Diversity Equity + Inclusion Committee

Kate Gerry, Director of Networking at NetActuate, balances a thriving career with a fulfilling personal life. With a past interest in horse training, she now enjoys gardening and home improvement projects at her New Hampshire residence, which she shares with her Chihuahua, Abby, the Datacenter Dog.

Kate appreciates the lifelong friendships she's formed through the NANOG community. Her dedication to both work and personal growth showcases her well-rounded nature and passion for continuous development.

T.Marc is an established Sales Leader with a broad range of perspective and experience in the Internet industry since starting his career with UUNet Technologies (AS 701).  His goal is to help drive and realize the NANOG Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiative and eagerly joined the effort as a committee member.  He is most excited about the opportunity to mentor and support new NANOG members.  When not engaged in technology related matters, T.Marc enjoys being a Driver Coach where he teaches the basics and fundamentals of race car driving.

Marlin is a Technical Business Developer for AWS, focused on IPv4 acquisitions. Marlin has advanced skills in program management, policy coordination, stakeholder engagement and communications and has proudly served on the NANOG Program Committee for two years. Marlin’s expertise working with foreign, federal, and state officials, as well as industry leaders and non-profits positions her as a valued resource for groups seeking to establish unique connections and public-private partnerships. In addition to her volunteer role with NANOG, Marlin serves as the Marketing Director for the DC chapter of [email protected], an affinity group extending resources to local minority groups in the DMV area.

Prior to her role at Amazon, Marlin worked with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions, on energy technology commercialization efforts.

Marlin has a deep interest in sustainability, community development, entrepreneurship and brand management. Marlin seeks for the empowerment of underserved groups and the Hispanic community through engagement in mentorship programs like Club Amigas at Fordham University for young Latina women, Latinas Leading Tomorrow and collaborative programs like the Public Policy Fellowship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

Marlin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Policy with a focus on Sustainable Business from Fordham University and a Master of Science in Strategic Marketing Communications from the Gabelli School of Business.

Charles currently works for Deft as a lead network and automation engineer on the operations team. His main responsibilities include routing, network design, systems administration, network design, and automation. "Making events non-events" and "no one should know we've done anything" are his primary guiding principles for designs and work. Usability and security are of great interest to Charles as well.

Outside of the work space, Charles doesn't stray to far from the technology path. He serves on the planning committees for The WOPR Summit and the Blue Team Village @ DEFCON. His primary roles are to support conference IT infrastructure, speaker operations, and community development.

Outside of the technology space, Charles is very active in the Philadelphia Guild of Change Ringers serving as treasurer, steeple keeper, and educator. He also finds enjoyment in the orchestra, knitting, musical theater, and cycling.

Clara entered the community five years ago, when she was leading the team making IPv4 address transactions safer at Escrow.com from the office in her hometown, Buenos Aires, Argentina. At her first NANOG meeting she met the woman who, four years later, would recruit her to help develop the IP address strategy at AWS, where she is also an inclusion ambassador. Having attended multiple NOGs and RIR meetings across four regions, she loves connecting with people from different parts of the world and has seen first-hand the impact that being included in this diverse community can have towards professional and personal development. She aspires to help make these opportunities accessible to more people.

Les Williams is a Technology Management Executive who has held senior leadership roles across Tier 1 companies in the Telecommunications, Data Center, and Cloud Services Industry. He currently works as a Senior Infrastructure Business Development Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS). His role includes the Americas planning and sourcing of IP interconnection and peering capacity necessary to build and scale the AWS global network infrastructure (AS 16509).

Les is an integral member of the NANOG community and provides support across all NANOG programs. Formally, he currently serves as a member of the NANOG Programming Committee, NANOG Outreach Program and NANOG DEI Committee. Les is passionate about “empowering our community to meet the ever-changing demands of a global network,” by being a resource and trusted ally for open diversity engagement; and outwardly facilitating equitable access for underrepresented and underserved groups. Les is instrumental in NANOGs College Immersion program, being on the road with NANOG to meet students where they are, as well as bringing students to NANOGs to extend access to the Tech Industry. Les brings a wealth of experience in developing and orchestrating technical programs and events. He was part of the core team that hosts Digital Realty Trust, (DRT)'s MarketPlace Live events, and was Co-Chair, North America, of the Metro Ethernet Forum.

At AWS, Les also serves as the Chapter Lead for the Amazon Infrastructure Services (AIS) North America (NAMER) Inclusion Chapter. He is also a member of the leadership team of the AWS Global Connectivity and Network Availability (GCNA)’s Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (ID&E) Council, and an ID&E Training Facilitator.