Scott Alvord is a Roseville resident, CEO of Advanced Development Concepts and the author of the new book, “Locking the Cookie Jar – How to Protect Against Embezzlement, Identity Theft, and Hackers.” Scott teaches employees a password technique that is uncrackable, unique for every account and can be safely written down He holds an MBA-MCA from Sacramento State and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Pacific Union College. For more information, visit LockingTheCookieJar.com.

Ryan is a freelance photographer specializing in editorial and portraiture. With over 14 years experience in photography, his work has been published in Comstock’s, Sacramento Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. Ryan also serves as an adjunct instructor for the photo department at Sacramento City College. He specializes in lifestyle, commercial, travel and documentary-style portraiture. Born in the Philippines, Ryan grew up in Texas and moved to Sacramento in 2004. For more, visit www.ryanangelstudio.com.

Tiffany Duong is a freelance journalist and environmental advocate, writing about conservation, green technology and sustainability, and eco-travel. Her work draws on experiences in the field, observations about business and culture, and research on novel approaches to tackle environmental concerns. She earned her B.A. in International Development from UCLA and her J.D. from U.

Allen Pierleoni is a freelance writer in Sacramento. He worked for the Sacramento Bee as a writer and editor in the features department for 30 years. He contributes to a number of  publications, including the  Southern California News Group and the San Jose Mercury News. 

Charles Vincent McDonald was born in Spokane, Washington, and later moved with his family to Arlington, Virginia. Like many others, Charles first began photographing with an 35mm film camera for his high school newspaper and yearbook publications. After high school, Charles enlisted in the U.S.

Heidi Pyle is a public relations consultant at KP Public Affairs and incoming board president for Junior League of Sacramento. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in political science and earned her MBA from Drexel University. Heidi is a proud Sacramento native and recently became a mother to a beautiful son, Nathan.

Megan White blogs about food, fitness, local businesses and travel at www.unsipped.com. She also handles media relations for a large state pension fund.

Graham Womack is a freelance writer based in Sacramento. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and Sacramento News & Review. Follow him on Twitter @grahamdude.

Jordan Venema is a California-based writer that enjoys gin and teaching himself dead languages. He received a master’s of liberal arts from St. John’s College, but swears he’s learned more from his precocious son, Cassian, than he ever did from a book.

Brad Branan has been a journalist for 27 years, most recently as the cannabis reporter at The Sacramento Bee. Branan is the son of an investigative reporter. He is also a backpacker, skier, whitewater rafter and a certified California naturalist (UC ‘16.) Before moving to Sacramento, Branan worked for newspapers in Fresno, Tucson and elsewhere.