James A. Walters, CISSP, CCSP, SSCP, CC
President 2023
James Walters is a technologist with over 20 years’ experience. James is currently the Chief Information Systems Officer (CISO) for Chesterfield County IT. Previous to this role James worked at Northrop Grumman Corporation as an Enterprise Services Operation Manager supporting managed IT services for the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and the Virginia executive branch agencies.
James is well-versed in cybersecurity, networking, systems administration and field services operations. He has held increasingly higher information technology roles in support of commercial, state and local government customers.
James' experience includes certifications and training from vendors such as; Cisco, CompTIA, DRII, Dell, EMC, EXIN, HDI, HP, ITIL, ISACA, ISC2, Microsoft and VMware. James completed information security management training from the University of California, Irvine in 2012.
James has been involved with CompTIA as a subject matter expert since 2016 for both the CompTIA Security+ and Cyber Security Analyst+ exams. James maintains the A+, Network+, Server+, Security+, CySA+, CASP+, Cloud+ and Project+ CompTIA certifications.
James holds the (ISC)2 CISSP, CCSP, SSCP, and CC certifications.
Angela Graves, CC
Vice-President 2023
Angela Graves has years of IT experience and decided to pivot into Cyber Security. She is responsible for supporting efforts to protect the organizations against threat actors by identifying, researching, investigating and analyzing threats. Angela and her team handle the administration/creation of computer security policies and procedures. She also creates and maintains monthly and quarterly training and phishing campaign content for the organizational Cyber Security Awareness Program.
She has an avid interest and passion for everything cybersecurity and is committed to ensuring any and all environments are secure now and in the future. When not learning and looking for ways to keep her environment secure, Angela enjoys spending time at the beach, fishing and traveling. She’s an Air Force veteran and has a son that lives in California which she tries to visit at least once a year.
Angela holds certifications for CompTIA IT Fundamentals+, A+, Project+ and (ISC)2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC).
Ben Goo, CISSP
Treasurer 2023
Benjamin Goo works on the Chesterfield County Information Security
Team and also serves as the president of The Resource Ministry Database
(RMDB). An organization he helped start that works to help different
charities and churches integrate technology into their operations.
Benjamin received his Masters in Business Administration from Aurora
University in 2022 and his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from UC
Santa Cruz in 2007. He has worked in the technology sector field for
15+ years and has held and maintains multiple certifications including,
MCSE, MCITP, Network+, Security+, and the CISSP.
Prior to working
in his current positions, Benjamin managed all of the IT operations for
North, Central and South America at the International Rescue Committee
for three years and before this he managed all of the East Coast IT
operations for the country's second largest lobby firm. Benjamin and his
wife live in Moseley, VA on a 72 acre horse ranch with their daughter,
dogs and other animals.
Ben holds the (ISC)2 CISSP and CC certifications.
Julie Severson, CISSP
Secretary 2023
Julie Severson has had a long and and varied career in IT and security, primarily in the financial services industry. Her experiences includes application / systems development, IT operations management, business and IT strategic planning, and developing and promoting security policies, standards, procedures and best practices. She helps business leaders and teams understand security risk and how to manage the risk appropriately for their businesses. The most challenging situations, which are often the most creative and fun, usually involve strategic and sensitive security issues that have gotten the attention of the C-suite, and where alternatives need to be developed and considered.
Julie is a strong proponent of security awareness for people of all ages - from pre-schoolers to centenarians - and has provided security education to school and community groups as an ISC SASO volunteer. She is very interested in how data privacy and cyber security intersect, particularly as more artificial intelligence is being used in day-to-day activities. Julie has a BS in Business Administration and a Masters in Information Assurance. ** In addition to holding an (ISC)2 CISSP, she holds several other certifications including (ISACA) CRISC, CISM and CDPSE, and is an ISACA certified instructor in security management and security risk.
Julie holds the (ISC)2 CISSP certification.
Joel Lothamer, CISSP
Membership-Chair 2023
Joel Lothamer has 28 years of experience in IT operations, project management, information security and functional management. He has experience building and leading teams that have supported the speed and uptime requirements of mission critical online products in the financial services space. He has also worked with consensus building and rigorous change controls needed to provide enterprise solutions compliant with export and information security regulations in the defense industry space. Joel lives in Charlottesville, VA with his wife. They are raising 3 kids and 5 pets. He enjoys working out and listening to music with friends.
Joel holds the (ISC)2 CISSP certification.