Kathy Albarado is an award-winning HR management consultant and national speaker with 20 years of experience practicing in both large firm environments and small to mid-sized organizations. She is the co-author of Guide to HR Administration published by Thompson Publishing Group. As president and founder of Helios HR, Kathy works closely with organizations to develop strategies and programs aimed at cultivating a dynamic and highly productive workforce.

Her expertise includes targeted recruiting initiatives, professional training and development programs, and high-impact employee communications. Ms. Albarado received the 2006 HR Leadership Award for Corporate Responsibility, was named as one of the 2007 “Women Who Mean Business” by the Washington Business Journal as a woman who has blazed a trail, is making an impact in the community and is leaving a mark on Washington business, and a Brava Award Winner in 2008 by SmartCEO magazine.

Ms. Albarado holds an M.A. in Human Resource Management and a B.S. in Psychology from George Mason University and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI)

Andy Alexander has over 37 years government related experience (25 years military service, nine years as a Federal Government/DoD contractor, and three years as PTAC Manager and Counselor) in training administration, human resource management, information management systems, logistics, organizational effectiveness, and procurement contract management with multiple government agencies.

Mr. Alexander serves as PTAC Program Manager and Counselor to the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC), University of Nebraska at Omaha. Responsible for the management of the Solicitation for Cooperative Agreement Application (SCAA) issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Fort Belvoir, VA for the state of Nebraska. He is also responsible for management and support of seven PTAC Counselors, one MBA Graduate Assistant, and seven staff support personnel with an annual budget of $1,050,000, facility space & leases, equipment, serving three Congressional districts, 30 sponsored outreach efforts, 10 non-sponsored outreach programs, 15 annual program goals, business counseling services, training of employees/clients, coordination with town, city, county, state and Federal government Procurement Agents/Contracting Officers, reporting program results documentation/records, program report submissions, and SCAA grant submission and updates. Mr. Alexander also assists over 860 clients statewide in registration in the federal government CCR, SBN, ORCA, review of solicitations, development of proposals (RFP/RFQ), and implementation of contract award projects. Currently 15 employees are supported by this SCAA. The PTAC team has assisted in the generation of client government contract awards of $151M during 2008, creating over 2,700 jobs throughout the state.

As President and CEO of C2 Portfolio Inc., Jackie Asencio is a well-known figure within the government contracting community. C2 Portfolio is a commercial and federal human capital management company, located near Washington DC. The seed money for starting her business came from a veteran, her late father, a retired Army Colonel. Over the past thirteen years, she has been a major influence in helping small government contractors grow and compete in the federal market place. Prior to founding C2 Portfolio, Ms. Asencio worked for federal contractors supporting the Department of Defense and numerous federal agencies. Her diverse human capital management experience spans 27 years. This, coupled with her natural entrepreneurial spirit, has led to C2 Portfolio achieving year on year growth, expanding its client base to all fifty States and eleven countries.

Ms. Asencio maintains a very hands-on role in her business. As a seasoned trainer and coach, she works closely with business owners ensuring their human capital management strategies are aligned to their business goals. She has extensive experience of full life cycle recruiting, talent management, succession planning, career development, reward and recognition strategies, performance management, regulatory compliance, compensation, benefits, risk management, and outplacement services.

Ms. Asencio has maintained her love for, and connection with, the military. Over 90% of her clients are federal contractors serving the Federal Government both CONUS and OCONUS.

Janna Babcock is the Procurement Contracting Officer for the Veterans Technology Services (VETS) Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). The VETS GWAC is a small business set-aside contract for service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVO) small technology firms awarded by the General Services Administration, Small Business Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts Center in Kansas City, Missouri. VETS presents a way for federal agencies to achieve small business goals through purchase of Information Technology solutions from small businesses owned by services-disabled veterans. It is the result of Executive Order 13360 that is designed to strengthen federal contracting opportunities for SDVO firms.

Her professional background includes more than 19 years of experience in the contracting field associated with GSA consisting of Stock and Special Order Program Contracting, Federal Supply Schedule Contracting, Service Contracting, and Task Order Contracting. She is a member of the National Contract Management Association, holds an unlimited Contracting Officer’s Warrant, and FAC C Level III Certification. Her education background includes a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, Marketing and Spanish in 1988, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing in 1989.

Sherry Baldwin was appointed Director, Office of Small Business Programs, Defense Intelligence Agency in March 2008. She is responsible for the overall management of the small business program which includes increasing procurement opportunities for small business, HUBZone, Women-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, small disadvantaged business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions Program.

Prior to this position, Ms. Baldwin held various acquisition positions with the Small Business Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Defense. Ms. Baldwin earned an undergraduate degree in Business Management/Law and Public Policy from the University of Maryland and a MBA from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Baldwin is DAWIA Level III certified in acquisitions and a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps.

As founder and president of The Barbour Group, Karen Barbour has led the company to achieve success in providing surety bonds for the construction industry in more than 30 states and four international countries. Ms. Barbour established The Barbour Group in 2002 as an independent insurance agency focusing on construction bonding and commercial insurance and continues to serve in those areas.

Ms. Barbour is well-known for her strategic outlook and in-depth experience in promoting legislation that improves the business climate for contractors and other small businesses. She is active in public policy, and in 2009 worked with U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin to develop an amendment to The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve the Small Business Administration’s ability to provide contractor bond guarantees. In 2005, with the help of State Delegate Dan Morhaim, Ms. Barbour authored Maryland House Bill 169, which authorized Maryland’s procuring agencies to accept alternative bond products on State funded projects.

Ms. Ba rbour has received numerous awards and distinctions for her contributions to the success of the contracting industry. She was named 2008 Maryland Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is the first surety agent to receive that honor. In 2008, Inc. magazine named The Barbour Group, L.L.C. as one of the 5,000 fasted-growing private companies in the U.S.

Ms. Barb our completed an MBA from the University of Baltimore and was inducted into their honorary management fraternity, Sigma Iota Epsilon. She also holds a B.A. from Loyola College of Maryland.

William Basnett serves as Vice President of Direct Placement for Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI) and Vice President of Operations for wholly-owned subsidiary CivilianJobs.com.

Mr. Basnett began his recruiting career with BMI in 1991. He was BMI’s first candidate recruiter and regional operations manager. Instrumental in establishing and implementing BMI’s candidate recruiting and hiring conference best practices, he now brings this experience to BMI’s TargetHire® initiative. Mr. Basnett initially transitioned to BMI from the Keebler Company where he was a project engineer. He is a U.S. Army Veteran where he served as a Cavalry Officer with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He saw deployments to Germany and participated in several rotations to the National Training Center. Most recently, Mr. Basnett recruited in Kuwait, supporting Operation Iraqic Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom through U.S. Government contracted recruiting initiatives.

Mr. Basnett graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace concentration.

Jack Beecher is a lifelong resident of Virginia and currently resides in Chesapeake. After a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1968-1969, he landed a job with the Corps of Engineers Norfolk District in 1970 as a Surveying Aid. He has been with the Norfolk District ever since. In 1974 he joined the District’s Contracting Division as a General Clerk working in the District’s Plan Room. Since 1974 Jack has held virtually every position in the Contracting Division from Purchasing Agent to the Chief of the Division. He is currently the Chief of the Norfolk District’s Small Business Program Office and is a special assistant to the District Commander on all issues related to the District’s Small Business Program. Mr. Beecher has led Norfolk District in becoming one of the most successful District’s in the Corps in support of the Small Business Program. Over Fiscal Years 2004-2006, Norfolk District averaged awarding just over 51% of its total obligations to Small Businesses. In FY06 Mr. Beecher was awarded the Corp Commander’s Small Business Team of Excellence Award and was also presented Rolling Thunder’s - Veteran’s Champion Award - for his efforts in promoting Veteran and Service Disabled Veteran (SDV) Owned Small Businesses. In FY07 Mr. Beecher was again awarded The Corp Commander’s Small Business Team of Excellence Award as well as the DoD Golden Talon Award that recognized him as one of the Department of Army’s best in supporting the Veteran/SDV Program. In FY08 Mr. Beecher was named the SDV Program Coordinator by the Corps Commander. That Fiscal Year the Corps increased its SDV Dollars by 150% from $217M in FY07 to $543M in FY08. Norfolk District led the Corps in both SDV Dollars - $101M and Percentage – 13%.

Gloria Berthold Larkin is President of TargetGov, a national company providing government procurement, business development and marketing services. She is author of “The Veterans Business Guide: How to Build a Successful Government Contracting Business” and has created a series of Government Business Development Audio CDs and Toolkits (e-books) focusing on successful business development processes for federal contractors. She serves as the national Procurement Committee CoChair for Women Impacting Public Policy, a non-partisan organization representing over 500,000 members. She has received numerous accolades including: Women Impacting Public Policy National Member of the Year 2007, the Bravo Business Achievement Award 2007, one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women in 2007 and 2004, a Maryland’s Top 100 Minority Business Enterprises in 2008 and 2006 and was recognized by Maryland’s Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs as one of the top Women Entrepreneurs. She has spoken at international, national, regional and local conferences including the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Business Women’s Summit, the Annual OSDBU Procurement Conference and the Annual National Veteran’s Conference. Ms. Berthold Larkin has been interviewed for television and radio shows and as a podcasts guest for BusinessWeek.com. She has been quoted in Government Executive and Entrepreneur Start-ups magazines, TheStreet.com, and USA Today, The Examiner and Business Monthly. She is an expert author with articles regarding business development published in local, regional, national and international publications.

Prior to formation of TVI, Constance Blair, performed freelance management, marketing and design consulting and also served as liaison, at the Pentagon, between Army and Air Force staff and DOD employees with the members of diplomatic staffs. Also at the Pentagon, she supported the Army Mobilization and Readiness Division. Her extensive government background includes the wide range of logistics, transportation and inventory functions for the Air Force. Ms. Blair is a Vietnam era veteran. Under Ms. Blair’s leadership, TVI has earned a reputation for excellence and innovation and has received National recognition and has been featured in numerous publications. In 2004 TVI was selected by Inc. Magazine for it’s prestigious Inc. 500 Award as one of the top 500 fastest growing Small Businesses in the US; and in 2005 TVI was recognized by Diversity Business as one of the Top 500 Small Businesses in the US. In 2009, The Venture Companies launched TVI Supply, an E-commerce based Industrial, MRO, and Office Supply Distribution Company. With Ms. Blair’s guidance, within a short period of time, TVI Supply has become a Global provider to Government & Commercial companies. While always looking to the future, Ms. Blair has implemented (within all the Venture Companies) a focus on “green technology” and “environmental friendly products”. With the launch of ECO 20/20 and Greeencareersguide.com Ms. Blair is leading the industry with information on renewable, reusable and clean energy as well as providing the most comprehensive “green career” site available on the internet. Ms. Blair has served for 10 years on the Executive Board of the National Defense Industrial Association MCH and is a Past Chapter President and currently is Treasurer.

Michael Bowlds is a well recognized and highly regarded business development and marketing professional. Mr. Bowlds has over 15 years of business development and sales experience in marketing and selling services to the government, financial, corporate, and academic markets. Michael Bowlds is President of Mountaintop Marketing Group, LLC, a Washington DC, based firm that provides marketing, advertising and business development strategies as well as a direct Government sales force to support small and mid-sized businesses throughout the country. A strong advocate for Small Business Utilization, Mr. Bowlds currently serves as the Board Chairman of the National Capital Area Minority Business Opportunities Center which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Additionally, Mr. Bowlds sits on the Board of Directors for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the government sales arena, Michael Bowlds is often called upon to provide business development presentations, speeches, and training sessions. Mr. Bowlds and his firm Mountaintop Marketing Group also host the popular Peak Series Breakfasts – a focused government contracting forum dedicated to increasing opportunities for small business government contractors. Mountaintop Marketing Group has received strong recognition through both corporate and government awards and was most recently named one of three finalists as the State of Maryland “2008 Emerging Business of the Year.” Further, Mr. Bowlds was recently named “2009 Maryland Business Champion” by the Gazette of Business and Politics.

Ruth Brado began her career in contracting as a purchasing agent in a temporary position with the contracting office at Wurtsmith Air Force Base (AFB) in Michigan. Over one later Ms. Brado was selected for permanent position as a procurement technician. Her family relocated several years later to Rapid City, South Dakota and she again gravitated to a procurement position, this time with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). After finishing a few college business courses she qualified and was selected for a contract specialist position at Ellsworth Air Force Base, located near Rapid City. While there she received invaluable training and experience in services and construction contracting.

Ms. Brado was selected for a contract specialist position and a promotion with the USFS in Fort Collins, Colorado where she worked until March 2007. Then a contracting specialist position opened in the specialized contracting branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a USDA agency; she has been working for APHIS since. While working for the USFS she was able to help with support of wildfires and had the opportunity to work in Jackson, Mississippi in support of the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts for two weeks.

Ken Bricker has worked in the government-contracting and acquisitions arena since 1975. He has private sector experience as a Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of a government contractor, as well as government experience as a Senior Auditor and Audit Supervisor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

Mr. Bricker has served as a guest instructor at the Defense Contract Audit Institute and has been a contributing writer to the Defense Contract Audit Manual (DCAM). He is a lecturer on many conferences for the Government Contracting Institute and American Graduate University and is adjunct faculty for Old Dominion University and George Washington University through ESI International.

He has extensive knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). Mr. Bricker frequently assists clients with regulatory and compliance issues such as systems reviews (accounting, estimating, purchasing, billing), bids and proposals, rate structure development, forward pricing, wage determinations, claims (equitable adjustment, delay, termination), defective pricing, and incurred cost submissions as well as issues associated with Small Business Administration (SBA) small and disadvantaged business certifications. Mr. Bricker’s clientele are headquartered world-wide and range from multi billion dollar companies to start ups.

A career Naval Officer, Michael Brinck received his Navy wings in 1969. He reported to Helicopter Attack Light Squadron 3 in the Republic of Vietnam in support of Riverine operations in the Mekong Delta. Fleet assignments include carrier deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin and Mediterranean, flight instructor, 3 deployments in support of Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica, the Naval War College, and assignments at the Pentagon, the Bureau of Naval Personnel, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He retired in 1988 with the rank of Commander. His military decorations include 16 Air Medals, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals, 2 Navy Commendation Medals, the Navy Achievement Medal, the Antarctic Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation, Presidential, Navy, and Meritorious Unit Commendations.

Following his Navy career, Mr. Brinck has worked eight years in the private sector as a project manager in support of Navy and Army UAV programs and three years as the AMVETS National Legislative Director. He first joined the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in 1995 as the Veterans Benefits Subcommittee Staff Director for the 104th and 105th Congresses. He returned to the Veterans Affairs Committee in 2005 as the Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

Jeanette L. Brown serves as the Director for the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Director, Ms. Brown is responsible for ensuring that small, disadvantaged, and women-owned firms are provided an equitable opportunity to receive a “fair share” of sub-agreements and contracts. OSBP develops policies and procedures to aid minority and small women-owned entities doing business with EPA. Additionally, OSBP is responsible for internal training programs to enhance the capabilities of socioeconomic firms in becoming more competitive and viable in the EPA procurement arena.

Prior to her current position, Ms. Brown served as the Deputy Director of OSBP and the Deputy Director of EPA’s Office of Acquisition Management. Prior to her tenure at EPA, Ms. Brown served as the Director of the Office of Procurement and Grants Management and the Director of the Division of Program Development for the Minority Small Business Capital Ownership Development Program (more formally know as the 8(a) Program) at the Small Business Administration.

