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CMMC MIDWEST CONFERENCE

APRIL 30 – MAY 1, 2026

WICHITA • KS • HILTON GARDEN INN AIRPORT

The 4th Annual CMMC Midwest Conference is in the books.

We have had an amazing response this year!

Thank you everyone who attended, to all of our amazing speakers, and our sponsors.

Without you, none of this would be possible.

Check out some of the goings on at the 2026 conference:

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SPEAKERS

2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKER

MATTHEW TRAVIS

CEO, THE CYBER AB

Mr. Travis is the first chief executive officer of The Cyber AB and assumed this role in April 2021. In this capacity, he oversees all CMMC accreditation and CMMC Ecosystem operations of the organization in support of the Department of Defense.

Previously, Travis served as the first deputy director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the nation’s leading civilian cybersecurity agency. There he oversaw the day-to-day operations of then the $2+ billion, 2000+ employee organization across the full range of its mission in cybersecurity, infrastructure protections, and emergency communications. Prior to this position, he was the deputy undersecretary for national protection (NPPD) within the Department of Homeland Security. For his contributions to the DHS mission, he was awarded the Department’s Outstanding Service Medal in 2020.

A former naval officer, Travis served as an engineering auxiliaries officer aboard the guided-missile frigate U.S.S. CARR (FFG 52). He then served a tour as White House Liaison to the Secretary of the Navy and was also a White House Military Aide. He is a 1991 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and holds a master’s in national security studies from Georgetown University.

Mr. Travis serves as a trustee of the CNA Corporation, the parent organization of the Center for Naval Analyses, a federally funded research and development corporation (FFRDC). He has appeared on both CNN and MSNBC offering cybersecurity and homeland security perspectives.

