the burgeoning connected vehicle and industrial device markets. He oversees business development, commercial modeling, and cross-functional efforts for Verizon in the industrial IoT and Automotive businesses. He is a 28-year V Teamer with a proven track record of driving growth, especially in new or high-priority segments.

Fox previously served as SVP and President of Verizon Business Markets, leading 5,000 sales professionals dedicated to selling wireless and wireline solutions to small and medium businesses in the U.S., contributing to an annual revenue of $12B. In Verizon’s first year under the new operating structure, the combined teams drove sales and increased revenue year over year by 6%.

In the course of Fox’s Verizon tenure, he has been immersed in many different areas of the business, including Retail and Business sales, Telesales, US Operations, US Customer Service Operations and Verizon Enterprise Solutions. He has held several senior executive-level national and field operations roles, including SVP of the Wireless Business Group and SVP of National Operations for Verizon Wireless, and also served as President of the Illinois/Wisconsin region of Verizon Wireless.

He has been honored as a Crain’s Chicago “40 under 40” award winner and a seven-time recipient of Verizon President’s Cabinet award, which is the highest honor that a Verizon sales professional and leader can attain. Fox is passionate about volunteering because helping his community affords the opportunity both to give back and better understand how to effect change. Fox served as a board member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and served as Chairman of the Board for Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA), where he remains an active member of the Leadership Council.

He currently lives in northern New Jersey with his wife and two children. He is a native of Annapolis, Maryland and earned his Bachelor’s degree at Virginia Tech.

Mitch Cooper

Mitch has been with Ericsson since 2001. He is leading the sales of Ericsson’s Emerging Business portfolios, Core network, and IT Managed Services. Prior to joining the Verizon Account in 2020, Mitch held various strategic leadership and technical roles at Ericsson within Core R&D and Services organizations, spanning North America, Europe and Asia.

Mitch holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Iowa State University. He lives with his wife and four children in Tewksbury, New Jersey.

Kurt Schwartzkopf

As EVP and Co-Head of Sports, Kurt oversees the NBA and NHL Teams/Arenas business segment for Ticketmaster.

Kurt and his team focus on delivering the highest level of client care and innovation to their partners while helping clients leverage industry leading technology and services that drive more revenue and deliver more fans. Joining Live Nation Entertainment in May of 2013, Kurt brings over 25+ years of industry knowledge. Prior to his role at Ticketmaster, Schwartzkopf spent 5 years as Chief Marketing Officer for the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Mammoth and Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena) where he oversaw all team ticket sales & service, premium sales & service, marketing, creative, digital/interactive media, box office operations, game entertainment, fan development and community relations for the clubs and arena. Schwartzkopf also spent seven years with the Los Angeles Kings and STAPLES Center and was part of the executive team that transitioned from the Great Western Forum to STAPLES Center in 1999 and helped launch a new era of Kings hockey and live events in downtown Los Angeles. He also has over nine years of collective experience with FELD Entertainment, Inc. both as a promoter and then Regional Vice President. In his role as an RVP Kurt supervised the Western U.S. and Western Canada for all FELD tours.

Mayor Kate Gallego

Kate Gallego has a vision for Phoenix: she sees it as a place that is vibrant and growing, and one where every person is treated with dignity and respect.

Mayor Gallego is a strong advocate for smart business growth and investment – she recently helped land the city’s largest-ever business development deal, a $12 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant that will bring significant economic development for decades to come. She is leading the city to global status as a leader in bioscience, research, and advanced medical manufacturing.

The Mayor is also leading Phoenix to meet its goal to become the most sustainable desert city in the United States. She has fostered investments in cool solutions, including the nation’s first, publicly funded Office of Heat Response and Mitigation; launched the city’s successful cool pavement pilot; and led the charge toward building EV infrastructure and a strong transportation system to clear the air and empower families and individuals to spend less time stuck in traffic.

Mayor Gallego is the second elected female Mayor in Phoenix history and one of the youngest big city Mayors in the United States. In November 2020, she was returned to office with the highest number of votes ever cast for a mayoral candidate in Phoenix.

A graduate of Harvard University, she earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior professional pursuits include strategic planning and economic development for one of Arizona’s largest utility companies and service in state government, as part of the Governor’s team. She was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 2013, and won the office of Mayor in 2019.

Mayor Kate Gallego enjoys a desert hike and a good read. She is Mom to five-year-old Michael.

