CompTIA Executive Staff

Todd Thibodeaux

President and Chief Executive Officer, CompTIA

Todd Thibodeaux is the president and chief executive officer of CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. CompTIA represents more than 2,000 member companies and 3,500 business partners spanning the worldwide technology industry. Directly and through its partners CompTIA connects with millions of people each year with training, education and certification opportunities to help them start and advance in careers in the tech workforce.

Since joining the organization in 2008, Mr. Thibodeaux has led the expansion of CompTIA’s commitment to advancing industry growth through education and training programs, market intelligence and research, networking events, professional certifications and public advocacy. During his tenure CompTIA has made several strategic investments, including recent acquisitions of the Digital Film Academy, provider of state-of-the-industry higher education and training in digital film and media, and TestOut, a market leader in career training, courseware, labs and other resources to build “career-ready IT skills.”

Mr. Thibodeaux is a frequent commentator and source quoted in news coverage of the technology industry and workforce, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, CNBC, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Thibodeaux is a life-long IT and tech enthusiast dating back to his very early years. The son of an electrical and mechanical engineer, his love of technology continues to this day. He has infused CompTIA with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the industry the organization represents.

Before joining CompTIA in July 2008, Mr. Thibodeaux spent more than 17 years with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), where he served in a wide range of roles culminating as its senior vice president of industry relations. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (Bachelor of Science, economics, 1988) and George Mason University (Master’s degree, economics, 1997).

Jennifer Browning

Chief People Officer, CompTIA

Jennifer Browning is the Chief People Officer for CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. She has the core responsibility for creating a dynamic employee experience powered by a diverse and inclusive culture to inspire and empower people. As a leadership advisor, culture architect, and diversity and inclusion advocate, Jennifer serves as a progressive catalyst for growth by fostering purpose-driven environments where people thrive and create impact.

With over 20 years of experience with a wide variety of global organizations, Jennifer has driven business transformations with sustained performance through mergers, acquisitions, and industry disruptions. In 2023 Jennifer was part of the executive team involved in CompTIA’s acquisition of TestOut, a market leader in career training, courseware, labs and other resources to build “career-ready IT skills.” More than 100 TestOut employees were efficiently and quickly integrated into the CompTIA staff by Jennifer and her staff.

Before joining CompTIA, Jennifer was the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Cboe Global Markets. She was responsible for implementing progressive people programs, including a critical role in the organization's M&A growth strategy. Before Cboe, Jennifer was the Vice President of Human Resources for ShopperTrak and guided them through their acquisition by Tyco and Johnson Controls. And before Cboe, Jennifer was the Vice President of Human Resources for Cleversafe. She directed the organization from its start-up phase through its exponential growth, leading to its acquisition by IBM for $1.3B.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and multiple certifications, including SHRM-SCP, Hogan Leadership Assessment, Prosci Change Management, and Work Effects Culture Strategy Alignment.

Charles Eaton

Chief of Staff, Creating IT Futures

Charles Eaton leads CompTIA’s three philanthropic endeavors. As executive VP of social innovation, Eaton oversees NextUp, our newest initiative to introduce middle schoolers to the possibilities of tech careers, and CompTIA Giving, which supports tech-focused charities through financial and volunteer resources.

As the CEO of Creating IT Futures, he leads CompTIA’s main IT charity which enables people to improve their lives through employment in the IT industry. Eaton joined CompTIA in June 2010 and has 23 years of non-profit management experience.

Prior to joining CompTIA, he was responsible for fundraising, business development and marketing for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), a growing healthcare association focused on improving healthcare quality and patient safety.

Before joining APIC, Eaton was vice president of member relations for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organizes the largest tradeshow in North America, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Eaton graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Duke University and has four kids, ranging from elementary school age to working adult.

Courtney Fong

Chief Operating Officer, CompTIA

Courtney Fong is the chief operating officer for CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. As a former computer consultant and system administrator, he combines his industry knowledge with business and legal expertise to serve CompTIA.

Mr. Fong is also the CEO of the CompTIA Tech Career Academy, a non-profit subsidiary that trains and prepares adults for training, education and certification and the establish a foundation in the global technology workforce.

