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Kash started his career working for a business consulting firm in Washington DC and quickly moved on to work in the wholesale food distribution and food services industry. Since then, he has successfully managed operations of a food distribution business and has been instrumental in driving the launch of an Internet cafe/restaurant in the Washington DC metro area. He has over 9 years of experience in the food and beverage industry.

from www.foodem.com

Maria Proestou is the president and chief executive officer of DELTA, which she co-founded in 2000. In addition to guiding the company’s growth and development, Proestou oversees quality control and serves as an expert on the U.S. Navy’s strategic planning, budgeting, and program management. She is one of only a few financial contractors qualified to work alongside the Lean/Six Sigma experts to implement the NAVSEA Lean/Six Sigma practices. After earning a bachelor’s degree in international relations from The George Washington University and a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Proestou worked as a program manager and later as a project leader, serving as the first contract financial manager for the Theater Air Warfare Directorate in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon. Proestou also advised senior Navy officials on financial strategies and developed financial and budget management organizations for new program offices. Recognizing her expertise in appropriations, budget, and financial management, leaders in the Navy increasingly turned to her for advice and counsel. Under Proestou’s leadership, DELTA has established a reputation as an innovative firm that specializes in providing financial, technical, and program management for the U.S. government and select private sector clients.

www.delta-va.net

Sean is the founder of agencyQ and serves as Q’s Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Sean oversees Q’s overall strategy, ensuring the firm’s service offerings are in sync with helping clients grow top line revenue and bottom line performance. His experience is informed by more than 20 years of identifying strategic technical, business and marketing solutions for Fortune 500 companies, the federal government and nonprofits and associations. Sean attended The George Washington University, where he studied Philosophy. In his spare time, you can find Sean reading, playing cards and traveling with his family.

from www.agencyq.com

• The Day Spa Association Advisory Board Member - Chairperson of Legislative Committee
• AAM Certified Micropigmentation Instructor.
• AAM Advanced Certification Expert.
• American Cancer Society; Volunteer since 2004.
• International Cosmetology Instructor 1995 – Present.
• Member of the American Academy of Micropigmentation and SPCP.
• AAM International Examiner.

My vision of building a Spa has been my dream since I arrived on American soil from Viet Nam at the age of 16. I have always been an entrepreneur and my ability to realize my dream of opening a full service spa has come with much hard work and dedication. My dream, now my reality, was in the opening of Blu Water Day Spa, Nails, and Boutique – a spa that provides an ambiance and service selection that is a cultural blend of Asian/Indian influence.

www.bluwaterdayspa.com

Dr. Samadi has over 20 years of extensive experience in managing technology organizations, including all different phases of software and system engineering lifecycles of complex, industrial-strength information and data-processing systems. Prior to forming Innovim, Dr. Samadi was the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Merkle Data Technologies.

His business unit was responsible for application development, integration, deployment, and operation of custom solutions for a wide array of commercial and non-profit businesses across North America. Merkle is a $100M privately held company and a leading firm specializing in Database Marketing and CRM solutions and services. Prior to Merkle, he served as Vice President of Engineering for a streaming media company, Vodium and a senior managment role for BNA where Dr. Samadi was responsible for setting up the technology and infrastructure that allowed BNA to migrate from a paper-based content provider to an internet-enabled vendor of electronic news and information. Prior to BNA, he served as NASA Technical Director for the Earth Observing Satellite missions, where he was responsible for management, design, deployment and operation of mission-critical systems. He also founded, ran, and sold a privately held boutique-engineering firm, SAK Technologies. Dr. Samadi serves as adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University, teaching Software Engineering, System Design, and Management of Information Systems. He has presented and published many technical papers in the area of software and systems engineering. Dr. Samadi has a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computer Science and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University.

from www.innovim.com

Tom Gibson’s professional career has been devoted to a singular goal: to make good organizations great. Since 1989, when the first of The Coulter Companies was launched, Gibson has articulated a consistent vision that The Coulter Companies exists for a central purpose: to work with socially progressive, high-potential organizations in transformative ways.

At The Coulter Companies and its business units, this clear sense of who we are permeates our corporate culture and resides at the foundation of our intelligent and successful expansion. It is a vision carried forward by a remarkable staff of creative and energetic professionals who share the founder’s passion for transformational thinking made real through excellence in implementation.

Gibson is a thoughtful and empowering executive who believes deeply in the limitless potential of people and organizations. Reflective of his undergraduate English and public policy focus, Gibson helps to refine the elements of each client’s unique story, which is then woven into the fabric of organizational action. Gibson is a sought-after expert in the development, design, and management of sophisticated advocacy, public affairs, communications, branding and fundraising campaigns.

As chief strategist for The Coulter Companies and its business units, Gibson’s role is to serve both as an internal consultant to his colleagues and as a strategic resource to clients. It is Gibson’s further role to ensure the vibrant corporate culture and intent of The Coulter Companies remains undiluted by static thinking. Finally, it is his responsibility to inspire his colleagues to find and fulfill their own vast potential, and in the process, help propel their clients to unexpected heights.

Prior to founding The Coulter Companies, in 1983, Gibson co-launched and served as a senior association executive and lobbyist for the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel), a prominent telecommunications industry trade association. Under Gibson’s leadership, CompTel emerged as the “voice” of the long-distance telephone industry as well as a highly influential public policy advocate for the creation and implementation of a competitive business model.

In addition to his proven expertise in the comprehensive development of nonprofit organizations, Gibson is an experienced government affairs professional, having served as an adviser and fundraiser for various federal candidates and campaigns.

A Florida native, Gibson is an honors graduate of Duke University, with post-graduate work completed at The George Washington University. Gibson is a member of and active in key industry professional organizations, and serves on an array of philanthropic and corporate boards.

Gibson, his wife, Suzanne, and their triplet 15-year-old daughters reside in Great Falls, Virginia.

www.coultercos.com

Mr. Holec has more than 12 years of technology and project management experience involving legal document production.  As president of eTERA Consulting, he frequently consults on large, complex litigation matters, with emphasis on developing the most cost-efficient methods for clients while maintaining the highest level of quality data.  He regularly advises clients on all aspects of EIA and electronic discovery with a specific focus on second requests, antitrust, intellectual property and general litigation matters.

from www.eteraconsulting.com

MSA started with Cal Harris’s dream of building a company that was dedicated to exemplary customer service, and unparalleled dedication to the employee – he wanted to build a family of professionals. Part of this dream included, getting to know the employee and their families, investing in their future, and making sure that they always felt part of something special.

With his wife and daughter by his side, the Harris’ set out to create MSA in 1990. This company quickly formed into a family oriented business that attracted and retained the very best analysts in the industry. Cal would often say to new hires “my hope is that this is the last job you ever need to look for” and felt the same with the bond he formed with our clients.

The companies growth over the past twenty years has been slow and constant by design. MSA focuses on quality over quantity, and building strong relationships verses quick transactions with their clients. This approach has allowed for little turnover, consistent repeat business and industry recognition for leadership and consistent growth.

www.msaincorp.com/

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“When I started our first community, I asked myself, ‘What can I do to change the way society views the aging process?’ Each time I ask that question, it raises the importance of every facet of what we do.

We wanted to create a community unlike any other—a place where people could enjoy unmatched opportunities for fun; a maintenance-free community that would provide them with the luxury of being involved, inspired, and engaged. We also wanted to provide unmatched health care that would allow them to live life to the fullest. All at an unmatched value.”

John Erickson

In 1983 John Erickson rejected the traditional concept of retirement living and struck out on his own to create an exciting lifestyle for people age 62 or better. To that end, he turned an abandoned college campus in Maryland into a vibrant, bustling community named Charlestown. It quickly became the most popular campus-style community option in America.

Not only does the concept of Erickson Living communities attract people who want to live there, it also attracts topnotch employees, all drawn by the exciting possibilities of positive aging. Erickson Living now offers a nationwide network of campuses serving more than 20,000 people.

www.ericksonliving.com

Eric Ziebold’s affinity for cooking started in his mother’s kitchen growing up in Iowa and her simple approach and utilization of seasonal items is what continues to inspire Chef Ziebold today.  After graduation from the Culinary Institute of America with the highest honors, Ziebold came to Washington DC to work at the well-established Vidalia.  Hungry for more experiences, he moved to Los Angeles as chef de partie at Spago Restaurant, and then joined Thomas Keller at the storied The French Laundry.  His relationship with Keller took him to New York to assist in the creation of Per Se on Columbus Circle and the success of this venture prepared Ziebold for his own turn at the helm, tapped by Mandarin Oriental to return to Washington DC as Executive Chef of CityZen.

Chef Ziebold has established his own unique style of modern American cuisine. He brings his own interpretations coupled with his classic French training to introduce new flavor profiles.

from www.mandarinoriental.com/washington/dining/cityzen

Don Rainey joined Grotech Ventures as a general partner in September 2007. With over $1B US under management, Grotech focuses on early stage information technology companies. Don currently serves on the boards of Grotech portfolio companies Clarabridge, HelloWallet, LivingSocial , Personal, SnappCloud, and Zenoss, as well as the Northern Virginia Chapter of the March of Dimes.

In Fall 2008, Don was appointed for a second term as an emerging technology consultant to the Chief Information Officer of the US Department of Defense through the DeVenCi Program. The DeVenCi Program consists of a handful of venture capitalists who research and nominate companies to solve the US Department of Defenses’s unmet technology needs.

Don is also an Organizing Board member of the prestigious MindShare forum. In this role, he helps CEOs from the Greater Washington Metropolitan region’s most promising start-ups build long-term sustainable companies. This invitation-only group provides its annual CEO class with an opportunity to meet peers, Organizing Board members and prominent speakers in an intimate setting to exchange ideas and discuss current issues facing start-up companies. To date, more than 400 CEOs have graduated from the program, including some of the area’s most notable entrepreneurs.

Don’s long history in the tech industry includes serving as president at Attitude Network, one of the first online entertainment networks, which was sold to TheGlobe.com in 1999. He also managed channel distribution and brand marketing in 50 countries for IBM’s $2 billion network hardware division and served as COO of DaVinci Systems where he spearheaded the company’s acquisition by ON Technology. Don designed and launched Novell’s much-emulated global Authorized Dealer Program in the late 80’s. He currently heads the Capital Formation Committee for the Northern Virginia Technology Council.

Don earned a B.B.A. from James Madison University and a M.S. in Bioscience Management from George Mason University. He serves on the Executive Advisory Council for the College of Business at James Madison University and he is an adjunct professor at American University where he teaches graduate courses entitled “New Venture Finance” and “Venture Capital and Private Equity”.

Don previously served on the Enterprise Investment Advisory Committee for the State of Maryland, and the Investment Advisory Board of the State of Virginia’s Growth Acceleration Program (GAP) as well as the board of the Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Foundation.

from www.grotech.com

Theresa Alfaro Daytner, CEO of Daytner Construction Group, has an entrepreneurial passion. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at the University of Maryland in 1989, after starting her first business, a residential roofing company.

In January 2003, Ms. Daytner launched The Daytner Corporation, now doing business as Daytner Construction Group (DCG). DCG is a general contracting and construction management firm serving government, institutional, and private clients.

Ms. Daytner has also developed strategic alliances with complimentary companies in order to expand DCG’s scope of services, geographic reach and capacity. Being a member of Vistage, a CEO Roundtable organization, formerly known as TEC, a member of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber, WIPP, CMAA and also an alumni of several Executive Education programs at Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business, Ms. Daytner enjoys being a lifelong learner.

from www.daytnercorp.com

As co-founder and CEO/President of TAPE, Ms. Jaffe manages TAPE’s business affairs, client and corporate relations, and marketing outreach. Formerly Lieutenant Colonel Louisa Long Cullem, she served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves for 28 years. She retired from the Army Reserves in 2002, after having been recalled to active duty in response to the events of September 11, 2001. During her military career, she served in the Pentagon as a Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer for the Secretary of the Army Public Affairs for more than twelve years, including service during the first Gulf War. Ms. Jaffe also provided public affairs support for the Army Materiel Command, the U.S. Readiness Command, TRADOC, the Army CIO, and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence. Throughout her military career in public affairs, she supported Army Senior Leadership as a spokesperson responding to the Press on a variety of sensitive issues.

During the last half of her military career, Ms. Jaffe worked simultaneously as a reservist and within private industry, where she has over 30 years of experience in business ownership and management, public affairs, and information technology.

Ms. Jaffe holds a BA in English from the University of Florida (Gainesville) and a BS in Citrus Management from Florida Southern College (Lakeland). As part of her post graduate studies in business management, Ms. Jaffe completed certification training as an ORACLE Database Administrator as well as Masters level courses in Business at Central Michigan University. She is also a graduate of the Women’s Army Corps Officer Basic Course, Army Adjutant General Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, and the Army Command and General Staff College.

Ms. Jaffe is a member of Women in Defense (WID), Women in Technology (WIT), Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), Retired Military Officers Association (RMOA), National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Renaissance Executive Forum and several women’s and executive groups. She is also a member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Executive Advisory Council.

from www.tape-llc.com

Dr. Akbari has more than 18 years of strategic, sales and marketing, product development and operational experience across many critical high-technology industries including software applications, IT services, security systems for homeland defense, telematics and location-based services, and telecom. Dr. Akbari has held senior management positions in TruePosition - a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, Microsoft, Thales, Cambridge Strategic Management Group (CSMG), and worked as a scientist at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research. She draws on her international experience including nine years in Paris, London, Beijing and Cape-Town.

Dr. Akbari holds a Ph.D. with honors in particle physics from Tufts University and an MBA with distinction from Carnegie Mellon University. She is the author of more than 50 scientific articles in international journals and a frequent speaker at industry conferences and tradeshows. She serves as a judge at MIT $100K Business Plan Competition, is a member of the Advisory Council of the Johns Hopkins Department of Physics and Astronomy and The Loudoun County CEO Cabinet, and is a contributor to several non-profit organizations. Washington Business Journal named Dr. Akbari among its “Women Who Mean Business” in 2008.

from www.skybitz.com

Antwanye Ford is the President and co-founder of Enlightened, Inc. At Enlightened, Mr. Ford is responsible for the following: Corporate Vision and Direction, Business Development, Strategic Planning, and Corporate Innovation.

Mr. Ford has worked in Information Systems for over 20 years, which helped shape his lifelong dream to be an entrepreneur. Mr. Ford started his career at a small defense contractor and later moved to MCI. While at MCI, he held several positions ranging from Systems Analyst to Marketing Product Manager for MCI’s Friends and Family. In his role as a developer and project manager, Mr. Ford designed and built systems that invoiced over 20 million dollars per month, managed customer contracts, and designed user interfaces to support one of MCI’s largest contracts. Mr. Ford later became one of the product managers for MCI’s flagship product, Friends and Family. In his role as a Product Manager, he was responsible for product innovations, promotional development, and systems infrastructure for strategic product support.

In 1994 Mr. Ford moved from MCI to INTELSAT, the world’s largest provider of satellite communications. Mr. Ford served as the Director for the Applications Support Organization, encompassing several strategic business units. The department’s responsibilities included developing applications, conducting internal consulting projects, supporting software, and building the company’s document management infrastructure. At INTELSAT, Antwanye also served as a “change agent” for the company. He was specifically hired for his ability to “do the hard stuff”. Executive management discussed this with him during the hiring interview and stated that his success was dependent upon moving the organization from being reactive to proactive. Mr. Ford eagerly embraced the challenge as a stepping-stone towards managing his own business.

Also, in 2005 Mr. Ford was selected by the editorial board of Inside the Minds as an author in the recently released book, Inside the Minds: CEO Best Practices. Inside the Minds: CEO Best Practices - Skills, Values, and Strategies for Successful CEOs features top CEOs representing some of the nation’s leading companies. Mr. Ford contributed a chapter to the book entitled, “The Spiritual Side of Leadership”.

Mr. Ford is heavily involved in his community and was a founding member of Myth Men, a non-profit organization with the objective of destroying negative myths about young Black men. Mr. Ford currently serves on the Board of the DC Chamber of Commerce and the DC Chamber of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. He was formally on the Board of Directors for DC Works and the Washington Math Science and Technology Charter High School. In addition, Mr. Ford coaches basketball to kids ages 13 to 15 at his church and works heavily with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Washington, DC. Mr. Ford’s company philosophy is based in his faith, “To whom much is given, much is required.”

Mr. Ford received a B.S. in Computer Science and Information Systems and a M.S. in Information Systems with honors both from The George Washington University (GWU).
from www.enlightened.com

William Mixon is President and CEO of US Investigations Services, Inc. (USIS). USIS has approximately 6,600 employees, provides solutions and services to a wide range of high-profile customers, has a customer base that spans multiple federal, state, and local government agencies, and produced annual revenues in 2010 of approximately $680 million.

USIS is composed of four divisions: Investigations Services Division, the U.S. government’s largest supplier of background investigations and a provider of diverse investigations, including site visits, to all levels of government and law enforcement agencies; Security Solutions Division, specializing in areas such as physical/personnel/facility security, investigative analytics, and security convergence; Training and Law Enforcement Division, focusing on police training, surveillance detection, international development, and security consulting; and Information Management Division (LABAT), concentrating in litigation support, records management, and information systems and services for the government. USIS is also on the forefront of Criminal Justice Program Support and Antiterrorism Program Support efforts around the world.

Mr. Mixon joined USIS in May 2005 as President of the Investigative Services Division, where he was responsible for all product delivery, quality, and timeliness of background investigations for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and other administrative and national security support agencies.

Mr. Mixon’s background includes 21 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. Since 1994, Mr. Mixon held various senior level positions with Philips Healthcare, North America. At Philips Healthcare, Mr. Mixon’s career path focused on customer support and customer service, with increasing responsibilities in key roles as Vice President of Strategic Integration and Vice President of Operations. In his last assignment as Vice President, Customer Services at Philips Medical, Mr. Mixon directed an organization consisting of nine functional business units with 3,500 total field employees and $1.0 billion in revenues. In this role, he developed, implemented, and led multiple strategic initiatives to ensure production efficiencies, customer satisfaction, and business growth, including a benchmark “North America Service Delivery Plan.

A native of Virginia, Mr. Mixon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Georgetown University, a Master of Business Administration degree from the College of William and Mary, and a Master of Science degree in Healthcare Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Center for American Studies (CAS) at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va.