Ms. Brown has more than 30 years of service in the Federal Government including contracting experience in various federal agencies.

Tom Brown joined the General Service Administration in August 2003. Currently he is responsible for customer service and marketing to accounts within the Heartland Region, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri Mr. Brown is a service disabled veteran.

Prior to joining the GSA, he served as a company officer with Iconixx Systems Engineering. Mr. Brown served as Manager, Hardware Development & Vendor Alliance, Sprint Technology Services. He was selected a part of a six person core team to form Sprint’s Advanced Technology Development directorate. The Advanced Technology Development team was responsible for all technical aspects of Sprint Integrated On Demand (ION) development effort. In this capacity, he was responsible for the management of strategic alliances for the Chief Technology Officer of Sprint. He is co-author on two patents for converged network design. He is a 2005 GSA “Above and Beyond Award” winner for his work with veterans.

Mr. Brown had a distinguished military career and during his last five years with the U.S. Army was responsible for Research & Development procurement for advanced laser engagement systems and computer simulation systems for the US Army. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Comptroller School, U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, U.S. Army Contracting Officer Representative Course and several other service schools. Mr. Brown has an Associate in Insurance Services as well as being a Certified Insurance Counselor. Mr. Brown has B.A. in Biology from Washington & Jefferson College and M.S. in Business Management from Troy State University.

John Buckley is a United States Air Force Academy graduate who flew fighters and taught political science at the Academy after receiving his master’s degree in management from Webster University. He left active duty after ten years and worked his way through Harvard Law School with concentrations in corporate litigation and international law. After graduation, he practiced law for a large law firm in Michigan. He left that firm at the end of the Gulf War to set up his own business and practice independently in Saudi Arabia from 1991-95, representing U.S. medical and technology companies, as well as Arab clients in the region.

Mr. Buckley frequently uses his extensive legal and business background and training to offer specialized Exit Planning services to business owners. John works with business owners to create successful Exit Plans whether they choose to transfer their companies to family members, co-owners, key employees or sell to outside third parties.

Mr. Buckley is an active Rotarian and has been on the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs and the Champions Foundation for local scholar athletes. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Lawyer’s Association for 10 years, and is a member of the Christian Legal Society and the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. He is a founding member of WealthCounsel LLC, comprised of many of the top estate and business planning attorneys in America.

Mr. Buckley is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves.

Born at Ft. Benning, Georgia, the son of a former member of the “Triple Nickle,” Gordon Burke grew up and finished high school in nearby Columbus, Georgia. After finishing college, he entered the Army in 1972 as a Second Lieutenant. Over 26 years, he served in Special Forces, Infantry, Airborne, and Air Assault units as a troop leader and Commander at the A-Team, Platoon, Company, and Battalion level. His service includes 14 years overseas and numerous staff assignments to include the Department of the Army Staff as Chief of Legislative Liaison for the Army Budget. He has been a Special Assistant to two Army Chiefs of Staff and retired from the Army in 1998 at the rank of Colonel. After retirement, Mr. Burke served as a professional staff member of the Governmental Affairs Committee in the United States Senate. He was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in the Mine Safety and Health Administration as the Director of Administration and Management and now serves as the Director of Operations, Grants, and Transition Programs in the Veterans Employment and Training Service of the U.S. Department of Labor. Among his other duties, Mr. Burke oversees grants to states that employ over 2000 specialists that provide employment assistance to veterans and over 100 grants to entities that provide employment assistance to homeless veterans. Mr. Burke was the lead for ensuring that the Department of Labor met its goals under Executive Order 13360 in 2008.

As the Assistant to the Director for Subcontracting and Mentor Protégé Programs in the U.S. Army, Office of Small Business Programs for the Office of the Secretary of the Army, Peggy Butler is responsible for increasing industries awareness of the Army’s small business subcontracting and Mentor Protégé program initiatives. She influences new policy updates to existing Subcontracting and Mentor Protégé acquisition regulations and solicits innovative Mentor Protégé technology transfer agreements from industry to support the real time needs of the war fighter. She actively participates on the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) working group panel and manages the Summary Subcontract Report validation process. In addition, she manages twenty-six (26) active Mentor Protégé contracts, ensures the participation of small businesses in new Department of Defense acquisitions valued over $250 million and validates the soundness of subcontracting targets. Ms. Butler also participates on Army Strategic Sourcing panel reviews. Prior to accepting her current position, Ms. Butler was a senior Procurement Analyst at Headquarters, U.S. Army Contracting Agency (ACA) and Contracting Officer at the Information Technology E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center. Ms. Butler is an acquisition professional with over 30 years of experience in contracting. Ms. Butler is Level III certified in acquisitions and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps. She has received numerous civilian awards for exceptional performance through out her acquisition career.

Frank Campanaro is CEO of Trillacorpe Construction, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) offering full service General Construction, Construction Management, A & E, and Green/Sustainability services for Military and Government bases/installations. Trillacorpe Construction was formed by seasoned construction professionals who are also Veterans with a passion to create opportunity for other Veterans and Veteran owned businesses alike. Trillacorpe Construction is under contract for tens of millions and has hired several Vets and SDV/VOB subcontractors. Mr. Campanaro was recently named the Small Business Administration’s 2009 Veteran Business Champion of the Year for the State of Michigan and the Midwest Region.

Mr. Campanaro founded Trillacorpe Construction after 20 years experience as a successful real estate developer and contractor, specializing in site selection and acquisition as well as the development and construction of residential, commercial, retail, industrial and office properties. Mr. Campanaro is a recognized leader in promoting employment assistance, job-training and technical skills programs for U.S. Veterans, having served as an Airborne Ranger and receiving distinguished awards for valor including a Presidential Unit Citation. Mr. Campanaro was nominated to the Executive Committee of VET-Force, a task force composed of over 200 organizations representing thousands of Veterans throughout the United States. VET-Force has made it their mission to monitor the implementation of the programs, agencies, and organizations referenced under the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999; to present a strong unified Veterans’ voice for virtually all of the major Veterans Groups as well as entrepreneurs.

John Carpanter has over 28 years of experience serving the financial needs of government contractors and other commercial entities. As a Principal with Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, L.L.P. Government Contractor Services Group, Mr. Carpenter provides customized business advisory services to help the Firm’s government contractor clients optimize cash flow and achieve revenue and profitability goals. Based in CB&H’s Virginia Beach practice, Mr. Carpenter provides financial advisory and business consulting services tailored to meet the needs of clients at all stages of business development – from helping start-up ventures successfully position themselves to obtain private equity financing, to assisting established companies throughout the merger and acquisition process. Prior to joining CB&H, Mr. Carpenter served for 10 years as a director with Wachovia Capital Finance. At Wachovia, Mr. Carpenter launched the bank’s Government Contract Finance Group to serve the lending needs of businesses that perform technical or manufacturing services for the federal government. He also previously served in the commercial and middle market lending divisions at Signet Bank for 14 years, managing the portfolios of government contractors.

Mr. Carpenter received his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Loyola College and his Bachelor of Arts from Hampden-Sydney College. He also attended the Advanced Commercial Lending School at the Colgate-Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, and has served as an instructor for the American Institute of Banking (AIB). Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Contract Services Association (CSA) and the Tidewater Association of Service Contractors (TASC), and a former member of the AIB.

As the president and founder of Occam Solutions, Daniel Chun has a strong foundation of expertise in the consulting and information technology industries. Prior to starting Occam Solutions Mr. Chun served in various management and sales roles at both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. His experience includes working in both the public and private sectors. He has a background in both services and product based companies such as AMS and Siebel Systems and has a proven track record of delivering results and driving revenue. Prior to his business career Mr. Chun was an infantry officer in the United States Army, honorably serving his country for over five years. Mr. Chun also serves on the Board of Directors of Bridgepointe Capital, a private equity fund dedicated to bridging investment opportunities between the US and Asia. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Korean American Relations Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a voice for second generation Korean-Americans. Having a firm belief in civic duty he is also currently the Chairman of the Board for the Korean-American Republican Party of Virginia. And in addition to his professional positions Mr. Chun is also active in the community serving as a board member of Brainfood, a non-profit organization that uses food as a tool to build life skills with youth in a fun and creative setting.

Mr. Chun received his Bachelor’s of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point and his Master’s in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Walter Cotton III is currently a Managing Partner with MR~IT, a contributing columnist with the Vetrepreneur (NaVOBA’s Business Journal Magazine) and a sought after Small Business Joint Venturing Subject Matter Expert by Agencies, Trade Associations, Major Prime Contractors & Veteran Business Owners.

Sam Davidson is a Director in CB&H’s Government Contractor Services Group with over 45 years of experience in government contracting and accounting for government contracts. Based in the Firm’s Northern Virginia/Greater Washington office, Mr. Davidson specializes in assisting clients with the development and implementation of compliant indirect cost allocation plans; the preparation, submission and negotiation of requests for equitable adjustment and termination settlement proposals; the interpretation of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and OMB Circular requirements; the performance of business process analysis/improvement reviews; and internal controls.

Mr. Davidson began his government contracting career with a major aerospace and defense contractor, where he served in a variety of operational and financial positions over a 25-year period. Mr. Davidson rose to become the director of operational analysis for his sector, where he was responsible for ensuring compliance with government procurement regulations and overall integrity of financial information for 17 profit centers totaling over $2 billion in annual revenues.

Mr. Davidson received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Bowling Green State University. He is a member and frequent speaker for the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). He is also an associate member of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA).

Recognized for his thought leadership in the industry and his service to the government contracting sector, Mr. Davidson has chaired conferences on pricing and cost estimating, and has made presentations to the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) and Greater Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants (GWSCPA).

Since 1999, Ted Daywalt has been the president of VetJobs, the leading military related job board on the Internet, sponsored by the VFW and recognized as the top military job board by WEDDLE’s, Workforce Management, AIRS and Reader’s Digest.

Following seven years of active duty naval service, he entered private industry in 1980 and held executive positions in the steel, electric utility, chemical, biomedical waste, and was president of a national recruiting firm.

Mr. Daywalt retired from the Naval Reserve Intelligence Program as a Captain with a total of 27 years of service. While on active duty he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer (Fleet) and was deployed to South America, North Atlantic, Russia and the Mediterranean. He was stationed in London, England, at the Fleet Ocean Surveillance Intelligence Center.

Mr. Daywalt is published and is an in demand lecturer on international relations, management, recruiting, human resources, eCommerce and the Internet for various business organizations, government agencies and universities. He has been elected to several boards of directors, was appointed to the Small Business Council of the United States Chamber of Commerce, regularly testifies for and works with members of the United States Congress on military, veteran and employment issues. Mr. Daywalt is known nationwide as a strong veteran advocate.

Mr. Daywalt earned a B.S. from Florida State University (1971), an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (1977) and an MBA from the Goizueta Business School, Emory University (1980).

Rodney DeaVault is the Small Business Specialist for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO). Mr. DeaVault has performed in this position since July 1996 and is responsible for reviewing acquisitions to insure maximum opportunity for participation by small, small disadvantaged, women-owned, Service Disabled Veteran-owned, and HUBZone concerns and to make recommendations for set-asides and 8(a) awards. In addition, this role includes providing small businesses in all socio-economic group’s information regarding assistance available from Federal Agencies, as well as providing advice and counseling on acquisition matters. Mr. DeaVault is a Level III Certified Contracting Professional in the Defense Acquisition Corps, with many years experience as a Procuring Contracting officer, Administrative contracting officer, and Chief Negotiator.

Glenn A. Delgado is the Assistant Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Office of Small Business Programs. As the Assistant Administrator, Mr. Delgado provides executive leadership and policy direction for developing and implementing policies and initiatives throughout NASA, to ensure that all categories of small businesses are afforded opportunities to compete for agency contracts. Prior to his appointment to NASA, Mr. Delgado served as the Acting Director of the Department of the Navy’s Office of Small Business Programs. He was the Department of Navy’s Mentor-Protégé Program Manager for the six years he was assigned to the Navy’s Small Business Program Office. Mr. Delgado served as the Director of Small Business for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), where he worked on several major weapon system programs and served as the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) for the A-6, EA-6B, and F/A-18 C/D aircrafts. He has over 25 years of acquisition experience. Mr. Delgado received his MBA from Marymount University and graduated from NAVAIR’s Senior Executive Management Development Program. He is Level III certified in the Acquisition Professional field of Contracting and is a member of the Acquisition Professional Community.

Mr. Delgado was awarded two Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service medals, for his innovative approaches in the acquisition process while serving as a PCO for the EA-6B aircraft and for his performance as the Director of Small Business at NAVAIR. In September 2006 Mr. Delgado was awarded the Superior Civilian Service medal for his exceptional service to the Navy Small Business Programs Office.

Dennis DeMolet, a leading expert on Small Business and Veterans’ Business affairs, and an active proponent for disabled veteran, small business, and non-profit organizations during 35 years of dedicated service to the business and veteran community. A decorated United States Marine Corps Vietnam service connected disabled veteran, Mr. DeMolet is CEO of DeMolet Consulting who was selected as Chairman of the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) Advisory Committee for Veterans Business Affairs (Former). He is a member of the International Board of Directors of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). Mr. DeMolet’s other accomplishments include serving as the first Disabled Veterans Outreach Representative Chairman for Ohio in the late 1970’s, leading the Veterans Readjustments Act for Preble County, Ohio in the 1980’s, being appointed to the Ohio Board of Trustees for Ohio’s Veterans Homes by the Governor of Ohio, and serving as the National Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Veterans Business Affairs for the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington D.C. Mr. DeMolet’s honors include selection as the United States National Veterans Small Business Advocate of the Year for 2003 by the SBA being honored by Federal Computer Week as one of the leading IT Professionals in their Federal 100 awards for 2001. He was awarded the Medal of Merit for 2006 by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, (AFCEA), as well as the National Individual Championship Veteran award for 2005 by the Veterans Administration Center for Veterans Enterprise.

After losing a leg in Vietnam combat, Ronald Drach left the U.S. Army in 1967 with a Purple Heart and some broken dreams. But the medically retired sergeant soon found a new purpose for his life as he began working to help his fellow disabled veterans.

Following two-and-a-half years with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), he joined the professional staff of the Disabled American Veterans in 1970. Mr. Drach rapidly became the organization’s National Employment Director in 1975. He was the first Vietnam Veteran to be appointed a director among the DAV’s ranks.

Since leaving the DAV, Mr. Drach has been employed by the Labor Department’s Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS). He is currently the Director of Government and Legislative Affairs. Ron served on any number of commissions established by the VA, Labor Department, congressional committees, and others involved in enhancing the lives of disabled veterans and other people with disabilities. He has also served on the governing boards of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans, and others. High-profile volunteer activity has included service as a Team Leader for the U.S. Paralympics Sitting Volleyball Team that competed in the International Paralympics Competition in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

Dr. Mark Drapeau is a biological scientist, government consultant, and writer. He currently holds the position of Associate Research Fellow at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He is also a contributing columnist for Federal Computer Week. While studying ecology, evolution, and animal behavior, Dr. Drapeau earned a B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester and the University of California - Irvine, respectively. He then conducted postdoctoral neuroscience and genomics research at New York University, and was a member of the International Honeybee Genome Sequencing Consortium. After that, Dr. Drapeau became a research fellow in life sciences at a think tank based inside the Department of Defense, where his projects have involved eclectic work on infectious disease, biotechnology, and biological metaphors and their applications to national security. One of Dr. Drapeau’s recent projects called Social Software & Security has resulted in numerous publications, interviews, and invitations for lectures and panel discussions. In a related initiative, he recently co-founded Government 2.0 Club, an international umbrella for organizing events at the intersection of social technologies and the government. Dr. Drapeau has been the recipient of numerous national awards and honors, including a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (2004) and an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship in National Defense and Global Security (2006).

