Hakan Klarin is an experienced Chief Information Technology Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. Skilled in Innovation Management, Business Development, Strategic Planning and Change Management. Holds an Executive MBA-degree and is specialized in managing global R&D and innovation within large scale organizations. Hakan has during the period 2011 to 2017 had the position as CIO for Region Ostergotland, the fourth largest county council and healthcare provider in Sweden as well as several national assignments within the domain. Since 2017, Hakan holds the position as CIO for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service and was the previous head of the Expert Group for ICT within Europris.

Simon Bonk is the former CIO for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). A role he held for more than 6 years and retired from that position after almost 30 years in the Canadian Public Service. On his retirement, he joined Telio as their Chief Research Officer and Director New Business Development, where he creates and implements strategic approaches in new markets, and builds relationships with jurisdictions, researchers and other stakeholders to advance thought leadership in the correctional space. He is currently the Corporate Chair of the Corrections Technology Association and previously served as Secretary. In addition, he is the Chair of the IT Network for the International Corrections and Prison Association as well as member of the Technology Committee at the American Probation and Parole Association.

Mike Sparling has enjoyed a career that has covered countries, platforms, companies, and minds. He has consistently created business value from research, data, analysis, and innovation. His 30 plus year career has prioritized areas of data science and artificial intelligence including industrial process control, predictive consumer behavior valuation, insurance knowledge management, machine learning in post-secondary education, and generative AI for neuroscience products. Mike spent over a decade in academia, as a professor, research leader, and Dean, and he was involved in the creation of 8 graduate and undergraduate degree programs, the launch of 2 applied-research centers, and the supervision of many artificial intelligence and big data related research projects and publications.

Mike is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer for Multi-Health Systems Ltd., where he leads strategy, business operations, technology research, and solution delivery for global markets in Public Safety, Talent Management, Healthcare, and Education. Mike’s research interest is in the field of autonomous and semi-autonomous agents (AI subsystems) in business management systems, specifically focusing on “agent goal setting based on business priorities” and “ascertaining agent behavior through post-event analysis.”

Jason Garnett was named Chief of the Parole Division in June 2017. In his position, he oversees the supervision of parole staff and parolees in all 102 counties in Illinois. A veteran of the Department, Garnett began his career in 1994 and rose through the ranks, promoting to upper management and executive positions including Correctional Officer, Leisure Time Service I & II, and Correctional Counselor II at Centralia Correctional Center; Correctional Captain, Shift Commander, and Warden at Lawrence Correctional Center; District 5 Deputy Director of Operations; District 2-5 Deputy Chief of Parole; IDOC Acting Assistant Director; and Warden of Big Muddy Correctional Center.

As the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) Parole Division continues to strive to be a leader in parole practices, the introduction of AI initiatives could possibly be a game changer in how day to day practices are completed. Currently, the IDOC Parole Division is in the learning stages of how AI can enhance our parole operations to ensure we are working most efficiently and how it can help better serve our population with better accuracy in the performance of case management.

Marcus Hodges was named Associate Director for Court Services Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) in Washington DC in 2017, following a 25-year career with the Virginia Department of Corrections. At Virginia DOC, he held positions including Rehabilitation Counselor at a maximum-security prison, Intensive Probation and Parole Officer, Sr. Probation Officer in Community Correctional facilities (Detention/Diversion programs), Deputy Chief Probation & Parole Officer, Chief Probation and Parole Officer, and Regional Manager.

He served as President of the National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE) from 2014-2018 and is currently President-elect of the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA). He also assists in facilitating the American Probation and Parole Association Leadership Academy and is co-chair of the Diversity committee. Throughout his career, Marcus has worked passionately in various positions to create environments that produce safer communities, and fewer victims while reducing recidivism.

His agency (CSOSA) embraces the approach of responsible utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it has the potential to revolutionize community corrections by making processes more efficient, effective, and equitable.

Eric Tumperi is Group Leader for the Equivant Justice Group, comprised of three companies serving the justice field – from automation of courts to community supervision, pretrial, prisons and jails, treatment courts and lab information systems. In his current role, Eric is a leader within Constellation Software/Volaris on AI initiatives and education. He has run software companies serving the criminal justice field since 2002, prior to that he was an innovator in creating SaaS solutions for banking, healthcare, B2B e-commerce, and association and meeting management. He started his now 40+ year career in technology solutions working for IBM, spanning enterprise level solutions from mainframe to client-server.

Eric has been the Chair of the APPA Technology Committee since 2018, and together with 25+ other committee members develop programs and educational content designed to aid practitioners in learning about and applying emerging and applied technologies. The Tech Committee recently formed an AI Subcommittee, which is sponsoring this session and is currently working on a Four Pillar framework for Responsible Use of AI. The Tech Committee has also sponsored an initiative, PAPDeX, to develop and advance data exchange standards for the criminal justice field. PAPDeX is being pursued in partnership with the IJIS Institute.