Mr. Mixon and his family currently reside in Northern Virginia.

from www.usis.com

Steve Cassaday has been advising investors professionally since November of 1977, and has held senior and/or management positions with several major New York Stock Exchange member firms. In 1993, Steve left Wall Street and started Cassaday & Company, Inc. in order to provide wealth management services to investors seeking independent, objective and impartial guidance. Today, Cassaday & Company, Inc. has 20 employees and manages, or supervises, approximately $1 billion for 600 households throughout the United States. A recognized industry thought leader and sought after speaker, Steve has given over 300 public presentations on investments, financial planning and portfolio management, personal development and productivity, regularly addressing others in the industry as well as speaking before corporate gatherings, associations, community groups and at public seminars.

During his 33 year career, Steve has also been a featured speaker at major meetings of the Library of Congress, American Association of Individual Investors, AARP, The NFL Players Association, and the International Association for Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association, among others.

Cassaday & Company, Inc. has been featured in numerous publications including USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Kiplinger’s, The Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, Mutual Funds Magazine, Ticker, Dow Jones Investment Advisor, Research, American Banker, The Bond Buyer, Registered Representative, Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Barron’s Magazine, On Wall Street and The Washington Business Journal, where Steve is a columnist.

Steve has appeared on national TV on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, It’s Your Business, Nation’s Business Today, Fox News Network’s “Fox on Money”, The Nightly Business Report and local network affiliates, among others.

A Certified Funds Specialist (CFS) and Certified Financial Planner, CFP® professional, Steve has served on the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association of the National Capital Area, having completed terms as President and Chairman of that organization. In 2003, he received the FPA Leadership Award for outstanding service to the profession.

Steve has been honored in Barron’s Magazine as one of the nation’s Top 100 Independent Advisers each year the award has been given. The award is based on assets under management, as well as growth rates.

In 2008, Steve received the prestigious Outstanding Advisor Award from Registered Rep Magazine. This award honors ten financial advisors each year based on career, personal and philanthropic accomplishments. A different advisor receives the award each year.

In December of 2008, Steve received the Financial Excellence Award from the Washington Business Journal in the category of financial services.

In 2008, Steve was among Washingtonian Magazine’s “Best Financial Planners” in the greater Washington area. Steve was recognized again by Washingtonian in 2010.

Steve has been selected by the Winners Circle Group as one of Top Financial Advisers in Virginia in every year the award has been given, ranking 4th in the state in 2010.

In 2000, Steve was appointed by Virginia Governor James Gilmore to the board of visitors at Radford University and served as Vice Rector. He was reappointed by Governor Robert McDonnell in 2010.

Steve is past chairman of the Radford University College of Business and Economics Advisory Council and has endowed a scholarship fund for students demonstrating financial need at the University. Steve received the 1999 Outstanding Service Award from the Radford University Alumni Association and the Partner in Excellence Award from the University Foundation in 2004. Steve was the commencement speaker in 2005.

An active volunteer Steve has coached soccer and sponsored little league ice hockey teams.

Steve and his wife of 28 years, Mary, live in Great Falls, Va. They have three sons, Chad, Kyle and Chris.

from www.cassaday.com

Jennifer D. Collins is privileged to hold a front-row seat in the lives of people enjoying memorable and often life-changing experiences. Whether it’s a company celebration, promotion of products or messages, acquiring new skills or receiving awards, she produces meetings and events that impact, engage and inspire. She’s come a long way from her beginning roots of independently planning family reunions and other social events. And it was because of these experiences that she channeled her love for planning by launching The Event Planning Group, LLC in 1997.

Almost 15 years later after opening with one account, Jennifer has built an award-winning, event management company that delivers success for corporate, non-profit and government clients – many of whom have been with the company for a number of years. Having produced programs on a domestic and international level, The Event Planning Group is known for consistently delivering exceptional strategic and logistical execution.

Jennifer’s dynamic business acumen has also been recognized nationally. For the fifth consecutive year, the Washington Business Journal has named The Event Planning Group one of the Top 25 Meeting and Event Planning companies in the Washington, D.C. region. She was also honored with the 2011 Minority Business Leader Award by the Washington Business Journal. In 2009, she was named the Outstanding Women’s Business Enterprise for the DC Region by the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO-DC); The Maryland/DC Minority Supplier Development Council awarded the company the 2009 Supplier of the Year and in 2008, Enterprising Women Magazine also recognized TEPG with its 2008 Enterprising Women of the Year Award.

As an active industry spokesperson and entrepreneurial advocate, Jennifer serves as a board member of the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization and is past president of the Greater DC Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). She is also active with the Maryland/District of Columbia Minority Supplier Development Council.

Jennifer is an alumna of the Tuck-WBENC Executive Exchange Program at Dartmouth as well as a strong supporter of her alma mater The American University in Washington, D.C. It is here that she serves as a guest lecturer, a mentor to communications students and is currently on the Alumni Board where she provides leadership to engage alumni in becoming more active with the university.

When she’s not working, she enjoys participating in her book club, playing golf, traveling and spending time on Cape Cod.

from www.tepgevents.com

This impassioned toque’s significant contributions to the local food movement garnered him accolades that extend beyond his cooking, including The National Restaurant Association “Neighborhood Community Award,” Edible Chesapeake Magazine- “Local Hero Award” and The Washingtonian Magazine’s “Green Giant Award” for those who work to protect and preserve our environment and teach the virtues of green living.

The White House has taken notice of his four star intentions as well and has honored him as a “Champion of Change.”

Under President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative (whitehouse.gov/champions), the White House features a group of Americans who continue to ‘Innovate, Educate, and Build’ throughout their respective communities. In honor of this recognition, the Office of Public Engagement hosted an event at the White House to commend Armstrong and like minded individuals who promote empowerment and inspiration.

Armstrong is a board member of Fresh Farm Markets, which operates eight farmers’ markets in the Chesapeake Bay region. His devotion to the ideals of environmentalism, health and conservation has led him to lecture abroad at the request of the US State Department. He was invited by the ambassador to the Bloom festival in Ireland to “recreate” First Lady MIchelle Obama’s Garden and demonstrated to school children and attendees the joys and benefits of “growing your own.”

His own love of horticulture drove him to create an organic, worm composted garden, with a natural rain water irrigation system, behind the restaurant. Fruits from his trees, seasonal vegetables and herbs from his organic garden are harvested and incorporated into mouthwatering dishes that nourish the palate and the soul.
As a father of two young children he has dedicated himself to educating children and families about healthy eating. Unsatisfied by the nutritional quality, in schools Armstrong founded Chefs as Parents™ (www.chefsasparents.com) a non for profit company that will partner with The Alexandria public school system to improving the school lunch system.
Chef Armstrong is a Best Mid-Atlantic Chef nominee by the James Beard Foundation in 2011, selected as both Food & Wine magazine’s “10 Best New Chefs 2006” and honored in Food & Wine magazine’s “50 Hall of Fame Best New Chefs” and Best Chef Award Winner by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington DC.

Four years after the opening of Restaurant Eve, Armstrong’s Tasting Room received a four-out of four star rating by Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema.

National Magazines have featured Armstrong’s commitment to culinary excellence and Irish “farm to table” style in prominent stories in Oprah, Food and Wine, Cookie, Parents, Southern Living & Martha Stewart. The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC World News, NY Times, and The Irish Times have taken note of his culinary prowess and his dedication to ending childhood obesity.

Rave reviews continue as Armstrong stretches out with complex, thoughtful cooking that knits together his Irish upbringing, his French training, and his grasp of the American culinary moment.

www.restauranteve.com

Melissa Jezior is Eagle Hill Consulting’s founder and President with responsibility for the firm’s overall performance and growth. Melissa is responsible for shaping the vision and strategy for Eagle Hill and its employees and driving overall project success and client satisfaction. Since launching Eagle Hill in 2003, Melissa’s strong leadership and passion for delivering high quality service to clients has led to, on average, in excess of 100% year over year annual revenue growth.

With over 15 years of experience, Melissa has a diverse background spanning strategic planning, business process improvement, change management, training strategy and design, program management, and organizational change. Through this experience, she specializes in helping clients grow their organizations through solving strategic and operational business issues. Melissa’s clients have ranged from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies across financial services, media and entertainment, nonprofit, hospitality, and the Federal government.

Through her strong dedication to both Eagle Hill and its employees, Melissa has led the firm to numerous awards and recognition over the years including:

• Presenting an approach to strategic planning and facilitating a panel of business executives from the broadcast industry at the 2009 National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas
• Being selected by the Washington Business Journal as the #1 Small Business to work for in its 2010 Best Places to Work edition
• Being selected as a 2007 and 2009 Great Place to Work by Washingtonian magazine
• Being selected as a 2008 Apollo Award finalist by Helios HR
• Being selected by the Washington Business Journal as a Best Place to Work in 2007

In addition to her client responsibilities, Melissa has made it a priority for Eagle Hill to support the local community. She has selected such organizations as Girls Inc., Martha’s Table, International Center for Research on Women, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, that reflect Eagle Hill’s commitment to developing future women leaders and supporting families in need.

A graduate of the College of William and Mary, Melissa previously worked for Point B Solutions Group, Saltmine Creative, and Accenture, respectively. Melissa and her husband currently live in Washington, DC and enjoy raising their three children.

from www.eaglehillconsulting.com

Reed A. Morrison, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and specialist in substance abuse evaluation and treatment. He holds the American Psychological Association’s Certificate of Proficiency in the Treatment of Alcohol and Other Psychoactive Substances and the American Academy of Healthcare Providers in the Addictive Disorders’ Certified Addiction Specialist (CAS) credential. Dr. Morrison is a qualified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) and a qualified Substance Abuse Expert (SAE). His publications have appeared in Addiction Professional, DATIA Focus, Journal of Orthopeadic Nursing, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, the Association for the Study of Dreams Newsletter, Alcoholism and Spirituality, the Humanistic Psychology Institute Review and the Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference of the American Art Therapy Association.

www.go2asap.com

Robert Blakely is the President of Northern Woods Tree Service, Ltd. He began the company in 1977 with the goal of performing the highest quality work at a reasonable cost. Mr. Blakely’s vision for the company and his interest in arboriculture are rooted in his childhood experiences growing up on a small, multi-faceted dairy farm in Wisconsin, his love for the outdoors and for physical and mental discipline that he developed in the navy and in the sport of competitive crew racing.

In addition to an extremely high level of customer retention, since its founding the Northern Woods Tree Service has also maintained an extremely low rate of employee turnover, correlating to a low injury rate. The company hires based on personality and treats each employee equally. Mr. Blakely maintains the philosophy to never expect an employee to do something he wouldn’t do himself. He credits the key ingredients to his success as passion, perseverance, and family support.

Mr. Blakely received his BS from the University of Wisconsin in Animal Science. He then served in the Navy at the US Naval Academy as an instructor and rowing coach, training for the 1972 Olympics and racing crew internationally for the Navy, as well as serving in the Bureau of Naval Personnel’s Drug Abuse Program. After his release from the Navy, he trained for the 1980 Olympics and began Northern Woods Tree Service. Mr. Blakely resides in Great Falls, Virginia, with his wife of thirty-five years in a home they built themselves. The couple has three daughters.

from www.northernwoodstree.com

Mrs. Freeland is President/Chief Executive Officer of A-TEK, Inc. effective with the recent acquisition of the company. Prior to acquiring A-TEK, Mrs. Freeland, was Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer of RGII Technologies, Inc., an Information Technology, Systems Integration and Engineering Solutions company who’s myriad of customers included nine presidential cabinet agencies of the federal government. She directed the company with a highly strategic business plan in order to optimize profits and return on invested capital. During her tenure as CEO, Mrs. Freeland played a vital role in business development, customer satisfaction, financial stability, and employee relations. Under Mrs. Freeland’s leadership, RGII more than tripled in size with revenue growing 4,800% over an 11 year period. Prior to founding RGII, Mrs. Freeland spent over seven years supporting various Federal Government agencies in the areas of Financial, Information and Program Management Support. She successfully built and sold RGII to Computer Horizons Corp in 2003. Mrs. Freeland is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Freeland & Associates, LLC, a consulting services firm whose focus is partnering with businesses in the areas of: executive advisory services, interim executive support, strategic planning/mapping, market analysis/penetration, financial/accounting management, business integration/transition, and business development.

Mrs. Freeland holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Management from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She most recently published her first book, Navigating Your Way to Business Success: An Entrepreneur’s Journey - www.anentrepreneursjourney.com was released in July 2009.

from www.a-tek.net

Charles Ramos has always had the vision to be an entrepreneur and a successful businessman.

In 1983, Charles joined Digital Equipment Corporation gaining experience in manufacturing production control and scheduling, logistics and inventory control, field service support, capital assets accounting, and sales account management. In 1992, Charles was voted Vice President of his class by his peers during the comprehensive six month S.E.L.L. Account Management program.

In 1993, Charles left to become Regional Sales Manager for Frederick Engineering, a firm that specializes in the manufacture of handheld test equipment and protocol analyzers for the telecommunications industry. While there, Charles received both employee of the month and employee of the year awards.

In 1994, Charles seized a lifelong dream and brought it to reality by utilizing his learned practical business knowledge and applying it to his own business, CR Dynamics. Through his hard work and determination, he was able to grow CR Dynamics into one of the leading contact center firms in the industry.

Today, Charles lends his considerable leadership and entrepreneurial skills to many small business organizations and civic associations. He has been recognized numerous times by his peers as an outstanding member of the Baltimore business community, including one of the “50 Most Influential Minorities in Business.”

Awards, Certifications, Memberships:

• Vice President, Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (2000 - 2003)
• President, Howard County Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (2001 - 2003)
• Treasurer, Annual Maryland Hispanic Business Conference
• Advisory Board Member of the National Neighborhood Grocers Association
• Howard County Maryland EBO Award (Most Outstanding Minority Owned Business) 1998
• Ranked 81 of top 100 Maryland Diversity Owned Corporations (2001)
• Ranked 24th Largest Minority Owned Firm in the Baltimore Metro Region (2001)
• Minority Business Professionals Network; “Fifty Influential Minorities in Business” (2003)
• Nominated by the U.S. SBA (Baltimore District) for Small Business Person of the Year (2003)
• Governor’s Appointee - Efficiency in Procurement Task Force (2003)
• Treasurer Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Present)
• Baltimore City Proclamation - July 29, 2003
• Governor’s Citation, - July 29, 2003
• Governor’s Appointee - Governor’s Taskforce on Centralized Bidders Registration - August 2004
• Baltimore Smart CEO 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Baltimore - (2005)
• Baltimore Business Journal Top 50 Minority Businesses - (2005-2006)
• Maryland Top 100 Minority Owned Businesses (Maryland Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs) - (2006)
• Inc 5000 Honoree (2008)
• Top 100 Maryland Diversity Owned Businesses (2008)
• Top 500 US Hispanic Owned Businesses (2008)

from www.crdynamics.com

John B. Spirtos is Chief Executive Officer and responsible for the company’s strategic development including new business initiatives, corporate partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions activity. Prior to GridPoint, Mr. Spirtos was Senior Vice President of Comverse Technology (NASDAQ; CMVT), the leading billing and messaging software provider to the global communications industry.

Previously, Mr. Spirtos was Senior Vice President of NeuStar, Inc. (NYSE; NSR), a provider of clearinghouse and directory services to the communications and Internet industry, and President of Corvis Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiary, Broadwing Communications, LLC (NASDAQ; BWNG), an integrated communications equipment and services provider.  He holds a B.S. from the University of California, a J.D. from Southwestern University, and LL.M. and M.B.A. degrees from Georgetown University.

from www.gridpoint.com

Torsten Seling is Founder and Partner of Solar4Leesburg and President of Seling Remodeling Specialists. He formed the company with Dr. Mary Haberl and Meg Seling in March of 2000. Since then, Solar4Leesburg has been featured in the Washington Post, the Loudoun Times Mirror, and Leesburg Today. The company was a finalist for Louden County Best Business Plan 2010 and has been nominated for Best New Business and the Environmental Award given by the town of Leesburg in 2011. Mr. Seling received his BS in electrical engineering from Technical University, Berlin, Germany.

Phil Ernst, founder of Convergence Technology, serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer (CTC), is responsible for the strategic technical direction of the organization. He also served as the Southeast Regional Director of FutureLink Corporation, a world-wide Application Service Provider, and Director of Network Delivery Services for Riggs Bank. Phil has also authored many technical articles on Advanced Infrastructure and design and is considered a leading authority on Server Based Computing, Storage, Server Virtualization, and Technical Infrastructure Remote Access.

from www.convergencetech.us

Mrs. Beverly Thomas is President of Regional Contracting Services in Washington, DC. She started the company in July 2001 and currently manages the sales and marketing for the company. Mrs. Thomas is also responsible for the company’s charitable contributions and the company’s community outreach efforts.

Mrs. Thomas received her in depth operations management, sales management and personnel management training while working for Terminix International. Mrs. Thomas worked for Terminix in Atlanta Georgia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in New York City as a Branch Manager. During her time in New York Mrs. Thomas was successful at managing a 1.3 million dollar branch territory. She utilized the training and experience she received from Terminix to become an entrepreneur when she relocated to Maryland in 1998.

Before joining Terminix Mrs. Thomas worked as a Marketing Assistant for Junior Achievement in Atlanta, Georgia. During her tenure with Junior Achievement she worked within the marketing department and began developing her sales and marketing skills. While working for Junior Achievement she learned that marketing was a critical component of growing and maintaining a customer base. The valuable lessons learned at Junior Achievement are still utilized today.

Beverly Thomas manages a staff of 40 that include office personnel, project managers, field superintendents, estimators, carpenters and apprentices. She has worked diligently over the past ten years to grow the company into a successful commercial carpentry company. Beverly contributes Regional’s success to her faith in God, a strong management team and the belief that every employee can contribute to the success of the company if given the opportunity.

Beverly received her Bachelors of Science degree in Management from Columbia Union College. Her current volunteer activities include the PTA, the greeter’s ministry and teaching the 2-3 year old Sunday school class at her church. Beverly and her husband James have been married for 12 years and are natives of Long Island, New York. They have one child, Julian who is seven.

Regional Contracting Services has annual sales revenue of $20 million dollars. The companies bonding capacity is $5 million per job and $15 million aggregate. Regional Contracting Services has received numerous awards including 2007 Women Owned Business of the Year from Hensel Phelps Construction Company, August 2007 Hot 500 Growing Business from Entrepreneur Magazine, and 2010 Small Business of the Year Award from Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

www.regionalcontractingsvcs.com

As the President/CEO of a2z, Inc. Rajiv Jain leads the daily responsibilities of the business, and works alongside the staff.