Captain William G. Earnest was born May, 1939 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He joined the Navy in July, 1956, and served 40 years in uniform. He achieved 18 ranks in both enlisted and officer ranks, with service aboard 10 different classes of ships, amassing 24 years of sea duty and over fifty years of total service to his country. He served two tours in Vietnam - as a Patrol Boat Commander from 1965 – 1967, and in 1968, as advisor to the first Patrol Boat Squadron to train the Vietnamese in patrol boat operations. His units were awarded three Meritorious Unit Commendations, Navy Unit Commendation, two Secretary of Defense Maintenance awards, the Navy’s Safety award and the Armed Forces top Maintenance award the Phoenix Award. Personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Combat “V”, Purple Heart, six Meritorious Service Medals, five Navy Commendation Medals, Navy Achievement Medal, three Navy Unit Commendations, five Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Combat Action Ribbon and numerous other personal and foreign awards. He was while conducting combat patrols against North Vietnam insurgencies in 1969. After retirement, he served as a technical director for the Navy in the Southeast Region, Mayport, Florida, earning two of our nation’s highest civilian awards. Captain Earnest is married to the former Judi Brady of Northport, Alabama. Currently, Captain Earnest serves as a Director for Q.E.D. Systems, Inc., where he continues to enjoy working with our War Fighters in support of the United States Navy.

William D. Elmore is responsible for the formulation, execution, and promotion of policies and programs of the Administration that provide assistance to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, by service-disabled veterans and for Self Employed members of the Reserves and National Guard. Mr. Elmore serves as liaison between the SBA and the veterans’ community and represents the Administrator on the Board of Directors of the National Veterans Business Development Corporation, on the Presidents National Hire Veterans Committee and on other Committees and organizations. Prior to being hired as the Associate Administrator, Mr. Elmore owned a small business, specializing in military record’s access, & veterans’ program development. From 1974 through 1995, Mr. Elmore was also the principal in the creation and operation of the One Stop Veterans Service Center in St. Louis, Missouri, providing entrepreneurial training, job placement, housing, and other services to thousands of veterans and their families. Mr. Elmore also served as a member of the SBA National Advisory Board to the Small Business Development Center program and as a member of the SBA’s Veteran Affairs Task Force for Entrepreneurship. He has received many awards for his volunteer work, is a member of Joseph Frank American Legion Post 777 in St. Louis, Missouri, the Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America, and the St. Louis Area Veterans Consortium, Inc. He is a Vietnam Era veteran, who served in the United States Air Force.

James W. Emery, Jr. has led JMWA’s finance and accounting activities through several key milestones associated with a rapidly growing company. Mr. Emery lead the effort to build the infrastructure to support all elements of federal government contracting included: transitioning to a new accounting system; streamlining the billing process; obtaining annual DCAA provisional rates; and overseeing the development of the process for submitting the required annual incurred cost report to the Federal government. Mr. Emery is also responsible for overseeing the corporation’s proposal costing. His efforts have helped the company win contacts with capacity totaling more than a billion dollars. His work to improve the company does not stop with financials. Mr. Emery directed the development of the IT infrastructure from stand alone office networks to enterprise wide network connecting three major offices and multiple project sites. Mr. Emery worked as a project manager/engineer for several organizations before joining JMWA, overseeing a variety of engineering projects to include: developing the entire master design schedule, certification schedule, manufacturing schedule, and capital requirements for the development of a fixed wing aircraft with two manufacturing sites, one in the United States and the other in Eastern Europe. Prior to the corporate world, Mr. Emery served in the United States Navy on the P-3 Orion Aircraft and as an Aeronautical Engineering Duty Officer. His top assignments included the deployments all over the world; Tomahawk Cruise Missile program where he participated in 17 test launches; and the Joint Electronic Warfare Center researching and developing special mission items for the armed services.

Rick Fink has worked with entrepreneurs and emerging companies, as both an advisor and investor, for over 28 years. Rick is a co-founder of Miramar Venture Partners, a traditional venture fund focused on early and growth stage investing. His responsibilities at Miramar include fundraising; deal-sourcing, investment evaluation and decision, deal negotiation and structuring; and portfolio company management, including serving on Boards of Directors. Prior to Miramar, Mr. Fink was a partner with the national law firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison where he spent 20 years working with and advising start-up companies on a wide range of operating, strategic, financing and legal matters, as well as serving as a member of the firm’s senior management. Mr. Fink received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his J.D. from Northwestern University.

Mr. Fink is currently in the process of organizing and raising The Veterans Fund, a start-up and growth capital fund which will make private investments in, and otherwise support, military veteran entrepreneurs, existing veteran and service- disabled businesses, and businesses which offer products and services that support those who have served or are serving in the military.

Mr. Foreman is the Navy Director for the Office of Small Business Programs. Prior to his appointment to the U.S. Navy Mr. Foreman had extensive experience in the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of Small Business Programs. Mr. Foreman is a recipient of the “2004 Patriot Administrator Award” by the Association of Service Disabled Veterans on April 7, 2005 in a Capital Hill ceremony. He is a graduate of the Brookings Institution’s “LEGIS FELLOW PROGRAM” program, the Federal Executive Institute’s “Leadership for a Democratic Society Program” and the prestigious “Senior Officials National Security (SONS)” program from Harvard University. He was selected by Senator Christopher Bond, Chairman, Senate Committee on Small Business to be the Committee’s Senior Procurement Advisor. He worked closely with Chairman Bond to develop small business procurement policy issues. Mr. Foreman served as a senior price analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He also served on the Defense Acquisition Regulation Contract Cost Principles Committee.

Mr. Foreman holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Dayton and a Masters of Accounting degree from American University in Washington, D.C. He also successfully completed the “Contemporary Executive Development” program, George Washington University. Mr. Foreman was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1970. After completion of his active duty military obligation he began his civil service career as a financial analyst in the Defense Contract Administration activity in Dayton, Ohio.

Tony Franco is a partner with PilieroMazza PLLC. Mr. Franco oversees the Government Contracts/Small Business Group. His practice includes all aspects of federal government contracting and administration. He has represented clients before government agencies, and federal and state courts, including the Court of Claims, General Accountability Office, and Board of Contract Appeals.

Mr. Franco’s primary focus is in areas relating to commercial and government contracting with an emphasis on procurement programs, such as the small business, 8(a) and HUBZone programs, representing large, mid-size and small business concerns. His practice also encompasses transactional matters, such as the negotiation and preparation of joint venture agreements, shareholders agreements and operating agreements. In addition, he provides general corporate counseling and advises clients on business strategies and structures, and the effects of various legislative and regulatory proposals on their business plans. He has also represented trade associations and ad hoc coalitions in their government relations with policymakers and regulators.

Mr. Franco graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1986. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Tulane University. He is a member of the Bars of the State of Florida, the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland.

Mr. Franco serves on the Small Business Administration’s Advisory Board for the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area District Office. He served on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Montgomery County and the Community Ministry Micro-Enterprise, LLC. He was also a Commissioner on the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission.

Mr. Franco is a frequent speaker on various aspects of federal contracting issues. He is also a contributing author to trade journals and the firm’s newsletters. Mr. Franco is fluent in Spanish.

Gerardo (Jerry) Franco is currently serving as program manager, supervisor and business advocate in DOT/OSDBU, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) with primary responsibility for implementing small business contracting and procurement assistance programs.

Mr. Franco has been with the DOT’s OSDBU in various capacities since 1992. He has served as Senior Advisor to the Director, Associate Director and Chief, Procurement Assistance Division. He has extensive knowledge of small and disadvantaged business utilization, business development and community outreach programs. He is the recipient of several Secretarial awards and commendations for work performed in his area of expertise as well as on strategic planning, management excellence and programmatic effectiveness. He has published a number of authoritative documents on federal procurement programs including a subcontracting review guide and a number of federal register notices.

Before joining DOT, Mr. Franco served as senior procurement analyst and acting Competition Advocate at the Department of Agriculture’s OSDBU which he joined in 1982. He started his federal career with the General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Service, Office of Policy, in 1981. Prior to joining the government, he served in various operational and managerial positions in small to medium size business enterprise in the construction industry. He studied business administration at the University of Maryland and holds a drafting certificate in Engineering Technology Sciences from the Washington Drafting School. Mr. Franco is originally from Cuba, is fully bi-lingual and has resided in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since 1969.

Robert Gahagan is a Counselor for the Virginia Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) at the George Mason University School of Public Policy, Mason Enterprise Center, in Fairfax, Virginia. He has over 35 years of experience in government and commercial strategy and business development, bid and proposal management, and communication skills coaching for both large and small organizations. He applies these qualifications to assist the 700+ PTAP client businesses he has counseled to provide strategies to increase revenue success in government contracts. He has also conducted PTAP seminars for more than 800 adult students on how to respond to government requests for proposal (RFPs). Mr. Gahagan has been an invited presenter on government contracting at national conferences in the U.S. and Seoul, Korea. Mr. Gahagan is founder, president and CEO of CCSI-Corporate Consulting Services, Inc., in Oakton, Virginia, that provides strategies and consulting for securing government contracts. Prior to CCSI, he spent 25 years in government contracting and commercial divisions at IBM. In addition to proposal management, his experience included project & program management, subcontract program management, new product development, enterprise-wide systems integration, customer order fulfillment, and spare parts logistics systems.

A native New Mexican, John M. Garcia was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson in January of 2003 as the first Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Veterans Service. In 1985 he was hired as the Director of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce. Secretary Garcia was appointed by Governor Bruce King as Deputy Chief of Staff in 1991 and later in his administration as the Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Economic Development. In 1995 he established and became President of Garcia & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in business Development, Marketing, Public Relations and Lobbying. Mr. Garcia is an Army Veteran and served in the Central Highlands South Vietnam with the 4th Infantry Division from 1969 to 1970, and was honorably discharged in 1971. He is a founding member of the Vietnam Veterans of New Mexico and the New Mexico Vietnam Veterans of America, serving as a Commissioner for the New Mexico Veterans Service Commission for twelve years. He also served as the National Deputy Director of the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program and was involved with the dedication of the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Secretary Garcia is a member of the national SBA Veteran Business Advisory Board and has received the New Mexico Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year Award by the New Mexico SBA. He is also a recipient of the Veterans Association National Secretary’s Leadership Award and the National Association of the State Directors Iron Mike Award.

James Ghiloni is the Deputy Office Director for Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) Programs. The Center for GWAC Programs resides within the Office of GWAC and IT Schedule Programs portfolio in the Office of Integrated Technology Solutions (ITS) within the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). The Center assures that necessary and proper GWACs are developed, maintained, and overseen in order to successfully meet the mission needs of GSA’s federal customers. Mr. Ghiloni also acts as the Alliant Program Manager, responsible for overseeing the procurement of the Alliant and Alliant-Small Business GWACs.

Previously, Mr. Ghiloni worked with the FEDSIM organization, as a Senior Project Manager and later as the Group Manager for Navy and Marine Corps Programs. Mr. Ghiloni also served as the Transitional Manager for the SmartBUY program when it was transferred from the Office of Government-Wide Policy to the Federal Technology Service (FTS). Mr. Ghiloni has extensive experience managing GWAC task orders and acquisitions. Mr. Ghiloni is a Certified Project Management Professional. Prior to entering government service, Mr. Ghiloni worked as a senior network engineer in the private sector. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University and a Master’s Degree from Indiana University.

Andrew Glover is an established expert in software development processes, techniques, and tools. He has spent his career working with companies large and small in various vertical markets such as Healthcare, Financial Services, Telecommunications, and ISVs; what’s more, he is the founder of multiple open source projects including easyb, which won a Jolt award in 2009. He is the co-author of Addison-Wesley’s 2008 Jolt Award winner “Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk”, Wiley’s “Java Testing Patterns”, and Manning’s “Groovy in Action”, as well as a frequent author for multiple online publications including IBM’s DeveloperWorks, InfoQ, and O’Reilly’s ONJava, Dev2Dev, and ONLamp portals.

Mr. Glover is also a frequent speaker at worldwide conferences on topics ranging from continuous integration, behavior driven development, software assurance, and agile engineering practices.

Michael (Scott) Golden has dedicated his life to ensuring that our Service Disabled Veterans and our none disabled Veterans, who are the only organization that is made up of every race and gender, receive the best in life, both in their personal life and in business. Mr. Golden is the CEO/President of Veterans Construction Inc. Mr. Golden deals with Congress and takes a bipartisan approach towards veteran’s advocacy.

On one of the issues that Mr. Golden deals with is “Double and Triple Counting” Mr. Golden stated, on the April 2007, in the Veterans Business Journal, “There has been much accomplished in this last year for VOBs and SDVOBs, yet there is so much more to do. Although I see improvement in the numbers, we know this is due to the ability of agencies to double and triple count their diverse business categories of firms with multiple designations. Although legal, to do so to veterans is appalling….”

Author of The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit (McGraw-Hill), and President of Marketing Edge Consulting Group, Beth Goldstein has empowered hundreds of entrepreneurs and companies to create successful marketing and sales programs. Consultant, nationally recognized speaker, and educator, Ms. Goldstein focuses on answering the questions that keep business owners up at night: What can I do to maximize revenue-generating opportunities? Why do some prospects buy from me and others from my competitors? How can I increase customer loyalty?

In addition to consulting, Ms. Goldstein is the Lead Instructor for the SBA Emerging 200 (e200), 15-state, program designed to help inner-city entrepreneurs strengthen and grow their existing businesses. She has been instrumental in developing the nine-month curriculum and currently teaches the business accelerator program in Massachusetts.

Ms. Goldstein is the Senior Associate for Distance Learning for the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization at Boston University (BU) and runs the university’s Annual $50K Business Plan Competition. She teaches Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing at the BU School of Management and is the Faculty Director for the BU Online Certificate in Entrepreneurship (recognized by Fortune Small Business Magazine as one of the top e-learning entrepreneurship programs in the U.S.).

Ms. Goldstein has over 20 years of direct industry experience and holds an MBA from Boston University and a degree in Economics and Sociology from Brandeis University. Passionate about small business challenges, she writes a free, monthly newsletter: Small Business Survival Tips.

Augustine Grace is a Senior Business Development Officer at the Export Import Bank in Washington D.C. Mr. Grace has held a number of positions at the Export Import Bank in Washington D.C. He was formerly a Marketing Officer providing guidance to exporters, buyers and bankers on all Ex-Im Bank programs. For a period of one year he worked as a Loan Officer in the U.S. Division recommending Working Capital Guarantees for approval.

Prior to joining Ex-Im Bank Mr. Grace was employed as an international banker with a large private sector commercial bank. His successful international banking career took him from an Edge Act Bank in New York where he became a Vice President, Section Head, in the Mexico Division at the bank’s headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela. After serving for three years in various lending positions in Venezuela, he went to the Latin American Division in Miami, Florida. In Miami he worked as a Credit Administrator for several Central American and Caribbean countries, while overseeing the Bank’s correspondent bank lines in Latin America. In 1988 he left Miami and moved to Washington, D.C. where he joined the Export Import Bank of the U.S.

Mr. Grace received his B.S. degree in Mathematics from Central Connecticut State University in 1966. After a three year tour of duty in the Army, he joined the field of international banking in New York. He was awarded his MBA from Fordham University in 1981. He also obtained a graduate degree from Stonier Graduate School of Banking (Rutgers University) in June 1981.

