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Tech leaders from PayPal, ILLUME Advising and Rincon Research join Council’s Board of Directors

Energy, Software Engineering and Defense Intelligence Experts Added to the State’s Largest Technology Trade Association Board

The Arizona Technology Council announced it has appointed Wes Hummel, vice president, Site Reliability Engineering, PayPal; Anne Dougherty, co-founder and co-owner, ILLUME Advising; and Dr. Mary L. Bailey, president and CEO, Rincon Research, to its board of directors. Hummel, Dougherty and Bailey were elected unanimously to serve three-year terms at the Council’s quarterly board meeting held April 30.

“Wes, Anne and Mary are all highly respected technology leaders who will make an immediate impact on our diverse and influential board,” said Steven G. Zylstra, the Council’s president and CEO. “The vast range of experience and expertise they bring to the Council is invaluable to our membership as we advance our agenda designed to make a positive and lasting impact on the technology industry.”

The board of directors serves an advisory and fiduciary role by representing the interests of the state’s technology industries in the Council’s strategic planning and ongoing operations. The current board includes 34 members representing a diverse set of organizations.

The dynamic group of three new members provides a unique perspective on the technology industry, as well as strong backgrounds in a wide variety of technology sectors, including energy, sustainability, software engineering, finance and defense. Their respective bios are:

Wes Hummel, vice president, Site Reliability Engineering, PayPal

Wes Hummel is a customer-focused technology leader with significant experience in software development, site reliability engineering, infrastructure, operations and leadership. He has developed a proven ability to successfully grow and lead individuals and global teams that deliver high-quality software and solutions against aggressive deadlines. Hummel is passionate about quality, people development, strong team culture and building great teams.

Hummel currently leads PayPal’s Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) organization, which creates the vision and strategic direction of PayPal’s infrastructure and operations as it scales for the next decade and beyond. The company’s emphasis is on security, availability, quality, enablement, modernization and efficiency. SRE delivers a seamless, reliable, resilient and agile infrastructure for all applications to PayPal’s internal engineering community, customer service operations and 65+ offices.

Prior to joining PayPal, Hummel served as a staff software engineer with Clarity Communication Systems Inc. for six years. He also was a software engineer at Motorola for five years. Hummel attended undergraduate school at New Mexico State University, where he received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering. He also received an MBA in high technology business from Arizona State University, and graduated from Stanford University’s Executive Program in Leadership.

Anne Dougherty, co-founder and co-owner, ILLUME Advising

Anne Dougherty leads brand vision, business development and market strategy for ILLUME, a research consultancy serving the clean energy industry, and charts the course for the company’s technical service areas.

Dougherty launched ILLUME in 2013 with business partner Sara Conzemius and a two-fold vision: to bring humans’ dreams and aspirations to the center of clean energy development, and create a company that gives priority to the dreams and aspirations of ILLUME’s employees. This vision clearly struck a chord. ILLUME grew from a team of two founders to a multimillion-dollar consultancy of over 30 professionals serving 50+ clients comprised of states, nonprofits and utilities. In 2019, ILLUME was ranked the No. 1 consultancy in three separate categories (leadership, culture and money) by IvyExec, edging-out larger firms like McKinsey & Co., Bain and Deloitte.

Dougherty began her career as an applied social scientist with a concentration on bringing human-focused research techniques to solution development for Fortune 100 companies. Seeking to leverage her expertise for social good, Dougherty entered the energy industry and quickly built a reputation as a subject matter expert in the human dimensions of technology, program and service development, overseeing multimillion-dollar research studies before launching ILLUME.

Dr. Mary L. Bailey, president and CEO, Rincon Research

Dr. Mary Bailey is a veteran engineering research and development executive with 24 years of private sector experience serving the intelligence community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) customers. She is president and chief executive officer at Rincon Research Corporation, a 270+-person organization spanning six offices, and providing advanced digital signal processing services and software to numerous IC and DoD customers. Rincon’s core competencies include digital signal processing, signal geolocation, digital communications, signal analysis and simulation, satellite orbit determination, high-performance computing, machine learning, rapid prototyping, digital signal processing (DSP) software infrastructure, field-programmable gate array development, precision time and frequency hardware development, and collection technologies including antennas and recorders.

Bailey previously served as president of Technical Operations. She earlier served as the National Systems Business unit deputy, a program manager and a systems engineer at Rincon. She has been involved in a number of projects during her Rincon career, beginning as a software engineer working on DSP software infrastructure and continuing to work on a number of successful projects for the government.

Bailey previously taught computer science at The University of Arizona. She holds master of science and Ph.D. degrees in computer science and a master of science degree in mathematics from the University of Washington, and master of arts degrees in mathematics and physics from Vanderbilt University.

Companies represented on the Council’s board of directors include:
ACA; AccountabilIT; Alerion Capital Group; Alliance Bank of Arizona; American Express; APS; ASU Office of Knowledge & Enterprise Development; Avnet; Ballard Spahr; Benchmark; Greenberg Traurig LLP; Honeywell Aerospace; IBM; Ideas Collide; ILLUME Advising; Indecomm Global Services; Intel; Iron Mountain; KEO Marketing; LaneTerralever; Lyft; MDSL; MSS Technologies; PADT; PayPal; Phoenix Business Journal; Quarles & Brady LLP; Rincon Research; Solugenix; TGen; The University of Arizona Office of Research, Discovery & Innovation; University of Advancing Technology; Vonage Business; and Wells Fargo Bank.

 


 

About the Arizona Technology Council
The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies. Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together visionaries, leaders and employees to make an impact on the technology industry. These interactions contribute to the Council’s culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit www.aztechcouncil.org.

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