Prior to joining CompTIA, Mr. Fong was the general counsel, chief compliance officer and chief privacy officer for a number of leading companies within the financial services industry in the US and UK. He is a regular speaker at industry and legal events, including being a past TEDx speaker, and served as an adjunct professor of law at Chicago-Kent College of Law for nine years. He received the Top General Counsel award in 2016, the FALA Chicago Trailblazer Award in 2019, and was previously named a Notable General Counsel by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Mr. Fong graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Communication Systems and a Certificate in Network Systems. He earned his Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He holds designations as NACD Board Leadership Fellow and IAPP Certified Information Privacy Manager and has obtained the CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from Carnegie Mellon University. You can follow him on Twitter @courtfong.

Nate Garner

Chief Innovation Officer, CompTIA

Nate Garner is the chief innovation officer for CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. He is responsible for exploring new technology innovations for internal and external projects to ensure CompTIA continues to lead the industry.

Mr. Garner joined CompTIA in January 2023 when the association acquired TestOut, a market leader in career training, courseware, labs and other resources to build “career-ready IT skills.” He worked at TestOut for 20 years, most recently as chief technology officer, leading the engineering and IT departments. He also held executive and senior management roles in engineering and software development at TestOut.

A graduate of Western Governors University (B.A.Sc., Information Technology) and Brigham Young University – Idaho (A.A.S, Computer Information Systems), Mr. Garner has earned several professional certifications, including CompTIA A+, Linux+, Network+ and Security+).

Randy Gross

CISO & Chief Innovation Officer, CompTIA

Randy Gross is the chief information security officer (CISO) for CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. As CISO, Randy and the InfoSec team eliminate CompTIA’s undue technology risk, enabling its people, learning programs, and platforms to thrive. He also oversees corporate privacy, working with business units on global compliance and credibility.

Previously at CompTIA Randy served as chief information officer and executive vice president, certification operations, overseeing a global program that has awarded more than 2.7 million certifications to technology professionals around the world.

Randy also provides expert commentary on technology and workforce matters and has been featured in many business and industry publications, including CIO, Dice Insights, Forbes, InformationWeek, IT Brew and TechRepublic.

Prior to CompTIA, Randy worked for Accenture and the Consumer Technology Association. He attended the US Air Force Academy and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Political Science. https://www.linked.com/in/cisorandygross

Nancy Hammervik

Chief Solutions Officer, CompTIA

Nancy leads our client custom training solutions and services by growing CompTIA's visibility in academia, workforce, and corporate training and building key relationships in the broader marketplace.

In 2013, Ms. Hammervik led an initiative to evolve CompTIA’s membership model and grow utilization of its vast library of content.  CompTIA’s “Open Access” membership model provides digital access to the vast majority of its industry insight, research and business tools to a wider audience beyond paid membership. This membership model grew CompTIA’s industry engagement from 2,000 corporate members to include more than 100,000 registered users.

In 2014, Ms. Hammervik helped to manage the integration of TechAmerica, one of the first US technology associations, into the CompTIA organization, broadening CompTIA’s membership base, strengthening its policy voice and growing its position in the public sector market space of the technology industry.

Late 2016, Ms. Hammervik led the efforts to bring AITP, a 65 year old industry professional society, under the umbrella of CompTIA member organizations and is responsible for building out a new professional association that serves aspiring students and individuals, seeking and growing IT careers.

Hammervik joined CompTIA in 2011 after a 25 year career with United Business Media’s Everything Channel, a top provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting and sales and marketing services. Her last position with the company was senior vice president, events, where she was responsible for the company's entire global events business. She led the sales, marketing, recruitment, content and event production strategies for the events business. Her event portfolio focused on large scale, regional, community, virtual and custom events that brought together leading executives in the high tech industry. During her tenure there, she managed the integration of Gartner’s Vision Events portfolio, including Midsize Enterprise Summit and HealthCare Summit.

Tim Herbert

Chief Research Officer, CompTIA

Tim Herbert serves as executive vice president of research and market intelligence for The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). Under his leadership, CompTIA publishes a wide range of reports, briefs, and data analysis to make sense of the ever-changing tech landscape.

CompTIA’s Cyberstates report is recognized as the definitive guide to tech workforce trends, economic impact, innovation, and more. As revealed in this recent sit-down interview, Herbert recognizes the importance of digging deep to get to the underlying complexities and nuances of data and trends.