Mark Gross is the founder and CEO of Oak Grove Technologies. A former U.S. Army enlisted soldier and graduate of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Mr. Gross continued his public service under the Department of Justice Honors Program in 1991 with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Assigned to the Communications and Finance Sections Bank Merger Unit, Mr. Gross assumed sole responsibility of a six member team within six months. During this time, Mr. Gross improved relations with other regulatory agencies to facilitate the sharing of vital information collected by different governmental agencies. For this, Mr. Gross was presented the Assistant AG (Ann Bingaman) Award in 1993, 1994 and the AG (Janet Reno) Award in 1995. During his Department of Justice career, he was assigned many high profile Government investigations to include Microsoft, AT&T, and NASDAQ. Upon leaving public service, Mr. Gross held numerous Business Development positions with Fortune 500 Companies, achieving Presidents club status five consecutive years. Mr. Gross was legal editor of the first publication - Veterans Benefits Manual - An Advocates Guide To Veterans Benefits and is active within the NDIA and AFCEA. He is also a Founding Member of the American Legion, National Economic Committees Small Business Task Force. In March of 2006, Mr. Gross was selected to serve on the SBA’s Veterans Advisory Committee, a committee that advises both the White House and the Congress on Veterans Business and issues. In 2008, Mr. Gross was recognized as the Southeast Region and North Carolina Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year by the U.S Small Business Administration.

David Grove is currently a Program Manager in the NASA Office of Small Business Programs. Mr. Grove is responsible for small business programs at the various NASA science centers. In addition, Mr. Grove is responsible for the NASA Mentor Protégé program and is the agency’s Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Program Manager. Previously Mr. Grove worked for Department of the Navy as Special Assistant to the Commander of Military Sealift Command. Mr. Grove has also served as Director of New Business Development and the Associate Director of Small Business at the Military Sealift Command. In 2003, Mr. Grove was selected as the Department of Defense Small Business Specialist of the Year. Mr. Grove began his career as a Marine Transportation Specialist in the Liner Division of Military Sealift Command. During that time, he awarded the first long term transportation contract under the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, moving heavy equipment to the former Soviet Union. He also served as a procurement analyst implementing the DOD’s Standard Procurement System and other e-business initiatives. He has served as a base contracting officer for the Naval Station Great Lakes and as a Procurement Staff Officer for the Defense Logistics Agency.

Mr. Grove graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He received a Master of Science in Procurement Management from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Master of Science in National Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Mr. Grove has been awarded the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service medal and is a Certified Professional Contracts Manager and Fellow in the National Contract Management Association.

As NaVOBA president and Vetrepreneur publisher, Chris Hale is uniquely qualified to market veteran-owned businesses to corporate America. As general manager of G.I. Jobs over the past five years, Mr. Hale engineered the massive growth and influence of veteran hiring programs within corporate America. He has transformed corporate perspective on hiring veterans from one of entitlement to one of strategic advantage. The G.I. Jobs Most Military Friendly Employer list he created in 2003 flourishes today as the industry benchmark for veteran hiring practices. Fortune 1000 firms vehemently compete to earn their way on to this list and consult G.I. Jobs to help them shape veteran hiring programs. This process has enabled a similar, sustainable transformation of corporate perspective on veteran-owned businesses as suppliers. NaVOBA’s approach to creating opportunities for veteran-owned businesses centers on making a strong business case to corporate America, a different approach from what has been done by others in this community. Mr. Hale holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. He has authored numerous articles and is a respected speaker and thought leader on matters related to military transition, entrepreneurship and the veterans’ small business movement. He has taught entrepreneurship classes to veterans through Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. Mr. Hale served eight honorable years in the U.S. Navy and previously worked for corporate America in finance and sales.

Dawn Halfaker founded Halfaker and Associates in January 2006 in response to the radically changing business environment brought on by the growing need for dynamic consultants with specialized experience to provide national security services to the Federal Government. Ms. Halfaker gained extensive management experience as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. Army, where she was deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division as a platoon leader and deputy provost marshal in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was subsequently wounded during a combat patrol near Baghdad in 2004, earning a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Ms. Halfaker served as a military liaison to the House Armed Services Committee where she advised the committee Chair on key Department of Defense legislation and issues. She also worked with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), specializing in technical consulting for the Defense Sciences Office. Her mission included initiating research to provide advanced capabilities to the military and Warfighter.

Ms. Halfaker remains very active with veteran’s affairs and is a member of many of the veteran service organizations and advisory committees. Specifically, Ms. Halfaker serves as the Vice President of the Wounded Warrior Project Board of Directors where she focuses on raising awareness and enlisting the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women. Additionally, Ms. Halfaker was appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to serve on the Committee for OIF/OEF soldiers and families, which focuses on improving VA policies and care for veterans who were severely injured in combat as well as their caregivers. More recently, Ms. Halfaker was appointed by the Secretary of Labor to serve on the Advisory Committee for Veterans Employer Training and Employer Outreach.

Ms. Halfaker holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and is pursuing a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University.

Michael Hardy is a 15-year veteran of the technology industry, serving primarily in sales, marketing and operations management roles. Mr. Hardy joined Penobscot Bay Media (PenBay) in May of 2000 when the company was less than a year old and has been an instrumental in the company’s development from a bootstrap start-up with a small office in Coastal Maine and mostly local clientele, to a world-leader in geospatial technology for facilities with offices in Maine, NYC, Northern Virginia and London, UK. During his time with the company, Mr. Hardy was responsible for many firsts, including the company’s first federal services prime contracts in 2004, award of two GSA services schedules in 2005 and the establishment of a software resale operation in 2006.

Mr. Hardy was also the capture manager for PenBay’s successful effort to win the VETS GWAC and has run the business development and marking of the contract post award, resulting in millions of dollars of revenue to the company and its partners. Mr. Hardy is a strong advocate for cooperation in SDVOSB teaming and has welcomed numerous firms onto the PenBay team to utilize the VETS GWAC.

Penobscot Bay Media is a woman-owned, service-disabled, Veteran-owned small business specializing in geographic information systems, software application development and geospatial technology for LEED certification and facilities management.

On December 8, 2008, BG (Ret.) Edward M. Harrington was inducted into the Senior Executive Service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Procurement) (DASA(P)). The DASA(P) develops, disseminates, and ensures the execution of Federal, Defense, and Army policies and procedures for acquisition, procurement, and related business practices and business systems solutions for installation procurement and contingency contracting supporting the procurement of supplies, commodities, services, construction and reconstruction, and humanitarian assistance worldwide. As the Functional Career Representative for Contracting, the DASA(P) oversees the recruitment, training, certification, and professional development of the contracting workforce. As designated by the Deputy Secretary of Defense and delegated to the Secretary of the Army, and further delegated by the ASA(ALT), the DASA(P) provides the administrative and contracting support to the Chief of Mission, Project and Contracting Office and the Multi-National Forces through the Joint Contracting Command Iraq/Afghanistan in order to support humanitarian relief, reconstruction, and security of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Harrington is a former senior U.S. Army officer with more than 28 years experience in weapons and information systems life cycle acquisition, contracting/contract management, and military logistics operations. He has extensive leadership and management experience in U.S. Army and Joint operations in the U.S., Europe, the Balkans, Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia (Viet Nam) and the Middle East conducting supply, maintenance, distribution, operational and battlefield contracting, and systems sustainment and readiness missions for deployed forces. He has served in command and staff positions from the platoon/company/battalion and group level to senior positions as Chief of Staff and Executive Officer to the Army’s Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA, AL+T), then as an Army Program Executive Officer (PEO), finishing his active service as the Director, Defense Contract Management Agency and DoD’s PEO for the Standard Procurement System.

He was the Army’s PEO at the Tank, Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) for its tactical and commercial wheeled vehicle fleet (250,000+ vehicles), artillery, mortars, small arms and ammunition, automated fire control systems, mines/countermines and demolitions, construction, watercraft, and petroleum and water logistics systems. He approved $8Billion/year in systems procurements for 200+ systems including strategic sourcing for system life-cycle sustainment. He began his systems acquisition management duties in the Abrams Tank Program as the assistant Program Manager for M1A1 tank armor systems. He then was selected to be the PM for the Standard Army Maintenance System and followed that as Program Manager for the Unit Level Logistics Systems. He managed the engineering, development, integration, testing, field extension and product support and enhancement for over 11,000 field logistics automation users deployed to Army bases worldwide.

As the Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Mr. Harrington led and directed 12,000+ managers and specialists overseeing 19,000 prime contractors and over 300,000 contracts valued at $950 billion, including 40,000+ second, third and fourth tier suppliers in the domestic and overseas supply chain. His responsibilities included Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) contracts for spares and supplies for all military systems supported by DLA’s three major supply centers. Directly reporting to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD, AT+L), he managed 1 million+ transactions yearly (valued at $95 billion) to deliver the full range of military aircraft, missile and radar systems, ground combat and wheeled vehicles, ship systems and submarine parts, artillery, small arms, ammunition components, clothing, food, heavy construction systems, and spares and assemblies to U.S and allied forces and depots. He oversaw the management of all contracts for the overhaul, modification, repair and maintenance of Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army fixed and rotary wing aircraft totaling over 1,200 annually with more than 25,000 hours of flight operations at 25 plants. He provided subject matter experts to supervise supplier and production quality assurance, cost/pricing, earned value, contract negotiations, property and plant/equipment management and transportation interfaces with commercial and military distribution agencies and commands from the factory to the user, including supply and overhaul depots. He oversaw the assessment of the US domestic and off-shore industrial base, including production/technology capability analyses, single points of failure, investment strategies, and critical infrastructure requirements planning and policy development. He was responsible for 24/7 operations in 78 field offices in the U.S. and overseas including Iraq and Afghanistan prior to and during the wartime actions in those theaters. He participated as a member of the DoD Lean Aerospace Executive Council, advising on supplier base and production readiness. He served in an additional capacity as DoD’s Program Executive Officer (PEO) for the Department’s first ever standard, automated procurement system, fielded to all military services and defense agencies, linking suppliers with a user base of 43,000 worldwide.

After retiring from the Army, Mr. Harrington consulted with large, mid-tier, and small business clients, specializing in federal acquisition and contracting, supply chain and performance based logistics, quality management and technology development.

Mr. Harrington earned a B.S. in Management from Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, and an M.S. in Contracting and Acquisition from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the Army’s Senior Service College Fellowship Program at the University of Texas, Austin. He is a member of the Advocacy Committee of the National Contract Management Association.

Fernando Hernandez serves as Supplier Diversity Director for Microsoft Corporation. Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Hernandez served as Senior Vice President of Multicultural and Diversity Strategy for Washington Mutual Bank.

As Executive Director of Supplier Diversity with AT&T, provided strategic direction to AT&T’s Supplier Management & Business Unit clients in development and implementation of policies, strategies, and programs related to the MWSDVBE (Minority, Women, Service Disabled Veterans, and Business Enterprise) Business Development Program. He has served on various boards, including National Minority Supplier Diversity Council, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, Business Consortium Fund, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Procurement Council, United States Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, Billion Dollar Round Table, Telecommunications Industry Group, and New Jersey Board of Public Utilities/Supplier Diversity Development Council.

Mr. Hernandez created Multicultural Marketing programs for both AT&T’s Business and Consumer Markets Divisions, launching AT&T’s first Hispanic, African American, and Asian business marketing programs. He led AT&T’s National Multicultural Marketing and Marketing Communications Directorates, and managed four national advertising agencies with programs in seven languages. He also served as Chairman of the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund New York City and President of AT&T’s HISPA Association New York Chapter, and directed AT&T’s International Alliance Channel programs responsible for business development in Canada, Mexico, and Latin America.

Mr. Hernandez holds a degree in Accounting from Saint Peter’s College and a Masters in Information Systems from Stevens Institute of Technology. He studied at the Wharton School of Business and has been recognized by the American Marketing Association for sponsoring multicultural marketing conferences at the United Nations. He was honored in 2006 as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in America by Hispanic Magazine.

Donald Horn is Director of Sustainability for GSA’s Public Buildings Service in the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings. He ensures that sustainable design principles are included in agency guidance for new construction, repair and alteration, facility management, and leasing. He provides expert advice to GSA’s National Office business lines and assists 11 regional offices in training and project implementation related to high-performance green buildings. He has worked nationally and internationally to influence green building guidance and policies. Don is a member of the ASHRAE Standard Project Committee 189.1 developing the Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings. He is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Government Committee (USGBC), the Interagency Sustainability Working Group and the Whole Building Design Guide Sustainable Committee and served on the Board of Directors of the USGBC.

Julia Hubbel is a professional speaker, seminar leader and prize-winning journalist who specializes in creating lasting, collaborative relationships. Her innovative work in networking is the basis for her forthcoming book, The Hub Factor.

She has spent nearly three decades in senior corporate and consulting positions in the areas of training and organizational development Her clients include ExxonMobil, Dell Computer, Hewlett Packard, Delphi, Lockheed Martin, MassMutual, Cisco Systems, Toyota, MassMutual, Chevron and Sodexo.

Her story is featured in the best selling book, Networking Magic, by Guerilla Marketing authors Rick Frishman and Jill Lublin. She is a certified Supplier Diversity Professional through the Alliance of Supplier Diversity Professionals.

Ms. Hubbel is a fully disabled, decorated Vietnam Era veteran. She is the president of The Hubbel Group, Inc., a consulting and training firm based in Colorado.

Jason Hull is one of the principals of OpenSource Connections, a service disabled veteran owned software development and technology consultancy. A graduate of the United States Military Academy with a MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business, Mr. Hull draws upon his extensive military and business experience to solve problems. As a tank platoon leader and a tank company executive officer during his two tours of duty in Bosnia, Mr. Hull served in multiple leadership positions in the Army. After graduate school, Mr. Hull served as a director of analysis for Capital One, managing call center forecasting, technology, and agent performance. In 2005, he and two partners co-founded OpenSource Connections to move technology-based ideas from concept to market leveraging Agile Development methodologies and software development best practices. Their clients include the Army, Navy, Department of State, Department of Labor, and the University of Virginia. Among the awards his company has received are a Webby and the Leadership Award from the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council. Mr. Hull’s focus at OpenSource Connections is on systemic process improvement and on leveraging social media for improving market awareness and stakeholder communications. He has spoken at several workshops and conferences on how to best leverage social media and Web 2.0 tools.

Steve Humphrey is the Supplier Diversity Manager for the Volvo Trucks North American and Mack Trucks, Inc. Mr. Humphrey has over 33 years in the truck industry with varied responsibilities ranging from Truck Special Order Design to Manufacturing Industrial/Process Engineering and Purchasing Management. He is degreed in Business Administration, a Structured TQM Coach, and trained in numerous other industry disciplines.

Credits include: advisory board memberships, CMSDC Regional Advisory Committee Chair, CMSDC Board, VMSDC Board, Volvo being Charter Sponsor to WBE-SE, charter corporate support for veteran initiatives, community support, speaking engagements, panels, mentor/protégé programs, published articles, mutually beneficial hosting and sponsorships, ‘home-base’ to Top MBE Regional Supplier of Year CMSDC, Regional MBE Coordinator of Year CMSDC 02/03 Regional Corporation of Year 02/03, Dorothy Brothers Advocacy Award 04/05 Carolinas MSDC, Top-10 Most Veteran Friendly Corporate Supplier Diversity Programs 05 and 2006 Best Corporations for Veteran-Owned Businesses, VMSDC President’s Leadership Award 05/06, and being recognized as 100 Men Impacting Supplier Diversity MBN USA 2006. Steve also has responsibility as Vice Chair VMSDC-Western Region and formerly VMSDC Executive Committee.

