About Us

We believe in problem-solving.

IJIS is a collaboration network that engages people across industries with similar ideas, issues, and challenges with the mission to drive public sector innovation and empower information sharing to promote safer and healthier communities.

Why this matters so much to us.

As a society, we can always accomplish more when we join forces collaboratively. Established in 2001, an early version of Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute (originally operated as the Industry Working Group) was established as a response to challenging public and private sector experiences with open communications, operational challenges seeking technical solutions, and procurement barriers. IJIS was established with the support of a grant from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to initially address the needs of justice agencies’ information sharing.

Over two decades, IJIS has evolved to support the public sector needs of not only the justice domain, but homeland security, justice to health communities, health and human services, school safety, transportation and several others. We support policy, operational, technical, training and technical assistance, program management needs, and much more. We have formed a nationwide community of practitioners and technology experts that collectively address the operational challenges of public sector domains enabling information sharing related technology services, products, and solutions to local, tribal, state and federal agencies in the public safety, law enforcement, justice, health, critical infrastructure, and homeland security arenas. 

Decades of service.

For over 20+ years, the IJIS Institute has provided assistance to government agencies by bringing industry to the table in a collaborative role. This ongoing relationship has not only achieved successes at the agency operational level but has resulted in high regard for the companies that are dedicated to helping the public sector find high value solutions.

As a nonprofit organization, the Institute is funded through a combination of federal grants, direct services acquired by state and local agencies, industry contributions, and partnership agreements. Our community is made up of dedicated professionals who are passionate volunteers, key practitioner organizations, national practitioner associations, other nonprofit organizations, and universities that share a united and equal seat at the table to solve problems, collaborate, and innovate to maximize safety, efficiency and productivity within the public sector.

Our Team

Executive Director
Director
Director of Programs
Program Director
Program Director
Sr. Program Manager
Membership Manager
Program Manager
Senior Staff Accountant
Assistant Project Manager
Finance and Contracts Administrator
Project Specialist
Special Events Program Manager
Project Manager

Board of Directors

Ed Parkinson

Chair; President of Public Sector, RapidSOS

Ryan Burchnell

Vice Chair; Director, AT&T FirstNet Program

Jim Pingel

Treasurer; Vice President, Digital Justice Transformations, Mission Critical Partners

Jeff Bruns

Secretary; CEO, Convey911

Mike Lesko

Board Member; Senior Director, Government Technology and Services, NEC Corporation of America

Ross Venhuizen

Board Member; Director & GM, CommandCentral CRS, Motorola Solutions

Kirk Lonbom

Board Member; Director, Government Strategy, World Wide Public Sector, Microsoft

Emmanuel Oladipupo

Project Manager

Emmanuel is a team-oriented Project Manager with Information Technology (IT) Project Management, Cybersecurity, Public Safety, and Law Enforcement background. Emmanuel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Cybersecurity. He is currently the Project Manager / Consultant at IJIS Institute, where he works with the project team to achieve project objectives. Emmanuel diligently track the progress of projects to produce positive outcomes for management, clientele and stakeholders. Emmanuel is currently assisting the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to meet the new FBI reporting requirements and provide a method for Law Enforcement Agencies to report data to the FBI using the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

Before joining IJIS Institute, Emmanuel was a Correctional Officer for the State of Maryland, and is currently a full-time Police Officer with the Metropolitan Police Department – Washington DC. Emmanuel’s unique combination of education, skills and work experience makes him a creative problem solver. Emmanuel also serves as the liaison for the IJIS Institute Law Enforcement Advisory Committee (LEAC).

Diana Wright

Special Events Program Manager

Diana Wright joined IJIS in December 2018 as a part-time employee. In her role as Special Events Program Manager, Ms. Wright assists in planning and coordinating in-person events such as conferences and meetings. Diana also assists the Corrections Committee with their bi-yearly Corrections Forum.

In conjunction to working with IJIS, Diana is the owner of Conference Management Solutions (CMS) in Tallahassee, Florida. CMS manages several meetings for associations across the United States and handles all meeting needs from securing the meeting location to coordinating all logistics.

In her free time, Ms. Wright enjoys going to the beach and spending time with my family.

