SOUTHFIELD—Lawrence Technological University’s “Executive to Executive” program, a speaker series for leaders in the nonprofit sector, is returning for the 2021-22 academic year.

Executive to Executive is a series of presentations featuring prominent leaders who are making a difference in the social sector. This speaker series is sponsored by Plante Moran in partnership with Lawrence Tech’s College of Business and Information Technology.

The program series resumes Oct. 14 with a panel discussion on “Cybersecurity and Not-For-Profits: What You Need to Know.”

Registration is free for this virtual event, and is available at https://apply.ltu.edu/register/executivetoexecutiveoct14.

Speakers at the event include James C. Barnacle, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office; Zahraddeen Gwarzo, assistant professor of information technology at LTU; and Josh Hauxhurst, also an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit field office of the FBI. The moderator is Scott Petree, partner at the Southfield-based accounting and business advisory firm Plante Moran.

Barnacle oversees investigations into fraud, transnational organized crime, corruption, and civil rights in Michigan. He was previously chief of the criminal investigative division’s money laudering, forfeiture and bank fraud unit in Washington, D.C. He started his FBI career investigating securities and bank fraud in New York City, where his cases resulted in the recovery of $1 billion in assets to fraud victims. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University.

Gwarzo earned a PhD in computer science and informatics from Oakland University, doing research on botnet detection using a machine learning approach. He also has five years of private industry experience as an IT security consultant and teaches courses in computer networks, information security, cybersecurity, ethical hacking, IT management, and more. He is a certified ethical hacker and a computer hacking forensic investigator.

Hauxhurst joined the FBI in 2006 investigating violent crime at the Detroit office. He was promoted to the FBI’s Flint resident agency supervising criminal and national security programs. In 2016, he was promoted to team leader in the Office of Inspection, inspecting field offices. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice and law enforcement administration from Tiffin University. He returned to the Detroit field office in 2018. Before joining the FBI, he worked as a police officer and detective in Ohio from 1996 to 2006.

Moderator Petree leads Plante Moran’s IT consulting practice, assisting clients with data privacy, PCI compliance, and IT infrastructure. He has more than 17 years of experience in the IT field, and is a certified information systems auditor, a qualified security assessor, a certified fraud examiner. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Grand Valley State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting information systems from Eastern Michigan University.

Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, and Engineering. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for the salaries of its graduates, and U.S. News and World Report lists it in the top tier of best Midwestern universities. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 100 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.