Southwest Virginia, home to Mr. Humphrey for thirty years, is home to Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Truck’s New River Valley Assembly Plant; however, Mr. Humphrey now resides in North Carolina with wife Gean and operates the Supplier Diversity Office out of headquarters in Greensboro. The Supplier Diversity field holds special interest for Mr. Humphrey to lend assistance to peer corporations and colleagues that desire program assistance.

This summer, Christy Jackiewicz will have invested 20 years of service through the Federal Government as a public servant helping businesses throughout our nation. She started her career as a clerk typist in August 1989. Over the years, Ms. Jackiewicz has excelled in contracting, policy, and now with great joy, concentrates her support to small businesses as a program analyst in the Office of Small Business Utilization.

Since her first day in the General Services Administration, Ms. Jackiewicz has been mentored and supported by exceptional leaders in the agency. This nurturing sharpened her procurement skills and excelled her career. She has awarded contracts, implemented policy, developed marketing strategies, created publications and shared her growing knowledge with both internal and external customers through an array of public speaking engagements.

In addition to her Federal career, Ms. Jackiewicz has also earned her MBA at Strayer University, started a non-profit organization, and continues to champion growth and change in our economy through education and leadership.

Daniel M. Jacobs is Chairman/CEO of The Federal Market Group (FMG), a veteran-owned company that includes Government Business Solutions (GBS), Federal Market Publishing (FMP), and The Federal Market Institute (FMI).

He is a Fellow, past National President (1987-88), recipient of The Charles A. Dana Distinguished Service Award, the Honorary Life Member Award and a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). He is Chairman Emeritus, Board of Trustees, of the non-profit foundation, Contract Management Institute (CMI) and Chairman, Board of Advisors of Excel Institute. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), member of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC), member of the Professional Services Council (PSC) and a Life Member of The American Legion.

Mr. Jacobs holds a bachelors degree from North Carolina Wesleyan College and Masters in Government Contracts from George Washington University School of Government and Business Administration. He has completed additional graduate work at Old Dominion University, The College of William and Mary and George Washington University. In addition, through examination, he earned the designation of Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM) and Certified Management Consultant (CMC). He served three years active duty with the U. S. Army and attained the rank of Captain.

He co-authored the series of contracts-business perspective articles on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) appearing in Contract Management magazine. His other contributions and works include Building a Contract: Solicitations/Bids and Proposals - A Team Effort, ; Federal Government Contracting: The System/The Process; The Integrated Project/Team (IPT; and The Desktop Reference Guide for Contract Management.

Dr. Jardine’s resume reveals a lifetime of progressively significant leadership roles in the armed services. He enlisted to the Army in 1971 and retired as a Colonel in 2003. He was branch qualified in Infantry, Artillery, Military Intelligence, Quartermaster, Aviation, Military Police, with functional area expertise in Aviation Logistics, Operations, Plans and Training, Maintenance Test Pilot and a Master Fitness Trainer. In this last assignment in his distinguish military career he was the Commander, Ground Forces Component Command, Hawaii Airport Security Mission and Force Protection of Critical Infrastructures for the State of Hawaii and as the Deputy Commander, 29th Enhanced Separate Infantry Brigade (Light) amazingly leading them from the worst combat brigade in the nation to #1 in readiness in 2003. In his 32 plus years in the military he participated in intense training in Emergency Preparedness and Response, HazMat Response and Management, Anti-Terrorism, Disaster Assistance and Multi-Hazard Planning. He served in key leadership positions in nearly every major Emergency and Disaster Relief effort in Hawaii. He has received innumerable medals, awards and honors for his long distinguish service to his country and state.

Dr. Jardine holds degrees from Honolulu Community College with an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts, Public Administration from San Diego State University, Management from Chaminade University, Master Degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix Management, Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College, and a Doctorate of Business Administration in Organization Leadership from University of Rochville.

Dr. Jardine currently serves as the President and CEO of Native Hawaiian Veterans, LLC, a Native Hawaiian-owned, HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), SBA 8(a), and Small Disadvantage Business (SDB) company, whose core competencies include Homeland Security, Emergency Management, Information Technology, Installation Operations, Unexplosives Ordnance (UXO) and Logistic Management..

Billy C. Jenkins, a native of Washington, D.C., serves as the Veteran’s Procurement Liaison for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In this role, he is responsible for the delivery of the U.S. Government’s Veteran’s Procurement program for Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses as require by Executive Order 13360.

Mr. Jenkins has served with the SBA for 34 years and four years with U.S. Air Force. He spent 28 years of his career as a contract specialist, procurement analysis, and Senior Contracting Officer for the SBA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Sharon Jones is a contracting professional with Level III certification and is a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps.

Joseph G. Jordan was appointed as Associate Administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development at the U.S. Small Business Administration in March 2009. His team supports thousands of small businesses every year as they compete for over $500 Billion in federal prime contracts.

Mr. Jordan has a strong track record of success as an entrepreneur and an expert in marketing, media and public relations.

Prior to joining SBA, Mr. Jordan was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. At McKinsey, he specialized in developing purchasing and supply management strategies for clients across several industries. He also worked in the firm's public sector practice, advising state governments on how to cut costs and capture efficiencies. Mr. Jordan previously worked as a consultant at Corrigan Communications in Boston. In that role, he led marketing strategies, media campaigns, and crisis management plans for clients primarily in the non-profit and elder care sectors.

In 2000, Mr. Jordan built and managed operations of Backwire, a Web-based publisher-marketer which quickly grew to 3 million subscribers. When the company was purchased by Leap Wireless, he transitioned to become Leap's project manager for strategic planning and product development. He managed advertising sales, marketing, business development and data operations within the company's telephone entertainment network.

From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Jordan was an associate producer on MSNBC's “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” In that position, he helped select topics, produce show segments, and brief guests who appeared on the daily news show.

Mr. Jordan is a graduate of College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts (B.A., political science) and the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration in Charlottesville, Virginia (M.B.A.) where he was a recipient of the William Michael Shermet Award. His interests include volleyball, travel and The Boston Red Sox.

Jackie La Joie is Associate Director of Supplier Diversity and has overall leadership responsibility for the development and execution of a world class Supplier Diversity program at Merck. She has 19 years of Supplier Diversity program experience.

Under Ms. La Joie’s leadership, Merck’s procurement from diverse-owned businesses has tripled since 2005. A formal corporate policy on supplier diversity has been adopted and the program is fully supported by the CEO and senior leadership. Ms. La Joie’s focus at Merck is to facilitate an inclusive procurement environment that creates increased supplier growth, competitiveness and sustainability.

Ms. La Joie represents Merck on the Minority Supplier Development Council of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware (PA-NJ-DE) Board of Directors, the U. S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the NaVOBA Corporate Advisory Council and is the president of Diversity Alliance for Science, Inc. She received the National Supplier Diversity Manager award from US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce in 2006 and 2007, the Supplier Diversity Advocate award from the Carolinas MSDC and MSDC of PA-NJ-DE in 2006 and the YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry award in 2007.

She has a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration from High Point University and an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Mr. Norwood is the Direct Procurement Team Leader, and the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Advocate at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP), Mr. Norwood joined the OSBP staff in August 2005. Prior to joining the EPA, he spent four years as the Small Business Specialist at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, specializing in working with small businesses, and ensuring that the Agency met its socioeconomic goals. Mr. Norwood has an extensive background in federal government contracting. He served as a Level III certified Contracting Officer/ Contract Specialist for the U.S. Department of Transportation and he also spend ten years with the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency in the field of acquisition.

Juan Lara is currently the Staff Director and Counsel for the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for the House Committee On Veterans’ Affairs. He advises the Chair on: legislative initiatives, monitors legislative developments, assists in drafting legislation for the subcommittee, provides advice on policy matters, reviews and evaluates programs, legislative proposals and the necessity for further action.

The Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity has legislative, oversight and investigative jurisdiction over education of veterans, employment and training of veterans, vocational rehabilitation, veterans’ housing programs, readjustment of service members to civilian life, and service members’ civil relief.

He was formerly an Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs for The American Legion which is the largest veterans’ service organization in the country with 2.7 million members. He worked on: economic, compensation and pension issues for the American Legion in the legislative division. Prior to working in the legislative commission Mr. Lara worked as a national appeals representative where he represented veterans before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Lara was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army in 1988 at the Marion Military Institute. He is a licensed attorney and a graduate of the Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio.

Susan L. Larimer has spent 29 years in the contracting field just recently becoming part of the Office of Small Business Programs. For the last 11 years, she has served as a Small Business Specialist embedded within the Contracting Acquisition Divisions. This has allowed her to promote the utilization of small businesses within the contracting workforce. Ms. Larimer has a strong commitment to the Small Business Program and increasing the percentage of awards to Small Businesses.

Ms. Larimer is Contracting Level III certified. She was awarded the DoD Golden Talon Award in 2008 for her efforts in supporting the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.

Teresa Lewis assumed her duties as the Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Department of the Treasury, on March 30, 2008. Ms. Lewis is responsible for ensuring small businesses receive maximum practicable contracting opportunities.

Prior to serving in her current position, Ms. Lewis previously served approximately 10 years at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), in the following positions: Director, Office of Management and Technical Assistance/8(a) Business Development Program; Assistant Administrator, Office of Federal Contract Assistance for Veteran Business Owners; Procurement Policy Analyst, Office of Policy Research, Office of Government Contracting; Area Director (East Coast), HUBZone Empowerment Program Office and Senior Eligibility Specialist, Team Leader, Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Certification and Eligibility.

She came to the SBA following six years of Government contracting experience as a contract specialist with the Department of the Air Force and the Department of Commerce. Ms. Lewis is a retired United States Air Force Major.

A native of High Point, North Carolina, Ms. Lewis received a Master of Arts Degree, with honors, in Procurement and Acquisition Management from Webster University, St Louis, Missouri and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Robert Little received his J.D. degree from Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William and Mary, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Mr. Little is an active member of the Virginia State Bar. He served as a platoon leader, Aerial Rocket Artillery, in Vietnam and primary helicopter instructor pilot. He has been the Navy Legal Member, Defense Acquisition Regulatory Council; attorney-advisor with the Office of the General Counsel, United States Air Force, on major weapons systems matters; and attorney-advisor with the United States Government Accountability Office for government contract formation matters. He has also been the General Counsel of the Industry Advisory Council, Federal of Government Information Processing Councils. Mr. Little has lectured on government contract fundamentals, contract changes and claims, defective pricing, spare parts acquisition, and cost accounting standards. Prior to his current position at NAVFAC, he was Senior Associate Counsel, Naval Air Systems Command, for Air 1.0 Programs. He was a principal draftsman of the Federal Acquisition Regulation on matters involving small business, international acquisition, and cargo preference laws. He contributed a regular opinion column to Government Computer News (1991-2002). Mr. Little has been qualified as an expert witness on government contracting matters in U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He is a fellow of the National Contract Management Association and served as its Functional Director for Ethics.

On July 24, 2005, Mr. Lloyd was appointed as the Assistant to the Director for Major Programs in the U.S. Army, Office of Small Business Programs for the Office of the Secretary of the Army. He is responsible for planning, developing and managing programs to implement Army small business policies. He is also responsible for executing the Staff Assistance and Review Program which provides oversight over all of the Army’s Major Commands and acts as the executive liaison with the Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff. Mr. Lloyd is also the Program Manager for the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Programs. Prior to accepting his current position, Mr. Lloyd was the Deputy Associate Director for Office of Small Business Programs, U.S. Army Contracting Agency (ACA). Mr. Lloyd is an acquisition professional with over 25 years of experience as an Army officer. He has served in a variety of command and staff positions at varying levels within the Army. Mr. Lloyd retired from the Army in 2003 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Mr. Lloyd is Level III certified in Contract Management and Program Management and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps. He has successfully completed the Program Manager’s Course, Command and General Staff College, and numerous other federal procurement and acquisition courses. Mr. Lloyd received his B.S. degree in Accounting from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate, and has received numerous military awards and decorations for superior service during his military career.

Brian Long, is currently the Lead Procurement Analyst and Team Leader for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Acquisition Team. His team is located in the Policy, Training and Oversight Division of the Office of Acquisition Management. He is responsible for monitoring the use of “green” initiatives in procurements, developing “green” acquisition policy and training, and collaborating with recycling coordinators, energy coordinators and other environmental specialists to develop strategies for “green” related procurements. Mr. Long holds a Masters of Public Administration Degree from North Carolina Central University, and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.. He is a member of the National Contract Management Association, and has served in the procurement profession for the past 18 years with the Environmental Protection Agency. He is currently on a detailed assignment with EPA’s Region 3 Office (Philadelphia, PA) in the Land and Chemical Division working and coordinating the Sustainability Partnership Program (Greenworks$ Project). He is a native of North Carolina, and resides in Maryland.

Sue Malone is the number one provider of the SBA Community Express and Patriot Express Loan Program through Superior Financial Group. Ms. Malone’s involvement began with the program’s inception in 2002. Since then, Ms. Malone has helped fund over 23,000 SBA Community Express loans. She is the number one provider of SBA Patriot Loan’s in the country and currently the second largest SBA lender and the number one lender to women in the country. Her goal is to fund 100,000 small businesses.

She travels the nation meeting, promoting and funding small business owners. She is fueled by her passion to help small business owners pursue their dreams. Ms. Malone has received numerous awards for her contribution to the success of small businesses around the nation.

For over 10 years, Ms. Malone served as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of a commercial and industrial real estate firm in Northern California. In addition, Ms. Malone was the first woman-parking operator in the United States with seven parking facilities in San Francisco. She is the President and CEO of the online company National Lien Law which helps contractors across the nation. With these experiences she noticed the need for access to capital for the small business owner and that is where Ms. Malone is today. She holds an MBA from St. Mary’s College.

Diane Marsden is a Senior Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. and currently leads the firm’s Small Business Office, which develops the small business policies and implements the overall Small Business Program. Under Ms. Marsden’s leadership, the Small Business Office is integral in the development of small business strategies for individual procurements and at the account level. She serves as the firm’s Small Business Liaison Officer, approving all small business subcontracting plans and overseeing the compliance reporting of each subcontracting plan upon contract award. She builds awareness of small business opportunities by conducting outreach activities, advertising, and building strong external industry relationships with the small business community. Ms. Marsden also has oversight of Booz Allen’s award-winning participation in mentor-protégé programs. Booz Allen Hamilton is an industry leader in implementing a robust Small Business Program which is inclusive of Veteran-Owned (VOSB) and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). Booz Allen has been recognized for its successes in partnering with VOSBs and SDVOSBs to include recent awards such as the U.S. Department of Defense Prime Contractor Subcontracting Award for excellence in subcontracting to SDVOSBs, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Corporate Champion Award, and the publication Vetrepreneur, 10 Best Corporations for Veteran-Owned Businesses for five years in a row.

David Marshall commenced as the Counsellor Defence Materiel in Washington DC in January 2009. A former Royal Australian Air Force Engineering Officer, his military career included tours in a maintenance squadron, training unit, project duties in the then Computer Services Division with his last appointment as the senior engineer in the Maritime Project Office, Air Force Materiel Division, Canberra during the acquisition of the P3C Orions.

