USGIF Announces Four New Board Members for 2024

The newly elected board members are: Craig Abod, Patrick Cozzi, Jenny McGee, and Rob Zuppert.

Herndon, Va., (June 26, 2024) The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation ( USGIF) is pleased to announce four new members who have been elected to its Board of Directors. The new board members are Craig Abod, Patrick Cozzi, Jenny McGee, and Rob Zuppert. Additionally, current USGIF board member Gary Sladic has been elected as a Board Director Emeritus.

New Board Members:

Craig Abod is the president and founder of Carahsoft Technology Corp., a Reston, Virginia-based firm that has become the nation’s most respected and fastest growing Public Sector-focused distributor. In founding Carahsoft, Abod combined his entrepreneurial spirit and 25+ years of experience in government sales, marketing, and contract management to create a new company that has redefined the way technology is marketed and sold to the public sector market. In recognition of his accomplishments, Abod has received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Greater Washington Region, The Federal 100 Award twice, the FCW Eagle Award for Industry, and a ten-time winner of the Executive Mosaic Wash100 award recognizing significant contributions in the government contracting.

Patrick Cozzi is the CEO of Cesium and the creator of Cesium and 3D Tiles. A recognized expert in 3D graphics and mapping technology, open standards, and open source software, he is dedicated to advancing 3D geospatial technology.âï¿½¯âï¿½¯A longtime champion of open source technology, Cozzi has created numerous 3D geospatial standards and in 2019, received the Khronos “Khronie” award for outstanding contributions to open standards.âï¿½¯ He has also authored, edited, or contributed to ten books on mapping, computer graphics, and games, and has taught Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jenny McGee serves as a Principal Strategic Account Executive for National Security at Amazon Web Services. After a 31-year active duty Air Force career as an intelligence officer, McGee served at the U.S. Agency for International Development as its first-ever Associate Administrator for Relief, Response, and Resilience – a Senate-confirmed position that oversaw and integrated humanitarian and disaster assistance; conflict prevention and stabilization work; and long-term food security and water, sanitation, and hygiene efforts.âï¿½¯ She also continues to serve as a Senior Advisor and Non-Resident Expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Rob Zuppert joined NVIDIA in 2013 and leads their Intelligence Community business focused on the deployment of artificial intelligence, high performance data analytics and high-performance computing for key mission use cases. A former submarine officer in the U.S. Navy, Rob is also co-Chair of the NVIDIA Veterans Community Resource Group.âï¿½¯ Prior to NVIDIA, Rob spent 5 years in industry supporting the Defense Intelligence Agency and Defense Threat Reduction Agency focused on the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction mission. In the community, Rob has also been a member of the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum and led their external engagement team from 2019-2021.

Continuing on the Board are: USGIF Board Chair Robert Cardillo, President, The Cardillo Group; Jackie Barbieri, Founder and CEO, Whitespace; Deborah Davis, retired GEOINT community executive; Jeff Dawley, Director, Intelligence Business Development, Esri; Stephen Gillotte, CEO, Reinventing Geospatial, Inc.; Stacy Kubicek, Vice President and General Manager, Mission Solutions, Lockheed Martin Space; The Hon. Ellen McCarthy, Chairwoman and CEO of the Truth in Media Cooperative; Brian O’Toole, Chief Executive Officer and Director, BlackSky; Jeff Robertson, Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, Maxar Intelligence; Johnny Sawyer, Founder, The Sawyer Group; Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean for Research, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University; Ronda Schrenk, CEO, USGIF; USGIF Board Advisor Dr. Troy E. Meink, Principal Deputy Director, National Reconnaissance Office; and USGIF Founder and Board Director Emeritus Stu Shea, Chairman, President, and CEO, Peraton.

The Foundation appreciates the contributions of our departing board members: Nate Copeland, Vice President, Intelligence Services, GeoOwl; Stephen Hanna, Sales Operations Manager, Maxar Technologies; LTG Mary Legere, USA, (Ret.), Managing Director, Accenture Federal Services; Nicole Mathern, Aeronautical and Geospatial Analyst, Leidos; former USGIF Board Vice Chair, John Serafini, CEO, HawkEye 360; and former Director Emeritus Paul Graziani, CEO and Co-Founder, Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI). Current board member Gary Sladic, Vice President, Finance and Accounting, Noblis, has been elected to the role of USGIF Board Director Emeritus.

“On behalf of the entire board, I’d like to extend my deepest gratitude to Nate, Stephen, Mary, Nicole, John, and Paul for their invaluable contributions. Their expert guidance has been a catalyst for progress in the Foundation and a direct benefit to the entire GEOINT Community. Quite simply, their time, talent, and expertise have made USGIF a stronger and more effective organization” said Robert Cardillo, USGIF Board Chair. “We are especially grateful that Gary will continue to contribute as a Board Director Emeritus.”

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The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation ( USGIF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT community among government, industry, academia, professional organizations, and individuals who develop and apply GEOINT to address global security challenges. USGIF achieves its mission via its strategic pillars: Build the Community | Advance the Tradecraft | Accelerate Innovation.

For more information, please visitâï¿½¯ www.USGIF.orgâï¿½¯and follow USGIF onâï¿½¯LinkedIn, and âï¿½¯Twitter.

PRESS CONTACT:

Kristen Kloster-Grady
Director of Communications
United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation ( USGIF)
Email Contact
+1 (949) 637-8338