Thomas K. Billington
CEO & Founder
Thomas K. Billington is the CEO and Founder of Billington CyberSecurity, a leading, independent education company founded in 2010 with an exclusive focus on cybersecurity education. His summits have featured the last five NSA directors and all the Commanders of U.S. Cyber Command. The summit is known as the world’s leading government summit on cybersecurity with the unique educational mission of convening the who’s who in cybersecurity: the senior leadership from the U.S. government, our allied partners, and their industry and academic partners.
In addition to the annual summit, Billington CyberSecurity produces monthly webinars and partner breakfasts, CyberBytes video insights, innovation roundtables and high-level networking receptions throughout the year as well as a private membership service which convenes senior public and private partners in the format of monthly leadership council breakfasts for knowledge sharing.
Billington has decades of producing cyber events serving the auto sector in Detroit and the private sector in New York. Going back to 1999, Billington launched his first cyber summit at BNA, later purchased by Bloomberg. Before launching his company in 2010, Tom spent nearly two decades producing hundreds of events, publications and articles for four of the world’s leading media companies: Reader’s Digest, Phillips Business Information, BNA and Thomson Reuters. His Billington events have been cited in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, Politico, CNN, NBC, and C-SPAN. Billington graduated with an MBA from Georgetown and a B.A. from Brown University. He is a member of the Metropolitan Club and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
Troy Schneider
PRESIDENT
Troy Schneider is the President of Billington CyberSecurity. In that role, he oversees the organization’s sales, content and marketing efforts, and works across the organization to deliver continued growth and world-class engagement with both government and industry cybersecurity leaders.
Schneider has been building and leading organizations at the intersection of media, technology and public sector for 30+ years. Before joining Billington CyberSecurity, he was President of GovExec360, where he oversaw operations, content, events and client services. He similarly led Public Sector 360, the government-focused business unit of 1105 Media Inc. that was acquired by GovExec in 2021.
He was for many years the Editor-in-Chief of both FCW and GCN, two of the oldest and most influential publications in public-sector IT, and earlier in his career held leadership roles at the New America Foundation, Atlantic Media and National Journal.
Schneider began his career in print journalism, and has written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, WashingtonPost.com, Slate, Politico, Governing, and many of the other titles listed above. He is a graduate of Indiana University, where his emphases were journalism, business and religious studies.
Charles LeGette
CHIEF OF STAFF / VICE PRESIDENT OF VIP EVENTS
Charles LeGette serves as Billington CyberSecurity’s Chief of Staff and Vice President of VIP Events where he collaborates with all executive team members on business priorities, developing strategies, and leading the company’s VIP programs that include partner breakfasts, Federal Leadership Council Dialogues, webinars, and additional specially curated events.
Prior to joining Billington CyberSecurity, Charles served as Assistant Director of Events for American University’s top-ranked School of Public Affairs. There he oversaw the logistics and related activities for over 250 annual events and webinars. Additionally, he produced all programs for the Sine Institute of Policy & Politics, a university initiative to engage its active student body, as well as the worldwide community, through convening high-profile top scholars and field experts for conversations on the world’s most urgent problems and discussing innovative non-partisan policy solutions.
Before his time at American University, Charles organized events and managed communications, marketing, and program logistics for the Embassy of France’s cultural activities in Washington, D.C. With over twenty years dedicated to event planning, marketing, communication, and audience engagement, he is results driven and has a track record of demonstrating significant growth in audiences, partnerships, publicity, programs, and the development of a broad range of systems facilitating in both qualitative and quantitative advances. Charles holds a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and an undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston.
Kristin Ballance
SENIOR Director of Meetings
Kristin Ballance serves as the Director of Meetings & Strategic Partnerships where she provides general meetings oversight and manages the partnerships for sponsors as well as education and media partners. She has over 25 years’ experience in meeting planning, sponsorship sales and exhibit hall management. Her experience encompasses all areas of meetings management including site selection and contract negotiations, event marketing, hotel and venue logistics, audio-visual, general session production, speaker management, and sponsorship and exhibit hall management.
Prior to joining Billington CyberSecurity, she served as both sponsorship and exhibits manager and meetings manager for various tech companies and trade associations as a contractor under her company Meetings Unlimited, a full-service meeting company. In addition, she consulted and managed events for large associations and prestigious organizations such as Oliver Wyman, the Smithsonian Institution and Georgetown University.