Ashlee Barnes is a Mental Health Professional with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, Division of Community Supervision. Ashlee graduated from East Carolina University in 2012 with a Master of Social Work and Substance Abuse Treatment Certificate. She is licensed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has 15 years of mental health and substance use treatment experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, including correctional institutions, a psychiatric hospital, VA Medical Center, community health center, and substance use treatment center.

Amber Livengood is a Mental Health Professional with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, Division of Community Supervision. She has a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Western Carolina University and maintains licensure as a National Certified Counselor, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist, and Certified Clinical Supervisor. She has 13 years of experience working in addiction and mental health treatment. She has 13 years of experience of addiction and mental health treatment within inpatient and residential settings, including correctional institutions and a State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center (ADATC).

Jason Szybka is a Probation / Parole Officer with the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections, Division of Community Supervision. Jason graduated from Ashford University with a bachelor's degree in Applied Behavioral Science and completed Masters-level coursework in a Marriage and Family Therapy program. Jason is retired from 20 years of active service with The United States Marine Corps and spent 2 years working with and supervising a Mobile Crisis team in North Carolina. He is currently supervising a specialized caseload of individuals with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders in Duplin County, NC.

Brian Gates has over 30 years of experience with probation and parole and has worked in multiple districts across the state, starting as a parole officer and eventually moving to the Division Administrator with management of 22 counties and 8 judicial districts. Currently, Director Gates is the Director of Program Services and is responsible for the oversight and administration of North Carolina Division of Community Supervision’s policy development, technology, training, and programming sections, including the supervision of all specialty caseloads.

As Deputy Program Director of Impact for Justice Counts, DR. Laura van der Lugt leads a team that helps policymakers and criminal justice agency leaders use Justice Counts data to improve criminal justice outcomes as part of the Justice Counts foundational belief that it should be easy for decision-makers across the country to use that data to make informed decisions that advance public safety, equity, and fairness. Before joining the CSG Justice Center, Laura was the director of research and innovation at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) in Boston, Massachusetts and prior to that, she worked in the Boston (MA) Police Commissioner’s Office of Research and Development. Laura holds a BA in sociology from Bates College, an MA in criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in criminology and justice policy from Northeastern University.

Laramie Riggs is a Project Manager at the Council for State Governments.  She is currently working on a national data project called Justice Counts. Laramie strategically works with the justice counts team on a national level to improve the accessibility and usability of criminal justice data across all sectors of the justice system. She has a Bachelor of Science in both Communications and International Studies, and a Master of Education from Vanderbilt University in Community Development and Action. Prior to joining CSG, Laramie brought data into classrooms as a math teacher, and later into corrections through college in prison programs. She also has extensive experience in reentry, working with justice impacted individuals, creating meaningful plans post incarceration. Laramie continues to use data to promote educational equity and actively disrupt systems of harm.

Hillary Hartoin currently serves as the Court & Pretrial Services Director in Cass County Indiana and has over ten years of experience in multiple areas of criminal justice, including clerk & court administration, grant management, pretrial supervision, probation and community corrections. She is a certified probation officer, NAPSA Certified Pretrial Services Professional and developed and continues to oversee the Cass County Pretrial Release Program. She has led the implementation of system wide community supervision performance measurement and data analysis in Cass County as the current Local JRAC Chair, specializing in data-driven and evidence-based decision making and CQI. She serves on both the Indiana Pretrial Data and Coordinator Subcommittees and is an active member of the APPR Pretrial Practitioner Network and NIC Pretrial Executive Network. Hillary is passionate about intentional and need-focused models of supervision that balance opportunity with accountability. In her current role, she also works to advance local jail treatment and programming initiatives and behavioral health services.

Tania Appling is the Director of Office of Professional Development at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) where she oversees DJJ’s professional development courses for agency staff. Dr. Appling has been employed with DJJ since 1997 and has worked in several capacities within the DJJ. As Director, she has been instrumental in developing, launching, and overseeing several leadership, specialized, and core training programs.

Dr. Appling is an active member American Parole Probation Association, serving on the Executive Board of Directors as the Board Treasurer, previous Board Member at Large, Leadership Institute Mentor, served as the Program Chair and Co-Chair for the two Winter Training Institutes. Dr. Appling is the current Council Training Chair for the Central Georgia Council of Boy Scouts of America and Board member for GA Schools of Addiction Studies.

Dr. Appling received her Ph. D. in Educational Psychology from Walden University and holds master’s degrees in educational psychology and public administration from the State University of West Georgia. Dr. Appling holds several certifications including Master Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Instructor and is John Maxwell-Certified Coach, Teacher, and Speaker and memberships in American Counseling Association, American Correctional Association, and The Association of Women Executives in Corrections. Dr. Appling enjoys curriculum development and presenting on leadership and juvenile-related topics at national and state conferences/seminars. She enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and her beloved Pebbles.