Thao Jones Hills, SVP, OpenGov Procurement

Thao Jones-Hill is the SVP of OpenGov Procurement where he leads their public procurement software roadmap. He is a Government Technology executive with 24 years of experience leading cloud-based software companies and projects at the Federal, State, Regional, and Local levels. Prior to OpenGov, Mr. Jones-Hill built and led engineering teams, customer support teams, hosting infrastructure teams, and sales and marketing teams for several govtech companies including Granicus, Govdelivery, and Public Systems Associates. He also served as a reliability engineering consultant for companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. He received his electrical engineering degree from Tennessee Technological University.

Antonio Watson, Project Manager, City of Pasadena

Antonio Watson is a Project Manager for the City of Pasadena, California. In his role in the Finance Department, Antonio's projects include streamlining procurement processes for the City. His contributions to modernizing the city's procurement practices have been invaluable in improving overall efficiency and effectiveness in the finance department.

Craig Rader, Purchasing Agent, County of Sacramento

Craig Rader has almost 40 years of Procurement & Materials Management experience in both private industry and public sector. He has been employed by the County of Sacramento over 25 years where he has been the County Purchasing Agent since 2006.

In addition to his public sector procurement experience, Craig has 10 years of experience in the private sector at several firms, including a Department of Defense sub-contractor, an IT supply company and a micrographics services company.

Craig Rader is a National Institute of Governmental Procurement Certified Procurement Professional (NIGP-CPP), Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO) and Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB), has an AA degree in Purchasing and Materials Management and holds two Purchasing Certificates.  He is an active member of several procurement associations and is currently President of the California Association of Public Procurement Officials (CAPPO), the nation’s oldest procurement association.

Originally from Sacramento, Craig spent the early years of his career in Silicon Valley then returned to Sacramento.  Craig has a wife (Angela), daughter (Katelyn) and grandson (Elijah), is an avid runner and enjoys spending his free time traveling the country sampling craft beers. He also enjoys driving his classic 1973 Camaro and showing it at a local car shows and events, including Reno’s Annual Hot August Nights.

Sylvester Donelson, Director of Procurement, San Joaquin County Regional Transit District

Sylvester Donelson, Jr., MPA, is a Director of Procurement with the San Joaquin Regional Transit District. Prior to his current role, he spent over 20 years leading purchasing teams for cities, counties, and public institutions. He has led purchasing teams for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Santa Barbara County, the City of Stockton, CA, and California State University --  East Bay. Originally from Oakland, Sylvester now calls Sacramento home.