Phil Dunphy

Project Specialist

My name is Phil Dunphy, and I am excited to start as a project specialist here at the IJIS Institute! I graduated from Montclair State University in 2021 with a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in analytics. In 2021 I started interning as a data ingestion engineer at the company ZMBDNA and was an instructor and TA for a SaaS product called StreamSets until 2023. I have experience with coding languages such as Python, SQL, and some hybrid versions of Spark like PySpark and SparkSQL. I also have experience using the data visualization tool Tableau in conjunction with the mentioned coding languages. Outside of the data and business world, I am a huge fan of music in every sort of way! I play bass in a band, and I also produce, record, mix, and master projects for clients in my free time. I am known to be a problem solver and love to find solutions as efficiently and effectively as possible. I look forward to this journey at IJIS and can’t wait to see what I learn!

Carrie Morrison

Finance and Contracts Administrator

Carrie has been with the IJIS Institute since 2016. In her role as Finance and Contracts Administrator she assists in the day-to-day operations of the office, processing of accounts payable and receivables, payroll management, membership and website administration, supporting the board of directors, and the planning of IJIS events. Ms. Morrison also serves as the staff liaison for the Law Enforcement Advisory Committee and CAD RMS Interoperability Working Group.

Prior to joining IJIS, she worked as an administrative and sales assistant for a marketing/business development company that specialized in supporting both the aerospace and defense sectors. Ms. Morrison holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Radford University.

Alex McAdoo

Assistant Project Manager

Alex McAdoo currently serves as the IJIS Institute’s Project Coordinator and Communications Specialist. Joining the team in the spring of 2019, he oversees the Institute’s communications and outreach efforts. He also manages numerous membership engagement initiatives including in-person and virtual events, and committee assignments to help develop a variety of deliverables assisting the critical needs of the public sector.

In January of 2021, McAdoo joined his colleagues as Project Coordinator on a contract awarded by the California Department of Justice. This Initiative includes a Rapid Deployment Model assisting over 100 local law enforcement agencies in California connect their Records Management Systems to the California Incident Based Reporting System (CIBRS), ultimately supporting their transition to the FBI’s National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

McAdoo serves as the staff liaison to the IJIS Courts Advisory Committee (ICAC), Corrections Advisory Committee, the IJIS Technology and Architecture Committee (ITAC) and the Chairs Committee. Additionally, he manages the Institute’s Provider Directory which showcases vendor products and solutions for agencies looking for procurement within the Criminal Justice domain.

McAdoo came to IJIS from Capitol Hill where he worked for Representative Bill Foster. He graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2018 with a BA in Political Science and a minor in Legal Studies.

Pamela Thomas

Senior Staff Accountant

Pamela Thomas joined the IJIS Institute in June 2011 and is the Senior Staff Accountant. She is responsible for the following areas: the financials for contracts & programs, contract management for programs and business operations, compliance reporting and employee benefits.

Pamela began her career in California, first working at American McGaw Pharmaceuticals and Unocal Oil & Research. After moving to Virginia, she worked 14 years for a small accounting firm, The Davidson Group before joining the IJIS Institute in 2011.

Pamela graduated from California State University, Fullerton and attended California Polytechnic University, Pomona. Current interests include hiking, kayaking, biking, traveling and baking.

Renee Cobb

Program Manager

Kathy Gattin

Membership Manager

Ms. Gattin is seasoned leader with the IJIS Institute, providing subject matter expertise to the Justice and Public Safety communities. As of March 2023, Ms. Gattin rejoined the IJIS Institute as the new Membership Manager. Ms. Gattin has been engaged in an advisory role for several national information sharing initiatives including N-Dex, NIBRS and the IJIS Institute’s Working Group for Justice and Health Collaboration. Ms. Gattin also served the IJIS Institute as a Sr. Program Director for the IJIS team responsible for corrections-focused information sharing efforts including the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Data Standard project, the creation and implementation of the Reentry Information Sharing Service Specification, and the development and implementation of the national State Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) Information Sharing Standard currently published by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance. Beginning in 2017, Ms. Gattin was assigned by the IJIS Institute to provide justice related subject matter expertise to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and to the Office of Child Care. This initiative has been instrumental in advancing the use of Background Checks for all Child Care Employees as required under a federal law known as the Child Care Development Fund Re-Authorization of 2014.