Anil Lalwani

Anil Lalwani is responsible for AWS Edge Product Management and Go-To-Market. He brings over 25 years of experience in the enterprise technology space and is passionate about helping customers solve business problems using modern digital technologies.

Anil began his career as a software engineer and managed solution architect, business development and product management fronts. Prior, he led and scaled AWS services - DynamoDB and ElastiCache to fastest growing NoSQL Databases. Before joining Amazon, Anil was a Sr Director at Oracle, and responsible for Business Development, Partners and Solutions Architects.

Anil graduated with top honors from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India and holds an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Michael Ruhnke

In his current role as Vice President, Enterprise Investment Accounts, Mike is responsible for leading a diverse organization of approx. 200 professionals focused on growing new share in over 5,000 large Enterprise customers in the United States. His teams are tasked with uncovering new opportunities and selling compelling solutions that leverage the assets and capabilities of Verizon across the wireless and wireline portfolio - and solve key business challenges for these enterprises.

As a part of his responsibility. Mike has designated a team that exclusively supports our growing efforts and investment in the Sports and Large public venue space. This team is focused on delivering solutions to Sports leagues, teams and clubs that leverage our investments and partnerships across this exciting space.

Prior leadership roles included Sales Engineering, Sales Operations, Business Development, and Senior Sales leadership roles in Direct the Medium Business, Indirect Channel, and Enterprise segments.

Dan Costello

Costello is in his 16th season with the Phoenix Suns. As Chief Revenue Officer and Executive Vice President, Costello oversees all revenue generation departments including Ticket Sales and Service and Global Partnership Solutions. Costello also oversees the organization’s strategies involving innovation and Information Technology, as well as Suns Legacy Partners’ interest in the Legends Entertainment District. Prior to becoming Chief Revenue Officer & Senior Vice President of Business Innovation, Costello was Chief Commercial Officer. Before the 2018-19 season, in an organization-wide initiative helmed by Costello’s vision and guidance, the Suns partnered with PayPal to create a first-of-its-kind global partnership that made PayPal the first-ever jersey patch partner of the Suns and the Official Payment Partner of the Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca. In July 2019, the Suns were awarded the NBA’s Changemaker of the Year Award at the NBA’s Revenue & Analytics Workshop in recognition of their innovative approach to partnering with PayPal. Costello began his career in television advertising with Cox Media, and while there he had successful years as a local account executive focusing on local business, national sales manager focusing on bringing national ad sales dollars to the state of Arizona, and national Hispanic sales manager. Costello currently serves on the Phoenix Suns Charities Board of Directors, Great Hearts America Board of Directors, the Steward Health Care Board of Trustees and is a Honorary Commander at Luke Air Force Base. A graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, he is married to Melissa (an attorney with Bryan Cave) and has two children, Logan and Dylan.

Danny Johnson

Danny Johnson, a 20+ year veteran in the technology industry, is a seasoned executive possessing experience in software development, engineering, sales, consulting, product development, and marketing.  Danny has started and launched innovative products and solutions into multi-billion dollar markets and is currently Director of product marketing for Verizon Business Group where his responsibilities include:  portfolio positioning and messaging, competitive differentiation, and new channel activation for Verizon Business Group’s 5G, MEC, IoT, and SDN portfolios.

Steve Reese

Steve is in his tenth season with the Phoenix Suns as their Chief Information Officer.

An early Information Technology trailblazer, he joined the Houston Oilers in 1990 as one of only six Sports Technologists in the world. Since then, he has served as Chief Technologist for the Tennessee Titans, Houston Astros, and San Diego Padres. His unique experience working with professional athletes and team organizations in the NFL, MLB, and NBA, has given him insight on how to achieve and maintain personal peak performance.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors for MoonshotAZ, an Arizona technology and business Incubator. Previously, Steve sat on the Executive Advisory Board of S.E.A.T. (Sport Entertainment Alliance in Technology), the NBA’s Innovation Hub and was a founding member of the NFL’s Technical Advisory Committee.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Reese ran track at Saginaw Valley State University, where he earned All-America honors in 1980. In 1984, he received his B.B.A. from the University of Houston where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a concentration in Information Systems.

Steve is married to Joanne, the love of his life, and has two sons, Steve (33) and Matthew (31).  In his time away from the office, Steve trains his Australian Labradoodle, Houston, who provides therapy services to the elderly who suffer with Alzheimer.