Prior to founding Meetings Unlimited, Ballance served as Director of Meetings for two national trade associations including Health Insurance Association of America (HIA) and Airlines for America (A4A). While at HIAA, she was responsible for all marketing, expositions and meetings where she tripled revenues in a two-year period. At A4A, she oversaw both annual US-based and international events and revamped the departments resulting in an exponential increase in revenue. Ballance is a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) and IATA Accredited Travel Agent. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Virginia Tech with a BA in Liberal Arts and Science.
Lori Kaye
Head of Marketing
Lori Kaye serves as Head of Marketing at Billington CyberSecurity. In this role, she leads the team responsible for shaping and executing marketing strategies that elevate the Billington brand, expand its community, and drive engagement for the organization’s world-class cybersecurity events.
Since early 2021, Lori has been the strategic marketing partner behind Billington’s brand through her work as CEO of Evergreen Marketing. She officially joined the team full-time in December 2025 to steer the company’s marketing vision into its next chapter of growth.
Lori brings a deep passion for the Billington mission, coupled with extensive experience in brand strategy and event marketing which was honed through many years supporting various trade associations. It was further punctuated after joining Evergreen Marketing in 2014, where she led marketing for large-scale events such as the North American Ornithological Conference and the National Math Festival, along with multi-year public relations support for the USA Science and Engineering Festival.
Lori holds a B.A. in Communication with a Public Relations concentration from George Mason University.
Kim Kelemen
Senior Account Executive
Kim Kelemen serves as Senior Account Executive at Billington CyberSecurity. She plays a key role in establishing and nurturing relationships with clients and in forging sponsorship agreements that help those clients reach Billington’s highly valued cybersecurity community through our educational events.
Prior to joining Billington CyberSecurity, Kelemen served as Director, Media Sales for the American Retirement Association. There she oversaw sales of advertising (print and digital), e-blasts, virtual events, webcasts and podcasts, generating media revenue across five ARA sister organizations, building relationships through client outreach and engagement techniques to ensure sales goals and customer expectations, and much more.
Before her time at ARA, Kelemen served as the Director, Supplier Relations for the American Staffing Association where she led non-dues revenue through sales of advertising (print and digital), exhibit space and sponsorships for four conferences, multiple annual programs, and new products created. With over thirty years dedicated to sales, marketing, and event planning, she is relationship-driven and has a demonstrated record of significant growth in revenue, partnerships, publicity, programs, and the development of a broad range of strategies resulting in both qualitative and quantitative market improvements. Kelemen holds a master’s degree from George Mason University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
William T. (Terry) Burruss
Director of Content
As a retired cybersecurity specialist at the U.S. Federal Government Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Terry Burruss provides direction for all content for Billington CyberSecurity. His 30+ years of experience includes working as a Senior Intelligence Service (SIS) officer in CIA’s Directorate of Digital Innovation (DDI) and as Deputy Chief of the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence, which is responsible for intelligence collection, analysis, and operations focused on foreign cyber threats to US interests. In these roles, Burruss worked closely with the DCIA, White House, Congress, and senior DOD, FBI, DHS and Foreign officials.
Much of Burruss’ focus at CIA was to move his organization to embrace strategic change and take advantage of future technological shifts such as the emergence of SG and next generational cloud technologies. Throughout most of his intelligence career, Burruss focused largely on challenging national security technical issues and emerging threats with a heavy focus on assessing technological risks and leveraging innovation to address them. Burruss built the Agency’s first combined mission unit focused on understanding and countering the foreign cyber threat. He led the analytic units in both CIA’s Cyber and Counterintelligence mission areas where he focused on technological impacts on strategic national security policy issues and on CIA operations.
Even earlier, Burruss served as a technology developer for the CIA. Some of his early achievements included improving the process by which the Agency disseminates the Presidential Daily Brief to the President, significantly improving the way that the National Intelligence Council drafts their National Intelligence Estimates, and modernizing the CIA’s library. These successes largely stemmed from an understanding of both the technological and organizational changes that needed to happen for impactful change. Burruss has been a recipient of the Rank Award, a National Intelligence Award for individual achievement, and multiple CIA performance awards. Burruss has an undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary and a Masters of Arts in History from James Madison University. He also serves on cyber advisory boards for Looking Glass and Leidos.
Kora Laracuente
Director of Finance
Kora Laracuente serves as Billington CyberSecurity’s Director of Finance. With a strong foundation in accounting and an unwavering passion for financial excellence, Kora possesses a visionary outlook that extends to the mission of Billington CyberSecurity and its growth. She joined Billington CyberSecurity in 2015 and her strategic insights and financial acumen have played an indispensable role in Billington CyberSecurity’s financial health and successful trajectory.
