It’s everywhere: Technology has become an integral part of our lives in the twenty-first century, providing the tools for something as simple as sending a message to a friend, or as complex as keeping track of an international logistics route. And Memphis is home to many companies and professionals in the technology field who strive to find innovative and cutting-edge solutions to any problem.
In partnership with the Society of Information Management Memphis Chapter, and cityCURRENT, Memphis Magazine is pleased to honor the winners of our second annual MEMTECH Awards, dedicated to celebrating the tech leaders and innovators in the Greater Memphis area. They work for educational institutions, municipal governments, innovation nonprofits, global hospitality firms, and more. They are bringing years of experience and dedication to the industry as well as leading and mentoring the coming waves of tech talent. And all continue to keep pushing Memphis forward.
Our eight MEMTECH winners for 2025 will be honored at a dinner event at the FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms Park on Thursday, February 27th. For more information, go to MEMtechawards.com.
Trailblazer Award
Kimberly M. Bailey
As vice president of information technology and chief information officer for LeMoyne-Owen College, Kimberly M. Bailey has worked in IT since 1995. “It’s been an incredible journey,” she says, “full of growth, challenges, and milestones, which has led me to serve in my second chief information officer role.”
Bailey oversees the strategic direction of the college’s technology initiatives. “I’m responsible for making sure our IT systems run smoothly, improving cybersecurity, and supporting the technology that empowers our students, faculty, and staff,” she says. “My role is focused on leveraging technology to innovate, improve efficiency, solve problems, and ensure alignment with the institution’s mission and objectives.”
She says that the strides she’s made in her field have all contributed to her success. “I consider every opportunity in my career a personal and professional achievement, from serving as a network analyst for the Memphis Grizzlies during their move to FedExForum to founding my own technology consulting company, K Bailey Business Group.”
A standout moment was becoming the first Black woman chief information officer for the City of Memphis. “Leading the city’s technology efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic was a profound experience,” she says, “teaching me invaluable lessons in resilience, innovation, and leadership that continue to shape my work today.”
These achievements have come with challenges, which she says are often a matter of perspective. “One of the toughest aspects is navigating the experience of being a Black woman in tech and often the first or only one who looks like you in a particular space — it can be both inspiring and demanding. Additionally, technology is inherently about change and efficiency, and one of the biggest hurdles is encouraging people to embrace those changes and adopt new ways of working.”
Bailey adds, “My faith in God is a huge source of strength and guidance for me. I’m also blessed with personal and professional mentors who encourage me along the way. My daughter inspires me daily. I want to show her that anything is possible. And my friends, who are there for both the highs and the lows, remind me to K.I.M. — Keep It Moving — no matter what life throws my way.”
For her, an inspirational saying is “Forward ever, backward never” from the Rev. W.C. Ingram. “It was the motto of the church I grew up in, and it has stayed with me over the years. Whenever I need encouragement, it reminds me to let go of the past, embrace the present, and keep looking ahead to the future.”
Contemplating that future, Bailey sees several things happening in the next five years:
• Broader AI adoption. AI will continue to transform industries, but we need to ensure it’s used responsibly and equitably.
• Heightened focus on cybersecurity. With increasing cyber threats, there will be a stronger emphasis on protecting data and systems.
• Growth of the Metaverse and extended reality. Virtual and augmented reality will transform how we learn, work, and connect.
• Environmentally conscious cechnology. The push for greener, more energy-efficient tech solutions.
• Equitable technology having affordable technology distributed fairly and inclusively across all communities.
• Increased representation of women of color in tech leadership. More women of color will step into influential roles, shaping the future of the industry.
Legacy Award
Edward C. “Ed” Charbonnet
For half a century, Ed Charbonnet has been working in the IT industry. Since 1974, he has worked for Parts, Inc., served as vice president at AutoMark, and been IT director at ACH Food and ServiceMaster Diversified Health. He has been co-chair of SIM Outreach since 2005 and vice president for development for Amador of America since 2012.
“When I think of my legacy, I focus on three areas,” he says. “One is the family that Michelle and I built, including three adult children, of whom we are very proud. Another is in various IT leadership roles where I’ve mentored numerous people and seen them develop into leadership roles. And third are the people I have helped outside of the office — the legacy of young people learning to experience the potential of technical careers.”