David Hickey

Dave Hickey is Vice President of the West Business Markets where he oversees all Mid-Markets business sales. He is responsible for an organization of approximately 850 sales professionals and leaders serving the mid-market space businesses driving over $1.6B in annual revenue.

Dave joined Verizon in 2000 as a Business Account Executive and has held various roles within the organization, including Major Account Manager, Business Sales Manager, Associate Director, and Director of SMB, Retail, Enterprise, and Government.

Throughout his career, Dave has accumulated a broad depth of experience in technology and business development. He has earned a reputation for molding the teams he leads into elite organizations that not only exceed and achieve maximum success but have a sense of positive energy and transparency that pave the way for teamwork and growth.

Corporate and charitable leadership

Dave brings his spirited energy to the team around strategic direction, funnel management, high activity levels, and developing emerging talent. 

Dave’s passion is established from a centralized framework in tactful employee culture and customer engagement, creating relationships that serve all sides of the business.

He and his family reside in Southern California, where he is an advisor to EvoNexus, a not-for-profit organization that has a unique incubation program that attracts applications from early-stage technology ventures across the globe seeking to benefit from strategic advisors and capital connections.

Maggie Hallbach

Maggie Hallbach is the President of Verizon Frontline, leading the team of professionals dedicated to partnering with Verizon’s federal, state, local, education and public safety customers to deliver innovative technology solutions and services. This includes Verizon Frontline, the advanced network and technology built for first responders.

Maggie has held a number of executive roles during her more than two decades at Verizon. Most recently she served as Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Sales for  VerizonPublic Sector where she led the team focused on developing, designing and capturing strategic opportunities in the Public Sector.

She has also served as Vice President of the state, local and education markets for Verizon. In this role, she and her team were responsible for developing solutions to address the increasingly complex requirements of state and local governments and education clients. 

Additionally, Maggie has held a variety of roles focused on delivering customer experience enhancements and increasing shareholder value. She headed Verizon’s Lean Six Sigma efforts to drive ongoing business transformation and process improvement across Verizon Enterprise Solutions. 

Maggie earned a Master of Business Administration in marketing and finance from the  University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Arts in  history from Brown University. She is also on the boards of directors at the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) and the United Service Organizations (USO). Maggie is committed to inclusion of youth and adults with special needs, dedicating time to TOP Soccer, Best Buddies International and supporting the Arc of Northern Virginia.

Patty Roze

Patty Roze serves as Vice President, Sales for Public Sector focused on state, local and education markets for the Verizon Business Group, part of Verizon Communications.

In this role, she leads a nationwide team responsible for developing solutions to address the complex requirements of state government, local government, and education clients. Patty and her team oversee the seamless delivery of integrated solutions across Verizon’s industry-leading portfolio including best in class wireless mobility services, cloud and information technology, security, strategic networking, and advanced communications offerings to meet the needs of public sector and the citizens they serve.

Patty previously served as Director, Global Enterprise Sales for the Transportation, Distribution, and Construction vertical practice for the Verizon Business Group. Patty and her team served the top most influential multi-national corporations to identify, create and deliver solutions to meet the unique traditional and emerging business needs of the industry. She began her career with the company in 2000 as a wireless account executive in Houston and has held roles of increasing responsibility ever since. Patty has led teams across the United States responsible for selling Intelligent Global IP Networks, Dynamic Cloud, Security Solutions, Mobility and M2M Solutions. Roze’s 20-year career at Verizon includes extensive work in large enterprise sales, consulting, and leadership positions supporting F500 clients throughout the United States.

Patty earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Ashford University in San Diego, CA.

Cory Davis

His team partners with first responder and public sector agencies nationwide to help them stay connected, innovate, plan for the future, mitigate pain points, and prepare for times of crisis. His team is responsible for Verizon Frontline Public Safety strategy, and overall customer experience for our most critical customers. Verizon Frontline is committed to the public safety community, putting the nation's #1 Network for Public Safety to work every day ensuring the mission-critical communication needs of public safety professionals are met. His team takes pride in its partnership with federal, state, and local agencies, and sponsors numerous public safety events and associations throughout the country.

Mike Loomis

Mike Loomis is the General Manager for Nokia Federal Solutions LLC, leading Nokia’s engagements with and product investments to meet the needs of the US Federal Government.  Mike took this role on August 1st 2021.

Prior to taking on the GM position at Nokia Federal, Mike was responsible for Nokia’s webscale segment (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft).   This role was targeted at datacenter infrastructure, datacenter interconnect and 5G/public cloud partnerships.  

