As SVP, Strategic Planning and Global CIO for Special Olympics International, André Mendes is responsible for the formulation of the organization’s strategic plan and all aspects of the global movement’s IT, Internet and media infrastructures.

Previously, as Chief Technology Integration Officer for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) he was responsible for developing and implementing technology strategy in both their broadcasting engineering and IT divisions. Mendes has also served as COO at Pluvita, Inc. a biotechnology and bioinformatics startup.

Mendes is the recipient of multiple industry awards including:

• One of the 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 the convergence of broadcasting, IT and new media technologies.