Cate Richards

Cate Richards is the Director of Federal Programs at Sonatype, Inc., a leader in Software Supply Chain Security solutions. She also serves as an advisory member for the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Subcommittee on Systems Software Integration and holds an appointment as a Faculty Scholar at the University of Florida, supporting her NSPE initiatives.

Cate has over 30 years of experience in the Federal, State, and Local sectors, serving in roles such as educator, solution developer, information architect, and software client executive. Prior to her current position, Cate enjoyed a distinguished 21-year career at IBM, where she led North America Public Sector Solutions sales. Her expertise spanned Smarter Cities, Resilience & Infrastructure, Citizen Services, Public Safety, and Intelligent Asset Management.

Cate has held leadership positions on several steering committees and councils, including those focused on Smarter Cities, NIEM (National Information Exchange Model), government procurement, and review boards. She is also an eight-time best-selling author of technology application development and administration books published by Que and SAM Publications and has contributed articles to various trade and industry magazines.

Cate holds a Master of Business Administration, with honors, from Rollins College and a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from the University of South Florida. A proud Gold Star Mom of a USMC Scout Sniper, she dedicates her personal time to volunteering for veteran organizations and fundraising initiatives.