Charbonnet says that those who thrive on service to others do not do it for recognition. “We do it because we genuinely know that we gain as much or more from our working with them. And we know that the whole community gains as we increase and share skills.”
With this in mind, Charbonnet is grateful to his influences, including his parents as well as teachers, professors, and mentors early in his career. “Most influential to me was my incredible father who patiently encouraged me to explore,” he says. “Because I got an early start thanks to family, it became a passion of mine to see young boys and girls get an early start and gain strong experience with technology so they might choose careers beneficial to both them and our community.”
He’s most proud of what he’s done at the Society for Information Management (SIM) for IT executives. “It has empowered me to co-develop in my 20 years as co-chair of the Outreach committee,” he says. “We fund and helped run the Memphis Library summer programs, and starting in 2015 we became involved in the National FIRST robotics programs through White Station High School and the Boys and Girls Club Lego Robotics program.”
Charbonnet adds, “Our outreach has expanded from $5,000 annually back in 2003 to over $40,000, and I mostly spend my time seeking out new opportunities and overseeing the goals of ongoing programs. But I still ask each program to give SIM time to have professionals come to see their work and talk about career opportunities and how rewarding they can be. Meanwhile, since 2003, SIM has funded programs for almost $600,000 and affecting over 6,600 students. Many of these then have gone on to great tech programs at our local and nearby universities.”
It will come as no surprise that he sees the next five years in tech as being significant for robots and robotics.
As for career accomplishments, Charbonnet goes back to the late 1970’s. “I was programming 64KB minicomputers in assembler language,” he recalls. “The phone lines were either 2400BPS dial-up or 4800BPS dedicated multi-drop lines. Even in that primitive environment, we programmed the ability to remote-control and update the software down these phone lines.
“And in my current position, I have used Python to write a detailed complex monitoring system to analyze system parameters and database apps parameters at each of our many remote Linux systems. It is programmed to watch for patterns and report these problems to support people before the user becomes aware of the issue. This is one of the tools that have helped us reduce telephone support staff from six to two.”
Charbonnet says his life has been guided by a quote from author and motivational speaker Paul Boese: “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”
Community Leader
Nate Smith
Epicenter works with founders of innovative businesses to provide what is needed to develop, launch, and grow their ventures in the Memphis area. Nate Smith has served two years as director of programs at Epicenter and ten years in the venture capital industry.
In this capacity, he leads the nonprofit’s programming for startups and corporate partners, which entails developing and leading classroom-style programs, building partnerships, and connecting entrepreneurs with the resources they need to build growing, sustainable businesses.
Smith says his most significant effort has been developing Epicenter’s Logistics Opportunity Challenge. “I worked with my colleagues and our partners at Alchemist Accelerator,” he says. “Last year, during our first Logistics Opportunity Challenge, we brought together logistics technology companies from across the country and logistics corporations from across the Greater Memphis area for an amazing event about the biggest problems facing the industry. That helped put Memphis on the map as a major site for logistics innovation.”
The biggest challenge in his area, he says, is “the lack of investment capital and other resources available for startups in Memphis. Our city has amazing new technology companies but we lag far behind our peer cities like Tulsa, Birmingham, and Nashville in the amount of investors, accelerators, events, support organizations, and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs.”
Despite these needs to catch up, Smith says, “I am most influenced by the entrepreneurs in Memphis who consistently blow me away with what they are able to accomplish with a small fraction of the resources available to companies on the coasts.”
For inspiration, he cites a passage from Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Dispossessed: “We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand. And the hand that you reach out is empty, as mine is.”
Smith says, “At the end of the day, all we have is each other. It is incredibly important that we see ourselves as part of a community, and the best way to help yourself is to help someone else.”
Looking towards the future, he says, “We are heading towards a seismic shift in the way that venture investing is done — heading away from lumpy, larger fundraising rounds that sustain companies for years, and towards more frequent, smaller rounds at smaller valuation increases.”
Cyber Security Leader of the Year
Alex Tartera
With more than three decades of experience in technology, Alex Tartera has leveraged his extensive background to serve as a cyber security leader for the past ten years.
