Leadership

Goals

Mr. Hicks is the Chief Information Officer at City of College Park since November 2016.  His background includes a wealth of progressive technology experience.

Mr. Hicks has over 30 years of technology experience in Higher Education and local government combined as a Technician, Manager, Director, and Chief Information Officer.  

Since joining the College Park team, he used his technology operations experience to manage various departments, Information Technology, Communications, and Customer Service.    

His latest 21st, Century approach to technology has resulted in being chosen as Local Technology leader of The Year Nov. 2022 from State Scoop Local Smart City award. His Innovations also include an exclusive article listed in Atlanta Business Chronicle relative to Smart City technology. He is former chair of College Park Strategic Planning committee. Also, he is an active member of the Emergency Management Committee. He also, fashioned the idea, and gave birth to the College Park Ambassadors program geared toward staff morale. His innovative approach also includes Enterprise Resource Planning, Strategic Planning, Smart City initiatives. He completed a leadership program geared toward future leaders. His additional achievement includes the 2021 “Spirit of Georgia GMIS” award. He also achieved the following certifications:” LGCIO(Local Government Chief Information Officer) program, followed by second tier nationally recognized CGCIO(Certified Government Chief Information Officer). As the City of College Park moves further into the 21^st Century, he is preparing technology for the 22^nd  Century. He obtained a master’s degree from Central Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree from St. Leo University. Some of his hobbies include reading and volunteering. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.

Jonathan Reich brings over 27 years of experience in the field of Information Technology and has a diverse background in both the public and private sectors, setting innovative technology standards and providing visionary leadership for numerous organizations. Jonathan manages a team of professionals committed to delivering a variety of services, including Public Safety applications and technology, Data Center & Infrastructure, Citywide Enterprise Applications, Strategic Planning, Open Data and much more. Under his leadership, the City of Gainesville has implemented a multi-jurisdictional high-speed fiber network and a hyper-converged SDN datacenter, along with updates to policies and procedures to better serve citizens and staff. Jonathan continues to collaborate with governments, nonprofits and other community stakeholders in an effort to bolster citizens’ quality of life through technology. Jonathan has been an active member of the Georgia chapter of GMIS International for the last five years and has completed his Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO™)  via UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute. Jonathan is a long-time Georgia resident and lives in the North Georgia area outside of Atlanta with his family, and hopes to complete the training for his private pilot’s license someday.

Jamie Pownall serves as the Chief Information Officer and Director of Technology Services, and in that role, he manages all operational aspects of Henry County Government’s Information Technology including Security, Strategic Planning, Budgeting, Business Process and Control Management, IT Policy development and management of the Technology Services Department and staff.

Jamie was born in Clayton County and moved to Henry County in 1984 at the age of 8. He graduated from Henry County High School in 1994. During his time in High School, he was a founding member of the Henry Players.

Jamie graduated UGA in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and also achieved his Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO™) from the University of Georgia in 2019. He has been working in the IT field since 1996 and has worked with Henry County in Technology Services since 2007. He was promoted to Director and CIO of Technology Services in 2021.

Jamie and his wife have two girls, one a senior in high school and one who attending UGA. Jamie is an avid sports fan, and loves the Braves, the Patriots and of course, the University of Georgia.

With over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology field, Jonathan Taylor has worked in both the private and public sector supporting technology needs throughout his career. For the past 14 years, Jonathan has worked for both city and county governments. Prior to working in local governments, Jonathan was a Senior IT Support Specialist for a regional CPA firm supporting offices in multiple states throughout the southeast.

Jonathan is currently the Director of Information Technology and Special Projects for the City of Tifton. He manages all aspects of the City’s IT, and with the addition of Special Projects, is managing larger projects for the City that are not dedicated to IT. While with the City of Tifton, he has completed his Local Government Chief Information Officer (LGCIO) program and received the G2G (Government to Government) award for a digital document restructuring project from the Georgia GMIS Chapter and Carl Vinson Institute.

Mr. Taylor is an avid outdoors person. He and his wife of 21 years stay involved with their 3 children and all of their activities. Jonathan volunteers at Tift County High School as a track coach helping with the pole vault. He and his family are members of Union Church where Jonathan also volunteers on the Production Team.

Brengman is an Army Veteran with 20 years of experience in the information technology field. After getting out of the Army in 1999 Benjamin worked as a desktop analyst and a then a network administrator for Welsh Companies in Minnesota. In 2001 Benjamin took a job as an information technology manager for Ambient Consulting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While at Ambient Consulting he worked as a consultant for several large companies such as Wells Fargo, Target, Best Buy and NCS Pearson. In 2007, Benjamin moved to Savannah, GA to get away from the cold winters of Minnesota and has been a resident since then. During the move Benjamin continued to do consulting for Savannah businesses and in 2009 he was hired as a Information Technology Director for the City of Garden City until April of 2022. In May of 2022 Benjamin began working at the City of Hampton as the Information Technology Manager. Benjamin has completed his ITLP which has been renamed LGCIO in 2014. He went to Hennepin technical college in Minneapolis, Mn. Benjamin has been on the Georgia GMIS board for the past six years serving as president in 2016-17 and is again in the president until spring of 2019.

Kelvin Joiner is the Director of Technology for the City of Fayetteville, Georgia and has over thirty-five years of technology experience. He obtained Local Government Chief Information Officer (LGCIO) from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia in 2007.

Mr. Joiner has been a proud member of the Georgia GMIS for over twenty years and served as Georgia GMIS president from 2011 to 2012. He is currently serving as Georgia GMIS Treasurer.

Kelvin began his career as a Cobol programmer for the Fayette County Board of Commissioners in 1989 after working in the private sector as a programmer for three years. In 2000, Kelvin started with the City of Fayetteville as the System Administrator (Army of One), moving up to Director of Technology Services.

Other facts:
Born in New Zealand
Served six years in the US Air Force
Married for 22 years, have one son and daughter

Jaime Montalvo currently holds the position of Deputy Chief Information Officer for Clayton County Board of Commissioners. She has served with Clayton County in various roles in Information Technology since January 2015. Jaime played a pivotal role in implementing the County’s Enterprise Resource Planning system.

Jaime has been working in the technology field for over 25 years. Her career started in the United States Army, where she served 11 years including deploying to Baghdad, Iraq. She has served in various technology positions throughout the years.

Jaime currently attends University of Georgia (GO DAWGS!) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Technology and undergraduate certificate in Project Management from University of Maryland. Jaime’s accomplishments include A+, Security+ certifications, MEDCOM Information Management Soldier of the Year, Clayton County Information Technology Employee of the Year, and Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO).

Jaime enjoys spending time with her husband and son, loves to cook, and Zumba.

Karen Knight is the Communications Coordinator for the City of Douglasville and has over 25 years of technology experience. She has obtained her Local Government Chief Information Officer (LGCIO) certificate & will complete the nationally recognized Certified Government Chief Information Officer™ (CGCIO™) in 2019, both from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.

Mrs. Knight has been a member the GA GMIS Board of Directors since 2007 as the Director of Corporation Sponsorship. She serves as a member of the GMIS International Conference Planning Committee. Karen is the recipient of the GMIS International Hershel Strickland Award twice (2013 and 2017) and the GA GMIS Spirit of Georgia GMIS award in 2017.

Karen is also Secretary of GA MTUG (Motorola Trunked Users Group).

Outside of work, Karen is a big Star Wars fan, enjoys NASCAR, F1 and local dirt track racing, and showing their classic 1957 Ford with her husband, Ricky.