Mr. Marshall joined the Australia Public Service in 1985 and during his early career lead multi disciplinary teams managing a variety of Strategic Communication & Information Technology projects. He also spent three years on the Australian Defence staff in London, U.K. as the Counsellor Defence Industry. Since promotion to the Senior Executive Service he has held appointments in the Defence Materiel Organisation as the Director General, Electronic Warfare and Radar Branch, Director General, Materiel Information Management and Policy and prior to moving to the U.S. was the Director General, Communication Systems Branch with responsibility for the acquisition and support of a range of military communications systems.

Mr. Marshall has a Bachelor of Engineering from Adelaide University and a Master of Business in Capital Project Management from the University of Southern Queensland.

Angela Martin is the Defense Security Service (DSS), Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), Division Chief, Facility Clearance Division. In the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), the facility is the cornerstone. The Department of Defense first determines that the company who is awarded a classified contract is an acceptable risk to have access to classified information. This is the role of the Facility Clearance Division, working in close partnership with DSS Industrial Security Representatives in the field.

Ms. Martin is a native of Columbus, Ohio and has been with DSS, DISCO since August 1984. During her tenure, she has served in a number of capacities to include, Assistant Division Chief of the Personnel Clearance Division, Branch Chief, Adjudicator and in her current position as Chief, Facility and International Clearance Division. In addition, she serves as a DSS Academy adjunct instructor for Personnel Security Adjudication courses.

Michael E. Melo is a native of Victorville, Caifornia. He received his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Conservation at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1979 and a Masters of Education from Old Dominion University in 1993.

Mr. Melo served on active duty for over 23 years, as a Surface Warfare Officer. Mr. Melo retired from the Navy in November 2002.

After leaving the Navy, he served as the Director of the Troops to Teachers (TTT) Program for the Commonwealth of Virginia. As Director, he was responsible for running one of the largest TTT Programs in the country. The program assisted military personnel leaving the military, in pursuing a career in the teaching profession. He also served as Director - Military Career Transition Program (a Masters of Education with a Teaching Certificate), and as Special Assistant on Terrorism to the Vice President of Research at Old Dominion University (ODU).

While at ODU, he continued to pursue his dream of becoming a business owner. He established ChesBay Marine, LLC in September 2000 while still on active duty. He later changed the focus and the name of the company to ITA International (ITA) in 2003. As a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, ITA is a global support services company with a focus on the maritime and coastal environment. Services provided by ITA include analysis, planning, training, security, marine services, logistics, and construction. Our clients are the U.S. Government, nongovernmental organizations and commercial clients conducting worldwide operations.

Michael Metz is the Senior Vice President and GSA Veterans Technology Services (VETS) GWAC Program Manager at Innovative Management Concepts in Dulles, Virginia. Mr. Metz is an Air Force veteran whose career included 1800 flying hours in the F-4 Phantom II as a Weapons System Officer in worldwide assignments. He also served as an Air Liaison Officer with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, an Air Staff Team Chief, and as a Military Assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Since leaving the Air Force in 1992, Mr. Metz has been a contractor supporting the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Transportation and Treasury as well as GSA. He is an experienced project and program manager and an expert on software system Independent Verification and Validation and simulation Verification, Validation & Accreditation. He has an M.S. in Information Systems from George Mason University, an M.A. in Industrial Management from Central Michigan University and a B.S. in Communications from West Virginia University. He belongs to IEEE, the Military Operations Research Society, the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization, and the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association.

William Miner is the Director of Design and Engineering for the Department of State’s Office of Overseas Buildings Operations. He joined OBO 23 years ago as a project architect assigned to new embassy projects in Europe, Africa and South America. He later became a senior project manager for similar diplomatic facilities during OBO’s building boom of the late 1980’s. Mr. Miner was promoted to Branch Chief for Engineering Support in 1990 where he led OBO’s development of CADD technology, Value Engineering, Lessons Learned program and Sustainable Design. Mr. Miner is a native Washingtonian, who received architectural training at Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He practiced in the Washington DC area for several years with the firm of Keyes, Condon and Florance, Architects. His career took a turn in 1975 when he joined the staff of the American Institute of Architects as Director of Practice Publications, and Technical Editor of Architectural Graphic Standards, 7th Edition. He simultaneously taught studio design courses at the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture. In 1983, Mr. Miner began to work overseas for the A/E firm of CRS-Sirrine, who were awarded a number of new town development contracts by the Saudi Arabian government. During this experience, Mr. Miner became familiar with the OBO building program and decided to come onboard at the Department of State. Mr. Miner has been a member of numerous committees and focus groups for the Federal Facility Council (FFC), Construction Industry Institute (CII), American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

Pamela L. Monroe is the Associate Director for the Contracting Center of Excellence (CCE) Office of Small Business Programs. Ms. Monroe assumed her duties at CCE, June 2003. Prior to joining CCE, she was the Associate Director for the Military Traffic Management Command’s Small Business Program from August 2000 to June 2003. Ms. Monroe’s career began as a Contract Specialist at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma in 1984. She worked as a Contract Administrator, Cost and Zero-Over Pricing Analyst and Contracting Officer. In 1994, she was selected to enter the Advanced Copper Cap Contracting Intern Program at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland and continued with the Intern Program at Bolling AFB, Washington DC. Upon completion of the intern program in 1996, she worked as a Contract and Small Business Specialist at Bolling AFB until August 2000 when she began her current career with the Department of the Army. Ms. Monroe holds a Bachelor of Science and Masters Degree; Level III certified in Contracts Acquisition and a member of the Army Acquisition Corps. Ms. Monroe is the first Department of the Army recipient of the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs “Golden Talon Award” in recognition of the dedication and efforts made toward significantly increasing contracting opportunities for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). In addition, under Ms. Monroe’s leadership, CCE has received numerous awards for exceeding the 3% SDVOSB goal.

Susan Moser is the Partner-in-Charge of CB&H’s Government Contractor Services Group and the Northern Virginia/Greater Washington practice. She has over 20 years of progressive accounting and finance experience and extensive knowledge of the government contracting industry through her work with numerous government and construction contractors.

Ms. Moser focuses her practice on providing a myriad of accounting and consulting services to the Firm’s government contractor clients. In her role as Director of the Government Contractor Services Group, she also frequently speaks on topics of interest to the government industry, and has contributed many articles to association and industry publications.

Ms. Moser began her career as an auditor with a national accounting firm prior to joining the private sector. Her industry experience includes working as a project accounting manager for a large real estate corporation, as a controller for one of the Hampton Roads area’s largest government contractors and as the chief financial officer for a federal contractor with international operations. Susan joined Cherry, Bekaert & Holland in 1997 and became a partner in 1999.

Ms. Moser graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. She is active in many professional organizations, including the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA), the Contract Service Association (CSA), the Professional Services Corporation (PSC), and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

Ms. Moser is active in a number of civic and charitable organizations throughout the state, and serves as treasurer on the Board of Directors for D.C. Habitat for Humanity. In 2000, Ms. Moser was named to the “Top Forty Under Forty” for her contributions to the business and civic community. In 2005, she received recognition for her achievements by Inside Business magazine for “Women in Business.”

David Mugrage is founder and CEO of Maintenance and Inspection Services, Inc. Mr. Mugrage served 22 years in the United States Navy where he started as an enlisted person being promoted thru the enlisted ranks and selected as a LDO where he retired as an officer. Upon retiring he pursed building their dream home in the country side of North Carolina. Shortly after completing that he began teaching industrial maintenance classes at the local community college. He then started his own business where he provided engineering consulting to power utility plants across the United States. He entered into the Mentor-Protégé program with QED Systems, Inc where he is successfully growing MIS into an Engineering Services and Manufacturing Company capable of providing valuable products and services to the Warfighter.

Robert H. Mulz retired after 27 years in the U.S. Navy Reserves, with distinguished and honorable service as a Master Chief (E-9). He was elected President San Diego Elite DVBE Network in October 2002 and incorporated the Network as a California nonprofit Veterans Organization. Mr. Mulz established successful collaborative relationships with SDG&E, Airport Authority, County of San Diego, Oceanside SDBC, SD CCDC, the SD Procurement and Contracting Centers. He hosted First National DVBE Convention.

As a result of Mr. Mulz’s dynamic leadership and sound judgment, the Network has been recognized, by both State and Federal entities concerned with veteran affairs, as the most well organized and effective organization of its type in the Nation and in the State of California. As a result, Mr. Mulz’s counsel has enabled 19 chapters of the Elite to be established. There are several other states that are in the process and should be incorporated under the 501-C19 umbrella by the mid year of 2008. Mr. Mulz is a Past President of The Elite Disabled Veterans Business Network of Southern California.

Mr. Mulz continues to own and run a successful small business now in its 21st year under his management.

Rez Nia graduated of the University of Tennessee in 2000, with a B.S. in Sociology, B.S.-M. in Medical Science. During his final years at the University of Tennessee, he started his first residential/commercial construction company called Nia Construction. In 2003 and 2004, he stepped out of that market and into the Federal Marketplace with Veterans Construction Inc. (VCI). At VCI, he is the Senior Vice President. He specializes in the overall business/financial side of the company. Together with Scott Golden, they have steered the company into a field of new horizons and larger federal-based vertical and civil contracts. Mr. Nia is also an advocate for the Veterans of our country. He works hand in hand with the countries of Australia, Denmark, and Canada to develop methods of business dealings between SDVOSB companies, here in the U.S., and small companies from their respective countries. This has allowed the companies on both sides to jointly cooperate and to secure international business footprints. He was able to create an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the nation of Australia. The MOU has enabled many companies from both countries to work together to meet the ever-changing needs of our federal market place.

Emily B. Noreiga is the Program Manager for NSA’s Provisional Industrial Security Approval (PISA) Program. The PISA Program provides small businesses the opportunity to gain the necessary clearances in order to participate in classified discussions so that they can work on contract more quickly. Ms. Noreiga has been involved with the program since its inception in 2004, providing the small businesses guidance through the clearance process as well as educating them on various business opportunities at the agency. Over the last five years, Ms. Noreiga has helped contractors gain the necessary accesses and provided hundreds of companies the opportunity to market their capabilities to agency personnel on the classified level.

Mary Parks was selected as Acting Associate Administrator of GSA’s Office of Small Business Utilization (OSBU) effective January 20, 2009.

In her role, Ms. Parks manages and oversees GSA’s small business policies and programs. The Office of Small Business Utilization strives to expand opportunities in federal government procurement for small, disadvantaged, woman-owned, historically under-utilized business zone (HUBZone), and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Ms. Parks began her federal government career in 1976 in GSA’s Office of Finance in Kansas City, Missouri. She served as the director of the Small Business Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts Center in GSA’s Heartland Region until her current appointment. In 2007, Ms. Parks was the recipient of a Federal 100 Award for her work on the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Initiative and the award of the VETS Governmentwide Acquisition Contract. She was also recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs with its Center for Veterans Enterprise Team Award, as well as the Rolling Thunder Veteran for Veterans Award at the National Veterans Conference in 2007. In 2008, Ms. Parks received the Leadership Award in Acquisition and Procurement from the Association for Federal Information Resources Management. Ms. Parks has a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Kansas State College at Pittsburg, and has continued her education through the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

John C. Pastino serves as the HRsolutions Program Manager under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army – Manpower and Reserve Affairs. He is responsible for four human resource indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts with over 120 task orders. Mr. Pastino was born in Naples, Italy. He attended Longwood University where he received a two-year Army ROTC Scholarship, and was a Distinguished Military Graduate. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Administration from Central Michigan University. He is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College and has obtained Level III Certifications in both Contracting and Purchasing from the Defense Acquisition University. Mr. Pastino retired from the United States Army as a Medical Service Corps Officer. Among his numerous assignments, he served as the Chief of Logistics for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany; Office of the Surgeon General Liaison Officer in the Pentagon G-4; and was the Director of the North Atlantic Regional Contracting Office located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C. Mr. Pastino’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (with six oak leaf clusters), Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Army Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, and other service awards. He is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit. His military qualifications include the Expert Field Medical Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the German Leistungsabzeichen (Gold) Badge.

William R. (Bill) Picard is the founder, President and CEO of Advanced Environmental Solutions, Inc., (AES) a full-service environmental assessment and remediation firm, headquartered in Worcester, MA, with regional offices in Oklahoma City, OK and Atlanta, GA. Mr. Picard is a member of VET-Force and a Life Member of Vietnam Veterans of America. He has been selected as the Veteran Small Business Champion of the Massachusetts District and New England Region of the SBA (2004). He was the co-founder of the Northeast Veteran-Owned Business Network. Mr. Picard has served as a mentor to a number of brother and sister Veterans in establishing Veteran and Disabled Veteran-Owned Small businesses.

Mr. Picard is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Planning and the University of Rhode Island with a Master of Community Planning Degree in Environmental Planning. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). He is a veteran of the United State Air Force and served from 1968 to 1975.

AES has been recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Veteran Friendly Employer. AES provides professional environmental services to the US EPA on regional and national contracts; the United States Air Force; the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; and, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Tracey L. Pinson became the Director for Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Office, Secretary of the Army in May 1995. Ms. Pinson advises the Secretary of the Army and the Army Staff on all small business procurement issues and is responsible for the implementation of the Federal acquisition programs designed to assist small businesses, including small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned businesses. She is responsible for the management of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) program, and develops policies and initiatives to enhance their participation in Army funded programs. As one of the top females in the Army’s acquisition career field, she is responsible for the integration of small businesses, HBCUs and MIs in acquisition strategies developed at the Army Headquarters. She also provides management and oversight for the Army’s Mentor-Protégé Program.

Ms. Pinson was born in Washington, D.C. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science from Howard University. She also received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She is a member in good standing of the Maryland Bar Association and the National Contract Management Association.

Pamela Porter is the Small Business Advocate and Director of the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) for the National Security Agency (NSA). OSBP’s mission is to advocate for the maximum practicable utilization of small businesses on agency contracts and subcontracts. Her previous position at the agency was as Director, for the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) and the Domestic Technology Transfer Program (DTTP) charged with promoting, effectively brokering, and facilitating transfer of valuable technological innovations to the commercial sector, universities, and other government agencies.

Prior career positions include defense contractor for the Army and Navy, retired Lieutenant Colonel after 25 years with the U.S. Army Reserves - Signal Corps, Senior Engineer with MCI, a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) director, and a small business owner.

Mr. Ronald A. Poussard, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is Director, Office of Small Business Programs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. He leads the Small and Minority Business Program, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institution Programs for the Department of the Air Force.

Mr. Poussard began his career with the Department of the Navy. He has held a variety of positions with the Department of the Air Force in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Contracting, working on major systems such as the C-17 cargo airlift aircraft. He was the Deputy Director of Contracting and the Small Business Director at the 11th Wing, Bolling Air Force Base, D.C.

Mr. Poussard served as Deputy Director of the Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for directing the activities of the Defense Acquisition Regulation Council charged with creating, publishing and maintaining the Department of Defense’s procurement business rules in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and representing the DOD in development of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Poussard was the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Combat and Mission Support Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. He led the acquisition of services for the Air Force and was responsible for managing and overseeing more than $100 billion in existing and planned contracts awarded by commands across the Air Force.

Richard Ramirez is one of the most uniquely qualified and experienced business development, federal contracting and strategic marketing experts in the country. Completing a three year personal commitment as the Senior Business Advisor for the Center for Veterans Enterprise at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006, Mr. Ramirez returned to his Outrider Company consulting practice also founding the United States Association of Veterans in Business (USAVETBIZ).

For over 25 years Mr. Ramirez has been engaged on a national level as a transactional and developmental consultant to companies small and large in over forty industries. He is the former owner and CEO of DVM Federal Systems Corporation and Outrider Corporation PMC. He also recently became the Senior Managing Partner of the Project Integration Consort, LLC. His early professional years were spent at SBA, NASA, and the Department of Navy. Mr. Ramirez is a former member of the Federal Senior Executive Service.