Matthew Travis

MATTHEW TRAVIS

THE CYBER AB

Anwar Kibria

ANWAR KIBRIA

ACE OF CLOUD

Beth Leonard

BETH LEONARD

R3 IT

Bobby Guerra

BOBBY GUERRA

AXIOM

Bradley Taylor

BRADLEY TAYLOR

FRAZIER & DEETER

Brian Howell

BRIAN HOWELL

CRESTVIEW.io

Heather Siemens

BUDDY WILLIS

VAULTECH

Chris Carmichael

CHRIS CARMICHAEL

D-J ENGINEERING

Clint Stevens

CLINT STEVENS

PHY-CY.X SECURITY GROUP

Dan Harman

DAN HARMAN

PHY-CY.X SECURITY GROUP

Heather Siemens

EVAN TRICKEY

D-J ENGINEERING

Greg Marler

GREG MARLER

FRAZIER & DEETER

Heather Siemens

HEATHER SIEMENS

iFORTRISS

Kelsey Cunningham

JAMES HARPER

QUATRONICS

Jered Bare

JERED BARE

ICDS

Brian Howell

JOSEPH LOBDELL

AM GENERAL

Josh Fleming

JOSH FLEMING

ECHELON RISK + CYBER

Kelly Hood

KELLY HOOD

OPTIC CYBER SOLUTIONS

Kelsey Cunningham

KELSEY CUNNINGHAM

ECHELON RISK + CYBER

Ken Benjamin

KEN BENJAMIN

COMPLIANCE ISLAND

Kim Fanto

KIM FANTO

K.FANTO SOLUTIONS

Koren Wise

KOREN WISE

WISE TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS

Mark DeBry

MARK DEBRY

1ST DEFENSE CMMC

Merleta Mohr

MERLETA MOHR

CONTROLCASE

Nick Marteney

NICK MARTENEY

MOTHERBEAR

Prabhat Nigam

PRABHAT NIGAM

GOLDEN 5

Samantha Sherrill

SAMANTHA SHERRILL

FRAZIER & DEETER

Scott Singer

SCOTT SINGER

CONTROLCASE

Steve Jurovic

STEVE JUROVIC

1ST DEFENSE CMMC

Stuart Itkin

STUART ITKIN

FUTUREFEED

Victor Cich

VICTOR CICH

RADICL

Wayne Shaw

WAYNE R. SHAW

FIVE 9S CONSULTING

SESSIONS & WORKSHOPS

SESSIONS

Scott Singer
Scott Singer

Panel: What to Expect when You’re Expecting a Certification

SCOTT SINGER, CHRIS CARMICHAEL, & EVAN TRICKEY moderated by JOSEPH LOBDELL

Learn from a local company that successfully passed their CMMC L2 Assessment.  This is your chance to ask questions of both a CMMC Lead Assessor and the person that lead the company through their assessment.

Koren Wise

Mergers & Acquisitions and Certification

KOREN WISE

This session explores how CMMC considerations should be integrated into the M&A lifecycle—from due diligence and risk assessment to post-merger integration and ongoing compliance. Attendees will learn how to identify hidden cybersecurity liabilities in target organizations, evaluate inherited systems and processes against CMMC requirements, and avoid common pitfalls that can delay certification or create contractual risk with the DoD.

Stuart Itkin

Helping your Assessor see the Forest for the Trees

STUART ITKIN

Helping your assessor see the forest for the trees: making their job simpler and your assessment run more smoothly.

Victor Cich

Practical Strategies for CMMC Level 2 Readiness in Resource-Constrained Environments

VICTOR CICH

Some practical strategies for a resource constrained environments usually will depend on the exact budget and how the CUI is flowing within the business. It may be practical to have a small enclave where you have a few laptops, a printer, and a firewall. We will also explore how other situations such as a small VDI infrastructure where there is no physical footprint, or all employees are remote, may cut down the cost of your final assessment, depending on your C3PAO.

Bobby Guerra
Kaleigh Floyd

Is my MSP prepared for CMMC?

BOBBY GUERRA & KALEIGH FLOYD
In this discussion, Bobby and Kaleigh will dive into the risks and rewards when climbing Mount CMMC with an External Service Provider or MSP. Whether you are a contractor working with an ESP/MSP or you are an MSP yourself, this conversation will dive into the key points to know before going through your journey.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
  • The Easy Bake Oven Approach
  • Marriage Counseling for CMMC
  • The Assessment Tango
  • The Game of Chicken
  • Comparing Apples to Oranges and Oranges to Potatoes
Wayne Shaw

Truth from the CMMC Trenches: What Six Years of Real-World Implementations Reveal

WAYNE SHAW

This session translates six years of real-world CMMC implementation experience into executive-level insight—highlighting the common misconceptions, costly leadership missteps, and strategic decisions that determine whether compliance protects revenue and strengthens the business or becomes an operational burden.

Srikant Rachakonda

AI & Automation in CMMC Readiness: What Scales With Technology and Where Human Oversight Still Matters

SRIKANT RACHAKONDA

This session explores how AI and automation can support CMMC readiness by accelerating documentation, structuring evidence collection, and improving compliance workflows at scale. It also highlights where human judgment remains essential to ensure accuracy, accountability, and assessor confidence. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for combining automation and human expertise to meet CMMC requirements efficiently, without sacrificing compliance quality or audit integrity.

Merleta Mohr

From Assumption to Evidence: Documenting Shared Responsibility in CMMC SSPs

MERLETA MOHR

This presentation focuses on how to properly document external service providers in the SSP and clearly define security ownership using a customer responsibility matrix, helping organizations avoid assessment gaps caused by assumed or undocumented responsibilities. Attendees will learn how assessors evaluate shared services, inherited controls, and accountability during CMMC assessments.

Heather Siemens

The CMMC Adoption Crisis: Why Most Contractors Are Still Not Assessment-Ready

HEATHER SIEMENS

Drawing on experience as a Lead CMMC Certified Assessor and CEO of a CMMC-focused cybersecurity/MSSP firm, this session examines why organizations that appear compliant on paper often fail to demonstrate the operational maturity required during assessment. Attendees will gain insight into the critical difference between implementation versus institutionalization and the leadership-driven governance structure that distinguish assessment-ready organizations.