Rajiv leads the development of cutting-edge technologies for the events industry, including the first fully web-based exposition floor plan management solution, the first generation of online matchmaking tools for exhibitors and attendees, and offers both a mobile web application as well as a native iPhone Application for events, eliminating the requirement for show organizers to choose one or the other.

Rajiv has grown a2z from its humble beginnings in his apartment to an award-winning company that powers more than 700 annual events and over 25% of the Top 200 shows. Rajiv and his company have withstood the sea change of the events industry and come out as the most comprehensive and easy-to-use tool set available for web-based event management solutions.

Rajiv Jain has been selected as one of the “Top 40 Business Executives Under 40” by the Baltimore Business Journal, and also won the “Howard County Tech Council Edge 40!,” given to the leading technology executive in the county. Rajiv has also been named as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award Finalist in Maryland twice.

from /www.a2zinc.net

Haroon co-founded Webs in 2001 with his brothers Zeki and Idris while studying for undergraduate degrees at the University of Maryland. After graduating summa cum laude, Haroon went to Harvard Law School, where he continued building the company while earning his J.D. As CEO, Haroon manages the Webs family of products. Deeply interested in innovative technology and user experience, Haroon also personally shapes product design and development at Webs.

from www.webs.com

For the past eight years, Bruce Kirby has been at the helm of MEDEX, leading the company with seven consecutive years of double digit growth. Mr. Kirby’s dedication and business acumen have won him several awards, including the Maryland International Business Leadership Award, given to executives who exemplify entrepreneurial spirit, determination, creativity and cultural sensitivity. With more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, Mr. Kirby has seen to it that MEDEX continues its dynamic growth and development, while maintaining the highest level of customer service possible.

from www.medexassist.com

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Stephanie Y. Drake, 42, is the Founder and President of Drake Incorporated (“Drake”), a minority woman-owned construction and real estate services firm, providing fully integrated solutions to federal, state and local public agencies and the private sector.

A kernel of an idea, she founded the company on faith, family values and her love of real estate. Like everything else she has embarked on in her life, Drake serves as a vehicle to fulfill her passion and calling; to empower and impact the communities around her and ultimately on a global level.

Her personal and professional journey was captured in an emotional October 2010 issue of the Atlanta Post titled “Her fateful journey to heading her own construction and real estate services firm.” It was a raw, exhaustive chronicle of her life where she exposed her true self to inspire would-be entrepreneurs to leverage the power of their convictions and perseverance to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges; sacrificing comfort and security as the price of accomplishing the extraordinary.

As a woman facing the daunting challenge of breaking into an overwhelmingly male-dominated industry, Stephanie defied the odds by translating her personal values and vision into a set of niche attributes for her business that ultimately enabled Drake to turn a humble beginning into a solid position in the highly contested Federal arena.

Known for her hands-on management style, the start-up years at Drake demanded not only Stephanie’s leadership but her full involvement in every aspect of the company. From operations to contracts to construction oversight, her keen business acumen gave life to her principles and paid off: today she leads Drake’s professional staff of 14 while orchestrating creative win-win strategies with global partners that deliver unmatched value to Drake’s Federal and commercial clients.

Her commitment to delivering outstanding, conscientious service and fostering long-term relationships enabled her to turn a small $10,000 contract to build a partition wall at the Museum of Natural History into a multimillion-dollar relationship with the Smithsonian Institution. To date, Drake has served numerous federal agencies on increasingly larger projects at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the Washington Navy Yard, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Labor, among others.

Stephanie is a dedicated leader in her community and has mentored dozens of entrepreneurs and (Howard University) students in the areas of Business and Real Estate. She admittedly sees Drake as a vehicle to train and open career paths for minorities to reach the highest management and executive positions in construction. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the local non-profit organization Our House, which is dedicated to helping at-risk youth.

A testament to her tenacity and good works, Stephanie was recognized by her peers in the Washington Business Journal’s inaugural Minority Business Leader Awards in 2008. In 2010, she was featured in the Minority Business Entrepreneur (MBE) Magazine for her firm’s work and outstanding track record at the Smithsonian Institution. Also in 2010, Drake was named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list, ranked # 38 in the construction category.

Stephanie is currently a member of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) and African American Real Estate Professionals (AAREP), where she served in several leadership capacities since 1995, including President in 2000-2001.

Stephanie earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Georgia State University, and experienced an accomplished corporate career in commercial real estate finance with Allied Capital Corporation, GMAC RFC, and First Union National Bank, before establishing Drake in 2001.

www.drake-inc.com

Mr. Willis, founder and partner at Hassett Willis and Company, has nearly 20 years of experience in management, organizational development, policy consulting and risk analysis with an emphasis on the Federal sector. He frequently serves as an advisor to senior managers in the Federal government and private sector. Mr. Willis’ experience has focused on using analytical tools and project management expertise to solve business problems for Federal clients. Mr. Willis also has extensive experience in designing and implementing governance structures to better manage organizations, business processes and projects. He also has considerable experience designing and implementing knowledge management systems that ensure that organizational knowledge is effectively maintained and transferred. Mr. Willis currently provides executive leadership and quality control for all HWC efforts. Mr. Willis holds a Master’s in environmental studies, and a Bachelor’s degree in political science from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He lives in Takoma Park, Md., with his wife Shari and son Ian.

www.hassettwillis.com

Evan co-founded Synteractive in 2003. In his role as Chairman and CEO, he is responsible for all aspects of vision, strategy, and execution at Synteractive. He is also the Executive Chairman of Cloud Advantage, a Synteractive company.

Evan launched his dynamic, entrepreneurial career in 1996 by founding netDecide, the leading provider of enterprise wealth management solutions to top tier financial service firms such as Bank of America and Ernst & Young. Under his leadership, netDecide won numerous analyst recommendations and accolades, including the Investor’s Choice Award by the Financial Services Outlook Conference in 2001. The company was sold to Informa Investment Solutions in 2003, at which time it was profitable with over $11 million in annual revenue.

Prior to Synteractive, Evan served as Director of Strategy for Oakwood Global Finance, a London-based global financial services firm focusing on building lending companies, acquiring and selling loan pools, issuing loan securitizations and structured credit products, and investing in support businesses. He served as the primary strategic advisor to the firm’s CEO, examining business models, markets, and potential new businesses and divestitures as well as managing the business planning process for new ventures.

Evan holds a First Class degree in Joint Honors Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St. Catherine’s College at the University of Oxford. While at Oxford, he won the Webb Medley prize for most outstanding thesis for his work on the effects of organizational incentives on knowledge sharing. Selected as one of the Top 40 Emerging Leaders in Washington, DC by Business Forward Magazine, Evan was a Finalist for the Greater Washington Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2001 as well named a 2001 Young Lion by the Washington Post.

Evan’s recent speaking engagements include the 2010 Capital Call, the 2009 Petroleum Industry Data Exchange Conference, the 2008 DISA Conference, and the 2007 Creative Economy Summit and 2007 New New Internet Conference.

from http://www.synteractive.com

It’s easy to see that Jeff, ADG’s founder, is an impressive conglomeration of culture and creativity. After all, he is an accomplished musician and composer whose work has been on radio and TV. He is an illustrator and a writer whose drawings and prose have graced the pages of everything from Marvel comics to Rolling Stone and Smithsonian Magazine. He is an educator who serves on the permanent board of directors of Rockbridge Academy, a highly respected private school. He’s a gourmet chef. And, of course, he’s ADG’s chief creative officer. But the really interesting question about Jeff is: How did he develop all these skills? “Well, my father was a musician who kept odd hours,” he says, laughing at the memory. “And my mother, well let’s just say she didn’t like being up alone at night. So she would wake up my brother and me, haul us out of bed, and read us stories.

Then she would get out our paper and pencil, and say: ‘Write a play and draw me the characters in the story. Show me what they look like.’ I didn’t know it at the time, but she was training me in my life’s work. She was teaching me to be a story teller.” That gift for narrative is still inside Jeff. Every single job that leaves ADG has his own personal imprimatur and reflects his unique vision. And that has been an extremely valuable asset for many client organizations. Jeff has succeeded in bringing great creative where it has rarely (if ever) gone before. But he’s also brought fresh thinking to famous commercial brands like Discovery Channel, King’s Dominion, Hewlett Packard, TEK Systems, Medicine-On-Time, and Covenant College. These organizations turn to Jeff for the perspective and ideas of an extraordinarily unique communicator. “Every client has a story,” Jeff says. “And I’m grateful that they trust ADG to help tell it.”

from www.adgcreative.net

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Deborah Stallings was born in Chicago, Illinois to L.D. Roosevelt and Lula Stallings. She lived in Chicago public housing prior to moving to Liberty, Mississippi at the age of six. There she picked cotton, pepper, corn, watermelons, potatoes; and helped care for livestock and vegetables on her maternal grandparents’ farm. She returned to Chicago at the age of thirteen.

Ms. Stallings relocated to Maryland in 1986 at the age of 27 with her six year old daughter, Kena to work in an administrative management position at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Three years later she joined Harbor Hospital Center as a Nurse Recruiter and over the next ten years worked her way up in human resources to positions of increased responsibilities.

In 1999, Ms. Stallings founded HR Anew as a sole employee in her small apartment in Columbia, Maryland using personal savings of less than $5,000 to finance her company. In 11 years, she has grown the company to employ 30 benefits eligible and 157 part-time temporary employees; and more than 20 subject matter experts including world renowned keynote speakers. Annual revenues for the company have increased from 28% to 100% annually since 2003 and HR Anew currently has client contracts to perform for a total value at more than $6M. The target revenue goal for HR Anew in 2011 is $5.5 million.

Ms. Stallings is committed to corporate social responsibility and is an active leader in the social community. She mentors aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs, especially minorities and women; provides internships for high school and college students; and teaches financial literacy and entrepreneurship in Baltimore City through the Church where she worships. Additionally, Ms. Stallings is the founder, past president, member, and a sponsor of the Howard County Human Resource Society (HoCoHRS), a 300-member affiliate chapter of the national Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); and she routinely establishes strategic alliances and utilizes the services of small and minority owned businesses. She is a member of and serves on the boards of the National Association of Women Business Owners – National Board, Associated Black Charities, Maryland Chamber of Commerce; Governor of Maryland’s Small Business Commission, St. Agnes Hospital Foundation Board, is a Trustee on the Lincoln Technical Institute Board, and a Trustee at the Pennsylvania Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church.

Ms. Stallings and HR Anew have received numerous awards including 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist; 2010 Women’s President Organization Women of Color – 100 Black Men; 2010, 2009 and 2008 Future 50 – SmartCEO Magazine; 2009 and 2007 Maryland Top 100 Women; 2010, 2008 and 2006 Maryland Top 100 MBE – The Daily Record and the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs; 2008 HR Leadership Award of Greater Washington for Corporate Social Responsibility.; 2007 Women in Business Champion – U.S. Small Business Administration; 2007 Business Achievement – Howard County Economic Development Authority; 2007 BRAVO Business Achievement – Baltimore SmartCEO Magazine; 2007 Woman of the Year – National Association of Women Business Owners, Baltimore Region; 2009, 2008, and 2007 Maryland Top 100 Small Business (DiversityBusiness.com).

Ms. Stallings is also very active in her religious affiliation serving as a member of the Board of Trustees; and Chair of the Stewardship Financial Ministry at Pennsylvania Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church where she implemented n 11-week financial fitness and literacy program educating individuals on best practices and techniques for improving their personal financial portfolio.

Ms. Stallings is a lifelong learner and honor roll student, currently earning a Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration/ Minor, Human Resources and Entrepreneurship degree at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland – anticipated graduation is December 2011. She is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the national Human Resource Certification Institution (HRCI), the certifying organization for human resource management professionals.

www.hranew.com

Phyllis Orenstein Bresler founded PW Communications in 1996 to fill a void in personnel outsourcing. Ms. Bresler has more than 20 years of experience managing and writing proposals for a variety of government agencies, such as the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security. She has worked on some of the largest government procurements ever released for bid. Ms. Bresler is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at pbresler@pwcommunications.com.

from http://www.pwcommunications.com

As president of the Community College of Baltimore County, Dr. Sandra L. Kurtinitis leads the largest provider of higher education in the Baltimore region. An experienced and respected educator, administrator and author, she has been a community college professional for more than 30 years. Dr. Kurtinitis is resolutely committed to inclusive leadership and open communication, affirming her belief that the classroom is a far more important place on campus than the executive office.

A self-described “servant-leader,” Dr. Kurtinitis came to CCBC from Quinsigamond Community College in Massachusetts, where she served as president for 10 years. She is credited with transforming that college into one of the most progressive institutions in the state. Having brought that same level of commitment into her presidency at CCBC, she is confidently guiding the college to its next level of excellence.

Under Dr. Kurtinitis’ leadership, CCBC has made significant strides in improving service to students while strengthening its operational areas to best support instruction. She has established a leaner executive structure, bringing strong central leadership across the college while fostering a collaborative, learning-centered environment.

Dr. Kurtinitis is no stranger to Maryland higher education. Early in her career she spent 22 years as a professor of English, department chair and academic coordinator at Prince George’s Community College (Md.). She also received her master’s degree in British Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park, and earned her Ph.D. in American Civilization from The George Washington University (D.C.). Dr. Kurtinitis holds a bachelor’s degree in British Literature from College Misericordia (Pa.).

Glad to be “back home” in Maryland, Dr. Kurtinitis is committed to staying connected to the community and actively participating on a variety of local boards, commissions and organizations.

from www.ccbcmd.edu

Willem Polak is owner and CEO of Potomac Riverboat Company, based in Alexandria, VA. The company operates water taxis between Georgetown, Alexandria, Mount Vernon, National Harbor and Old Town, increasingly serving D.C.’s tourism and water transportation needs since 1983, and received the “Golden Dome” award for “excellence in service.” An experienced entrepreneur, Mr. Polak, has brought five companies from the conceptual stage to full operation. He is also Chairman and CEO of LottoFone, Inc. Mr. Polak serves as Chairman of Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena, for which he received the Washingtonian of the Year award in 2005. Mr. Polak created the nonprofit in 1996 to save the Fort DuPont Ice Arena, then costing the Park Service hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, forcing it to close. His organization raised $5 million in contributions to acquire and renovate the rink, located in Southeast DC’s Marshall Heights, and maintains an annual budget of $1.2 million. Now a thriving center, the Arena is home to the nonprofit’s nationally acclaimed free Kids on Ice program, which receives more than 10,000 youths annually. The Arena has a girls’ figure-skating team that holds a regional title, is booked from early morning until midnight during hockey season, hosts summer camps, and serves over 52 public schools and the Special Olympics. Mr. Polak is currently applying that model to acquire a closed marina from the Department of Interior/DC Government on the Anacostia River, to provide commercial services as well as teach inner city children marine skills (boat building, engine repair). Mr. Polak received his BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is a Trustee of St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.

www.potomacriverboatco.com

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Philippe Chetrit is CEO and co-owner of Affinity Lab, an entrepreneurial community and shared office space in Washington, DC. With his background and experience in entrepreneurship, he works hands on with his member community and continues to expand the Affinity Lab brand. He comes to D.C. after serving as CEO of Riats, a media development company in New York City. Philippe received his MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, the #1 entrepreneurial program in the country.

www.affinitylab.com

Steven K. Griessel, 49, has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Company since October 1, 2008. Mr. Griessel previously served as a consultant to the Company for sixteen months, investigating possible strategies and structures to unlock long term shareholder value. Mr. Griessel started his first business, a sports marketing firm, at the age of 25. He served as the Managing Director and was a shareholder of RCI Southern Africa for nine years, and was a founding shareholder and Chief Executive Officer of Tourvest, until recently a publicly traded multi-faceted tourism company in Southern Africa. Prior to his work for ACPT, Mr. Griessel provided consulting services to the Ginn Company, a developer and manager of large-scale residential resort properties throughout the United States and the Caribbean, and other companies for three years. Mr. Griessel is currently the Chairman of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the Young Presidents Organization, and served on its global Board of Directors between 2001 and 2003.

from www.acptrust.com

AIA, NCARB, Principal in Charge
29 years of Experience
Project Design Emphasis
Churches
Commercial Office Buildings
Retail Centers
Government/DOD
Child Care Facilities
Historical Preservation
Residential Design Multi-Family
Educational Facilities
Retail Tenant Space Design
Senior Care Facilities
Residential Single Family
Design/Build
Project Size
Project experience ranges from $150K to $34 M
Design Expertise
Principal Level Management
Project Design
Sustainable Design
Master Planning
Design Development
Project Management
Construction Administration
Space Planning
Programming
Schematic Design

www.waldonstudio.com

Adam has over 16 years of experience in the Internet marketing world. Adam co-founded one of the first Internet access companies in 1993, Cyberia. After selling Cyberia in 1998, he continued to manage the acquiring company’s direct and online marketing efforts. After leaving EarthLink, Adam joined the marketing and product development team at Network Solutions, the leading Internet domain name registrar. While there, Adam became their #4 performance marketing partner through PPC search engine advertising.

In 2003, Adam launched imwave to leverage his expertise in PPC search engine keyword advertising to help clients benefit from this growing and highly profitable new form of targeted website promotion.

Adam is well known in the performance marketing industry and currently writes for Wiseaff and ReveNews. Adam also sits on the publisher advisory boards of Commission Junction and The Google Affiliate Network.

from www.imwave.com

Jonathan Gueverra serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the new Community College of the District of Columbia, driving innovation and enlisting diverse talent to ensure higher education opportunity for all. Dr. Gueverra has held numerous leadership and faculty positions at both two-year and four-year higher education institutions nationwide—most recently as the provost for the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), one of America’s largest community colleges.

Dr. Gueverra has taught undergraduate courses in accounting, management, and human resources, as well a graduate courses in leadership and strategic management and continues to work with doctoral students at Lesley University. He has published articles on planning, leadership, and technology, including “Repositioning for a Virtual Culture,” which won a Highly Commended Award at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2008. Dr. Gueverra also has served on numerous boards, including those of the Massachusetts Business Educators Association, New England Educational Assessment Network, Lesley University, ITT Technical Institute, and the Marshfield Youth Soccer Association. For more than 15 years, he has implemented and coordinated Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs to help low-income, elderly, and non-native English speakers.

