André Mendes
Department of Commerce
In his current position Mr. Mendes serves as the Chief Information Officer for the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration Bureau. He has responsibility for the global technology infrastructure for the entire organization.
Previously, Mr. Mendes served as the Acting CEO for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, the CIO/CTO of the U.S. Broadcasting Board Of Governors and Director, Technology Services and Innovation for the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau, of the United States of America. In 2015 he served as Interim CEO and in 2014 as Interim COO of the entire Agency.
In those capacities, Mr. Mendes oversaw the operations of the BBG entity that endeavors to provide the people of Cuba with access to objective news and information as well as the largest digital audio distribution system in the world through a $1.2B global network that includes 84 transmitting stations, utilizes 15 geo-stationary satellites, 3000+ affiliates, redundant circumnavigating fiber and a growing MPLS network. BBG broadcasts reach a weekly audience of 278 million in over 100 countries and 63 languages.
In his former position, as SVP Strategic Planning and Global CIO for Special Olympics International, Mr. Mendes was responsible for the formulation of the organization’s Strategic Plan and all aspects of the global movement’s information technology, Internet and media infrastructures.
Previously, as Chief Technology Integration Officer at PBS, he was responsible for developing and implementing technology strategy in both Broadcasting Engineering and Information Technology divisions of the Public Broadcasting Service. He has also served as Chief Operating Officer at Pluvita, Inc. a biotechnology and bioinformatics startup.
He is the recipient of multiple industry awards including:
- 2010-2018 Top 100 Hispanic IT Executives
- 2008 MIT CIO Innovation Awards
- 2006 Mid-Atlantic IT Executive of the Year
- 2006 Mid-Market Leadership
- 2005 Technology Leadership in Broadcasting
- 2004 Innovation in Storage Award
- 2003 Excellence in Broadcast Engineering
- 2001 Premier 100 IT Leaders
He is a co-author of the critically acclaimed “CTO Leadership Strategies” from Aspatore Books and is an internationally recognized leader in cloud technology adoption and the convergence of broadcasting, IT and new media technologies. He was recently nominated to the Chief Information Officer Hall of Fame.