Mike has held several executive positions within Nokia/Alcatel-Lucent including leading global sales for large enterprise, an original member of Nuage Networks software defined networking ‘spin-in’ and responsible for technical sales, and CTO of Verizon customer team.  

Mike earned an ROTC scholarship at Rensselear Polytechnic institute and served as an officer in the United States Army, 82nd Airborne Division counting Operation Desert Shield/Storm among several deployments.   After the Army, Mike began his networking career working for Welfleet Communications which ultimately landed him in Nortel after a series of mergers and acquisitions.

Mike also holds and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire and US patent 8,787,218 B2 ‘Dynamic Establishment of Virtual Circuits using Multi-Segment Psuedowires.

Arshdeep (Arsh) Sawhney

Arshdeep Sawhney is the Director of Product Management at Verizon Business Group. She is responsible for enabling robust, mission critical and innovative solutions for Federal, State and Local, and Education customers. Arsh has successfully launched wireless, wireline, applications and cloud based solutions in Verizon. Previously, she has led product development, global strategy and business operations with roles of increasing responsibility at Panasonic, Motorola and Metrico Wireless (now Spirent). She has been in the telecommunications industry for 15+ years and holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA.

Anthony Battista

Anthony Battista is the Managing Director of Solution Architecture in the Verizon Business Group aligned with the State, Local and Education (SLED) segment.  Through a combination of vision setting and collaboration, Anthony leads a national team of architects responsible to discover and align our constituents’ business and technical requirements with Verizon capabilities in order to deliver each constituent’s desired outcome.  This team serves as the single point of accountability for pre-sales technical solution development across the entire Verizon product portfolio. 

In 17 years with Verizon, Anthony has held positions of increasing responsibility within the Solutions organization and across multiple disciplines within Sales Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture and Solution Architecture Management. 

Prior to joining Verizon, Anthony held various positions in Sales Engineering, Sales Management, Sales, Project Management and technical writing at other technology and consulting firms. Including his time at Verizon, Anthony brings more than 25 years of experience to Verizon and his customers.

Anthony resides outside Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and two sons.  He is actively involved with local organizations in support of Breast Cancer and Autism.  Anthony holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Baltimore.

Brian Dugan

Brian Dugan served with the Tampa Police Department for 31 years, his final four years he served as the 32nd Chief of Police.

Throughout his career, Chief Dugan recognized the value of community relationships.  He quickly rose through the ranks leading to his appointment of Chief of Police in 2017.  This appointment came after a very dark period for the City of Tampa.  In the fall of 2017, a serial killer targeted the Seminole Heights community.  Chief Dugan led a coalition of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies as the unwavering voice of calm and strength for the city, until the suspect was brought to justice.

Under his command, the Tampa Police Department was the lead agency among 70 other law enforcement partners for Super Bowl LV in 2020, as well as the lead agency for security during back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.  The Tampa Police Department also coordinated security for the celebratory boat parades which, due to the pandemic, were the first of its kind.

Brian Dugan is best known for the innovative ways he cultivated police-community relationships through outreach and engagement.  He created a integrated approach to fighting crime by developing a sustainable methodology of enhancing public trust and building community partnerships.  This was evident through his creation of the Community Investment Grant program, popular podcase series, modern citizen police academies, and his commitment to officer trainings focused on treating all citizens with dignity and respect. 

Under Dugan’s leadership, citizens could learn first-hand about their agency through a series of half-day citizens academies.  Dozens of community leaders, local business owners, activists, and professional athletes have experienced real-life scenarios experienced by offices through this engagement program.  Chief Dugan invited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tampa Bay Lightning players to participate in the working for social justice program.  This partnership created a productive environment for an exchange of ideas, concerns, and challenges.

Chief Dugan will always be proud of his officers for driving down crime, but he is most satisfied with the community policing that takes place in Tampa every day.  Officers and employees work side-by-side with citizens to solve and prevent crimes.  Determined to put “bad money” to good use, Chief Dugan implemented a Community Investment Grant program with the use of drug forfeiture funds.  The department invested in local non-profits whose missions ranged from empowering underprivileged children through education to providing ex-offenders with employability skills to reduce recidivism. 