In April 2007, Dr. Gueverra received an Exemplary Leadership Award from the Chair Academy, and he is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Beta Gamma, Who’s Who Among Students, and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He earned an MBA and Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston; a bachelor’s degree from Providence College; and an associate’s degree from Newbury College.

from www.ccdc.usdc.edu

Prior to founding Clovis, Greg Diamond served as Executive Vice President of Millioneyes and built the company from inception to acquisition in a 16-month period. Greg was responsible for Sales, Marketing and Business Development. From September 1998 to May 1999 he was at ProLink Services, LLC, a telecommunications application development company, where he was responsible for company strategic direction and business development. Greg held various Sales & Management positions from March 1995 to October 1998 for GE Capital Information Technology Solutions. The positions included National Account Executive, where he was recognized as the number one account executive in the nation, and Regional Business Development manager, where he was responsible for more than $30 million in revenue. From June 1993 to March 1995, Greg was an Account Manager at Xerox. Greg received his Bachelor of Arts in Pre-law and Education from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in June 1992.

from www.clovisgroup.com

Douglas Clark is Chief Executive Officer of Metier. Metier was a finalist in the 2009 American Business Awards and was named one of Washingtonian Magazine’s “50 Great Places to Work.” Metier was ranked #3378 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in August 2009. This appearance on the Inc. 5000 marked the fifth time Metier has appeared on either the Inc. 500 or Inc. 5000.

www.metier.com

Jeffrey S. Abramson is a partner in The Tower Companies, a three-generation, award winning, family-owned real estate development company located in Rockville, MD, the largest Green Developer in the Washington, DC area, and one of the largest purchasers of Green Energy in the country, buying 100% wind energy for their electrical energy needs. The Tower Companies is one of only thirteen carbon-neutral companies in the U.S.

Mr. Abramson is one of the inspirations behind Tower Companies’ award winning industry projects, which continue to garner the company, numerous city, county, state, and national awards. The most recent awards include: 2008 Environmental Excellence Award from the City of Rockville, 2008 Corporate Green Award, Multi-Housing News, 2008 Spirit of Free Enterprise Award, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, 2008 Green Company of the Year, Washington Business Journal, 2008 Corporate Green Leader of the Year, Washingtonian Magazine, 2007 Business of the Year Award, from the DC Chamber of Commerce and in 2007 he was also named by Washington Business Journal in “People to Watch.” In 2006 Tower received the Leadership Award for Green Power Purchasing from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, alongside other national leaders such as Toyota Motorcars, Whole Foods, and Johnson & Johnson.

Additionally, Mr. Abramson is a member of the Board of Trustees of The David Lynch Foundation which provides scholarships throughout the United States for learning the stress reduction technique of Transcendental Meditation. He is also a Board member for Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, an award-winning university specializing in Consciousness-Based Education.
In October 2007, Mr. Abramson announced his intention to build a Tower of Invincibility in the Nation’s Capital as a monument to a new science of peace to safeguard our nation.

from www.towercompanies.com

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I grew up in the 12th Street corridor, on the west side of Detroit, in the ’60s. The neighborhood was packed with speakeasies and bars. It was one of the areas hardest hit during the ‘67 riots. I was 17 years old when that happened. Let’s just say I had a lot of new clothes afterward. I didn’t burn anything down or shoot anybody or anything like that, but I took advantage of the open stores. I was a kid.

Anyone I knew making big money was working in the automobile plants. My high school principal came to me a month before graduation and said, “Cedric, have you ever thought about going to college?” I said, “No, I’m going to work at Ford.” He said, “If I could get you money to go to college, would you go?” I said, “I guess.” Well, he did, and it changed my life.

After college, I was a Navy officer for eight years in the Bay Area. When I came off active duty, I ran into an old high school buddy. He was driving a Mercedes-Benz convertible, and I was driving a Honda. He told me he was in commodities trading. I said, “Sounds great. What’s that?” He said, “You’d be a great salesman. Let me introduce you to my boss.”

I had no idea I’d make a lot of money doing it. I was singing and playing guitar at the time in clubs around the city. I had dreams of being the next Bob Dylan or Richie Havens.

I worked in finance for 25 years. In the ’90s, I got an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in economics online. Before I founded Harley Stanfield, I was an executive vice president for Salomon Brothers.

www.harleystanfield.com

from www.beaconassociates.net

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As founder, president and CEO of Passport Health, Fran brings over 30 years of medical and management experience to Passport Health. Before founding Passport Health, Fran worked in a variety of clinical settings as a registered nurse, educator and health care administrator. Fran’s business acumen is known in the community, as she has successfully turned multiple troubled organizations into profitable ventures.

In 2005 she was awarded the Innovator of the Year award by the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development and in 2006 won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Maryland region.

Fran holds a B.S.N. degree from the University of Maryland, School of Nursing and a master’s degree from the same institution where she majored in public health and administration. She lives in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, with her husband who is the senior partner in a county law firm and corporate council for Passport Health^®. Their two grown children include an Urologist son practicing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and an Architect daughter practicing in New Orleans, Louisiana.

www.passporthealthusa.com

Mr. Burke served as a United States Marine from 1988 to 1992. By mastering database programming in his spare time and without formal training he systematically automated his role within HQMC, Arlington, VA. Corporal Burke was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal in 1991 shortly after completing the application that eliminated 50% of his workload.

Upon leaving the Marine Corps, Mr. Burke joined the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary as a Computer Systems Analyst. Mr. Burke served four years at HHS as a GS-7, 9, 11 and 12. During his tenure Mr. Burke was certified as an Oracle Professional and spearheaded the implementation of the Oracle platform at HHS. Mr. Burke also led the evaluation and subsequent department-wide rollout of Windows 3.1 and developed the initial data model for the HHS grants system.

In 1996 Mr. Burke left HHS and accepted an Oracle consulting position at MCI. Four months later at the age of 27 he formed Synapse Incorporated and accepted Synapse’s first engagement for Oracle Consulting Services as a subcontractor to UNISYS Corporation.

Synapse grew at a rate in excess of 100% annually for the following four years. In 2000 Mr. Burke raised investment capital to pursue a dot.com model focused on automating the private healthcare industry. Although the system Synapse sold for the following two years is still in use in six states, the business model, like most dot.com business models crashed and burned in late 2002. Mr. Burke formed Centuria in 2002 and purchased the still profitable government services division of Synapse.

From 2005 to 2008 Centuria exploded with 5,968% growth making back-to-back appearances on the Inc. 500 (15th fastest growing private firm in the U.S. in 2009) and back-to-back appearances on the Washington Technology Fast 50. Centuria has also been ranked among the Top 100 GWAC contractors by Federal Times, the Delloite Fast 50, and has been featured in Inc. Magazine. Centuria’s 95% customer satisfaction ratings during this period of extreme growth are the strongest statement on Mr. Burke’s leadership of the company.

from www.centuria.com

Daniel A. Turner, President of Turner Consulting Group, Inc., started the company in 1994. He brought his background in government computing services and state networking agencies to the creation of TCG, a new kind of organization based on distributed applications development using object oriented design, and methodology-driven processes.

Business Experience

TCG has developed award-winning Web sites for several divisions of the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Justice, and for private industry. Those clients, for whom confidentiality has been an important concern, include an international telecommunications company, the world’s biggest computer manufacturer, and one of the country’s best-known financial and consulting firms, as well as associations, educational institutions and small businesses.

Dan is on the board of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s (formerly the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization) Washington, D.C., Chapter and organizes and travels extensively to EO events worldwide. He is a member of the Association of Computing Machinery. His paper on Internet security was well received at the WebNet ‘96 Conference in San Francisco.

Special Interests

When he is not building the company, Dan gazes lovingly into the eyes of his wife, Allison, and purchases copies of Story Number 1 and Story Number 2, by Eugene Ionesco and illustrated by Etienne Delessert, as well as his favorite business book, How To Become King, by Jan Terlouw.

from www.tcg.com

Mosaic ATM is led by Mr. Chris Brinton, who is the President and a Principal Analyst. Mr. Brinton formed Mosaic ATM in 2004, with Dr. Stephen Atkins, to pursue advanced research, development, deployment, and commercialization opportunities in the air transportation industry using their extensive experience and expertise in aviation operations.
Mr. Brinton is an instrument-rated and commercially licensed pilot and has almost 20 years of experience in the research and development of advanced concepts and automation for Air Traffic Management (ATM). During his career, Mr. Brinton has led and performed analysis, concept development, software development, and field trials that have advanced the state of knowledge about the National Airspace System (NAS).
Mr. Brinton received a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree with Highest Honors in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

www.mosaicatm.com

Mr. Callahan provides leadership, strategic direction, and vision for Segue Technologies. He also provides management and oversight of several major contracts.

Mr. Callahan has more than 15 years of experience supporting Department of Defense programs and information technology solutions. He has managed complex software development efforts, Pentagon IT support operations, and business intelligence implementations. Before moving into the IT field, Mr. Callahan provided budget, financial, and manpower analysis for Headquarters Air Force, including support to the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

Prior to starting his corporate career, Mr. Callahan served in the United States Army in the 75th Ranger Regiment and in the 12th Special Forces Group, Army Reserves.

Mr. Callahan holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a Master’s of Science degree in Environment Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University.

from www.seguetech.com

Prior to 2004, he served as Optical Sales Lead for the Verizon account while at Lucent Technologies and also held the title of Director of Customer Service and Support for the Metro Optical Networking Group. Before working for Lucent Mr. Pattisall held the position Director of Global Customer Service and Support for Cromatis. Mr. Pattisall is credited with patent number 6471413 for the development of a unique fiber optics dust protector; Alcatel-Lucent currently holds the rights.

During his nineteen years in the communications industry, Mr. Pattisall served as Director of Worldwide Service & Support for Ciena Corporation from 1995 through 1999 and also worked for Fujitsu.

Mr. Pattisall proudly served in the United States Army from 1987 to 1992 in its Satellite Communications Program, during his time in the military he held the rank of Sergeant from 1988 to 1992 in the Okinawa, Japan Battalion. Mr. Pattisall resides in Bel Air, MD with his wife of over 15 years and their three children.

from www.increditek.com

InstallNET International was ranked #3633 on the Inc. 5000 in 2009. Dale Ewing is CEO of InstallNET international and has been in the professional modular panel systems and office furniture installation business for over 22 years. He has participated in the start-up and development of several independent installation service companies, including Ewing Services, a family owned furniture installation company.

Dale graduated from University of Delaware with a BS in Computer Science. His previous experience includes working at IBM as a systems programmer. Dale’s commitment to technology and reliance on specific procedures and standards has played a key role in the strategy and success of InstallNET.

www.installnet.com

Hooman actively drives platform marketing and strategy initiatives at Clearspring. He was recently named one of Tech’s Best Entrepreneurs in BusinessWeek and was nominated for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. When he is not busy building a better web, you can find him writing his blog Widgify. Radfar graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Economics and Computer Science. He holds an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University where he researched Social Networking Theory.

from www.clearspring.com

Sally Seiler joined The Neurology Center in 1995. She received her BA degree in history from the University of Michigan and a MS in accounting from Georgetown University. She is a CPA. Her previous experience includes doing tax work for a Big Eight Accounting firm, structuring real estate syndications and working as a senior financial officer of a national home building firm.

The Neurology Center, with seven clinical locations and an administrative facility, is a provider of neurological services in the Washington DC metro area. This single specialty practice was started by Marvin Korengold, MD and Howard Silby, MD in 1969 in downtown Washington, DC. Additional offices were established in suburban Maryland and elsewhere in the District as the practice grew and added physicians. The group has long maintained a reputation for excellence. Its physicians are well represented in the listing of Top Doctors in “Washingtonian Magazine” and are recognized as well by their inclusion in other local and national peer-selected listings of excellent doctors.

www.neurologycenter.com

Taras Techniques was ranked #992 on the Inc. 5000 in 2009. Taras N.K. Raggio, MPA, HHP, has held the position of Managing Principal for TARAS TECHNIQUES, LLC for the past six years. She is responsible in her role for providing oversight and facilitation of the business. Taras has over 20 years combined experience in public administration, health care consulting, and public policy/compliance.

Taras’ expertise includes working at all levels of echelons within the Government, Non-governmental agencies, and Private Industry. She has undertaken assignments, which include synchronizing meetings relating to major acquisition items of interest with key members of Congress, Ambassadors, foreign Dignitaries and Presidential Elect officials.

Taras holds a Master of Public Administration, specializing in Public Health Administration;  Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner; Certified Holistic Stress Management Specialist;  Certified Clinical Aromatherapist.  In addition, Taras has a Professional Certificate in Legislative Studies, and a Bachelor of Science, Environmental Studies with a concentration in Computer Science.

www.tarastechniques.com

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Attorney Sheela Murthy is founder, president, and managing attorney of the Murthy Law Firm, located in Baltimore County, Maryland. Her firm of approximately 70 professionals concentrates in the area of U.S. Immigration Law. Having completed her Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Ms. Murthy has been admitted to practice as an attorney in New York, Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Before starting the Murthy Law Firm, then known as the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, she practiced with major law firms in New York and Baltimore.

Attorney Murthy is a member of several legal and professional organizations. She is active in the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She has been on the Executive Committee of the Washington D.C. Chapter of AILA. Prior to this, she was chair of the Liaison Committee to the Department of Labor for Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. for the AILA D.C. Chapter. She continues to be a leader in the organization.

Attorney Murthy is regularly invited to present papers and speak on various complex immigration law issues before AILA and other national and international organizations, including the International Bar Association in London and the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg. She is on the Board of Trustees and co-chairs the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF)’s Annual Immigrant Achievement Awards event, which selects and recognizes outstanding immigrants who have made notable contributions to American life.

Notable among her many awards and recognitions, Ms. Murthy was a 2009 regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, was listed as one of the 40 Under 40 Emerging Business Leaders in July 2001 by Baltimore Magazine and one of the Top 25 lawyers in Baltimore-Washington by the Baltimore Business Journal in 1999. She is on the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF), a not-for-profit organization that seeks to educate, lobby, and litigate on issues dealing with U.S. immigration law.

In the past, Attorney Murthy has been a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and has served on the Immigration Law Coordinating Committee of the ABA (1999-2001). Attorney Murthy has been active in the Maryland State Bar Association, the Law Practice Management Committee and the Technology Committee. She has also been on the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Baltimore City (YLS). Ms. Murthy is fluent in French and Hindi.

www.murthy.com

Chuck is a Co-Founder and General Partner of NEA. His investment activities focus on healthcare services, healthcare information services and biopharmaceutical companies. Chuck’s current board memberships include BrainCells, Bravo Health, Interfusio, Pharmos, Sensors for Medicine & Science, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, TargetRx, and Vitae Pharmaceuticals. His prior board memberships include AMERIGROUP, Caremark, Chomerics, CoGenesys, Genetic Therapy, LifeMetrix, Life Technologies, PatientKeeper, Russ Pharmaceuticals, Scandipharm, Sepracor, Surgical Health, and Zymark Corporation.

Chuck founded the Mid-Atlantic Venture Capital Association (MAVA), which now has over 80 venture capital firms that are members, and is one of the most active regional venture associations in the country. He is Chairman Emeritus of MAVA. Chuck continues to be deeply engaged as a venture capital industry advocate and is frequently invited to speak to organizations and institutions about the state of the industry. Recently he has worked alongside fellow industry veteran Pete Bancroft to chronicle the history of venture capital, personally underwriting 10 interviews with leading venture capitalists and supervising another 10 interviews. He is a Trustee of the Baltimore Museum of Art and a Member of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Board of Visitors.

Before co-founding NEA, Chuck was Vice President of T. Rowe Price Associates (Vice President of their New Horizons Fund). He served in Vietnam, commanding an independent platoon including an initial reconnaissance of Hamburger Hill. His decorations include the Silver Star and Bronze Star V (1st OLC.). He received his MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and his BA in English Literature with honors from the University of Pennsylvania.

from www.nea.com

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Maj. Gen. H. Marshal Ward is the director of special programs, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, D.C. He serves as the principal staff assistant and adviser to the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology on all programs protected under special access controls. He is also director of the Special Access Program Coordination Office. In this capacity, he serves as executive secretary of the Special Access Program Oversight Committee and works directly for the deputy secretary of defense. Additionally, the general serves as the Department of Defense director of low observables.

The general was born in San Turce, Puerto Rico. He enlisted in 1966 and later graduated from Florida State University after participating in the Airman’s Education and Commissioning Program. He was commissioned lieutenant after completing Officer Training School in 1969 as a distinguished graduate. He earned his wings in 1974 at Vance Air Force Base where he received honors as distinguished graduate and recipient of the Air Training Command Commander’s Trophy.

He has held various rated and non-rated duty assignments in weather forecasting, hurricane reconnaissance, airlift operations, command and control operations, acquisition program management, communications, space and missile plans and policy, and operational requirements. His staff assignments include positions at the Joint Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Air Force Space Command and in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as deputy director of operations and training with the deputy chief of staff for air and space operations at Headquarters U.S. Air Force. The general has experience in multiple aircraft weapons systems and is a senior pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours, primarily in C-141 and C-130 aircraft.

from www.af.mil

My name is Kris Appel and I am the Founder and President of Encore Path, Inc., a Baltimore, Maryland-based medical device company. I created the company in 2006 to commercialize and sell cutting-edge, research-based stroke technologies. The University of Maryland, Baltimore is leading the pack in creating neural regenerative technologies designed to help stroke patients improve their quality of life.

Encore Path’s debut product is Tailwind^™, a first-of-its-kind stroke rehabilitation device that has been proven in clinical studies to permanently improve arm function in stroke patients with paralysis.

www.encorepath.com

In 1993, Tom McMahan and Phil Soucy launched Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. with a single
defense contract and a few computers. Today, MTSI is a dynamic company thrice recognized by the renowned business magazine, Washington Smart CEO, as one of the 50 fastest growing companies in the metropolitan DC region, and listed as one of Inc.’s Top 500 companies. Through focusing on taking care of their employees, providing technical solutions of the highest quality to customers and a spirit of giving back to the community, Tom and Phil have turned MTSI into a well-respected and highly regarded player in the defense industry.

Phil Soucy also has over 31 years of experience in aerospace government and industry with specialized expertise in low observable, counter low observable technology and electronic counter measures. In addition to handling the financial and business management, and daily operations of MTSI, Phil oversees operational analyses of modern low observable and counter low observable weapon systems, red teaming of proposals and analysis of technology investment plans. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a commission from Norwich University, Phil spent over 20 years as an Air Force officer. He started his illustrious career first as a weapons systems officer, then a flight test engineer, and finally as a program manager for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition’s Special Projects branch. In addition to being an USAF Test Pilot School graduate, Phil holds multiple advanced engineering degrees and also serves on many senior advisory boards.

www.mtsi-va.com

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Mr. Slager was commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1975 after graduating with B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Psychology. He served as the executive officer of the Data Processing Center, 7th Medical Command, US Army, Europe providing IT support to 14 Hospitals and 260 medical clinics throughout European Theater. In 1978, he sustained a serious spinal injury on active duty that required nine months hospitalization and ended his Army Career.