Herbert regularly pens articles for industry publications, presents at industry conferences, and in his 20-plus years as a technology analyst, has been cited in numerous media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Wired Magazine and many others.

Prior to joining CompTIA, Herbert directed the research program and was a lead analyst at the Consumer Technology Association, producer of the International CES, the largest technology event in the world. Additionally, his entrepreneurial streak led to involvement in launching two startups.

Herbert holds a B.S. in economics from John Carroll University and an MBA with an economics concentration from George Mason University.

Jannienne Jones Verse

Chief Marketing Officer, CompTIA

Jannienne Jones Verse is chief marketing officer for CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. She brings over 20 years of experiences crossing the disciplines of strategic marketing, brand architecture, research, analytics, and business operations. Her path includes critical roles with top companies such as technology giant AT&T, software systems leader Reynolds & Reynolds, and healthcare genetics expert Geisinger Health.

Jannienne’s talents in consumer journey mapping, product design and business intelligence led to many distinctions, including being named one of the nation’s most talented marketing professionals and honored as a Most Powerful & Influential Woman. She’s served as an executive mentor, chair for Employee Resource Groups, and remains a dedicated board member of the National Diversity Council. Jannienne enjoys sharing her insights and experiences via feature speaker roles, lectureship, and in designing and facilitating personal brand workshops.

An Ohio native, Jannienne lived her formative years abroad, earned academic awards and a Bachelor of Arts, Mass Communications at Wright State University, and completed a Master’s in Business Administration, Marketing Concentration, Summa Cum Laude, at the University of Phoenix. She lives in the Phoenix region, and enjoys creative projects, travel, and time with her family, whom she names as her greatest accomplishment.

Brian Laffey

Chief Financial Officer, CompTIA

Brian Laffey is the chief financial officer for CompTIA, responsible for monitoring, controlling, and reporting on the Association’s financial results and investment portfolio. He also manages CompTIA's Operations Department.

Prior to joining CompTIA in September 2015, Laffey worked for the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he served as associate vice president for finance and as Controller. In these roles he was responsible for the financial stewardship of the university’s assets totaling $596 million and the financial stewardship of revenues and expenses.

Laffey also has experience as the director of financial reporting and systems for the American Bar Association; and as assistant controlled for Loyola University Chicago. He is a graduate of Kent State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting; and Loyola University Chicago, where he received Master of Science degree in Accountancy. Laffey is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.

MJ Shoer

Chief Community Officer, CompTIA

MJ Shoer is Chief Community Officer at CompTIA, the leading non-profit trade association for the global technology industry and workforce. He leads the global community team, which is responsible for all aspects of community engagement, programming, cybersecurity programming, recruitment, and retention for CompTIA’s 2,000 member organizations.

In his tenure as chief community officer MJ has increased CompTIA’s global presence with the expansion of member-led communities into Ireland, the DACH region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and soon, to ASEAN countries in Asia.

Under his direction CompTIA has also expanded its cybersecurity presence through the growth of the CompTIA Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO); the creation of the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark, an organizational credential to help managed service providers (MSPs) and solution providers elevate their cybersecurity awareness and readiness; and the formation of the CompTIA Emergency Response Team, a group of dedicated volunteer members who will provide rapid support and resources to assist any MSP that’s recovering from a cybersecurity breach or business disruption event.

MJ has over three decades of experience in the IT industry. His is an engaging executive and well known for his engagement in the MSP and broader IT communities and his cybersecurity expertise. In 1997, he founded Jenaly Technology Group, Inc. a pioneer of the MSP business model. Jenaly was acquired in 2015 after which MJ served as CTO of the acquiring MSP. After another rollup acquisition by a national MSP, in 2019 MJ launched a consulting business working with MSPs, leading peer groups and working with other channel organizations. MJ is a former member of the CompTIA Board of Directors and a former Board Chair.

MJ began working with CompTIA in late 2019 to build the CompTIA ISAO and joined CompTIA as staff in late 2020. MJ was named Chief Community Officer in January 2022. MJ is also the host of Shoering Up Security on the CompTIA Connect YouTube Channel and the publisher of CompTIA World Magazine. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. You may follow MJ on Twitter @mshoer.