The Trace3 Outlier Award is the industry’s greatest celebration of the CIO. It honors individuals who consistently deliver dynamic innovation and outstanding leadership in the field of information technology.
2023 OUTLIER AWARD NOMINEES
Sean is the Associate Vice President of Cloud and Infrastructure Technology at Merck and Co., Inc. He has more than 20+ years of experience in the technology industry spanning infrastructure, cyber security, and cloud. Sean is currently responsible for leading Merck’s overall cloud strategy and implementation of foundational technologies and services to enable cloud adoption.
Sean is recognized within the industry for introducing disruptive, cutting-edge cloud thinking into the highly regulated Life Sciences and computing landscape. Sean has previously served as a member of the AWS customer advisory board and was a core member of the AWS GxP working group.
As Chief Information Officer, Eric Hanson is responsible for leading Starkey’s global information technology teams and collaborating throughout the organization to identify and execute technology simplification, business enablement and transformative efforts to achieve market and revenue growth.
Eric Hanson is an accomplished, results-oriented leader in the information technology (IT) industry with over 20 years of experience across manufacturing, insurance, and financial services sectors, including executive leadership experience at global organizations. He has a track record of building high-performing teams, creating a culture of innovation, and integrating digital products and services to improve and enable growth.
Mike Jones is the Vice President of Cybersecurity Shared Services for Nationwide. He provides strategic direction and leadership for the Cyber Product Delivery organization, leading our Identity & Access Management, Data Security, and Cloud & Application Security teams.
Mike has more than 20 years of experience in Information Technology roles, most recently serving as AVP, Network Technology in Infrastructure & Operations, leading the Network Technology product teams Data Center and Cloud Connectivity, Network Observability and Automation, Security Core and Edge products as well as the 24 x 7 Network Technology Operations Center.
Mark Pierce has served in numerous leadership roles, including the integration of information technology, cognitive design and knowledge management to help patients traverse the "knowing-doing" gap to achieve healthy outcomes. In his current role, he focuses on emerging needs to expand analytics infrastructure, enable greater specialization in data analysis and scale the availability of analytics for data-driven decision making. Pierce has a bachelor's degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, and earned his medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Dave Rich is Vice President of Technology Strategy, Architecture, and Governance for CSX Corporation, a premier North American transportation company based in Jacksonville, Fla., that provides rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services across a broad array of markets.
In his role at CSX Corporation, Mr. Rich supports CSX’s overall Technology strategy, Enterprise Architecture, Vendor Management Office, Program Management Office, and Technology Agile Delivery processes.
Mr. Rich joined the corporation’s IT subsidiary CSX Technology in 2000 as a software developer, and progressed through positions of increasing responsibility. In 2010, he was appointed Technical Director PTC Back Office and Equipment Health, helping to improve overall rail safety through technical innovation.
2023 OUTLIER AWARD JUDGES
CJ is an award-winning journalist and associate editor at CRN where she covers everything channel from vendors to distributors to solution providers. She holds a Master’s degree in International Journalism from Brunel University in London where she lived for a year in 2016.
Prior to joining CRN in June of 2021, she worked at multiple daily newspapers including The Press of Atlantic City in New Jersey and The Frederick News-Post in Frederick, Maryland where she covered everything from business to local government to feature stories. CJ lives in South Jersey where she enjoys going to the beach, watching The Real Housewives on Bravo and hanging out with her Shih Tzu-Bichon mix, Kenley.
Jason Johnson has a broad range of experience in enterprise network operations and software development. His primary role at Sweetwater is leading our in-house software development, cloud, and network infrastructure teams, who are responsible for continuous delivery and innovation of the IT services required to keep Sweetwater on the cutting edge.
“Jason joined Sweetwater in early 2013 and spent three years as the IT Operations Manager leading a small team modernizing Sweetwater's network infrastructure before he was promoted to Senior Vice President and ultimately to Chief Information Officer. Previously, Jason spent eight years working for the Department of Defense, focused
primarily on network security, and 5 Years serving in the US Navy rated in Information Technology.
“Jason holds 19 industry certifications and has a bachelor’s degree from Western Governors University in Network Design and Management. Jason loves spending time with his wife Kelsi and their two children.
Susan has been implementing transformational data-driven solutions for over 25 years across a variety of industries. Her current role is Vice President, Data & Interoperability, Evergreen Nephrology,
where she is leading high performing global teams on to a modern cloud data architecture.
Susan previously spent several years providing senior management consulting services defining strategy and architecting solutions for Data Analytics, Data Warehousing and Data Governance for several companies across various sectors including healthcare, aerospace, telecom, technology, geospatial and media.
Susan brings hands-on knowledge and experience across the spectrum of information management technologies, with a keen focus on how to leverage data to drive corporate value.
Susan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Rollin’s College and a master’s degree in Business Administration/IT Management from Florida Tech. She also holds a certificate from Kellogg School of Business for her completion of the Executive Women’s Impact Series.
Ashton Mullinix is the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Analytics for the Detroit Lions. For the past nine years, he has served in several different capacities within the NFL at the league and team level.
In his role, he is involved in many high-profile projects that are focused on maximizing revenue and personalizing the fan experience.
Barton Warner is Senior Vice President of Infrastructure at Capital Group, leading the Emerging Technology and Enterprise Technology Services organizations. Prior to joining Capital, Barton was a senior leader at JP Morgan Chase (formerly WaMu) responsible for Infrastructure Delivery, and worked in multiple consulting roles as a Technology Principal for Fortune 500 clients.
Barton has an MBA from the University of Washington and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana. He guest-lectures at the USC Marshall School of Business and frequently speaks at industry events focused on Mobility, Collaboration, and Virtualization.
Barton Warner is Senior Vice President of Infrastructure at Capital Group, leading the Emerging Technology and Enterprise Technology Services organizations. Prior to joining Capital, Barton was a senior leader at JP Morgan Chase (formerly WaMu) responsible for Infrastructure Delivery, and worked in multiple consulting roles as a Technology Principal for Fortune 500 clients.
Barton has an MBA from the University of Washington and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana. He guest-lectures at the USC Marshall School of Business and frequently speaks at industry events focused on Mobility, Collaboration, and Virtualization.
John Wrenn is Chief Technology Officer, Information Technology (IT) at Flex, a global technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions provider.
John is responsible for leading Flex’s information technology strategy and its successful execution worldwide. John is focused on breakthrough solutions for critical business challenges and delivering new digital services to customers, creating competitive advantage through innovation-at-scale.
Originally from Ireland, John has held several progressive leadership positions including IT Operations in Europe, leading IT in Flex’s GSS Business Segment, before moving to Silicon Valley in 2012 to lead up Enterprise Applications. John became CTO in 2018 and during 2018 & 2019, John was honored by the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) as one of Silicon Valley 50 Irish-Americans making an impact in his field.