Ms. Gattin served as a statewide SAVIN Administrator and was a former member of the National BJA SAVIN Project Advisory Board. She also served six years on the Executive Board of the Corrections Technology Association (CTA), was a member of the Global Strategic Solutions Working Group (GSSWG) Juvenile Assessment Task Team (JATT), a member of the American Probation and Parole Association’s (APPA) Advisory Group to develop RFP Guidelines for Case Management Procurement, and a Corrections Subject Matter Expert for the FBI’s National Data Exchange project (N-DEx). She was also a team member on the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) Child, Youth, and Family Services Group under the direction of the National Center for State Courts

Phillip Winiarski

Sr. Program Manager

Robert May

Program Director

Robert May is Program Director at the IJIS Institute. Bob has more than 45 years of experience in law enforcement and criminal justice. He currently leads several initiatives at the IJIS Institute. Bob is the program director for the following initiatives:  Council of State Governments Justice Center’s Justice Mental Health Collaboration Program, BJA’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, RxCheck,  and BJS National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X). Bob’s other IJIS responsibilities include supporting IJIS advisory committees and working groups: the CJIS Advisory Committee, the Background Check Working Group, and the Law Enforcement Imaging Technology Task Force.

Previously, Bob worked as a principal at the Criminal Justice Institute and as Associate Director of the Association of State Correctional Administrators leading consulting efforts for state and local correctional healthcare services, substance use program design and implementation, reentry and corrections staffing studies. Prior to joining CJI/ASCA, Mr. May was a Principal at JBS International where he was Director of Criminal Justice Projects directing the BJA Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program for State Prisoners (RSAT) and the Criminal Justice Treatment Networks projects for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). He previously served as Executive Director of National Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities (TASC) where he partnered with American University to provide the first Drug Court Resource Center and the first National Drug Court Symposium.

Bob spent 12 years in state and county law enforcement serving as police lieutenant and chief criminal investigator. In 1984, Bob was appointed to the 138th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA where he graduated with a 4.0 GPA. In 1986 he was awarded the Outstanding Service in Public Safety Award from then Maryland Governor Harry Hughes.

Steve Ambrosini

Program Director

Steve Ambrosini is the a Program Director for the Silicon Valley Regional Data Trust for the school safety project. He was previously the executive director of the IJIS Institute. He has had a 30-year career in the field of IT consulting and operations management, working in both the private and public sectors. For more than 20 of those years he has been working in companies that provided professional technology services and solutions to the public safety and criminal justice communities. During this time, he has been responsible for the delivery of IT services and solutions to a mix of governmental and non-governmental clients.

Prior to joining the IJIS Institute, Mr. Ambrosini held senior executive positions in multiple IT and system integration services companies where he was primarily responsible for increasing the delivery capabilities of these organizations. He has been a company founder and lead executive, including serving in the capacity of president and chief operation officer.

Mr. Ambrosini has functioned in operations and delivery management roles in both large and small IT services companies. He has been responsible for the delivery of consulting, system integration and outsourcing contracts for companies focused on the public safety and criminal justice markets. As a senior delivery executive, he has served as a team member of multiple corporate leadership committees focused on the development and oversight of enterprise delivery improvement initiatives.

During his career, Mr. Ambrosini has been involved in several unique projects in some of the largest jurisdictions in North America, including the City of New York (NY), the Province of Ontario (Canada), and the County of Los Angeles (CA). His experience includes the delivery of several consulting and solution integration projects, including major IT strategic planning engagements where he has led multi-company consultant teams. He has been involved in the development and execution of several innovative contracting and delivery strategies for public safety and justice clients, including: a joint multi-jurisdictional integrated CJIS initiative; transformational outsourcing and privatization programs; private sector funding initiatives; and, benefits based delivery programs.

Dr. Melissa Winesburg

Director of Programs

Dr. Winesburg serves as the Director of Programs for the IJIS Institute supporting both business development and project implementation.  Ms. Winesburg provides technical assistance in the areas of law enforcement, NIBRS and criminal justice policy reform. Dr. Winesburg served as a Search Board of Directors, President of the Association of State Uniform Crime Reporting Programs, and as Vice Chair of the IJIS CJIS Advisory Committee. She currently serves as a member of the joint IACP/IJIS RMS Task Force.  She brings to IJIS an understanding of criminal justice from both the state government and private sector perspective, and her unique career experiences position her to provide expertise from the practitioner perspective.

Dr. Winesburg has more than 25 years of experience in law enforcement and criminal justice information systems.  She began her career by developing the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Program and leading the implementation of a standardized records management system for local law enforcement in the State of Ohio.   Prior to joining Optimum Technology in 2014 as the Law Enforcement Practice Director, Dr. Winesburg was the founder and sole owner of MWA Enterprises. Working as a consultant throughout Ohio, she delivered subject matter expertise to criminal justice agencies for over 20 years.  She also counseled six Ohio Attorney General administrations and impacted subject matter areas such as AFIS, CCH, RISC, Court disposition deficiencies, statewide information sharing, and grants administration.