During his tenure, Dugan launched “Role Call with Chief Brian Dugan” a unique podcast series highlighting the diverse roles of community members in public safety.  Each week he traded in his police radio for a microphone to host the 30-minute show alongside a featured guest.  With a reach of more than 1,000 listeners, these candid conversations helped draw important parallels between community service and police work.

Chief Dugan earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice form West Liberty University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Troy State University.  He is a graduate of the prestigious Southern Police Institute’s Command Officers Development Course.  In 2014, he attended the Senior Management Institute for Police.  He is a graduate of the FBI’s National Executive Institute and Leadership Tampa.  Chief Dugan is also a member of several professional associations, including the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police Association, Florida Police Chiefs Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and Police Executive Research Forum. 

As a cancer survivor, Brian is grateful for each day he can make a difference in the community of law enforcement. However, his most important role is his role as a husband and father of two children.

Karen Tandy

Karen P. Tandy has more than 40 years of leadership experience in the public and private sectors with executive board experience serving on for-profit and nonprofit boards. She heads a government affairs consulting firm in the Washington, DC, area.

Ms. Tandy was appointed by President George, W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first female to head the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where she managed a $2.4 billion budget and approximately 11,000 employees in 86 global offices from 2003 to 2007. During her tenure, the DEA dismantled 80% more significant drug-trafficking organizations, contributing to a 23% reduction in teen drug use, and the lowest level of workplace drug use in almost 20 years.

Prior to the DEA, Ms. Tandy led the nationwide Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces, comprised of thousands of federal and state law enforcement agents and prosecutors across the U.S. After 12 years as a federal prosecutor, she was named U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton and Bush administrations, with responsibility for developing national policy and strategies involving drug enforcement and counter money laundering.

In the private sector, Ms. Tandy was the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for Motorola Solutions, where she was Motorola’s top public-policy spokesperson on issues related to global telecom policy.

Ms. Tandy was appointed by the U.S. Congress to the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking in 2020. She is Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, previously leading its law enforcement operations committee. She also is a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council (DHS HSAC), appointed under the Obama and Trump administrations. Previously, Ms. Tandy chaired the Board of Directors of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (2019 to 2020) and chaired several law enforcement-related Homeland Security Advisory Council Panels, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Integrity and Use of Force (2015 to 2016): Immigration and Customs Enforcement Use of Privatized Detention Facilities (2016); and CBP Families and Children Care at the Southwest Border (2018 to 2019).

Ms. Tandy is a lawyer admitted to the state bars of Texas and Virginia, and is the Founder and Principal of KPT Consulting, LLC. She resides in northern Virginia.

Bryan Schromsky

Bryan W. Schromsky, Managing Partner, 5G Public Sector for Verizon has been with Verizon for more than 20 years. During his tenure he has held various engineering, marketing, and project management positions. Bryan has worked closely with Federal, State, and Local government agencies in designing and implementing public safety voice and data networks using 2G, 3G, 4G and now 5G technology. A graduate of the University of Kentucky and the FBI Citizens Academy, he has served on various government mobility panels including the FBI Information Technology Study Group, NOBLE, HAPCOA, National Security Agency, and IACP mobility committees. He has also been nominated and approved by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation to serve on the ITS Program Advisory Committee for three terms.

Kim Mirabella

Kim Mirabella serves as the Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Sales for Verizon Public Sector and oversees the development, design and capture of strategic opportunities.

Kim’s tenure at Verizon spans 24 years and includes a variety of roles within government sales, Fios consumer sales, Verizon Lean Six Sigma and marketing. Most recently, she served as the Director of Southeast Government Sales within the Public Sector team, focused on state and local government, public safety, K-12 and higher education. She started her career serving wireline customers, selling IP networking, voice/data networks, security, managed services, advanced comms and more.

In 2021 Kim was honored with the Verizon Credo Award for her work in delivering excellence for her customers, employees, shareholders and society.  She worked with various law enforcement partners ahead of Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, FL to make sure all aspects of Verizon were ready for the big game. Kim has been instrumental in enabling hybrid learning for thousands of students through Verizon's Distance Learning program and delivery of affordable wireless solutions.

She is a Tampa, Fla. native and graduate of the University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and a minor in Marketing. Kim is passionate about her community, volunteering and is on the Board of Directors for the Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Sandy Jo MacArthur

Sandy Jo MacArthur has a career in policing spanning over 40 years with the LAPD, 35 of which were fulltime and five as a reserve officer. She attained the rank of Assistant Chief before her retirement in 2015 and continues to work with the Training and Education Division.