Having pursued a degree in accounting from James Madison University, Kora honed her skills and expanded her knowledge at George Mason University, earning a business degree in accounting. Kora’s comprehensive experience and dedication led her to founding her own accounting business in 2010. In addition to Billington CyberSecurity, Kora’s proficiency traverses various industries including pharmaceuticals, engineering, construction contracting, architecture, government and personal finance.
Brittany Schacht
DIRECTOR OF MEETINGS / STATE AND LOCAL LEAD
Brittany Schacht serves as Billington CyberSecurity’s Director of Meetings and State and Local Lead. In this role Brittany leads our Annual Billington State and Local CyberSecurity Summit, its partnerships, and Billington CyberSecurity’s quarterly State and Local Leadership Council Dialogues. She additionally spearheads new event activities, and manages logistics and program planning for Billington CyberSecurity’s Annual Summit.
Brittany has broad knowledge and experience pertaining to a variety of events, working on conferences, special events, summits, trade shows and forums with clients across all industries, including Technology/Software, Nonprofit, and Political entities. Brittany is a graduate of James Madison University with a BS in Hospitality Management and Media, Arts & Design.
Morgan Lucas
Senior Marketing Manager
Morgan Lucas serves as Senior Marketing Manager at Billington CyberSecurity. In this role, she helps shape and execute marketing strategies that elevate the Billington brand, strengthen audience engagement, and expand the reach of the organization’s cybersecurity events.
Morgan has worked with Billington since 2021, starting as a consultant with Evergreen Marketing and later joining full-time, contributing strategic insights and creative direction across multiple campaigns. She brings more than a decade of experience in marketing and communications, including additional work with Evergreen supporting a wide range of client initiatives and brand programs. Her background spans public relations, digital marketing, and brand leadership, with a strong focus on driving visibility and meaningful audience connection.
Morgan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and Strategic Communication from American University. She is based in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Morgan Orlosky
SENIOR ASSOCIATE, CLIENT SUCCESS
Morgan Orlosky is the Senior Associate of Client Success at Billington CyberSecurity. In this position Morgan plays a pivotal role in overseeing sponsorship sales operations, tracking, and fulfillment; as well as managing marketing operations, media, and partnership initiatives.
Before joining Billington CyberSecurity, Morgan gained experience in trade show and conference marketing, logistics, digital marketing creation, sponsorship benefit management, and executing social media campaigns. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from the Pamplin College of Business. During her time at Virginia Tech, Morgan showcased leadership as Vice President of Membership Programming within her sorority’s executive board and served as a Rho Gamma, guiding recruitment in the Panhellenic community.
Savon Warren
Event Content Associate
Savon Warren is a valued member of Billington CyberSecurity’s team, serving as its Event Content Associate. In this role, Savon collaborates closely with the content team to support Billington CyberSecurity’s annual summit, its State and Local Summit, Leadership Council breakfast dialogues, and other thought leadership programs throughout the year.
Savon is a recent Cum Laude graduate of Old Dominion University, where he majored in Communications with a focus on Lifespan Communication and minored in Marketing. During his time at Old Dominion, he was an active member of the school’s Club Baseball team for two years and served as the treasurer for the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters.
Prior to joining Billington CyberSecurity, Savon gained significant experience at ADP as well as Old Dominion University’s Entrepreneurial Center, where he served as Campus Ambassador. In these prior roles, Savon honed his skills in event planning, client outreach, social media management, writing, editing, and marketing.
Sandy Howard Nuwar
PROGRAM ADVISOR
Sandy Nuwar serves as Billington CyberSecurity’s Program Advisor where she coordinates sponsorship engagement and supports content for the program at Billington. In addition, Sandy manages technology for the team.
Prior to joining Billington CyberSecurity, Sandy was the HR and Finance Director at Australian Cyber firm iWebGate. Before working in cyber, she founded, launched, and sold two businesses and had a successful career in the paper industry with several manufacturers. Sandy was chosen out of several thousand applicants for a Fortune 100 Consultative Sales Training Program in New York City at the start of her career.
Sandy is a graduate of University of Richmond and London School of Economics. She is a Junior League Sustainer, a member of the Ark and the Dove Society and a county mediator for the Conflict Resolution Center of Anne Arundel County.