Mr. Slager developed the TELCON network operating system for Sperry-Univac while completing his Masters in Computer Information Systems which was the first graduate program focused on the corporate CIO function.

In 1982, Mr. Slager joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a senior computer scientist in the R&D program to automate the FBI’s 59 field divisions. He was a technical architect of a $500 million system that connected mainframe centers to over 6,000 desktop computers, the field applications and the national network all in a top secret secure environment.
Mr. Slager was the managing consultant supporting the FAA’s outsourcing of its non-air traffic control IT systems under the $1.2B Computer Resources Nucleus Program. Mr Slager, as a founder and partner in E&A, managed the technical support effort which was the FAA’s CIO’s program support staff. This $1.2B effort was the largest information technology outsourcing effort undertaken by the Federal Government at that time.

In 1996, the E&A partnership was dissolved and Mr. Slager founded Catapult Technology. From 1996 to 2000, Catapult built a solid performance base at the Department of Transportation. In September 2001 Catapult won over $45M in IT infrastructure support contracts at DOT. Since that time, Mr. Slager has focused on the expansion of the firm into other Agencies, particularly in the Homeland Security area and has been an active advocate for opening business opportunities to veterans, especially disabled veterans, seeking to be entrepreneurs.

www.catapulttechnology.com

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Michaela Schwartz is a founding partner of GREEN AND BLUE. Michaela met Daniela in Washington DC although she is also a native of the Czech Republic. Michaela opened GREEN AND BLUE to provide Washington women with an oasis in which to shop where every client is treated to a personal shopping experience.

Michaela has a Degree in Business and worked in businesses in Europe before coming to Washington DC in 1997. GREEN AND BLUE combines Michaela’s enthusiasm for fashion and keen business skills.

from www.greenandbluestyle.com

Attorney Sheela Murthy is founder, president, and managing attorney of the Murthy Law Firm, located in Baltimore County, Maryland. Her firm of approximately 70 professionals concentrates in the area of U.S. Immigration Law. Having completed her Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Ms. Murthy has been admitted to practice as an attorney in New York, Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Before starting the Murthy Law Firm, then known as the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, she practiced with major law firms in New York and Baltimore.

Attorney Murthy is a member of several legal and professional organizations. She is active in the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She has been on the Executive Committee of the Washington D.C. Chapter of AILA. Prior to this, she was chair of the Liaison Committee to the Department of Labor for Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. for the AILA D.C. Chapter. She continues to be a leader in the organization.

Attorney Murthy is regularly invited to present papers and speak on various complex immigration law issues before AILA and other national and international organizations, including the International Bar Association in London and the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg. She is on the Board of Trustees and co-chairs the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF)’s Annual Immigrant Achievement Awards event, which selects and recognizes outstanding immigrants who have made notable contributions to American life.

Notable among her many awards and recognitions, Ms. Murthy was a 2009 regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, was listed as one of the 40 Under 40 Emerging Business Leaders in July 2001 by Baltimore Magazine and one of the Top 25 lawyers in Baltimore-Washington by the Baltimore Business Journal in 1999. She is on the Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF), a not-for-profit organization that seeks to educate, lobby, and litigate on issues dealing with U.S. immigration law.

In the past, Attorney Murthy has been a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and has served on the Immigration Law Coordinating Committee of the ABA (1999-2001). Attorney Murthy has been active in the Maryland State Bar Association, the Law Practice Management Committee and the Technology Committee. She has also been on the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Baltimore City (YLS). Ms. Murthy is fluent in French and Hindi.

www.murthy.com

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Greg Baroni is chairman and chief executive officer, as well as one of the founding members of Attain. Mr. Baroni spent the past seven years serving in a leadership capacity at Unisys Corporation. He served in both an officer role as a corporate senior vice president and in an operational leadership role as president, Federal Systems and Global Public Sector. In these roles, he was responsible for a worldwide business comprised of six geographic regions and the U.S. Federal Systems group. Under his leadership, these business units achieved extraordinary results. During his tenure, the Federal Systems group doubled its revenue while achieving industry standard operating margins.

Prior to joining Unisys, Mr. Baroni spent almost 20 years at KPMG Consulting, where he held a number of roles. His last role was as senior vice president of KPMG Consulting’s Public Services practice – a $750 million business with 110 managing directors and 2,500 staff serving government, education, health, and nonprofit institutions. In this capacity, he advised numerous organizations in critical business areas such as strategy, cost optimization, and distributed learning. Mr. Baroni also led development, implementation, and integration projects involving enterprise-wide packaged solutions for a number of his clients. He directed the development of a number of software solutions, including grants management, cost allocation, property management, space utilization, and effort reporting. Furthermore, he pioneered the spinoff of a distributed learning group that is now a public company, Blackboard.

Mr. Baroni has received numerous market leadership awards such as the Fed 100, Fast Company’s Fast 50, and Consulting Magazine’s Top 25. In addition, Mr. Baroni is an active leader in the professional association community serving in leadership roles in Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), and Homeland Security & Defense Business Council (HSDBC), as well as with charitable organizations in the national capital area including the National Kidney Foundation and the American Red Cross.

Mr. Baroni earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Southern California.

from www.attain.com

Toby founded Focused Image in Washington, DC, in 1986. Today, Focused Image is a leading marketing communications agency within the Greater Washington area that helps clients realize their business potential and growth opportunities through brand development, advertising and public relations. Toby takes an active role with every Focused Image client, from strategic development through creative execution. With more than 25 years experience in creative marketing and design, he has worked with hundreds of clients from technology start-ups to Fortune 1000 companies to develop new brands, redevelop existing brands and raise visibility with target audiences. Over the past 20 years, Toby and his team of seasoned, senior communications professionals at Focused Image have developed strategic plans, award-winning designs, and highly creative campaigns for well-known brands such as AOL, Anteon, Black & Decker, CACI, MCI, XM Satellite Radio and many others. Key project highlights include XM Radio’s SKIFi launch, a four-star rating of HealthExtras’ TV launch campaign (featuring Christopher Reeve) by Bob Garfield in Ad Age, MCI Center launch, Eskimo Pie launch of Nabisco’s Snackwell’s line extension into the dairy case nationwide, and the Black & Decker rollout of DeWalt’s “Hard-Headed to the Core” marketing program.

Toby began his career on the client side at Michigan-based Noble Holdings Corp. At 25, he was promoted to vice president of marketing of the adhesives company Marsh Laboratories, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this capacity, Toby moved the company from its historical commercial business into mass-market retail. He established and managed a nationwide sales force, built channel relations with major distributors and worked directly with the major home improvement retailers in the United States, including Home Depot, Lowe’s and True Value. Toby earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College.

from www.focusedimage.com

From 1997 to 2000, Chuck was a consultant to DoD, contractors and educational clients, providing executive coaching, strategic planning, program management and acquisition support. From 1965 to1997, he was a senior executive within the IC. He served two overseas assignments, in Europe and Asia, and led a major directorate during his 32-year career. Chuck holds a B.A. in Business Management and in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland. He is also a graduate of the National Defense University, Intelligence Community Fellows Program and the Federal Executive Institute.

from www.bridges-inc.com

Opening Nana in 2003, owner Jackie Flanagan likes to say it all started because of Julia Child. After seven years, Jackie was a bit tired of working in the corporate world. Her boyfriend, Joe, kept reminding her that Julia Child did not learn how to cook until she was over 30 years old so it was never too late to pursue what makes you most happy in your professional life.
Well, one day the advice stuck and the shop was opened with Jackie’s grandmother in mind: “My Nana has such fashion smarts. I look up to her grace and subtle glamour … she is the ultimate stylish, savvy woman.” They are very close. Her Nana lives outside of Boston with her dog Carmen.
The shop has evolved over the years (and Jackie and her “boyfriend” may have evolved from a U Street-out-and-about-couple to a married-with-two-kids-city-residing family).

www.nanadc.com

When Bob founded Primescape Solutions, Inc., in 1998, he was guided by a vision: To create a company totally committed to the success of the client. How was he to achieve this? The key, he realized, was in the workforce: He had to establish a company whose employees “bought into” this vision. To do this, he created a set of core values for Primescape employees: integrity, mutual respect, teamwork, creativity and innovation.
During the intervening years, Bob has overseen Primescape’s growth from being a company with 2 employees to one that has made the Inc 500 Fastest Growing Companies, the Washington Technology Fast 50 Government Contractors, and the FedSource Top 25 Small Businesses.
Bob is a successful entrepreneur and seasoned business executive with over 20 years of executive leadership, strategic business planning, business development, and management experience. Before starting Primescape, he was Vice President for The Orkand Corporation, managing the world-wide modernization of the Consular Systems for the Department of State. Prior to Orkand, his industry experience include management and business development positions in a number of Information Technology firms. Bob received his Ph.D. in Psychology at American University.

from www.primescape.net

As the Company’s Founder and CEO, Susan has led the company since its inception. Named among Fortune Magazine’s 2009 List of Most Powerful Women and is among nine entrepreneurial women chosen by Ernst & Young to participate in the firm’s exclusive Winning Womentm Program.
Prior to The Judgment Group, Susan was a founding member and the Executive Vice President of a technology startup that raised $12 Million in venture capital, became kinkos.com, and was sold in 2000 to the copy giant Kinko’s for $100 Million.
A Certified Public Accountant, Susan is a graduate of Georgetown University. Susan is now completing her third year of a three year executive education program at Harvard Business School.

from www.judgmentgroup.com

Dr. Goessel is the President of FairCode Associates, a healthcare consulting firm specializing in DRG and coding audits. Formerly a member of the surgical faculty at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medical School, she was responsible for the research and development department of a major medical software firm. She has developed clinical guidelines that are used in the utilization management of over 4 million lives, and has developed disease management software. She performed her residency at Northwestern University, and became board certified in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine in 1986.

from www.faircode.net

Jake’s investment activities focus on power/clean technology, outsourcing, transaction software and customer care/service opportunities. He is a Director of APX and SmartSynch. Before joining Kinetic in 1987, Jake was with the Bank of New York. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA degree from Roanoke College.

from www.kineticventures.com

Rick Marcotte joined DLT Solutions as CEO in 2004, after serving on the board of the company since early 2003. He led a management buyout of the company in October 2005.

Previously, Marcotte led the sales and marketing efforts as vice president at Troxler Electronic Laboratories, where he successfully expanded business with key state & local agencies and private engineering and construction companies. Prior to Troxler, Marcotte served as vice president and senior executive of two separate $200 million operating divisions of Invensys plc, a manufacturer of telecommunication power systems and integration services. During a 14-year tenure with Invensys and its US operating company, Powerware Corporation, he built award-winning programs that allowed Powerware to expand public and private sector sales efforts, initiated the company’s reseller channel sales initiative, and spearheaded the strategy and acquisitions which launched the company into the broadband segment. In that time, Marcotte held the position of Director of the USA channel sales organization and the federal systems division including all Washington, DC-based operations. His efforts at Invensys and Powerware earned him an internal CEO’s award in 2001 for outstanding growth in operating profit.

Marcotte earned an MBA from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, where he concentrated in finance and marketing. He is married with three children and splits his time between the Washington, D.C. area and Raleigh, North Carolina.

from www.dlt.com

Davis A. Buckley, FAIA, has over 30 years of architectural and planning experience and today is an elected member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows (COF). One of the highest honors the AIA bestows upon a member, it recognizes the signii cant contributions the architect has made to architecture and society.

Mr. Buckley came to Washington in 1975 to assess the facility needs of the US House of Representatives. Four years later, he established Davis Buckley Architects and Planners and has since worked on a wide range of projects, including: national museums and memorials, historic preservation, master planning and feasibility studies, educational facilities, hotels, corporate offices, retail facilities, restaurants, mixed-use buildings, medical facilities, and environmentally sensitive Planned Unit Developments. Mr. Buckley has served as an expert and advisor on large projects throughout the US. The i rm has received more than twenty-four awards in the past ten years, of which nine are National Awards and one is an International Design Honor Award. Among these awards are: AIA Honor Awards; a Presidential Design Achievement Award for Excellence in Design; twice, The Tucker Architectural Award of Excellence; and an International Design Award from the United States Air Force. Mr. Buckley is the only architect to be honored twice with the Henry Hering Medal, the Art and Architecture Award from the National Sculpture Society, which has only been awarded eighteen times in its forty-seven year history, and honors the positive collaboration between architect and sculptor. Mr. Buckley served for three years as advisor to the Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas. He has served as advisor to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund since 1979, and was advisor to the Rockefeller family on the National Museum of the American Indian.

With experience in working with the complex approval process in Washington, DC, he has presented projects before the US Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the District of Columbia Zoning Commission and has worked with the DC Historic Preservation Oi ce, the Anacostia Watershed Society, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation, the DC Office of Planning, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The firm is a member of the US Green Building Council. Mr. Buckley is Chair of the Exhibitions Committee of the National Sculpture Society, member of the Arts Commemorative Committee with Brown University’s John Carter Brown Library, member of the new US Capitol Visitor’s Center Arts Task Force, and a long-time advisor to the National Organization on Disabilities. Mr. Buckley has commissioned two portraits for the US House of Representatives, served as chair of the St. Andrews Building Committee, and was a cofounder / trustee of the Washington Episcopal School with his wife Jean Smith Buckley.

www.davisbuckley.com

Rich founded ARHD in 2000 and leads the organization by caring about his employees and clients. Rich has an MBA in Finance and a BS in Marketing plus 25 years of sales/account management experience. This enables Rich to be involved with establishing a close relationship with each client and his internal staff. Rich works diligently with each new client to ensure a smooth on-boarding transition by developing a customized solution based on client’s needs and business objectives. As a result of Rich’s strategic vision and management expertise, ARHD has received the SmartCEO Future 50 award for fastest growing companies 5 of the past 7 years. Rich’s unwavering focus on doing the right thing for employees and clients has enabled ARHD to obtain low turnover. This has led ARHD to sustain growth every year since inception, cementing ARHD as the industry leader for high quality Infrastructure Management and Remote Help Desk Solutions.

from www.remotehelpdesk.com

Craig B. Kendall, CPA, is the principal owner and manager of the Financial Investment, Inc. (FII) family of companies. This includes Financial Commodity Investments (FCI), Financial Investment, LP (FILP) and Kendall & Company, CPA’s.

His business experience includes more than 20 years in the finance, accounting and investment banking industries. In 1997, Mr. Kendall founded FII as an investment firm that acquires equities, private placement memorandums, and other investments. Established Financial Investments Limited Partnership (FILP), a limited partnership developed to capitalize on the opportunities available using proprietary trend tracking investment models.

Mr. Kendall holds FINRA Series 3 and Series 66 licenses.

Under Mr. Kendall’s leadership, FII has been named an Inc. 5000 company nationally, and received the “Fantastic 50″ award in 2008 and 2007 from the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. He led FCI to a ranking as a Top 20 Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA), in the Barclay Managed Funds Report.

from www.financialii.com

Daniel Cohen-Dumani started Portal Solutions in 2002. His mission from the beginning has been to build the leading provider of business solutions based on Microsoft’s Collaborative Technologies, specifically those based on the SharePoint platform. Under Daniel’s leadership, the company has thrived and is one of the fastest growing firms in the DC area as ranked by Inc. magazine. Daniel previously served as the CTO of OCM/Alloy, and prior to that he served as the CIO and Senior Vice President of the Execustay division of Marriott Corporation. Daniel graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with a degree in Computer Science.

from www.portalsolutions.net

Donnie Downs has over 18 years of experience in the IT industry. From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Downs was employed by AT&T and Lucent Technologies and held various positions in finance, sales management and marketing management. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Downs served as general manager for Vertical Software, Inc., a systems integrator specializing in Microsoft and Citrix-based networking solutions.

After the acquisition of Vertical Software, Inc. in 1999 by FutureLink Corporation (International ASP), Mr. Downs served as one of four directors supporting the Southeast region which consisted of over 200 employees and included offices located in Washington, DC, Chantilly, Va., Richmond, Va., Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, Ga., and Miami, Fla.

Before entering into the IT industry, Mr. Downs received his Bachelor of Science degree in political science from Towson University. Shortly after, he was accepted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School located in Ft. Benning, Ga. There he participated in a variety of leadership and curriculum programs. Mr. Downs also holds his Master of Science Administration degree with a marketing specialty from Central Michigan University. Mr. Downs is currently the president and CEO of the Bowie-based IT systems integration firm, Plan B Technologies, Inc., and serves as a part-time economics, marketing and business administration instructor at the College of Southern Maryland.

from www.planbtech.net

Joseph Payne brings more than 15 years of leadership and a proven track record with high growth software companies to Eloqua. His focus at Eloqua is to drive the company’s strategic direction and to oversee all operations of the company. Joe’s broad experience base in delivering software solutions for marketers gives him a unique perspective of the most pressing concerns of marketers today: visibility, measurement, effectiveness and efficiency.

Joe was most recently President and COO of iDefense, a VeriSign company where he was responsible for the operations of the company. Prior to joining iDefense, he was President and CEO of eSecurity Inc., and President and CEO of eGrail.

Joe’s role as Chief Marketing Officer at MicroStrategy Inc. exemplifies his ability to run the global marketing efforts of a fast growing company in the business analytics market. Mr. Payne also held marketing roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, and Royal Crown Company.

Joe is also featured on BtoB magazine’s Who’s Who in B-to-B 2009.

Joe is a Fuqua Scholar and received his M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Duke University. He is on the adjunct faculty at the Kogod School of Business at American University.

www.eloqua.com

Lynda Ellis is the President, CEO and Owner of Washington DC-based Capitol Concierge. Under Lynda’s leadership, the Capitol Concierge brand has become synonymous with best-in-class SERVICE and top-notch professionalism.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, Lynda developed a passion for customer service at an early age. After graduating from college, Lynda spent over 25 years in Instructional Technology, selling and marketing computer-based education and training products to Pre-K through post secondary education programs, correctional facilities and Welfare to Work programs, earning numerous awards for her performance and leadership during the process. In 1998, Lynda joined Capitol Concierge, where she progressed quickly, eventually purchasing the company in 2007. Since then, she has been guiding the enterprise with her passion for service and trademark enthusiasm. Lynda’s recent accomplishments include being honored with Washington SmartCEO’s “Brava! Women Business Achievement Award” in 2009 and AOBA’s “Outstanding Leadership Award” for three consecutive years, as well as being named the Apartment & Office Building Association (AOBA) “Associates Coalition Team (ACT) Associate of the Year” in 2007.

