Having received advanced degrees in secondary education, Joe began a ten-year career as an educator. While in this career, he furthered his graduate education, earning a doctorate in education with a double-minor in computers and theology. His career focus changed to IT in the early 1990’s when he started as a Computer Consultant at NC State University. Three promotions later, Dr. Perez ended his successful 25-year career at NC State as Business Intelligence Specialist when he took another promotion to become Senior Systems Analyst / Team Lead at the NC Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) in the fall of 2017. In addition to his full-time analytics/BI leadership role at DHHS, Joe was named Chief Technology Officer at SolonTek Corporation in October 2020.
<p>With more than 14,000 followers on LinkedIn and several professional certifications, Perez has stayed active in the IT, HHS, and higher education communities as a much sought-after resource, highly-recommended international keynote speaker, data analytics & visualization expert, published author, and specialist in efficiency and process improvement. Perez, a recipient of the IOT Industry Insights 2021 Thought Leader of the Year award, speaks at dozens of conferences each year (with a record-breaking 42 in 2021), and continues to be in high demand to this day, expanding his reach into more than twenty countries around the globe, impacting thousands. This has resulted in his being inducted into the prestigious thought leader communities at DataManagementU and the Global AI Hub.
<p>Through the years, Dr. Perez has never lost his love for teaching, having been a guest speaker for many organizations and internationally-recognized podcasts. When he takes a break from work and speaking, he enjoys spending time with his wife of more than 30 years and their children, whom he says are the "best things that ever happened to me." He also sings, plays the piano, composes songs, and has performed PSA's and voice-overs for schools and other organizations. He also serves as speaker, interpreter, and music director to his church’s Hispanic ministry. If there is any spare time left, he enjoys publishing a widely-acclaimed monthly military newsletter (as Editor-in-Chief of The Patriot News), working out in the gym, and catching up on Star Trek reruns. "It's a busy life indeed, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I’m a firm believer that if I’m not innovating, then I’m stagnating," says Joe.