Clint Stevens
Dan Harman

The Wolf’s Lense

CLINT STEVENS & DAN HARMAN

The Wolf’s Lense explores how adversaries actually operate and how security frameworks like CMMC and NIST intersect with real-world attack methodology. Attendees will gain practical insight into translating compliance requirements to make informed decisions, build a defense in depth program, and achieve operational resilience.

James Harper

Risk Assessment in CMMC

JAMES HARPER

Risk assessments are often treated as a compliance exercise, but under CMMC they must drive real security decisions. This session walks through a practical, assessor-ready approach to scoping, documenting, and using risk assessments to support certification and operational resilience.

Prabhat Nigam

CMMC Compliance with a Zero Trust Cyber Security Framework

PRABHAT NIGAM

The Zero Trust Cyber Security Framework (ZTCSF) represents a paradigm shift from traditional perimeter-based security models to a more robust, identity-centric approach. Zero Trust enforces strict access controls, continuous authentication, and granular authorization for every user, device, and application, regardless of location. This topic will cover all possible infrastructure resources which should be protected by implementing ZTCSF and how ZTCSF helps getting CMMC Compliant.

Kelsey Cunningham
Josh Fleming

CMMC Compliance: Where Organizations Go Wrong (and How to Get It Right)

KELSEY CUNNINGHAM & JOSH FLEMING

Organizations looking to obtain CMMC Level 2 compliance often underestimate the complexity of scoping, readiness, and audit preparation – which can lead to unexpected findings, costly remediations late in the process, or failing the audit itself. This session breaks down the most common mistakes organizations make when pursuing CMMC Level 2, from improperly defining CUI boundaries and relying on superficial gap assessments to misunderstanding evidence requirements and assessor expectations.

Brian Howell

Turning CMMC Requirements into Strategic Outcomes

BRIAN HOWELL

This session will explore the critical need for executive and technical leadership alignment throughout the CMMC journey including how aligned priorities, clear communication, and accountability drive austainable compliance and business outcomes.

Bradley Taylor
Greg Marler
Samantha Sherrill

SSP Insights, Backbone for a CMMC Assessment

BRADLEY TAYLOR, GREG MARLER & SAMANTHA SHERRILL

Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how to build and maintain a System Security Plan (SSP) that clearly demonstrates compliance with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requirements. OSCs will leave with actionable guidance on structuring their SSP, documenting control implementation, and avoiding common gaps that can delay or prevent a successful CMMC assessment.

Beth Leonard
Anwar Kibria
Alec Toloczko

ALTERNATE PROGRAM IN CASE OF CANCELLATION

 

Top Scoping Mistakes That Break CMMC Level 2

BETH LEONARD, ANWAR KIBRIA & ALEC TOLOCZKO

One of the biggest reasons companies fail CMMC Level 2 isn’t missing controls, it’s getting the scope wrong.

This session will explore the most common scoping mistakes seen in real-world CMMC preparation, including misconceptions around enclaves, user access, shared services, and how CUI moves through an organization. Attendees will walk away with practical guidance on how to properly define their CMMC boundary and avoid costly surprises during an assessment.

WORKSHOPS

CMMC COMPLIANCE JAM WICHITA

a workshop for organizations subject to CMMC

presented by FutureFeed
hosted by Stuart Itkin
Compliance Jam logo

Bring your laptop! CMMC Compliance Jam Wichita is a hands-on workshop that will teach organizations subject to CMMC how to go through the process of addressing CMMC’s requirements and preparing for the CMMC Certification assessment.

The workshop will take you through the steps of establishing the scope of your assessment, identifying and categorizing in-scope assets (People, Tools, and Documents), performing a self-assessment against the NIST 800-171 requirements, preparing and managing Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms) to remediate gaps, developing the necessary policies and procedures, and curating evidence.