A graduate of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX, Lynda was also named “Outstanding Young Woman in America” in 1982 and awarded the “Presidential Appreciation Award” by the American Red Cross.

from www.capitolconcierge.com

Ken Fang is the chairman of Altum, the market leader of enterprise grants management and performance management solutions for government and philanthropic organizations. Ken is the quintessential business leader and recently was recognized as one of the Washington, D.C., region’s top minority business owners by the Washington Business Journal. He started Altum in 1997 with a passion for software and customer service and has turned it into a multi-million dollar global software company.

Ken is active in the Washington, D.C., area and frequently networks with other CEOs and business leaders in the community. Ken was the visionary behind instilling a corporate culture that embraces philanthropy. Altum sponsors numerous charities throughout the year, including the NIH Children’s Inn, the Manna Food Distribution Center, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and various other non-profits and foundations.

Ken enjoys his achievements in business, yet he is most proud of his success as a family man. He believes that a great deal of his success stems from the support of his lovely wife, Danielle, and their three amazing children. He is one of the most talented people in the business community, and those who meet Ken are impressed by his genuineness and his larger-than-life laugh.

from www.altum.com

Prior to founding VIPdesk, Mary founded Capitol Concierge, a corporate Concierge service located in Washington, DC. Started with just a $2,000 loan from her mother, Mary grew the company into the nation’s largest corporate Concierge service with tailored programs serving over 80 commercial office buildings.

Mary has received numerous awards for her work, including the Inc. 500 in 1997, 2003, and 2004, the Inc 5000 in 2007, The Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 and Fast 500 in 2003, 2004, and 2005, The Stevie Awards for Women in Business “Best Service of the Year” in 2006, the Smart CEO Future 50 Award in 2008, Inc. Magazine’s National Marketing Masters Award for Business Services, and Working Woman Magazine’s National Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

Mary serves on the Executive Committee of the Young President’s Organization, and is a member of the National Retail Federation, Direct Marketing Association, and the Young Entrepreneurs Organization. She earned her BA in Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mary is a frequent speaker on customer retention strategies and the author of Customer Chemistry (McGraw-Hill 2002).

from www.vipdesk.com

How many email accounts do you currently have?
2

What is your favorite thing about working at Blue Sky Factory?
Building a great company with incredible people.

When not at work, where can you be found?
Home with my wife and daughter, at a concert, or fishing.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A fireman who drove the hook and ladder.

Name 3 of your all-time favorite songs.
St. Stephen (Grateful Dead); Ramble On (Led Zeppelin); Natural Mystic (Bob Marley)

Early bird or night owl?
Night owl

Summer, Fall, Winter, or Spring?
Summer

Favorite childhood toy?
Matchbox cars & Tonka trucks

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
New Zealand

Give one valuable piece of advice to email marketers.
Be consistent, and always be optimizing.

www.blueskyfactory.com

Ulysese Jefferson is the President and Chief Executive Officer. Ulysese brings more than 40 years of information technology and contracting experience. He retired from the U.S. Department of State after a distinguished 30-year career. Ulysese is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, Armed Forces Communications and Engineering Association (AFCEA), Independent Telephone Pioneers Association (ITPA), Black Data Processing Association (BDPA), and the National Black Chamber of Commerce. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Information Management Systems and has continued his educational pursuit through additional course study in Supervisory/Leadership, Database Design, Data Communications, Telecommunications Technology, Multiplexing and Type I/II Encryption Systems. Through his leadership, WINS has grown to a company of over 190 employees servicing a multitude of Civil and Defense organizations and agencies.

from www.winsnetworks.com

Mr. Ananthanpillai is the Chairman, CEO and President of InfoZen and has been with the company since January 2004. Previously he was a Partner at The MIRA Group LLC, a Business Strategy and Financial Consulting Firm. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Strategy Officer of ePlus, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUS), a business process automation, asset management and financial services company, responsible for technology, marketing, analyst relations and business strategy. Prior to that, he was the president and CEO of NetBalance Corporation, a venture capital backed multi-million dollar software products and services company, which was successfully sold in February 2000.

Before founding NetBalance Mr. Ananthanpillai was the Vice President of strategy and marketing at I-NET, Inc., a $300+ multi-million dollar company, where he was responsible for developing new products, services, markets, strategic business alliances and overall strategy. He had also served as the Vice President and General Manager of one of I-NET’s business units, growing a multi-million dollar IT outsourcing and managed services business offering to Fortune 100 and public sector customers. Prior to joining I-NET, Mr. Ananthanpillai spent several years at AT&T and was responsible for directing and managing the company’s global messaging system managed services.

Mr. Ananthanpillai holds an M.S. in Engineering Physics, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, and Executive Management degrees in International Business Management and Financial Planning. He is also a Certified Financial Planner (CFP ®), with a US Patent on managing networked systems, and the author of two books in the area of Systems Management and Managed Services. Additionally, Mr. Ananthanpillai is a frequent speaker at executive forums and is widely profiled in industry trade and business publications. He has appeared on business television programs, and mentors several emerging companies, serving on the board of some of them. Mr. Ananthanpillai is also on the advisory board of Johns Hopkins Business School and is a practitioner faculty, teaching Competitive Strategy in the University’s MBA program.

from www.infozen.com

Mr. Keenan is president and chairman of the board of directors of High Performance Technologies, Inc. (HPTi). As president, Mr. Keenan has overall strategic and operational responsibility for HPTi’s initiatives in developing systems technologies. As one of the original founders of HPTi, he has helped to develop and grow HPTi into a dynamic firm known for its combination of creative design and disciplined execution. Mr. Keenan is adept at new business development and program planning for entrepreneurial organizations and is an acknowledged expert in program capture and competitive strategy development. With nearly three decades of technical and managerial experience in the design, development, and integration of leading-edge systems for the federal marketplace, Mr. Keenan is consistently sought to participate in industry studies of large, mission-critical, software-intensive systems. He is also pursued for his insights into acquisition streamlining and business transformation. Mr. Keenan graduated with a B.S. from The Ohio State University (OSU) and earned his M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He has received Ernst & Young’s Best Boss Award, OSU’s Professional Achievement Award, GovCon’s Executive of the Year, the American Business Award for Best Executive, and the Entrepreneurism Award from the Fisher College of Business at OSU.

from www.hpti.com

As President and Chief Executive Officer and a Co-Founder of Anybill, Matt played an instrumental role in developing the company’s business model and spearheaded the closing of several rounds of capital for Anybill.  His oversight of this fast-growing Accounts Payable software and service market leader has included rapid expansion of staff, acquisition of larger new facilities and the development of broader and deeper lines of offering.

In addition to his responsibility for the day-to-day operations of Anybill, Matt is also a respected and sought after speaker in national business events regarding entrepreneurship, technology, and accounts payable best practices.

Before starting Anybill, Matt co-managed Equis Corporation’s key real estate accounts including Chicago Title and Trust, General Motors, UBS, and Daimler Chrysler.  Matt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Kenyon College.

from www.anybill.com

An instructional designer by education, a business leader and strategist by trade, and a marketer by temperament, IE founder Marissa Levin is a leading proponent of the integrated communications vision. She speaks and writes on the subject extensively and leads IE organizationally on key strategies and solutions for integrating communications for organizations across a wide range of vertical markets.

Marissa was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Women in Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Stevie Award.

from www.informationexperts.com

After a stint as a software developer for EDS, Andy fell into the world of eDiscovery working at a small legal-services company in Virginia.  It was a time when the eDiscovery Industry was in a primitive state image (paper print-outs of email and attachments were still in vogue). Building on his degree in Decision Support Systems from Virginia Tech, Andy decided there just had to be a better system for doing eDiscovery.  So, he and Sheng took their big idea and set out to create Logik.  Andy lives in Washington DC with his wife and two children.

from www.logik.com

Bernie McGinn is the President and Chief Investment Officer of McGinn Investment Management, Inc. and is responsible for all investment decisions relating to the large-cap core strategy of the firm. He began his 25-year career in the investment profession as a registered representative with Merrill Lynch and later with Kidder Peabody. Mr. McGinn founded McGinn Investment Management, Inc. in 1991.

He received a B.A. in political science from the University of Maryland, and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. Mr. McGinn holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and is a member of the adjunct faculty at the McDonough School of Business graduate program at Georgetown University. Mr. McGinn served on the National Finance Committee for the American Diabetes Association from 1996 to 1998. During his tenure on the national committee, he helped implement major reforms in the investment policy. He is also a member of the Washington Society of Investment Analysts.

In 2003 and early 2004, Mr. McGinn served as a consultant to David Dreman, President and Chief Investment Officer of Dreman Value Management, LLC. In this effort, he partnered with Mr. Dreman and his staff in constructing the inaugural portfolio for the Dreman Claymore Dividend fund, which began trading on the NYSE in January 2004 under the symbol “DCS.”

At the suggestion of former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner, Mr. McGinn was asked to serve as a board member for the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education. The board recruited Mr. McGinn for his skills and expertise in portfolio management with foundations and charitable organizations.

from www.mcginninvests.com

Alan has a 20-year history in the commercial cleaning business. Prior to settling in this career, he served six years in the Air Force at various missile sites in the United States. For ten years he served as Director of Operations for a large regional janitorial firm. In this capacity he designed and managed that firm’s multi-unit residential program, and negotiated and ran contracts totaling more than $30 Million annually. Alan founded Gemini in September 1998. As he developed Gemini’s commercial cleaning program, he stressed the need for the proper care of natural stone and hardwood – specialty services still offered by Gemini to its existing customers – and he laid the groundwork for the company’s expansion. He continues to guide Gemini as we focus and refine our services.

from www.geminicorporation.com

As the CEO of Social Solutions, Matt has been instrumental in expanding access to capital, attracting industry talent, forging inroads into the government sector, bringing the vision of an ETO City to reality, and effectively positioning Social Solutions for continued growth. Under Matt’s leadership the company has experienced exponential growth and was named Technology Company of the Year in 2007.  In recognition of his leadership, Matt was selected as a TiE-Smith Fellow in Entrepreneurship.
Prior to joining Social Solutions in January of 2005, Matt led the emergence of the Federal Health and Human Services practice area for Microsoft Consulting Services.  During his tenure at Microsoft, Matt was also an active member of the Board of Advisors for Social Solutions.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Matt served for 9 years at e.magination (a high growth technology services firm).  He served in a variety of roles that included project management, partner management, sales support, sales management, CTO & Senior VP.  Matt’s product development focus emerged early on as he founded a live chat support product (Livefluence) which was spun out as a separate company under the name Velaro (www.Velaro.com); he was also responsible for a product offering (Powerblock) which provided a set of .NET building blocks designed to reduce development time in high performing custom software applications.

from www.socialsolutions.com

As the founder and CEO, Darryl Washington fosters a corporate culture of excellence, innovation, and integrity. As a direct result of Mr. Washington’s leadership, in five years, the number of DKW employees has grown to 150. DKW is headquartered in Washington, DC. Mr. Washington’s leadership of DKW has resulted in DKW being recognized two years in a row by Washington Technology’s Fast 50 as one of the fastest growing companies in the region. In 2007, DKW ranked 8th and in 2006, DKW ranked 2nd on Washington Technology’s 2007 Fast 50 Government Contractors list.Mr. Washington was born in Birmingham, Alabama and grew up in Washington, DC. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Howard University. Prior to founding DKW Communications, he spent nine years working as a civil servant, supporting intelligence agencies, and another four years working in positions of increasing responsibility, at such systems integrators as RSIS and STG. With more than 15 years of expertise in areas such as senior executive, financial, and technical management; network engineering; logistical support; facilities management; information assurance; telecommunications support; and systems engineering, Mr. Washington provides vision and guides DKW Communications in applying proven and effective IT solutions for its clients.

His community activities include serving on the Board of Directors at his community church. Mr. Washington is a sponsor of the AAU Basketball Team. He is on the Board of the National Leadership Council of Greater Washington, DC, and was elected a member for the year 2004. Mr. Washington is also a sponsor of the National Book Club Conference, and he serves as a mentor on education for the Washington, D.C. public school system.

www.dkwcommunications.com

Matthew Bucholz is a graduate of The Citadel Military College of South Carolina and a retired US Marine Corps Officer who has held a variety of commands throughout his career. He is also a former Police Officer and is the founder and President of Federated Information Technologies, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned and 8(a) certified small business. Federated was recently selected by the Washington Business Journal as one of the top 25 Small Technology Companies in the Washington DC
metropolitan area. In September 2009 Federated was ranked #523 on Inc. Magazine’s Fastest Growing companies, #52 in Government Services and #45 Fastest Growing Government Contractors in the Washington DC area. Federated has also been recognized as one of the top 100 Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses in the United States, and among the top 50 Diversity Owned Businesses in Washington DC.

He started his career in technology as an engineer and worked his way up through various leadership positions in sales and operations. Prior to starting Federated, he was President and CEO of DataSys, an information technology services company. His professional experience includes IT integration programs as well as delivering Analytic and Operations support to the Homeland Security, Department of Defence, Federal Law Enforcement and Intelligence communities.

from www.federatedit.com

Jay Sunny Bajaj is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Management, Inc., a leading IT solutions and business strategy consulting firm focused on providing solutions that transform enterprise operations in government and business. Based in Bethesda, MD, Digital Management employs more than 100 individuals and has over $15 million in revenue.

Bajaj was raised in the technology industry where both of his parents independently built successful IT services businesses. Bajaj learned the IT services business from the bottom up. He leveraged his deep understanding of the IT services industry and business operations from these experiences to start Digital Management in 2002.

By viewing technology as an efficient, economical means to an end, Digital Management creates technology solutions that result in increasingly interoperable, responsive, and cost-effective business. Digital Management offers a broad range of services and solutions in strategic business transformation, software systems modernization, enterprise information management, cybersecurity, and healthcare IT.

Digital Management’s portfolio includes clients in both Federal agencies and commercial businesses. Government clients include: Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Defense, Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, General Services Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Small Business Administration, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Arkansas State Legislature, Arkansas Governor’s Office, and the Illinois Dept of Transportation. Commercial clients include: Kraft Foods, Time Warner Cable, and Richardson Electronics.

Under Bajaj’s leadership Digital Management has received numerous accolades for its growth, innovation and outstanding client service. Earlier this year, Bajaj was honored by Washington SmartCEO magazine with the 2009 Smart100 program, an exclusive group of 100 CEOs assembled by an independent selection committee. Digital Management has been honored as one of the top 5000 fastest growing private companies in the country by Inc.com three years in a row, the company was named to Deloitte’s prestigious Technology Fast 50 Program for Maryland and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 listing as well as many other awards.

Additionally, Digital Management is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, ISO 2001:2008 Certified and has also achieved CMMI Level 2 certification.

Prior to founding Digital Management, Bajaj worked at companies such as AppNet/Commerce One, Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Bajaj earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Maryland with coursework completed at the London School of Economics.

www.digitalmanagement.com

leaders-porfolio-207-2

Robert Wolfe, President and CEO, founded AvcomEast in February 2003, bringing with him more than 19 years experience in information technology, and channel sales and development. Wolfe gained the reputation as an IT industry veteran and channel expert from his experience working for leading manufacturers, systems integrators, and major computer products distributors. Prior to founding AvcomEast, Rob Wolfe was recruited by AVCOM Technologies, Inc., a full-service eInfrastructure provider, to lead the company’s expansion efforts in the Eastern U.S., as Executive Director. Over a 2 1/2 year period, Rob built a dynamic team of IT professionals and successfully launched AVCOM into the East Coast region.

Prior to AVCOM, Wolfe founded, built and managed offices in Washington, D.C., and New York for Osage Systems Group, a publicly traded, nationwide provider of IT products, services, and solutions. Wolfe also worked for Sun Microsystems, where he was responsible for business development; focused on Internet and Java technologies to help large systems integrators, ISPs and Fortune 500 customers leverage emerging technologies to fuel growth. At Novell, Inc., Wolfe focused his sales on system integrators as well as ISPs and satellite communication firms in the Washington, D.C. area. Wolfe’s five years of experience recruiting and developing the Sun Microsystems reseller/integrator market for major distributors GE Access (formerly known as Access Graphics), and Arrow Electronics—propelled him into key positions developing sales channels for Sun and Novell.

www.avcomeast.com

Jim Abdo, President and CEO of Abdo Development, received the 2006 Bob Herrema Award for an Adaptive Reuse project for the Bryan School Lofts. Most recently, Mr. Abdo was honored with the 2007 CEO of the Year Award from SmartCEO Magazine as well as the 2007 Investors in America Award from Partners for Livable Communities. He was also named a finalist for the 2007 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Mr. Abdo has over twenty-five years experience in all aspects of design/build in both commercial and residential construction. He serves on numerous boards, including DC Preservation League, DC Building Industry Association and Arena Stage. In 2004, Mr. Abdo was appointed to the Washington Convention Center Authority Board where he currently chairs the Development Committee. Additionally, Mr. Abdo is currently serving a two-year term on Fannie Mae’s National Housing Advisory Council.

www.abdo.com

Sagar Sawant is the founder, and CEO of Cyquent, Inc. Sagar is an entrepreneur, mentor, and a technical leader. He has 18 years of practical experience in developing and integrating mission-critical systems for finance, banking, mortgage, and healthcare companies. Prior to starting Cyquent in 2001, he held leadership positions in both small and large IT consulting companies.

Sagar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and Masters degree in Computer Science from Georgia State University.

www.cyquent.com

Dan joined the firm as CEO in 2000, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors, sets the agency’s general strategic direction. He also directs our marketing and business development activities.

As a leading expert in the communications industry for the last 20 years, Dan is frequently asked to speak to industry groups and non-technical professionals nationwide about integrating Internet techniques into communication strategies. In December of 2007, Dan co-authored his first book, Media Rules! Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect with and Keep Your Audience, published by Wiley.

