Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1544361
38 maconmagazine.com | April/May 2026 Q Tell us your name and your role, however you define that. CHARLOTTE: I'm Charlotte Storey. My role is as the chief information officer, and I work in the higher education field. For my role at that institution, it's a combined role. I handle strategic partnerships and guidance, development. I also handle security, operational governance, regulatory compliance, and risk management. HEATHER: Heather Walker. I'm the area vice president of IT for Atrium Health Navicent. I've been in healthcare IT for 26 years—I know, I started when I was 10, right? So I was the CIO here, and we've gone through multiple transitions, great transitions. My role has shifted from CIO that's driving strategy to really being responsible for the IT in this market. So all of our acute care facilities, our Level I trauma center, Children's Hospital, the hospital in Milledgeville and Peach. I oversee all of the IT initiatives there and help implement the strategy from the enterprise, so I have dual reporting to the CEO here and to the CMIO at Advocate Health. CASSANDRA: Good afternoon. I'm Cassandra Miller Washington, and I serve as the executive director for CTAE, Career Technical Agricultural Education for Bibb County School District, and the CEO for Hutchings College and Career Academy, where we have implemented several pathways aligned to technology, such as cybersecurity, AI, and robotics. TEKQUELL: I'm Tekquell Watson. I am the CIO here at Macon-Bibb County, new to this position, but I have over 25 years of experience in tech. I'm a former federal CIO as well as military. Q When you're making high-stakes decisions, what frameworks or instincts do you rely on most, and how have these evolved over time? TEKQUELL: I like to lean into data. I'm a data-driven person. I like to go where the data is leading me because I think that tells a story. HEATHER: For me, I would say