“My role involves anticipating, safeguarding, and mitigating risks in the ever-evolving threat landscape,” he says. “I stay ahead of emerging threats by implementing robust defense strategies, thereby protecting digital assets, including sensitive data and intellectual property, to ensure they remain secure against cyber threats. I also provide proactive risk management and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure comprehensive security measures are in place.”
Tartera’s most recent achievement was successfully managing the Crowdstrike outage. “In the realm of cyber security, preparation is paramount,” he says. “We conduct rigorous tests, breach attack simulations, and disaster recovery plan drills to be ready for any eventuality. While it’s common to practice defense, having such thorough preparation allowed my team to execute flawlessly in a real-world scenario. This incident demonstrated that our commitment to meticulous preparation ensures we can handle actual threats effectively.”
One of the biggest challenges in cyber security is the ever-changing landscape. “It’s like a strategic game where threat actors continually develop new techniques and technologies to exploit vulnerabilities,” he says. “My team must stay up to date and anticipate these evolving threats in order to build robust defenses against potential attacks.”
Tartera continues, “I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors throughout my career, but being a part of SIM has been the most rewarding experience. The members are not only incredible mentors but also feel like family. They genuinely care about each other and are always ready to offer support during a crisis.”
The ad slogan “Just Do It” is a powerful motivational quote for him. “It emphasizes the importance of taking swift and decisive action. In a field where rapid response to threats is crucial, this quote encourages professionals to be proactive, confident, and determined. It also highlights the need for continuous improvement and resilience in overcoming the complex challenges that cyber security presents.”
In the next five years, Tartera says, “AI brings significant value by automating tasks, enhancing decision-making, personalizing experiences, and driving innovation. However, it also presents challenges such as security risks, ethical concerns, job displacement, and the need to build trust. Balancing these benefits and challenges is crucial to maximizing AI’s positive impact while mitigating potential downsides.”
Technology Educator of the Year
Olaf Schulz
After serving four years as engineer-in-residence, Olaf Schulz has been at Epicenter full-time for 18 months. He brings 27-plus years of MedTech experience in R&D, business development, and manufacturing across startups and mid-size biomedical companies.
“I’m the director of the MedTech programs, which includes our top-ten nationally ranked ZeroTo510 Accelerator,” he says. “We help early-stage startups through business planning, product, development, and navigating FDA regulations and reimbursement complexities.”
Schulz says that his most significant achievement in the field has been “revitalizing the regional MedTech entrepreneurship space by injecting fresh energy and creating opportunities for innovation and growth.”
Along with that comes issues, particularly access to capital. He says, “It remains a major challenge in our region, leading many portfolio companies to relocate,” he says. “Addressing this gap through strategic partnerships and new funding initiatives is crucial for retaining talent and innovation locally.”
Schulz has, however, a high regard for the talent he works with. “I’m inspired by the grit and determination of our entrepreneurs,” he says. “Despite significant funding disparities — female entrepreneurs receive only 2 percent, minority founders 0.5 percent, and female minority entrepreneurs just 0.1 percent of all VC funding — our entrepreneurs persist. In spite of all the headwinds, they are determined to fill unmet needs in the healthcare community.
Toward that end, he finds inspiration in an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Schulz sees key changes in the next five years. “As large local MedTech institutions contract, Memphis stands at a crossroads,” he says. “I see immense potential to activate local talent through targeted, industry-specific programming, positioning our region as a hub for MedTech innovation — MedTech 2.0. With the right resources, Memphis can become a launchpad for the next wave of transformative companies.”
Crisis Leadership
Tony Fischer
As the technology leader for the City of Germantown for more than 13 years, Tony Fischer says, “My career in technology spans more than 30 years, including extensive experience in the public and private sectors. I have worked as a FEMA urban search and rescue communications specialist for more than 20 years.”
For the City of Germantown, he says, “I oversee IT operations and strategy to ensure secure, efficient, and innovative solutions for the community. This includes managing infrastructure, safeguarding systems, and enhancing emergency communication capabilities. I create solutions that improve crisis response and service continuity.”
Fischer led Germantown’s response to the 2024 cybersecurity incident. “I prioritized supporting my team as they worked tirelessly to restore critical systems. My experience in disaster zones taught me the importance of clear communication and resilience. Thanks to the team’s dedication and our proactive use of cloud-based infrastructure, we were able to maintain essential services like utilities and finance while minimizing disruption to the community.
