Board of Directors

Connect is governed by an international volunteer Board of Directors that are elected by the membership, and are responsible for establishing policy and setting the strategic vision and goals of the organization.

Sue Robinson - President

CIO, Technology Risk and NED, Everest Insurance

United Kingdom

Sue is a technology expert with over 25 years of experience working with infrastructure technologies. Sue has been an HPE customer who manages an infrastructure team using 3PAR, All Flash Cache Arrays, HP Dataprotector, and OneView. Sue is an engaged and active member on the Board of Directors, and has served in multiple roles during her time on the board. Sue resides in the United Kingdom and brings a strong international presences to the board.

Tony Ioele - Treasurer

Managing Partner, ARI Technology Advisors

Philadelphia, PA

Tony works with Fortune 50 to mid-market companies focusing on the following: Strategy and implementation of secure private, hybrid and public cloud solutions; Digital Transformations; IT governance; and security program transformations. The focus of his solutions rely on HPE technologies, including converged infrastructure, storage, cloud, security, application life cycle and IT management software. Tony is based in the USA (Philadelphia, PA), and is an long time HPE customer and volunteer with a multi-platform background.

Marty Edelman - Past President

CTO, Creative System Software

Marietta, GA

Since retiring from The Home Depot, Marty Edelman has provided strategic guidance to organizations wishing to modernize their IT infrastructures. While at The Home Depot, he was the director of Payment Services. Marty has been involved with HPE (Tandem, Compaq, HPE and HPE) for more than 30 years as an employee, end user, and independent consultant. He founded a small consultancy firm that specialized in developing high-volume mission-critical solutions for Fortune 500 companies. Marty and his team helped to build the UPS Tracking System, the NYSE Consolidated Trade and Quote systems, and the SWIFT next-generation computing platform.

Navid Khodayari

President, Idelji

Los Angeles, CA

Navid has spent his career in the Business Development field of the HPE NonStop space. Throughout his tenure, Navid has witnessed many changes to not only the technology of the platform but also the business landscape of the Mission Critical Server market. Navid currently serves as Director of Business Development at Idelji and travels the world for all things NonStop. He is the chair of the Southern California NonStop User Group as well as the founder of NonStop Under 40, which advances the marketing and education offerings for the HPE NonStop world.

Ryan Colbert

CIO, Morgan & Morgan

Orlando, FL

Ryan Colbert has been the CIO of Morgan & Morgan, the most powerful injury law firm in the world for almost 10 years. With over 25 years of technology experience, Ryan is responsible for everything that plugs into the wall, runs on batteries, or otherwise has electrons flowing through it at the firm. When he's not busy contributing to the success of the Google of law firms, Ryan can be found volunteering at his local dive bar, where he uses his tech savvy to keep the jukebox stocked with all the hottest hits. In his free time, Ryan also enjoys flying airplanes and is always looking for new and exciting places to explore. Ryan's love of technology and adventure makes him the ultimate asset to the Connect Worldwide board. Just don't ask him to fix your printer...he's still scarred from the Great Print Spooler Disaster of 2019. *This bio is brought to you in large part by #ChatGPT. Ryan has previously served on the Connect Board of Directors from June to December 2022.

Kristi Elizondo - Chief Executive Officer

Kristina Elizondo is the Chief Executive Officer of Connect Worldwide. Connect Worldwide is a technology user group primarily focused on Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HPE Partner products and services. Kristina was previously the global IT director for Silicon Laboratories and Motorola Semiconductor. Kristina’s extensive experience in leading global IT teams and operations in both large and small companies gives her a unique skill set consisting of IT acumen, operational experience, international perspective, and a sense of community. She serves on the board of directors for various nonprofit organizations. Kristina earned a B.S. degree in Communications, and BBA degrees in Marketing and Management Information Services from the University of Texas at Austin.