Her experience includes: field operations, budget, technology, 911 center, personnel hiring and promotions, police training, and employee wellness. Her expertise includes: handling cases involving people with mental illness; crisis intervention tactics; use of force training, skill development and adjudication; human relations and resources; diversity and discrimination; conflict management; curriculum design; and training delivery.

Ms. MacArthur currently works with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office as the Mental Health Training Coordinator, teaching law enforcement officers from throughout the county de-escalation skills when handling calls for service involving persons with mental illness.

She is an adjunct professor at the Pepperdine University School of Law teaching mediation and the psychology of conflict. She also consults with law enforcement agencies across the nation. She also works with the University of Chicago Crime Lab assisting with several projects pertaining to the Chicago Police Department, including employee wellness, early intervention programs and various training for in-service personnel.

Ms. MacArthur received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Arizona State University in 1980, a master's degree in behavioral science, specializing in negotiations and conflict management, from California State University, Dominquez Hills in 1997, and is currently pursuing her doctorate in psychology.

Kara Kalkbrenner

Chief Kalkbrenner was one of only six female Fire Chiefs of large metropolitan fire departments in the country. Her philosophy is that public administrators are community stakeholders and play an integral role in shaping the community where they work and live. Chief Kalkbrenner led 2,300 members and oversaw an operating budget of more than $550 million dollars, carefully stewarding taxpayer dollars and city resources while serving as Phoenix Fire Department’s Fire Chief. 

Chief Kalkbrenner served in every operational capacity within the Department’s six divisions, including Operations (Fire and Emergency Medical Services response), Fire Prevention, Human Resources, Physical Resources, Information Technology, and Training. That experience provided her with the insight and understanding of all aspects of the Phoenix Fire Department. 

Chief Kalkbrenner’s Labor/Management Teams had an ongoing commitment to present-day Strategic Plans that addressed the current and future needs of the community and Phoenix Fire Department. The Strategic Plans were the guiding force for continued innovation and customer service to the citizens of Phoenix. The plans include the 26 jurisdictions the Phoenix Fire Automatic Aid System responds into. The plans keep the PFD and the Automatic Aid Consortium relevant and continue to move the organizations forward. These plans include six key initiatives:

• Comprehensive Training and Development
• Technology and Communications 
• Assess and Prioritize Fire Department Programs and Needs
• Management of Human Resources
• Analysis and Management of Data
• Emergency Service Delivery and Deployment Model

Chief Kalkbrenner holds an Associate Degree in Fire Science from Phoenix College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Service Management from Ottawa University and is a graduate from the Naval Postgraduate School. She has served as an adjunct instructor for the Fire Services program at Maricopa County Community Colleges.

Peter Linder

As Head of 5G Marketing, North America for Ericsson, Peter aspires to help enterprise, industry, and service provider stakeholders to understand and realize the full potential of 5G technology and mobile G forces. In 2020 Oanlytica ranked him as the #1 expert technology influencer on LinkedIn. This recognition comes from three decades as a broadband networker in the fixed and mobile domain, two decades as a professional speaker, and one decade exploring digital marketing. After hours he is passionate about formula one racing, photography, travel, and time with friends and family.

Tracy Montgomery

City of Surprise Emergency Manager Tracy Montgomery, has a 30-plus year career in law enforcement with the 7th largest police department in the country where she rose to the rank of Assistant Police Chief. She has an extensive background in emergency management.

In her former role she oversaw the Technical Services and Homeland Security and Defense Divisions, focusing on city and regional preparedness in the Phoenix area. Montgomery was the Executive Steering Committee Co-Chair for the Arizona Counter Terrorism and Information Center (ACTIC), and was instrumental in the establishment of the valley’s Regional Interoperable Public Safety Communications System known as the Regional Wireless Cooperative. In her last assignment she oversaw the delivery of Police and Public Safety services at Sky Harbor International Airport.

Tracy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from University of Phoenix; a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis on Counseling and Human Development from Northern Arizona University; and a Master’s Degree in Security Studies with an emphasis on Homeland Security and Defense from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Montgomery is a Certified Public Manager (CPM) through Arizona State University; is a graduate of the FBI National Academy’s 208th Session; and served as a Community Fellow at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University for eight years.

She holds many National Incident Management System (NIMS) certifications including Incident Commander, and was a member of the Phoenix Police and Fire Departments’ Type 2 Incident Management Team. Tracy also continues her work in public safety as a reserve police officer.