Former Army Sergeant Ramirez was one of the first soldiers in the Nation selected to be a U.S. Sky Marshal to combat terrorism on commercial airliners, 30 years prior to 9/11/01. He is a two tour Vietnam Veteran (’68-70) who also served as a logistics and supply support Aide at the White House.

Lieutenant Colonel Per Lyse Rasmussen is Assistant Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attaché and responsible for Defense Industrial Cooperation at the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. LtCol Rasmussen has a background in the Danish Army and rose through the ranks working mechanised infantry. After completing his tour at the Royal Life Guards Regiment as Operations Officer at a battalion he got assigned to a staff position at Defense Command Denmark working with logistics. After completion of the senior Staff Officers’ Course he returned to Defense Command where he worked with procurement. After one-and-a-half years at Defense Command he was appointed to serve at the Danish Ministry of Defense. After four years at the Danish Ministry of Defense where he held the position as Deputy Head of Procurement and Logistics, he was offered the position as Assistant Defense Attaché at the embassy in Washington D.C. in 2003. After working policy related issues for three-and-a-half years he took on a new position at the embassy working Defense Industrial Cooperation. This position requires cooperation with the US materiel commands as well as the US defense industry.

Debbie Ridgely is the Director for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the Department of Health and Human Services. She was selected for the position seven years ago. As the Director, she works to foster an atmosphere that provides fair, equitable and impartial opportunities for the entire small business community. Ms. Ridgely establishes Departmental policy for the small business program and advocates on behalf of the small business vendor in the federal acquisition process.

Prior to working in the small business capacity, Ms. Ridgely served as a Contracting Officer for the Departments of Transportation, NASA and Energy. Ms. Ridgely served as an Executive Officer of the Federal OSDBU Directors’ Interagency Council from FY 03-07. She has been recognized with awards from small business trade associations and other national organizations.

She is a graduate of Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee. She supplemented her B.A. with additional courses in Business Administration from Strayer University.

John E. Scott, II, has served as the District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Nevada district office located in Las Vegas, Nevada since December, 1995. He has been employed with the SBA since March, 1980 in a variety of positions in El Paso, Texas and his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.

Before joining the SBA, Mr. Scott was an Economic Development Program Officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. from 1977 to 1980. And from 1973 to 1977, he worked with the U.S. Department of Energy in Kansas City, Missouri. His previous civilian positions included internal financial auditor with the Commodore Corporation in Omaha, Nebraska and internal operations auditor with the Mobil Oil Corporation in Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Scott was graduated from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri in 1969 and was a member of the university honors program and the Alpha Phi Sigma Honors Fraternity.

He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve with more than 30 years of service from 1968 to 1999, and he is a 1987 honors graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Officers School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.

Mary A. Seabolt is the Deputy Director, Small Business Programs at the Defense Contract Management Agency Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Ms. Seabolt has had an extensive career in the Department of Defense working as a contract price/cost analyst, contract negotiator, internal examiner, team leader, and development program manager prior to joining the Small Business staff in 2002. She is the DCMA Agency Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Program Manager and is responsible for Agency small business policies and initiatives. She serves on the Small Business Committees of the Defense Acquisition Regulation Council and the Federal Acquisition Regulation Team.

Ms. Seabolt has achieved Level III in Contracting and is a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps. She graduated from the DoD Executive Leadership Development Program in June 2003. She has a B.A. degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Strayer University, Washington, D.C. She was awarded the DoD Golden Talon Award in 2005 for her work in the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Program and received the DCMA Exceptional Civilian Service Award in 2006. In January 2007, she completed a rotational assignment at the Office of the Secretary of Defense Office of Small Business Programs.

Joseph C. Sharpe, Jr. was appointed to the position of Director of the Economics Division in April 2009. Prior to serving as Director, he served as Deputy Director of the Economics Division, Health Care Field Representative and Assistant Director of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission. He is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., where he earned a M.A. in International Relations and Economics. He also has two Graduate Certificates in International Business and Trade and Health Care Management from Georgetown University. Mr. Sharpe also earned his B.A. in Sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. He is currently enrolled in a part time MBA program with Johns Hopkins University. In 1982, he entered the United States Army. After completing initial training at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, he served as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. He also served as a Mental Health Counselor in Ft. Benning, Georgia, worked as a Behavioral Science Research Specialist at the Walter Reed Institute of Research, Heidelberg, Germany, and was appointed as the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Inpatient Social Work and Psychiatry Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C. In addition to his active duty service, Mr. Sharpe is currently serving with the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, Riverdale, Maryland, as the Non Commissioned Officer in Charge of the Brigades Economics and Commerce Team. During his military service with the Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Sharpe was deployed twice overseas, in Operation Joint Forge, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and recently for the Global War on Terrorism, in which he received the Bronze Star Medal for work completed in the restoration and improvement of public and private financial institutions and banking services in Iraq.

Retired U.S. Army General Eric K. Shinseki was nominated by President Barack Obama on December 7, 2008, to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 2009, and he was sworn in as the seventh Secretary of Veterans Affairs on January 21, 2009.

Secretary Shinseki served as Chief of Staff, United States Army, from 1999 to June 11, 2003, and retired from active duty on August 1, 2003. During his tenure, he initiated the Army Transformation Campaign to address both the emerging strategic challenges of the early 21st century and the need for cultural and technological change in the United States Army.

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he led the Army during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and integrated the pursuit of the Global War on Terrorism with Army Transformation, successfully enabling the Army to continue to transform while at war. Prior to becoming the Army’s Chief of Staff, Secretary Shinseki served as the Vice Chief of Staff from 1998 to 1999. He previously served simultaneously as Commanding General, United States Army, Europe and Seventh Army; Commanding General, NATO Land Forces, Central Europe, both headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany; and Commander of the NATO-led Stabilization Force, Bosnia-Herzegovina, headquartered in Sarajevo.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Artillery upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in June 1965 and was attached to Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division as a forward observer from December 1965 to September 1966, when he was wounded in combat in the Republic of Vietnam. He returned to Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii to recuperate and subsequently was assigned as Assistant Secretary, then Secretary to the General Staff, U.S. Army, Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, from 1967-1968. He transferred to Armor Branch and attended the Armor Officer Advanced Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, before returning to Vietnam a second time in 1969. While serving as Commander, Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, he was wounded a second time in 1970.

Other assignments include Commander, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry Division; Commander, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division; Deputy Chief of Staff, Support for Allied Land Forces Southern Europe; Assistant Division Commander-Maneuver, 3rd Infantry Division; Commander, 1st Cavalry Division, as well as G-3, 3rd Infantry Division, 1984-1985; G-3, VII US Corps, 1989-1990; and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1996-1997.

Shinseki holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a Master of Arts degree from Duke University, and is a graduate of the National War College. Secretary Shinseki was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Clusters), Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Air Medal, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.

Paul Skurpski is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS) and is recognized as one of the leading figures in the government contracting financial accounting software industry. He has helped hundreds of fast-growing and mid-sized government contractors implement project accounting, financial management, and ERP solutions. His company, PVBS, has continuously been recognized by Microsoft as its leading partner in the government contracting vertical market. Solutions he has brought to the market have been well-received by companies that provide services and/or sell products to the Federal Government. Mr. Skurpski is well networked throughout the government contractor world and speaks frequently on financial accounting challenges contractors face.

Mr. Skurpski is responsible for new client acquisition activities for PVBS. Prior to co-founding PVBS, Mr. Skurpski was corporate process improvement manager and director of enterprise systems for Oberthur Card Systems. He has a process improvement and enterprise systems background with over 15 years experience delivering and managing enterprise inventory and financial management solutions. With his technical background, Mr. Skurpski specializes in understanding client’s needs and using software solution to help them reach their business goals. He also worked for one of the furniture industry’s top 20 distributors where he helped implement one of the first RFID systems for the furniture industry. He has a B.S. in Operations Research and Management Science from the State University of New York in Oswego.

Randy Slager is the CEO, Chairman, and Founder of Catapult Technology, a leading Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned (SDVO) business that provides Information Technology (IT), Enterprise Systems, and Information Management Services to the federal government and private sector. Prior to founding Catapult in 1996, Mr. Slager was a founder and partner at E&A, a consulting firm, where he managed the outsourcing of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) non-air traffic control IT systems and provided the program support staff to the FAA’s Chief Information Officer. In the mid-1980s, Mr. Slager was at Sutron Corporation, where he supported various federal clients, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, performing Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) on the Army’s Division Air Defense System (DIVADS) Sergeant York weapon systems evaluation. At the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Mr. Slager was a senior computer scientist in the R&D program to automate the FBI’s 59 field divisions. At Sperry-Univac, he developed the TELCON network operating system. Mr. Slager was commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1975 and served as the executive officer of the Data Processing Center, 7th Medical Command, U.S. Army, Europe. In 1978, he sustained a serious spinal injury on active duty that ended his Army Career but spurred his motivation toward entrepreneurial interests. In addition to his military and business accomplishments, Mr. Slager has been an active advocate for opening business opportunities to veterans, especially service-disabled veterans, seeking to be entrepreneurs. Mr. Slager holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Psychology from the University of Utah and a M.A. in Computer Information Systems from Boston University.

Oreta B. Stinson, Acting Director, Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Small Business Programs, has over 28 years of experience in Defense Acquisition. Prior to her recent assignment, Ms. Stinson completed an 18 month rotational assignment in the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics). Ms. Stinson’s responsibilities and focus at the OSD Small Business Program Office included Department of Defense (DoD) Indian Incentive Program and HBCU/MIs. Prior to this assignment, Ms. Stinson served as a Deputy Program Manager for the Naval Mission Planning Systems at Naval Air Systems Command where she led the development of a Joint (Navy/Air Force) Mission Planning Systems for our warfighters. Ms. Stinson has also worked in the F/A -18, F-22 and V-22 program offices. Among numerous awards, Ms. Stinson received the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service award. Ms. Stinson is a native of Goldsboro North Carolina. She graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1981. She received a Master of Science degree in Business and Public Administration from Southeastern University in Washington, D.C. in 1984. She is a graduate of NAVAIR’s Senior Executive Management Development Program. Ms. Stinson is a member of the Acquisition Professional Community and is level III certified in both Program Management and Contracts.

Diana V. Strong directs a robust agency-wide program, ensuring that maximum practical prime and subcontract opportunities are made available for small business, including small businesses owned by the disadvantaged, women, veterans, service-disabled veterans, and concerns located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. Ms. Strong served as a Legislative Fellow during the 109th Congress in support of the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Small Business. She has worked for the Departments of Treasury and Navy, the Small Business Administration and the National Institutes of Health overseeing multi-billion dollar acquisition programs in a small business advocacy role and as a contracting official. Over the last two decades, she has worked in Federal acquisition and small business programs as a contracting and small business operations official, policy and program analyst, writer, speaker, teacher and Legislative Fellow. Her work experience encompasses all forms of acquisition operations, small business program direction, and management. From conception and design of operational structures and web-based tools and systems through policy and regulatory development to program delivery, she planned and directed programs designed to increase participation of small businesses in Federal contracting. On behalf of Federal agencies, she advised the business community on marketing to the Federal government and other varied business development initiatives. As an expert acquisition and small business speaker and teacher, she addressed and engaged audiences ranging from Federal officials to entrepreneurs, to local community leaders, to Congressional audiences. Ms. Strong earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland and a Master of Science degree in Federal Acquisition and Grants Management from the American University, Washington, D.C.

Dan Sturdivant, serves as the Assistant Director for Outreach and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Coordinator, OSDBU, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As such, he is responsible for policy, strategic planning, outreach and the development and oversight of DHS’s small business programs (including, minority, women-owned, veterans, and HUBZone firms). Under Mr. Sturdivant’s leadership and support, DHS is generally recognized as a leader in innovative, outreach activities. Mr. Sturdivant functions as the DHS OSDBU liaison to the Congressional Black Caucus. In 1994, while at the Department of Treasury Mr. Sturdivant created Vendor Outreach Sessions or (VOS), which allows the small business community access to the DHS component Small Business Specialists, IT Program Managers, or prime contractors, once a month, via prearranged 15 minute appointments. In August of 2000, Mr. Sturdivant became the first Federal Government employee to attend the prestigious Darden Graduate School of Business, Minority Executive Business Program. This program, which is taught at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, is designed for the small business-minded individual, who is seeking to enhance their entrepreneurial and business skills. Mr. Sturdivant, who did undergraduate studies at Howard University, also held or currently holds memberships in the National Association of Black Procurement Professionals, the NAACP (Washington, D.C. chapter), 100 Black Men of America, Inc. (Washington, D.C. Chapter), and the Disabled American Veterans Association. He is a former Marine, was wounded while serving his second of two combat tours of duty in Viet Nam, and was highly decorate, for his numerous combat achievements.

Mr. Taylor is employed by the U.S. Department of State Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization as Senior Procurement Analyst, Veterans Business Advocate. Mr. Taylor has more than 30 years of contract management experience in the private and public sectors.

Mr. Taylor earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and MBA degree in Business Management and successfully completed the Department of Navy’s Procurement Intern Program.

Todd Tekesky is the Procurement Contracting Officer for the Veterans Technology Services (VETS) Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). The VETS GWAC is a small business set-aside contract for service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVO) small technology firms awarded by the General Services Administration, Small Business Government-wide Acquisition Contracts Center in Kansas City, MO. VETS presents a way for federal agencies to achieve small business goals through purchase of Information Technology solutions from small businesses owned by services-disabled veterans. It is the result of Executive Order 13360 that is designed to strengthen federal contracting opportunities for SDVO firms.

Mr. Tekesky is a 22 year retired Marine Corps veteran with 19 years of experience in the contracting field with 15 years associated with DoD contracting and contingency contracting. Mr. Tekesky joined GSA’s Federal Technology Service in 2005 and moved to the SBGWAC Center in 2008. In addition to working as a Procurement Contracting Officer for the VETS GWAC, Mr. Tekesky is also the Procurement Contracting Officer for the Commerce Information Technology Solutions Next Generation (COMMITS) contract. He is a member of the National Contract Management Association, holds an unlimited Contracting Officer’s Warrant, and FAC C Level III and DAWIA level II Certifications. Mr. Tekesky graduated from National American University with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Management. Mr. Tekesky is the President of the Freedom Futbol Club, a not-for-profit, competitive youth soccer organization in the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan area dedicated to the developing young athletes through personal accountability, community responsibility, respect for self and others, self improvement and sportsmanship.

Mark R. Thomas is Senior Counsel at Reid Law Group LLC, a Colorado-based firm specializing in government contracts, intellectual property, and business ventures. Mr. Thomas is an attorney, engineer, aviator, author, and decorated military officer with more than twenty-five years experience in federal contracting, technology development, and legal counseling on behalf of public and private constituencies. Mr. Thomas’ military career as an electrical engineer and flight test officer included assignments as technology architect of the U.S. Air Force’s conventional weapons portfolio; the Defense Department’s future joint, interagency, and multinational war fighting capability; the Federal Government’s combined nuclear command and control system; and the United Kingdom’s military aircraft modernization program. Mr. Thomas commanded the U.S. Air Force’s only Space Development & Test Group, leading more than 500 personnel and directing a $1.3 billion annual budget. He is a Joint Specialty Officer (JSO), Department of Defense Senior Acquisition Corps member, recipient of the Air Force Association’s Lieutenant General Richard C. Henry Leadership Award, and was twice named Company Grade Officer of the Year at the Wing level. Mr. Thomas earned his J.D. at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, was a Ben S. Wendelken scholar, served as Business Editor of the Denver University Law Review, and received the Outstanding Student Leadership Award. He holds graduate degrees in business and military operations, and postgraduate credentials in defense systems management, national security strategy, and Federal procurement policy. Appointed by Governor Bill Ritter to the Colorado Small Business Council.