Who Should Attend?

CMMC Compliance Jam Wichita is for all companies that directly or indirectly supply to the DoD as a contractor, subcontractor or supplier who are or will be subject to CMMC and DFARS 252.204-7012. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) with clients or prospective clients subject to CMMC will also find value from CMMC Compliance Jam Wichita.

GETTING TO 110

IN A WORLD OF CHUTES & LADDERS

presented by Kelly Hood & Kim Fanto

 

Earning a CMMC certification can feel like navigating a game of Chutes and Ladders!

Strategic moves take you closer to your 110 score, while missteps can send you sliding back. This interactive workshop helps participants identify the “ladders” that accelerate success, such as stakeholder buy-in and resource alignment; and prepare for the “chutes” that derail forward progress- including scoping errors and CUI challenges.

Through this scenario-based workshop and group collaboration, attendees will map out practical strategies to overcome setbacks, maintain momentum, and climb steadily toward certification readiness.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!

CMMC SCOPING, NETWORK ARCHITECTURE & CUI DATA FLOW DIAGRAMMING

presented by Mark Debry & Steve Jurovic

 

In this Workshop, participants will work through:

  • What’s In / What’s Out: Define the scope of CMMC assessment
  • Define the Connections and Elements: Map the network architecture and elements in scope, including user’s authentication flow
  • Map the CUI: Diagram the flow or CUI – coming in, moving around, and going out.

CMMC FEUD

SURVEY SAYS… SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE!

presented by Nick Marteney & Jered Bare

 

Join us for a hands-on session where attendees compete to guess the most common answers to real CMMC compliance questions about scoping, evidence, access control, incident response, and assessment readiness. This interactive session makes CMMC practical, memorable, and fun by focusing on what assessors look for, where organizations get tripped up, and how to think beyond policy to real-world implementation.

 

CORRECTLY SCOPE YOUR CMMC SYSTEMS TO SAVE TIME, MONEY, AND STRESS

IMPROPER SCOPING TURNS CMMC COMPLIANCE FROM AN ACHIEVABLE CHALLENGE INTO A SPRAWLING, EXPENSIVE MESS

presented by Kenneth Benjamin & Buddy Willis

 

In this important session, you’ll learn exactly what “scoping” means in CMMC and break down practical approaches to scoping that help you streamline costs, reduce friction, and build a cleaner path to assessment success. By taking a “follow-the-data” approach directly aligned with CMMC regulations, you’ll learn what’s in scope, when and where cloud and hybrid cloud environments can dramatically shrink the size of the problem, and when making the wrong choices can lock you into years of unnecessary compliance drag.

We’ll walk through, and attendees will receive for free, a detailed CMMC scoping flowchart based solely on the CMMC regulations (32 CFR 170) – no opinions, no guessing, just the actual language including the key “incorporated by reference” NIST materials.

 

SCHEDULE

Thursday schedule
Day 2 Schedule

SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSORS

Soteria Technology Solutions Logo

ULTRA SPONSOR

Ace of Cloud logo
R3 IT logo

ALPHA SPONSOR

Wichita State University logo

BRAVO SPONSORS

FutureFeed logo
Radicl logo
Wise Technical Innovations
ecfirst logo
Frazier & Deeter logo

CHARLIE SPONSORS

the CMMC team logo
LBMC logo
Insight Assurance
iFORTRISS logo
BomberJacket Networks logo
Resilient IT logo

DELTA SPONSORS

Golden 5 logo
Five 9s Consulting
MotherBear Security logo
Bound Planet logo
Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub Kansas
databrackets logo

KEEP IN THE LOOP

JOIN THE CMMC MIDWEST MAILING LIST

Don’t miss out on future CMMC Midwest conferences and events, join our mailing list!

No spam, no junk, no worries – we won’t sell your information or overload your inbox.

Just the good stuff: CMMC news and information about future CMMC Midwest events

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wichita • kansas

april 30 – may 1 • 2026