Nahla 
Ivy
Enterprise Risk Management Officer
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Nahla Ivy is the Enterprise Risk Management Officer for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce in Gaithersburg, MD. Mrs. Ivy has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. At NIST, Mrs. Ivy leads the development and implementation of the agency-level Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program, including the development of a customized ERM framework for application at the organization, program and project levels. Prior to joining NIST, Mrs. Ivy worked with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Financial Risk, Policy and Controls, where she provided risk oversight for a large American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) project portfolio and later co-managed the Department’s internal controls program.
In private industry, Mrs. Ivy served as a research director and product manager for a financial services and corporate governance firm, where she oversaw research and product teams located in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Mrs. Ivy has an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business and a B.A. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from the College of William & Mary. She is a member of the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM) and the Association for Government Accountants (AGA).
Thomas A. Brandt
Chief Risk Officer, Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Thomas (Tom) Brandt is a member of the IRS’s Senior Executive Team and serves as its Chief Risk Officer. He leads the agency’s enterprise risk management program, enabling the identification, prioritization, evaluation and mitigation of key risks to achieving the IRS mission. Previously, Tom was the Director of Planning, Analysis, Inventory and Research in the Large Business and International Division (LB&I), with responsibility for the Division’s workload selection and risk identification processes, undertaking research to inform business decision-making and performance improvement, and development of the Division’s annual compliance plan.
Earlier in his career at the IRS, Tom was executive assistant to the Director, Communications, Technology, and Media (CTM) Industry, overseeing all personnel and budget matters as well as workload planning and monitoring. He also served as a senior manager in LB&I’s Planning, Quality, Analysis and Support function where he coordinated reporting and analysis of the division’s performance measures and managed the customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction programs. Before joining LB&I, Tom held various positions in IRS’s budget and planning offices.
In 2016, Tom served as the Head of the Tax Administration Unit at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France where he led the work of the Forum on Tax Administration (FTA), a unique body that brings together the leaders of tax administrations from 47 countries to discuss and encourage relevant global trends and to develop new ideas to enhance tax administration around the world. From 2005-2007, Tom worked for Maricopa County, Arizona where he led the County’s Managing for Results program. He has also provided tax administration advisory and capacity building assistance to numerous tax administrations throughout the world through projects of the International Monetary Fund and OECD.
Tom earned his master’s degree in public administration from American University in Washington, D.C. and his bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Wendell Conner
Chief Risk Officer, Office of Public and Indian Housing
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Wendell Conner currently serves and the Chief Risk Officer, Office of Public and Indian Housing, at HUD. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 25 years of experience in the affordable housing industry. Wendell is a graduate of Arizona State University’s School of Accountancy and a member of the AICPA, ASCPA and AFERM.