Ronald Thomas is special counsel in LeClairRyan’s Government Relations and Regulated Industries Group. He focuses his practice on federal and state government contracting and other government relations matters.

Mr. Thomas served as President George W. Bush’s appointee as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, United States Department of Veterans Affairs. He was responsible for the development and implementation of vision, strategy, problem-solving and leadership within the department and was responsible for management and budget of the Office of the Actuary, the Policy Analysis Service, and the Data Management Service. Mr. Thomas also participated in developing the department’s strategic plan and legislative program. He also served as the Designated Federal official for the Secretary’s Advisory Committee of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom Veterans and Families.

In April 2008, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake appointed Mr. Thomas to the department’s Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) Veterans and Families. His role is to review veterans’ benefits and services and recommend how to tailor them more precisely to the needs of OIF/OEF veterans and their families. Also in 2008, Mr. Thomas served as the co-chair of D.C. Lawyers for McCain.

In 2004, Mr. Thomas was elected second vice chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. He was a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention and was vice chairman of the South Carolina delegation. He has served as a member of the following: Governor’s Commission on Management, Accountability and Performance (MAP) Subcommittee on In-state Procurement; the Bush-Cheney ’04 Leadership South Carolina Team; and the Minority Advisory Committee and the Service Academy Selection Committee to Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC, 2nd District).

Also in 2004, Mr. Thomas was the vice president of the South Carolina Republican Party Convention. He was the only African-American political director of a state Republican party when he worked for the South Carolina GOP in 2002 and 2003.

Mr. Thomas is a frequently sought-after Republican strategist and provides commentary and insights on political activity and elections for national television programs such as MSNBC, Black Enterprise, and various national radio programs. He has also been a featured speaker on small business issues at National Urban League conferences.

Ralph C. Thomas, III is a partner with Barton, Baker, Thomas & Tolle LLP of McLean, Virginia, a law firm specializing in government contracts law and corporate transactions. A Service Disabled Veteran, Mr. Thomas is a life member of Vietnam Veterans of America. From 1992 – 2005 Mr. Thomas was the Associate Administrator for Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where he increased the amount of prime and subcontract dollars going to small, minority and women-owned businesses to the highest in NASA’s history. He received numerous awards, including the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive, from President George W. Bush and, in 2000, received the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive from President Bill Clinton. Mr. Thomas has won a number of cases on behalf of small businesses. In 2009, he defended a woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned business against a bid protest in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, allowing the firm to perform as one of the awardees of a $1 billion contract. In 2008, he defended a small Veteran-owned business against a size protest challenge, enabling the firm to perform as one of the awardees of a $5.7 billion contract. A graduate of Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mr. Thomas received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Thomas has authored more than 60 published articles and has testified in Congress more than 30 times on small business issues. He is currently Chairman of the Federal Bar Association’s Committee on Small Business and Socioeconomic Matters

Mauricio P. Vera is the Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). Mr. Vera is also the Acting Director of USAID’s Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI). CFBCI works to serve as a bridge between faith and community based organizations and government to increase the capacity of these organizations to compete for funding opportunities. Since October 2008, Mr. Vera has also served as the Vice Chairman of the OSDBU Directors Interagency Council. Mr. Vera is the former Manager of the Small Business Program in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. Under Mr. Vera’s leadership, the NRC became one of only three Federal agencies to be awarded the Gold Star Award by the Small Business Administration for its exemplary performance and commitment to contracting with small businesses in Fiscal Year (FY) 2005. In FY 2006 and 2007, NRC achieved additional significant increases in its total contract awards to each of the small business categories. In 2007, the NRC awarded Mr. Vera the distinguished Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his accomplishments in the small business program area. Mauricio’s federal career includes the Smithsonian Institution where he established and managed the Smithsonian’s Supplier Diversity Program from 1993 to 2001. Prior to this, Mr. Vera served as a Senior Financial Analyst at the Small Business Administration. Mr. Vera, a native of Chile, has an MBA from George Mason University and a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maryland.

Matthew Verhulst is the Contracts Branch Chief at the Small Business (SB) Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) Center. He holds a MBA from the University of North Texas, a C.P.M. certification from the Institute for Supply Managementand a FAC-C Level III certification. Mr. Verhulst has been with the Center since inception, and has managed the successful award of four small business oriented GWACs, administration of six small business GWACs and planning for a 7th GWAC. Mr. Verhulst’s federal career began as an acquisition management intern at the VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, then on to the Sepulveda, California, VAMC (during which time it was hit by the Northridge earthquake and he participated in emergency response contracting), then on to the Cleveland, OH, VAMC as the Chief of Purchasing and Contracting, and followed by the Palo Alto, California, VAMC in the same capacity before turning to the private sector and later joining GSA.

Ms. Walborn is a member of the Government Contracts & Litigation Group. She assists clients in resolving complex disputes in both the public contract and commercial arenas. Her experience includes representing clients in bid protests before Government Agencies, the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims. She also assists clients with commercial contracting issues, compliance issue disputes, wage and hour disputes and Small Business Administration size protests.

Prior to commencing her legal career, Ms. Walborn served as a Naval Flight Officer in the U.S. Navy where she was qualified as a Mission Commander in the ES-3A “Shadow” and the S-3B “Viking” aircraft. Ms. Walborn continues to serve as a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Her Practice Areas include Commercial Litigation and Government Contracts. She is a graduate of George Washington University Law School (J.D., 2007), the University of San Diego (M.A., 2001), and the University of North Carolina (B.A., 1992).

As the Supplier Diversity Program Manager for the Smithsonian Institution, Rudy D. Watley provides internal advocacy and external direction to Small, Minority, Woman-owned, HUB-Zone, and Service-Disabled Veteran-owned small businesses. The Smithsonian is a trust instrumentality whose mission is the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” This mission is fulfilled through three focus areas: education, research and museum exhibitions. Mr. Watley works with Smithsonian staff to establish small business participation goals for the Institutions approximately $200 million dollar annual federal procurement budget. This includes the nearly 150 million items of America’s treasures stored and exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution and the nations living treasures at the National Zoo Park. In FY 2008 alone, Mr. Watley guided the Smithsonian in to the service disabled veteran owned small business that made a major contribution toward the Institution’s achievement of 2.94 percent of its 3.0 SDVOSB goal.

His 28 years of federal government service include 21 years with the USDA Forest Service and 7 years with the Smithsonian Institution. He began his government career as a business management trainee/CO-OP student, and served as a contract specialist, contracting officer, branch chief for Washington Office procurement operations, procurement analyst, and small and disadvantaged business utilization program manager with the Forest Service.

Mr. Watley is a native of Detroit, Michigan, a graduate of Colorado State University with B.A. in Business Administration, a Graduate of the Graduate School, USDA’s Executive Potential Program.

Maurice Webb is the Supplier Diversity Manager at Apple Inc., Cupertino, California, a position that was re-created when Maurice joined Apple in 2005. Mr. Webb has been a Procurement Professional for 15 years, working for Apple, Sun Microsystems, and Electroglas (Semiconductor Equipment). Prior to ‘crossing the fence’ into Procurement, Mr. Webb held engineering and marketing positions with Ampex, Memorex and Konica.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Mr. Webb earned his electrical engineering degree from the Belfast College of Technology, and moved to Silicon Valley, California, in 1978.

Apple’s Supplier Diversity Program was established in 1988. The businesses Apple categorize as diverse suppliers are Minority Owned (MBE), Women Owned (WBE), Veteran Owned (VBE), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVBE), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)

With former Director Scott Denniston, Gail Wegner co-founded the CVE in November 2000. She is now the Acting Director for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and the Center for Veterans Enterprise. In addition to her new role, she is also responsible for planning; legislative, regulatory and policy development; financial management; statutory compliance; risk management; quality initiatives and customer relations. Ms. Wegner also supervises the staff. She is one of several principal speakers within the organization, with a special emphasis on Federal procurement. She has more the 20 years of experience in Federal acquisition and logistics, including positions as supervisory contracting officer with senior level unlimited warrant for VA’s Senior Procurement Executive; Chief of VA’s Acquisition Workforce Development Office and Senior Procurement Analyst on the audit team. Ms. Wegner has also served more than 10 years in Federal Small Business Programs. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management as well as a Master of Science degree in Health Services Administration. Ms. Wegner is a Certified NxLeveL Instructor with the NxLeveL Education Foundation. In June 2007, she received her certificate in Small Business Management from George Mason’s Office of Continuing Professional Education. To remain current on all procurement issues, she maintains her membership in the National Contract Management Association

Rick Weidman serves as Executive Director for Policy & Government Affairs on the National Staff of Vietnam Veterans of America VVA). As such, he is the primary spokesperson for VVA in Washington.

Mr. Weidman was one of the founders of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force) in early 1999. VET-Force has been the principal driving force behind all the statutes enacted since then to assist service disabled veteran business owners and veteran owned businesses. VET-Force has worked in cooperation with DoD, VA, GSA, and many other agencies to progress toward full implementation of the Executive Order and all laws enacted to assist veterans with realization of the American dream of owning and successfully operating their own small business. He served as a 1-A-O Army medic with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, AMERICAL Division in Vietnam. Mr. Weidman was part of VVA from 1978 to today. He left VVA full time to serve in the Administration of New York Governor Mario Cuomo, then a stint with the New York State Assembly, returning to VVA in 1998. He has served on many veteran advisory groups and committees regarding veterans’ issues, and is recipient of numerous awards for veterans advocacy. Mr. Weidman was an instructor and administrator at Johnson State College (Vermont) in the 1970s, where he was also active in community and veterans affairs. He attended Colgate University (B.A., 1967), and did graduate study at the University of Vermont

As a veteran business advocate for NaVOBA, Marcea Weiss manages a team promoting the value of “Buy Veteran” to corporate America. Ms. Weiss’s distinguished background permits her to present a cogent business case for using veteran-owned businesses as suppliers. Understanding and finding innovative ways to satisfy customers’ needs has always been a top priority for Ms. Weiss. This focus on customer value, coupled with her passion for accelerating the veteran-owned business movement, enable her to uniquely market veteran-owned businesses to corporate America. Ms. Weiss is an Army Veteran with nine years of service as a UH-60 Blackhawk Maintenance Test Pilot and Maintenance Manager with the 25th Infantry Division “Tropic Lightning” out of Hawaii and the First Infantry Division “Big Red One” out of Germany. Ms. Weiss has held various roles in Fortune 500 companies since transitioning from the military to include: Lean 6 Sigma Program Leader, Hiring and Development Manager and Sales Manager and has written a book to help other with their transition, titled, Leaving the Military: Your Deployment Guide to Corporate America.

Ms. Weiss holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami where she graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) and was captain and MVP of the rowing team. She also holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix, Honolulu. Ms. Weiss is an avid recreational pilot holding FAA ratings for Commercial Rotary Wing Instrument Aircraft and Private Fixed Wing Instrument Aircraft

Lisa Wheeler has more than 22 years in the Intelligence Community, within both government and industry to include 16 years of NSA government experience in program/project management and acquisition for medium (ACAT III) to large (ACAT I) systems, and five-and-a-half years industry experience as a Senior Acquisition Consultant and Senior Program Manager. She provides support to large programs by producing milestone documentation as well as crafting, creating and executing complex solicitations (RFP, source selection plans) which includes four years as a Senior Level Executive providing corporate program and contract management as well as leading business and proposal development. Ms. Wheeler is the Vice President of Contracts for DigiFlight, Incorporated (DFI). DFI is an SBA certified 8(a) company which operates as an integrated acquisition and technology firm focused on Systems/Software Engineering, Test and Evaluation, Information Assurance/Information Operations, Net-Centric Operations and Modeling/Simulation.

Ms. Wheeler is a member of AFCEA, and the Program Management Institute (PMI). She holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP). She holds two DAWIA Certifications (Level II Program Mgmt., Level I Information Technology) from the Defense Acquisition University. Ms. Wheeler is currently working on her Masters Certificate in Government Contracting

Christine Williamson, who joined Watkins Meegan in 1991, serves as a Member in the Government Contracting Group and leads the firm’s Northern Virginia office. In her current role, she handles the day-to-day business operations of her practice group, including scheduling and hiring, as well as marketing services.

Additionally, Ms. Williamson provides financial and accounting consulting and business services to a variety of clients. She specializes in developing solutions to complex issues, such as the development of indirect rate structures and tax ramifications of acquisitions. Ms. Williamson has acquired a wealth of knowledge in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and tax compliance issues. She advises clients on financial and operational issues, including general ledger chart-of-accounts, account reconciliation, monthly and year-end closings, financial statement reporting and maintenance, and federal and state taxes.

Ms. Williamson is an expert with Deltek accounting software products for both small and large companies and often serves in an advisory capacity for companies that are interested in customizing and incorporating the Deltek system. She was instrumental in forming a partnership between Watkins Meegan and Deltek to offer software implementation and consultation to clients using the GCS Premier Deltek product.

Ms. Williamson also actively participates in firm management by supervising and training new staff, writing articles for newsletters and mass mailing media, and teaching courses for Watkins Meegan and the Lorman Education Services. She is a member of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants

Gregory Willis has served as Counsel on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship since August 2006. On the Committee he is responsible for advising Senator John Kerry on issues related to federal procurement and economic development. Prior to his work on the committee he spent three years as an aide to Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas where he held a number of positions.

Mr. Willis completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He then completed his law degree at the Georgia State University College of Law. He’s held a number of positions in both the government and private sector

Mr. Wray is the lead analyst/advisor on cost accounting matters for the Director of Procurement and Acquisition Policy. Prior to his current position, he was an auditor, supervisor, and manager for Defense Contract Audit Agency. In addition to over 35 years experience in Government auditing and contracting policy he is a Certified Public Accountant and has an MBA

Joseph Wynn, a Vietnam veteran, founded the VETS Group, a non-profit organization that provides entrepreneurial education, federal procurement counseling, and employment assistance for veterans and service-disabled veterans primarily interested in doing business in the federal marketplace.

As Legislative Liaison for the National Association for Black Veterans (NABVETS), he works closely with the Director of Government Relations for the Vietnam Veterans of America on matters pertaining to federal procurement and veterans’ employment. Mr. Wynn also serves on the Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force), representing thousands of veterans, to monitor the impact of legislation on veterans’ procurement programs.

Under the G.I. Bill, Mr. Wynn attended the University of D.C. and Howard University, completing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, a Master’s degree in Business, and two years toward a doctorate in Organizational Communications. He later served as Director of Education at the PTC Career Institute in Washington, D.C

Ms. Zhussanbay joined CVE in 2005 as a program specialist. Her previous employment includes working as a consultant for a large government contractor and service in the U.S. Army. While on active duty, Ms. Zhussanbay served in a variety of leadership positions and has worked both in the U.S. and overseas as a medical logistics officer prior to retiring in 2003. Ms. Zhussanbay has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Kean College; a Master of Arts in Health Services Management from Webster University, San Antonio, Texas; and a Master of Science in Information Resource Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. In June 2007, Ms. Zhussanbay received her certificate in Small Business Management from George Mason’s Office of Continuing Professional Education