Prior to joining Virilion, Dan was publisher of nationaljournal.com, the National Journal Group’s “members only” Web site and was general manager of National Journal’s CongressDaily and Technology Daily. Dan held a political appointment with the U.S. Department of Commerce and worked in senior legislative positions in the United States Senate for Senator Harris Wofford (D-PA) and Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI). He also practiced commercial law with the firm of Hale and Dorr and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dan is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota Law School.

from www.virilion.com

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Alvin Thompson began his training at age 15 as an apprentice in the haute couture salon of Salvi of Florence in Washington, DC under the tutelage of Nunzio and Gina Salvi. He went on to spend the next 35 years devoted to the design and construction of garments including studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology, design and painting at Howard University and art therapy at George Washington University.

“Though my interest has always been in construction of clothing and how to manipulate fabric, studying the arts was invaluable because it taught me that anyone could wear almost any design if cut proportionately. Each of us carries our own personal geometry based on his or her own personal bust-to-waist-to hip-to-height-to-weight set of dimensions.”

During the twenty years he spent honing his skills as a tailor Alvin learned how to take less-than-perfect proportions and make them look perfect to the eye. In his view it’s one reason why the jacket remains the main stay of most wardrobes; it’s the one garment you will find in everyone’s wardrobe.

We began New Couture, Inc. in 2004 as a direct response to the lack of connection that the fashion industry has with real women. The word “New” in our name signifies that we use the latest in measuring and pattern-making technology. At the same time, our garments are constructed in the method of “Couture”. From the muslin prototype we create to ensure the garment’s silhouette works for our clients body geometry to dressmaker details, including hand-cut fabrics, and application of hand-made flowers and passmenterie, our garments are set apart from others by the tradition of the finest couturier houses.

www.newcouture.com

Right after his B.S graduation, Mr. Brian was employed as a systems application programmer with the world’s third largest chemical manufacturer in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Leung was inspired with the power of IT innovation 20 years ago while he was taking part in a major project of the Production Delivery System using distributing relational database installed worldwide. Since then, Mr. Leung was certified as the Systems Engineer in Novell, Microsoft and Cisco. He was the leadPM of several IT projects and implementations for clients such as the World Bank, DITCO, Department of Navy, and Army. Mr. Leung is a staunch believer in the broad use of IT to provide efficient service and enhance communications.

After 12 years of an IT career in technical and business management working in a successful small business company, Mr. Leung entered into his own entrepreneurship in Array Information Technology in year 2000. With years of experience in the Government and Private sectors, Mr. Leung is offering years of progressively complex IT experience in a variety of mission-critical projects for government and commercial enterprises.

Education:
B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland

M.S. in Management Information Systems from Bowie State of Maryland

from www.arrayinfotech.com

Mr. Slager was commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1975 after graduating with B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Psychology. He served as the executive officer of the Data Processing Center, 7th Medical Command, US Army, Europe providing IT support to 14 Hospitals and 260 medical clinics throughout European Theater. In 1978, he sustained a serious spinal injury on active duty that required nine months hospitalization and ended his Army Career.
Mr. Slager developed the TELCON network operating system for Sperry-Univac while completing his Masters in Computer Information Systems which was the first graduate program focused on the corporate CIO function.
In 1982, Mr. Slager joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a senior computer scientist in the R&D program to automate the FBI’s 59 field divisions. He was a technical architect of a $500 million system that connected mainframe centers to over 6,000 desktop computers, the field applications and the national network all in a top secret secure environment.
Mr. Slager was the managing consultant supporting the FAA’s outsourcing of its non-air traffic control IT systems under the $1.2B Computer Resources Nucleus Program. Mr Slager, as a founder and partner in E&A, managed the technical support effort which was the FAA’s CIO’s program support staff. This $1.2B effort was the largest information technology outsourcing effort undertaken by the Federal Government at that time.
In 1996, the E&A partnership was dissolved and Mr. Slager founded Catapult Technology. From 1996 to 2000, Catapult built a solid performance base at the Department of Transportation. In September 2001 Catapult won over $45M in IT infrastructure support contracts at DOT. Since that time, Mr. Slager has focused on the expansion of the firm into other Agencies, particularly in the Homeland Security area and has been an active advocate for opening business opportunities to veterans, especially disabled veterans, seeking to be entrepreneurs.

www.catapulttechnology.com

Katharine Giacalone is President of KGWorks, a successful management consulting firm based in the Washington, DC area.  She has more than 25 years of experience in management, human resources, organizational effectiveness, training and development for major public school districts, real estate investment trust companies, non-profit organizations, biotech companies and Fortune 500 corporations.

Katharine’s fresh, inspirational and humorous first book, Oops! I’m The Manager! Getting Past “What Do I Do Now?!” in 5 Easy Steps, provides an entertaining, yet essential hands-on guide for managers.

As a seasoned executive with extensive operations management experience in Fortune 100 companies, Katharine was the Vice President of Human Resources for Celera Genomics prior to launching her consulting business.  While at Celera, she led the efforts to create the human resources and learning infrastructure that successfully supported the rapid expansion of an employee base from 250 to more than 900 in a little over two years.  Katharine also actively participated in due diligence projects that led to the acquisition of two complex businesses.  Additionally, she designed and launched the training structure for assessing and delivering general management and supervisory skills for more than 100 managers. Katharine’s leadership and innovation supported the accelerated completion of scientific and technological milestones that achieved business success.

Katharine received the Master of Science degree in Organization Development from the Johns Hopkins University and the Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Hofstra University.  She serves on the Advisory Board of a venture capital firm and is the Secretary on the Board of Directors for a non-profit organization in Bethesda, Maryland.  She has been an adjunct professor at George Washington University. She is a regular contributor to a variety of business and trade publications and a recognized speaker for human resources, entrepreneur and trade associations.   Her management tips have been published by The Washington Business Journal, The American Society of Women Accountants, The Society for Human Resource Management and others.

www.kgworks.com

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Brian H. Hajost has most recently served as a consultant to the Company. From February 2007 until June 2008, Mr. Hajost served as Executive Vice President of Cryptek, Inc. Mr. Hajost served as Chief Operating Officer of the Company from December 2003 until June 2006 and President from June 2005 until June 2006. Prior to December 2003, he served as the Company’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing from June 2001 until his promotion to the COO position in 2003. Mr. Hajost also founded two consulting companies in 2006 and 2008.

from www.steelcloud.com

After attending Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College), David began his career at a creative services consultancy, where his roles ranged from managing the service bureau to consulting with local designers and marketers. He then moved on to the world’s largest aviation association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), as their senior designer. While at AOPA, David was instrumental in the association’s transition from a CompuServe bulletin board to a 30,000 page website and was responsible for development of their foundation’s award winning e-learning platform. During this time, David became an adjunct instructor at Frederick Community College, where he taught various courses in marketing, design, and the Internet. Seeing that the Web offered an opportunity to create an even more relevant means of communication between individuals and companies, David, in concert with partner Jonathan Boehman, launched Immersion Active in 1998.
Since co-founding Immersion Active, David’s primary responsibility has been within the marketing strategy and business development arenas. He is responsible for working with prospective clients to help them define their needs and goals, as well providing them with insight into ways to leverage digital media in their strategic marketing initiatives. In addition to his work at Immersion Active, David serves on the board of the local American Advertising Federation ad club and is an adjunct professor at McDaniel College.

from www.immersionactive.com

Anik Singal is the Founder and CEO of Affiliate Classroom, Inc. and Lurn, Inc. Anik began as an Internet marketer and affiliate in 2001, and prior to founding Affiliate Classroom, he was a consultant on SEO and online marketing strategy to a wide variety of businesses. Anik is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

Under Anik’s leadership, Affiliate Classroom has launched a wide variety of gold-standard educational products, including PPC Classroom, Blog Classroom, and AC Certified, the industry’s first online certification and job placement program for affiliate program managers. In 2008, Anik Singal was among the top three finalists in Business Week’s Top 25 Best Young Entrepreneurs in the U.S.

from www.lurn.com

Prior to founding High Street Partners, Larry Harding served as Vice President of International Finance for Ciena Corporation, a global supplier of telecommunications equipment. In this position, he developed and implemented the financial, accounting and administrative functions for Ciena’s international operations - which included 20 overseas offices in Europe, Asia, and Latin America - and provided assistance in such specialized areas as currency risk management and international logistics. Before joining Ciena, Larry held various positions in public accounting and private industry, including serving as CFO of Omnia Corporation and as Corporate Controller at VideoServer, where he contributed to the success of the company’s IPO. Earlier in his career, Larry served as CFO for Replica Corporation and as a Senior Manager and an M&A Consultant at Ernst & Young in Boston.

In 2000, he received The World Trade Center Institute’s annual Maryland International Business Leadership Award, which recognizes Maryland business executives whose creative influence has attributed to the global success of their companies. Larry became licensed as a CPA in Massachusetts in 1988 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a dual major in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

from www.hsp.com

Tracy Bloom Schwartz is the owner and manager of Creative Parties, Green Paper Studio’s brick and mortar parent stationery store in Bethesda, Md., for 15 years. Tracy has an M.B.A. from Boston University, experience in technical and marketing positions and is active in two local green organizations: Bethesda Green and SBNOW (Sustainable Business Network of Washington). Green Paper Studio is a Forbes Boost Your Business 2009 semi-finalist.

www.greenpaperstudio.com

Jim Weaver is President and CEO of W.T. Weaver & Sons a supplier of architectural and designer hardware and bath fixtures serving Washington D.C. and surrounding metropolitan areas. Located in Georgetown, W.T. Weaver & Sons is a fourth generation family owned business for over 120 years and is said to be the oldest family owned business in the Washington DC area.
Jim Weaver has served on bank boards, hospital boards and other community organization boards inside Georgetown and out in the northern Virginia area.
Raised in Arlington County he attended Washington & Lee High School and went on the Maryland University where he majored in jounalism. Along with his wife, Peggy, they have four children and eleven grandchildren all living in the northern Virginia area. Two of their sons, Bryce and Michael Weaver are vice presidents of the 120 year old W.T. Weaver & Sons and all are looking forward to another 120 years of serving the needs of Contractors, Architects, Designers and the general public.
www.weaverhardware.com

My name is Kris Appel and I am the Founder and President of Encore Path, Inc., a Baltimore, Maryland-based medical device company. I created the company in 2006 to commercialize and sell cutting-edge, research-based stroke technologies. The University of Maryland, Baltimore is leading the pack in creating neural regenerative technologies designed to help stroke patients improve their quality of life.

Encore Path’s debut product is Tailwind^™, a first-of-its-kind stroke rehabilitation device that has been proven in clinical studies to permanently improve arm function in stroke patients with paralysis.

www.encorepath.com

E. Hunt Burke is a member of the fifth generation of his family to operate Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company, Virginia’s oldest bank. He has worked at the bank in a variety of roles since the age of 13 and as a full time staff member for 29 years. Mr. Burke is currently Chief Executive Offcer at Burke & Herbert. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Hunt Burke was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. He attended Episcopal High School and the University of Richmond, then received his B.A. from George Mason University while working full-time at the bank. He graduated with honors from the Graduate School of Bank management at the University of Virginia. Mr. Burke is active in several community organizations including The Campagna Center and Friends of Carlyle House. His past service has included Elder Crafters of Alexandria, the Alexandria Chapter of the American Red Cross, Alexandria Business Cares Foundation and Alexandria Neighborhood Kids at Risk. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Five Guys Burgers & Fries. He and his wife of 25 years, Molly, reside in Alexandria with their four daughters.

www.burkeandherbert.com

Mr. Stanislas Vilgrain is President, Chief Executive Officer, Director of Cuisine Solutions, Inc. Mr. Vilgrain was appointed chief executive officer in October 1993 and resumed the position of president in May 2007. He previously served as president and chief operating officer from June 1991 to October 1993 and has served as a director since 1991. He served as president of the Vie de France Culinary Division from July 1987 to June 1991. He won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 Hospitality Award for the Greater Washington Region.

www.cuisinesolutions.com/

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To his role as CEO, Alan Snyder brings a wealth of senior management and consulting experience that continues to shape BoxTone’s approach to mobile user management. Throughout his professional career, Alan has been at the forefront of planning, designing, deploying, supporting, and expanding advanced business software and technology solutions for major corporations and government institutions.

Before joining BoxTone, he served as President and CEO of Idea Integration, a business unit of MPS Group and multi-national provider of e-business development and integration solutions. In addition to leading the company through several successful acquisitions, he helped Idea generate $240 million in revenue in 2000 and eventually become the largest integration partner for BEA.

Earlier in his career, Alan was a principal with IT consulting firm Perspective Technology, where he provided hands-on leadership to help successfully grow the company until it was acquired by MPS. He also served as a senior consultant at Accenture, where he developed and delivered IT solutions for Government Agencies. Alan received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Bucknell University.

from www.boxtone.com

Chris D’Agostino is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Near Infinity Corporation. Chris formed Near Infinity in 2002 with the goal of establishing a place where engineers could focus on solving some of industry’s most challenging problems. Chris’ vision for Near Infinity is to build a company that truly changes the way its clients build software, and he believes that Near Infinity employees represent some of the best minds in the industry. As CEO, Chris oversees daily operations and sets the strategic direction of the company. He is a firm believer in leading by example, and is committed to leveraging technology to help run an efficient, fun, and friendly company.

Chris has nearly 20 years of technical experience in the industry. He began his career with TRW as a Systems Engineer working on government contracts for the Department of Defense and the Department of State. Chris held several technical leadership positions and focused on local and wide area network (LAN/WAN) design and implementation. In 1998, he began developing C and Java applications for a small technology company in Washington, D.C. Over the last five years, Chris has focused exclusively on Java and has had the opportunity to develop thin and thick client applications for the J2EE platform.

Chris holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

from www.nearinfinity.com

Andreas Georghiou brings to Spacenet over 25 years of industry and leadership experience in the satellite and telecommunications sectors. Previous to Spacenet, Mr. Georghiou was the Chief Commercial Officer for SES Americom, and its predecessor, GE Americom, a unit of GE, and a member of Americom’s Management Committee. Mr. Georghiou was with SES Americom for over 20 years and held various leadership roles including President of Americom Asia Pacific, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations, and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. While the company was still GE Americom, he served as a GE Capital Officer. He started his career at the world renowned RCA, David Sarnoff Research Labs. Mr. Georghiou holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree from the Wharton School of Business, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar.

from www.spacenet.com

Michael Tinsley is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of NeoSystems Corp., a Managed Services Provider that delivers comprehensive, on-site, business accounting services to government contractors.

Michael founded NeoSystems in 2000 after 20 years of industry experience that gave him a vision for providing quality, efficient, and innovative accounting services.  Under Michael’s leadership, the Tysons Corner-based firm serves more that 50 clients and employs approximately 100 professionals, who often manage the majority of a client’s accounting and financial work.

Michael’s career includes extensive financial and administrative management experience with high-growth companies and government contractors.  Before establishing NeoSystems, he served as Vice President of Finance and Administration with Broadsoft, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions provider.

He also served as Chief Financial Officer for Scientific Research Corporation, a research and engineering firm specializing in defense communications systems.  He also held senior positions with Digital Lightwave, Inc., and BTG, Inc.  In addition, he owned and managed a private accounting practice and began his career at Price Waterhouse.

Michael is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor’s Degree from Murray State University.

from www.neosystems-usa.com

Recognizing the strong, latent demand for supercomputation in the sciences, medicine and industry, Steven Armentrout, Ph.D., President and CEO, founded Parabon Computation, Inc. in 1999. Dr. Armentrout is a Computer Scientist with over 25 years of experience designing, developing and deploying scientifically and computationally complex software solutions.

An expert in adapting algorithms for grid execution, Dr. Armentrout frequently lecturers on the topic of grid computing. He serves as a member of VisionShared, an economic development advisory board for the State of West Virginia, and is on Technology Advisory Boards for the Computer Science departments of James Madison University and West Virginia University.

Prior to founding Parabon, Dr. Armentrout was Director of Research and Portfolio Manager for The Burney Company, a national investment management firm, and directed its quantitative computation initiatives. Early in his career, he founded Neural Analytics, where his financial modeling work won recognition by the Q-Group, the world’s most distinguished financial collective.

Dr. Armentrout earned his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Maryland, and his computer modeling work has been featured in scientific, medical, and technical journals, including Science, Neural Computation, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Clinical Cancer Research.

from www.parabon.com

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Mr. O’Connell has over 20 years of experience in communications management and finance. He came to the commercial remote sensing industry in 2001 as CEO of GeoEye’s predecessor, ORBIMAGE. In January 2006, Orbimage merged with Space Imaging to form GeoEye, Inc. In 2008, GeoEye was selected by the Washington Business Journal as number four of the Fastest Growing Companies in the Washington D.C. area. In September 2008 and for the second year in a row, Deloitte named the company as a “Technology Fast 50″ award winner and ranked GeoEye number 10. In May 2008, GeoEye was ranked number 82 in the Washington Post’s “Top 200″ companies in the Washington, D.C. area based on 2007 revenue. In January 2008, O’Connell was appointed by the Department of the Interior to serve on its National Geospatial Advisory Committee. He was also elected to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s (USGIF) Board of Directors and in October 2007 was presented with their Industry Leader award. In June 2007, Mr. O’Connell was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst and Young for Communications in the Washington, D.C. region.

Prior to joining GeoEye, Mr. O’Connell was a managing director at Crest Advisors, a New York-based private merchant bank that invested in and advised communications companies, and senior vice president of Legal and Business Affairs for Sony Worldwide Networks, a division of Sony Corporation specializing in radio and Internet programming. Before working at Sony, he served as senior vice president and general counsel of Osborn Communications Corporation, a publicly traded radio and television station operator. Prior to his tenure at Osborn, Mr. O’Connell was the assistant general counsel at Cablevision Systems Corporation, where he was responsible for acquisitions and finance, including the company’s initial public offering. Mr. O’Connell began his career on Wall Street as a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Mr. O’Connell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics from Trinity College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School.

from http://www.geoeye.com

Kay Sears, President of Intelsat General is responsible for implementing the Company’s strategic and operational plans and for the overall mission of providing a range of sustainable, cost-effective and secure communications solutions to government and civilian customers.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the satellite communications industry including extensive experience in rapid response solutions for the US Government, both Military and Civilian agencies. Ms. Sears is an industry spokesperson for how commercial satellites can be utilized by the military to solve mission-critical needs and she has worked over the past several years to advance the commercial / DoD partnership.

Previously, she helped launch Government services business units at both G2 Satellite Solutions and Verestar. Ms. Sears has also held sales and product development positions with Intelsat and Comsat World Systems. Ms. Sears has a Masters in Business Administration from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Richmond.

