Michael Gardner is the Deputy CIO of USDA Rural Development and is responsible for maintaining smooth day-to-day its Technology Office that supports and enables the Agency’s mission of disbursing $224B in federal loan, grant, and loan guarantee programs that bring enhanced economic opportunity to the Nation’s rural communities. Michael has spent nearly 30 years in the semiconductor, transportation, finance, and Federal IT sectors implementing and overseeing mission-critical technology programs and administering multi-million-dollar budgets.