Board of Directors Election Candidate: Chris Womack

Chris Womack

Chris Womack is the Director of Information Technology at the Placer County Office of Education. Mr. Womack provides leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment throughout the county. The primary responsibilities for his office encompass a wide variety of strategic technology issues:

• High speed internet access to schools
• Internet content filtering
• Governance and policy
• Resource allocation
• Information technology protocols

Placer County Office of Education works in partnership with the 16 local school districts to support academic success through technology, delivery of IT infrastructure and services, information security systems and compliance, administrative systems, and client support services.

Mr Womack represents the county's information technology interests by affiliating with several state and regional education organizations, including:

• CITE California IT in Education (CTOM Steering Committee Member)
• CCSESA Technology Steering Committee
• ACSA Association of California School Administrators
• MS-ISAC Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center

He is a CITE Certified Chief Technology Officer and also serves as President of the Auburn Youth Soccer Club which provides 750 local youth with a safe and healthy soccer season each year. Prior to leading the Information Technology team at PCOE, Mr. Womack spent 23 years in information technology roles in the private sector and education. Most recently, he served as a Network Engineer for PCOE.

How long have you been in your current role and how did you get there?

I started working for PCOE in December of 2011 as a PC Technician. I was promoted to Computer Networking Specialist in 2014. I was honored to attend the CITE CTO Mentor Program in 2018 (Cohort 12) where I was awarded the Outstanding Student Award for my cohort. The following year I was promoted to Director of Information Technology by the Superintendent.

What's a recent win you've had at work?

My team and I have successfully completed our Azure Landing Zone project. We now have our critical business systems replicating to the Azure cloud. In a catastrophic disaster where the PCOE main campus could not communicate with the internet we now have the ability to stand up critical systems in minutes. This would give all of our supported districts continued access to student and financial systems in a time of crisis. 

How long have you been a CITE member? What is your favorite memory from a CITE event?

I have been a CITE member since 2012. The very first CITE conference I went to was a blast. We watched many of the board members perform some karaoke (without karaoke equipment) and it was absolutely hilarious! It is always a great time to connect with many colleagues across the state who we may e-mail continuously but may not see in person much.

What do you do in your limited free time?

In my small amount of free time I am a baseball coach, soccer coach, and a soccer club board member. My family is very much involved in youth sports which consumes all of our free time.

Are there any special shoutouts you'd like to give to someone in your life or the CITE Community who has made a special impact on you?

I would like to thank James Anderberg and Peter Skibitzki for mentoring me while including me in CITE membership, events and the overall community.

If someone is intimidated or reluctant to get involved with CITE, what advice would you give them?

The CITE community is all about supporting and uplifting each other to be a better "you" which also improves and strengthens the CITE community.