Ms. Sears is currently serving on the SATCON Advisory Board and is on the Board of Directors for Women in Aerospace.

from http://www.intelsatgeneral.com/aboutus/bios/kay_sears.aspx

Ted Leonsis is known as one of the country’s premier businessmen having held numerous leadership positions at AOL. He is also a professional sports team owner, a film producer, a private-angel investor, an active Board member and a committed philanthropist.

During his 14-year career with AOL, the company enjoyed its greatest periods of growth and financial success. Ted now serves as Vice Chairman Emeritus, having stepped down from day-to-day management at AOL on December 31, 2006. He has served as AOL Vice Chairman as well as President of several business units including the AOL Services Company; AOL Studios; AOL Web Services; AOL Core Service and the AOL Audience Business.

Ted’s creation of SnagFilms stems naturally from his entertainment, technology and philanthropic activities. He conceptualized and produced Nanking, a documentary film that made its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Documentary Editing Award. Since that time, the film has been screened at film festivals around the globe including the Hong Kong Film Festival, where it won the Humanitarian Award, and is already the best-selling documentary in China’s history. For his production debut with Nanking, Ted assembled a highly acclaimed filmmaking team including the Academy Award-winning writer/director team of Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, as well as a strong Hollywood cast including Woody Harrelson, Jurgen Prochnow, Mariel Hemingway and others to narrate the film. Nanking is a documentary film that serves as a powerful, emotional and relevant reminder of the heartbreaking toll war takes on the innocent as it tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, in the early days of World War II. Theatrically released in late 2007, the film aired on HBO in April, 2008 and was short-listed for the Academy Award ©. While at the Sundance Film Festival, Ted coined the phrase “Filmanthropy” to describe a new category of filmmaking that activates discussion as well as new volunteers and new funds that benefit a social cause. His second production, Kicking It, is a feature documentary about the power of sports as an agent for change and personal redemption and is a natural extension of Filmanthropy.

Ted is now the Chairman of Revolution Money, an innovative new Web 2.0 payment platform and credit-card service created to transform the financial services industry by drastically altering the economics through Internet-based technology. This new payment platform also generates significant merchant and consumer benefits. Revolution Money, formerly GratisCard Inc., is a subsidiary of Revolution LLC, the investment company created by Steve Case. Ted is also Chairman of Clearspring Technologies, a fast-growing widget syndication and social media company based in Tysons Corner, VA.

Early in his career, Ted was the founder of several new media companies including Redgate Communications Corporation, a pioneering new media company which, in 1993, was the first company acquired by AOL. He was also the founder of six personal computer magazines, authored four books and worked on the introduction of the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh. He co-invented a very successful board game called “Only in New York,” and served as a marketing executive with Harris Corp and Wang Laboratories. Ted is also the founder, chairman and majority owner of Lincoln Holdings LLC, a sports and entertainment company that holds ownership rights in several Washington, DC entities including 100% of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. Lincoln Holdings also owns approximately 44% of Washington Sports and Entertainment Limited Partnership (WSELP), which owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards, DC’s Verizon Center and the Baltimore-Washington Ticketmaster franchise.

During Ted’s tenure as majority owner of the Capitals, the team has won two division titles and recorded the second-most points in franchise history. Under his leadership, several Washington Capitals business units have been recognized nationally, including game presentation by IDEA, media relations by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and the website by Sports Business Journal and Forbes magazine.

In addition to Lincoln Holdings LLC, Ted also has investments in a large group of web-related companies including: Algentis LLC; Beacon Capital Strategies LLC; Clearspring Technologies; Geneva Acquisition Corp.; Mahalo; Mobile Posse; Object Video and Qloud. Ted serves on the board of several of these companies as well as PodShow. Ted is a major philanthropist and is very involved with numerous charities, including Best Buddies, Hoop Dreams, See Forever Foundation, Youth Aids and others through the work of the Leonsis Foundation.

He also once served as mayor of Orchid, FL. Among his many honors, Ted has been named Washington’s Businessman of the Year, a Washingtonian of the Year, one of the 20 most influential people in sports, one of America’s most creative executives and a top 10 entrepreneur of the year. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, and later, Lowell, MA, he now lives in McLean, VA, and Vero Beach, FL, with his wife and two children.

From: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/team

Mr. Kulkarni is the founder and managing principal of Customer Value Partners. He has more than twenty years of experience in business and technology consulting, strategy development, change management, and advanced technology strategy. Mr. Kulkarni’s specialties include e-commerce, customer relationship management, operations and IT alignment strategies, organizational transformation, and operations research. His industry expertise lies in Media, Telecommunications, and Financial Services. Mr. Kulkarni was previously the Managing Director for Strategic Services at Answerthink, a publicly held consulting and systems integration firm. Prior to that, he led the Media and Publishing consulting practice at SRA International. He also founded Anthem Decision Support Systems, a management and technology consulting firm specializing in decision support and analytical tools for sales and marketing in the consumer products industry. Mr. Kulkarni received a BS in operations research and computational science (with honors), with concentrations in statistics and economics, and an MS in operations research and management science, both from George Washington University.

From:  http://www.cvpcorp.com/about/leadership_team.php

Julien G. Patterson has over 28 years of international policy experience and business management expertise. Under his leadership and guidance OMNIPLEX has grown to a successful mid-sized corporation with an employee population of over 3500 security professionals and this year projected annual revenues of over $100 million. He is a frequent keynote speaker to Government agencies, the Chamber of Commerce, and many civic and religious groups.

Mr. Patterson began his professional career with the Central Intelligence Agency, during which he designed a wide variety of comprehensive and specialized security training programs. Serving 10 years with the CIA, he was responsible for leading a specialized group of worldwide mobile training teams. In 1987, Mr. Patterson left the CIA to begin his career as an entrepreneur and consultant.

In 1990, he founded OMNIPLEX World Services Corporation (then known as OMNISEC International) and has been responsible for successfully growing the business in several critical security arenas. OMNIPLEX has established two wholly owned subsidiaries: OMNISEC International Investigations, Inc., an industry leader in the provision of background investigations and prescreening services; and OMNISEC International Security Services, Inc., a nationwide provider of government cleared Security Officers. The corporate philosophy of OMNIPLEX is, Right People, Right Values® and it drives every aspect of the business from the employees that OMNIPLEX selects, to the customers it serves, and to the communities it supports through its philanthropic programs.

In 1997, Mr. Patterson was named the Greater Washington Entrepreneur of the Year from a field of over 890 nominees in the highly competitive Business Services category. The Entrepreneur of the Year award, sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP, the NASDAQ Stock Market, and other nationally known companies, was established to recognize “an elite group of entrepreneurs whose vision, innovation and hard work have established and sustained successful growing businesses.”

from: http://www.omniplex.com/executives.cfm

LaMont Wells is a successful executive with over 30 years of increasingly responsible positions in strategic leadership, information technology, contracts and acquisition management, systems integration, information security, and program management. LaMont graduated from the University of Rhode Island as a Distinguished Military Graduate and received a BS in Business Administration. He earned four masters degrees: Florida Institute of Technology (MS-Contracts and Acquisition Management); Salve Regina University (MS- Management); the Naval War College (MA- National Security and Strategic Studies) and The National Defense University (MS- National Resource Strategy: Information Warfare and Strategic Studies).

His record of accomplishments focuses specifically on corporate strategic growth, capturing business, strategic planning, corporate strategic program development, process improvements and program execution. At Siemens Government Services, he first was appointed as the VP for Operations and Corporate Development where he had operational responsibilities for managing the $550M State Department Security Technical Operational Services contract. There, he led the project execution of the department’s global technical security program to secure embassies, consulates and Posts around the world. He managed 6 program managers and over 25 project managers with over 150 projects operating in support of worldwide deployments, supply chain management, technology development, project management engineering operations, HSPD-12 deployments, and 24/7 global managed security operations. Later, he was appointed as the VP for Strategy and Business Development where he led the due diligence and government integration “carve out” from a $3.5B M&A activity. He established and led a marketing and sales organization which resulted in a strategic opportunity pipeline of over $6B in targeted opportunities.

He was the Senior Vice President for Corporate Development for American Systems Corporation (AS), a large systems engineering and technical services corporation. He established and built a corporate development group chartered to strategically grow the corporation. He led the Strategic Marketing Group which consisted of all the corporation’s senior business unit leaders who were chartered to determine the corporations’ strategic direction and focus. His efforts significantly contributed to AS’s 22% compound annual growth rate. He was responsible for developing and managing AS’s $682M qualified opportunity pipeline.

He was a Senior Vice President at ManTech International’s security division. There, he managed and led Department of State of State programs: Critical Infrastructure Protection; information security; PKI; computer based training; and inter-agency security programs.

He was the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for a small business, specializing in classified programs in the federal sector. He oversaw the program management of Information technology Support Services at the Department of Transportation, Riggs Bank National, the District of Columbia, Department of Energy, and the US Army. He led capture teams for, and won, the $43M DoE Office of Safeguards and Security classified security program and the $1.B FAA BITS contracts. As a key member of BearingPoint PEO-EIS capture team, he participated in the team’s $50M US Army Secure Electronic Security Devices contract win.

Upon his retirement from the US Army, he was appointed to rank of Executive Service (ES) for the presidentially appointed Financial Recovery and Management Assistance Authority. There he served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer. He managed two systems integration programs ($130M value). Throughout his military career was continually nominated and selected for highly competitive command and staff assignments on the Army Staff (Logistics and Operations), the Joint Chiefs of Staff and forward deployed Divisions. He was selected to the Joint Staff where, he served in the J-3 (Current Operations) in the National Military Command Center and was responsible for training operations teams in the nuclear release authority procedures. He managed the National Command Authority and the National Security Council emergency command, control, and communications infrastructure, which facilitated Succession of Government, Continuity of Government, and Continuity of Operations programs. He served on the Colonel’s Working Group, which established a Joint Chiefs of Staff directorate to combat terrorism. His military awards include: the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit; the Meritorious Service Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters; the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters; the Army Achievement Medal; the Humanitarian Service Medal; the Army Service Medal; the Presidential Unit Citation; the Overseas Ribbon; the US Army Staff Badge; and the Joint Staff Badge.

He is certified in: Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM); Project Management; Defense Executive Acquisition; and Procurement Strategies for Information Technology. He is an International Who’s Who of Professionals –2000 and an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches Business Development.

from  http://www.websterdata.com/wells_bio.pdf

Named a “Woman to Watch” by Washingtonian Magazine (June 2006), Cydni L. Bickerstaff, is the CEO of The Bickerstaff Group. Cydni is a business-savvy entrepreneur who has used her innate knowledge of marketing, event planning and sponsorships to build a successful company.

Having held management positions with companies including collegiate marketer Host Communications, ASCENT Sports, the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, Cydni crafted her skills by working throughout the country. In addition, she’s worked on a number of tournaments, classics, bowls and tours throughout her career.

Motivated to help athletes develop both on an off of their respective playing fields, as well as help historically black colleges and universities earn the respect they deserve, Cydni incorporated what was then known as Bickerstaff Sports and Entertainment in 2001. Since its inception, Cydni has grown her company into a full-service agency and she has established herself as one of the best in the field.

Known for her commitment to excellence, Cydni and The Bickerstaff Group have been recognized for their accomplishments locally and nationally. In November 2007, Cydni received the Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise Award, which salutes top minority and women business owners in the Washington, DC region. In 2006, Cydni was the recipient of the Black Retail Action Group’s (BRAG) JJ Thomas Business Innovators Award. BRAG is a non-profit which promotes the acceptance of men and women of color in all levels of retail and retail-related industries. She has also been featured in Black Enterprise Magazine, Essence Magazine and the Washington Business Journal.

A graduate of Hampton University, Cydni obtained her B.S. in accounting and an M.B.A. from Florida A&M University. A native of Columbia, MD, Cydni is the daughter of Eugenia and Bernie Bickerstaff, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats

from http://www.bickerstaffgroup.com./AboutTeam.html

Craig Liddell is an experienced executive and respected senior-level scientist with extensive experience managing dynamic technology, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical businesses. At Paradigm Genetics Inc. he established, built and managed teams of over 80 in informatics and bioinformatics to deliver on over $160 million in commercial contracts. Wrote and won $22.8 million grant from NIST-ATP — largest-ever bioinformatics grant awarded by NIST or any other competitive grant body in the U.S. Contributed to successful IPO of Paradigm Genetics Inc. during down-turning market in 2000. Dr. Liddell successfully launched Paradigm Genetics Inc. healthcare business in 2000 and secured ~$50 million in multi-year commitments by 2001. The company recently sold the healthcare business to Clinical Data Inc. The company sold the agricultural business to MONSANTO Corp. in 2004. Dr. Liddell helped found and establish Artesian Therapeutics Inc., a start-up cardiovascular therapeutics company, with a capital raise of just under $6M in 2002. The company was recently sold to CARDIOME Pharma Inc. Dr. Liddell assisted several small companies in 2004 and 2005 with fund raising, sales and marketing and executive management and leadership including BioFortis Inc. of Baltimore, MD — a biomedical research information technology company. He is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AMULET Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Baltimore, MD, and sits on the Board of BioFortis Inc.

from  http://www.amuletpharma.com/management.html

Gabe Klein has been around the block a few times in a variety of industries spanning telecommunications, consulting, retail, internet and transportation.  He also grew up for a time in a Yoga commune, is a hip-hop head, and somehow ended up with a business degree.  From building Zipcar in Washington D.C., to building and managing operations for Bikes USA, a 21 store big-box start-up, Gabe has been amassing strategy, marketing, operations and government relations skills for over a decade on his way to founding Home Slice LLC, parent company of On The Fly®.  When not working, he can be spotted around DC eating, boot camping, scooting on his new Vespa, and…. eating around DC.

from  http://www.dconthefly.com/team.php

Robert C. Kettler is the majority shareholder, founder and chairman of real estate development company Kettler. Mr. Kettler founded Kettler in 1977 under the original name of Kettler & Scott, Inc. Prior to forming Kettler, Mr. Kettler began his career in 1973 constructing retail outlets for local chain stores and remodeling homes and small apartment buildings. He also developed several custom home communities in Northwest Washington in the early 1970’s.

Under Mr. Kettler’s leadership, Kettler has assembled, master-planned, zoned, and developed many of the largest planned communities in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, comprised of over 40,000 dwelling units covering nearly 20,000 acres and, as a result, has become the largest land development company in the Washington Metro region. Examples of these communities include Sully Station, Virginia Run, Piedmont, Lorton Station, Cascades, Wellington, Potomac Station, Port Potomac, Brambleton, and Prince William Town Center. In addition, Mr. Kettler, through Kettler, developed and owns a majority interest in a portfolio of 12,000 apartments in the Washington Metro area, of which 9,000 units are managed by KSI and over 6,000 are either in production or in the pipeline for acquisition or construction. Kettler delivers approximately 2,000 units per year to the marketplace and is ranked among the top 20 largest multifamily developers in the U.S.

Mr. Kettler has developed many mixed-use commercial developments with over 5 million square feet of retail and office uses. Several projects are stand-alone developments, including the two million square foot Trinity Centre and 1.5 million square foot Middleton project, both in Fairfax County. However, most mixed-use projects developed by Kettler are embedded in planned communities and consist of neighborhood and community retail and employment uses. Kettler has developed 14 food-anchored centers and associated neighborhood employment developments in this format.

Kettler is the developer of the Lowes Island Club in Cascades in Loudoun County, Virginia, and the Piedmont Golf Club in Prince William County, Virginia, both Tom Fazio designed courses. His firm acquired and remodeled the Goose Creek Golf Course in Leesburg, Virginia in 2000. In addition, the Company planned the Brambleton golf course in Loudoun County, which he sold to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority in 1993. Kettler is currently developing two new championship golf courses, one in Eastern Prince William County, Virginia, and one in southern Fairfax, Virginia.

In 1986, the National Association of Home Builders recognized Mr. Kettler as Developer of the Year. Kettler has received hundreds of awards for housing design, land planning, and urban design. These include awards from the Urban Land Institute, Fairfax County (for environmental engineering and tree preservation), community associations as well as industry associations and publications.

Mr. Kettler has served on the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, the Northern Virginia Political Action Committee, the Washington Metropolitan Area Boys Club, and Venture America (a Washington-based venture capital group), and Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church. He was on the Board of Trustees of St. Patrick’s School in upper northwest Washington, D.C. and was chairman of the building committee. He has also served on advisory boards at George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College.

A native Washingtonian, Mr. Kettler attended the George Washington University and American University for four years between 1970 and 1974, concentrating in economics and real estate. He and his wife Charlotte have been married for 20 years and have four children.

Peter Justen is a serial entrepreneur with a 25-year record of developing companies from concept to profit, with a particular focus on driving efficiencies to large and inefficient markets.  At Countrywide Funding, Peter launched a new, in-house “start-up” where he generated in excess of $1.8 billion in new loan originations through the development of proprietary channel partners in 18 months, setting new industry standards. He later co-founded a financial services firm based in Washington D.C., where he created over 1,100 alliance partners in 18 months, assisting with the successful sale of the company to a publicly traded financial services firm.

In all, Pete has started in more than 20 businesses in 30-years, spanning industries from finance to construction and mortgage lending. He is passionate about entrepreneurship, small business and education for America’s youth. Pete is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth and Chairs the Advisory Board of the Harry F. Byrd School of Entrepreneurship, Shenandoah University, and supports community causes for battered women and children at risk. In 2006 he was selected by Smart CEO Magazine as one of the 20 Leaders We Admire in Washington, D.C.

from http://www.mybizhomepage.com/?id=theteam

Ms. Lee, who founded STG International, Inc in 1997, possess more than 20 years of experience in all aspects of business operations and government contracting. She is a hands-on executive, involved in every aspect of business operations and customer development within STG. As President and CEO of STG, she has successfully transitioned and managed more than 60 business contracts, worth more than $250 million, during the course of her career to date.

STG International’s exponential growth demonstrates Ms. Lee’s ability to succeed through rapidly adapting to new environments and responsibilities, operating from a global perspective, and by integrating divergent concepts that result in creative solutions to problems. Ms. Lee’s expertise in recruiting, retaining, and motivating superior talent from within the various workforces are the keys to her success in building STG. Ms. Lee has a Master of Science degree in Library and Information Sciences from Texas Woman’s University.

(from http://www.stginternational.com/html/management.htm )