Fischer sees cybercrime as a major problem in the industry. “One of the biggest challenges for IT teams in mid-sized and smaller organizations is competing with cybercriminals who are often better funded, better staffed, and highly motivated,” he says.
Two key influences shaped his career. “I took my first programming class at six years old, which sparked a lifelong passion for technology,” he says. “At 16, I became a volunteer firefighter, and during college I worked as a full-time firefighter. Those experiences instilled in me a deep understanding of emergency services and the importance of staying calm under pressure.”
Fischer sees changes coming in the industry in the next five years. “We’ll see advancements in artificial intelligence, cloud-based solutions, and smart city technologies fundamentally transforming municipal operations. At the same time cyber threats will demand even greater vigilance and resilience. Innovation with preparedness are two factors that will remain vital as cities navigate a rapidly changing technological landscape.”
CIO / IT Leader – Public Sector
Marcus Hobgood
He has been with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for more than three years, but Marcus Hobgood’s career in healthcare IT began in 1998.
He and his team are responsible for the architecture, design, and operations of the technical infrastructure at St. Jude. Those include data center and critical technical infrastructure, servers/computers, system administration, storage, networking and observability, A/V and telephony, and cloud and application hosting services.
Hobgood says: “The Application Hosting team delivers reliable and scalable solutions to ensure critical applications are always available and performing optimally.
“Our Technology Operations team supports the mission by delivering IT services through proactive monitoring, continuous improvement, and process excellence.
“The Modern Work Services team focuses on enhancing the user experience, improving productivity, and reducing friction between users and technology.
“Transport & Reliability Services focuses on providing reliable and secure wired and wireless connectivity to customers.”
Hobgood says he has been fortunate to be involved in large transformational projects during his career. “Putting an EHR system into the Louisiana Public Hospital system post-Katrina was the largest,” he says. “My most significant achievement is helping to build highly capable teams that add value to the mission. Building leaders that enable transformation to occur is the accomplishment I am most proud of.”
What motivates him is one of the St. Jude Values — seven principles that the organization champions for its employees. “What’s inspirational to me is to ‘Embrace the challenge to create a new tomorrow.’ I think about that on a daily basis and try to make the future incrementally better every day.”
Hobgood says the tech industry will be heavily impacted by innovation. “Much of the work we have to do is incredibly complex, and complexity has increased as we build more integrations and generate more data. I do think we will see efforts to harness these generative AI tools and focus them on reducing complexity — not adding more.”
CIO / IT Leader – Private Sector
Naveen Manga
Since August 2021, Naveen Manga has been global chief technology officer at Marriott International. Prior to joining Marriott, he was with Hilton for 10 years. He has more than 20 years of business technology leadership experience spanning travel and hospitality, manufacturing, education, consumer services, financial services, consulting, nonprofit, and healthcare.
As Global CTO at Marriott, Manga is responsible for global technology strategy, innovation, and transformation to support growth and drive long-term business value. His specialties include IT strategy, technology roadmaps, enterprise architecture, product management, agile delivery frameworks, development methodologies, business-technology alignment, and executive stakeholder management.
Manga graduated from the University of Memphis with a master of science in business administration with concentration in Information Systems. He has served on the Board of Trustees at Lausanne Collegiate School since 2016.
In a recent interview with Afrotech.com, Manga said that Marriott is stepping up its technological offerings: “Marriott is known for incorporating various technological advancements to enhance guest experiences, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency in the hospitality industry. Putting the customer at the center of everything we do, Marriott leverages technology to provide value to our guests, on-property associates, and partner owners across all parts of the customer experience.”
Marriott International recently announced an innovative program, the Marriott Tech Accelerator in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. “Our mission-driven Global Technology team deeply believes in the transformative power of our innovations,” he says, “not just for our company, but for the entire hospitality and travel industry. To serve our customers worldwide, we believe in building strong and talented teams across the globe.”
Manga has said, “To drive innovation and serve customers worldwide, global brands must tap into the power of diverse, global talent.” Toward that end, he adds, “Empowering and inspiring tomorrow’s innovators is the key to build a talented future workforce.”