Dr. Melissa Winesburg, Ph.D., holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Wheeling Jesuit University and possesses both a Master’s of Science and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Winesburg resides in Worthington, Ohio, with her daughters, Olivia and Danica, and her husband, Keith, who recently retired from Columbus Division of Police after 33 years of service. Dr. Winesburg also has four adult children and nine grandchildren. In her spare time, she spends time with her family, supporting their extracurricular activities such as football, track, softball, soccer, music, and the theatre.

Ashwini Jarral

Director

Ashwini Jarral is currently engaged with various resources to launch his new venture focused on new and innovative approaches focused on a digital transformation. Mr. Jarral also provides consulting services for non-profits and not-for-profit organizations to help advise them on the issues associated with the business and digital transformation strategies.

Prior to his current role, Jarral was the co-founder of an innovative health care technology company, IDYA4, serving as the Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Jarral grew this company from the startup stages to over $7 million in revenue over a period of 18 months. Jarral also provided oversight on business development and day-to-day administrative and operational functions before the acquisition of IDYA4 by CloudMD in 2021.

Prior to IDYA4, Jarral served as the Executive Director (CEO) of the IJIS Institute, a nonprofit corporation formed by the U.S. Department of Justice, to help state and local governments develop ways to share information among disciplines engaged in homeland security, justice, and public safety. At the Institute, Mr. Jarral led the organization to the largest growth period in the history of the Institute, demonstrated by a 700% increase in funding through diversification to a market presence beyond justice.

With more than 25 years of experience in IT consulting and operations management, acquired through various executive roles, Jarral has been recognized nationally, and internationally for his work in information sharing since the tragic event of 9/11. In addition to the Justice and Public Safety sector, he also worked in the private sector providing professional technology services and solutions in the world of finance and telecommunications.

Jarral served on the Department of Justice Global Federal Advisory Committee, an advisory group to the U.S. Attorney General, and currently serves on the FirstNet Authority's Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC)s, the Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM) Task Force and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)s Computed Crime and Digital Evidence Committee.

Jarral previously managed the Standards Coordination Council (SCC) under the White House Sub-Committee of the Information Sharing and Access Interagency Policy Committee (ISA IPC), has co-chaired the Object Management Group (OMG) Information Sharing Working Group, served on the Global Standards Council (GSC) and served on the Board of Directors of the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA).

Mr. Jarral was named as a recipient and member of the prestigious Federal 100 Award in 2014. This award is presented to leaders who have gone above and beyond to make a real difference in the way technology is bought, managed, and used in the Federal IT community. Jarral received this award for his leadership role in conceiving and implementing a new standards-based interoperability program to help advance information sharing in the justice, public safety and homeland security environments to directly support the President's National Strategy for Information Sharing and Safeguarding.

Jarral has published numerous articles, white papers and reports on various topics surrounding technology standards, interoperability and information sharing. He has played a key role in developing various information sharing standards within Justice, Public Safety, Homeland Security and Health. Jarral holds a B.S. in Decision Science and Management Information Systems (DMIS) and a M.S. in Management Information Systems. He is a Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) and Six Sigma Green Belt Certified Professional

Maria Cardiellos

Executive Director
Prior to her tenure with IJIS, she served in an executive level position as Chief of Staff (COS) of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI). In this role she directed executive staff / consultants / resources provided by sponsor partners to include DOJ, DHS, FBI, ODNI and the White House. The overarching budget responsibilities for the design, development, implementation and oversight of solution delivery to the 78 fusion centers nationwide represented an estimated $50 million (not including in-kind donations / resources, nor direct funding to the centers that were provided over the program history). She was previously Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety (LPS) within the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), the largest state department in NJ. Her office supported the Information Technology (IT) needs of more than a dozen divisions / in-but-not-off offices, ranging in scope from the Division of State Police to the Division of Consumer Affairs. In addition to supporting these efforts, she led all programmatic and information technology related aspects of the State’s homeland defense solution Emergency Preparedness Information Network (EPINet). Ms. Cardiellos led cutting edge integration jobs for the public sector community including an Integrated Justice Project for the Province of Ontario, Canada, as well as the first privatized/functionally outsourced emergency communication operation in North America for Northampton County, Pennsylvania.