Matthew T. Cornelius

Managing Director- Federal Industry – Workday (Speaker)

Matthew is the Managing Director for Federal Industry, where he helps lead go to market strategy, communications, and planning for Workday, one of the world’s leading cloud-based enterprise software companies. Prior to joining Workday, he served as a Senior Professional Staff Member for Chairman Gary C. Peters on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), covering a wide array of IT modernization, budget, appropriations, regulatory, and government operations matters. Before the Hill, he was the Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI) – a coalition of customer-focused commercial companies helping to shape government IT modernization efforts through effective advocacy and thought leadership. Cornelius also served nearly a decade in the Executive Branch as a Senior Advisor for Technology and Cybersecurity Policy at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and as the Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity to the Administrator of the General Services Administration.

Joshua Shapiro

Vice President, Ascella Technologies, Inc.

Joshua Shapiro applies his more than 20 years of combined Federal IT systems consulting and U.S. Federal Government financial management systems experience and subject matter expertise to analyze, identify, develop, and implement financial management solutions for government agencies and organizations. Mr. Shapiro is currently a Vice President with Ascella Technologies, Inc. (Ascella) where he manages several portfolios of accounts, leads client relationship and engagement efforts, supports financial management system shared services migrations, and implements Ascella’s GovCycle® budget formulation and execution solution. Mr. Shapiro specializes in federal financial management, budget, and acquisition systems, and has an in-depth understanding of the data and systems associated with the U.S. Federal Government budget and spending life cycle, including how the information in this data can be unlocked through data analytics to support data-driven and evidence-based decision-making. Prior to joining Ascella, Mr. Shapiro served as the Financial Systems Manager and as the Acting Budget Director for a U.S. Federal Government agency as a GS-15 where he managed and executed agency-wide financial system upgrades, enhancements, maintenance, and operations activities. Prior to entering federal service, Mr. Shapiro was a Senior Consultant and Project Manager with CGI Federal (CGI) and served as a financial systems subject matter expert for CGI’s Momentum® solution. Mr. Shapiro graduated from The College of William and Mary with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Operations and Information Systems.

Steve Nulter

Senior Business Analyst and Acquisition Advisor in the Financial Management Quality Service Management Office (FM QSMO), within the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

Mr. Nulter joined the FM QSMO effort shortly after Treasury’s pre-designation by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in early 2019 and served on the team that developed the 5-year Implementation Plan leading to its formal designation as the QSMO for Core Financial Management in June 2020. In partnership with the General Services Administration (GSA), Steve led FM QSMO efforts to establish the government-wide acquisition solution which provides agencies with access to the commercial solutions and services of the FM QSMO Marketplace and currently manages the associated functions.

Mr. Nulter has over 15 years of federal procurement experience. Prior to joining the FM QSMO, Steve managed Fiscal Service’s internal bureau procurement operations within Treasury’s Administrative Resource Center (ARC). He has been directly involved in providing shared services to a variety of agencies, supported several procurement policy initiatives, and has led multiple Treasury strategic acquisition initiatives to increase the efficacy of fulfilling common needs across the agency.

Mr. Nulter holds a Level III Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) from the Federal Acquisition Institute and was Treasury’s 2015 Small Business Contracting Officer of the Year. Steve is a graduate of Ohio Valley University and resides in Parkersburg, West Virginia with his wife and 3 children.

Robert Wuhrman

Director of the Shared Services Policy Implementation Office, Office of Government-Wide Policy, GSA

Robert Wuhrman is Director of the Shared Services Policy Implementation Office in the Office of Government-Wide Policy at GSA where he leads a team engaging Federal agencies and industry to advance decision-making on priorities, planning, policy, and best practices needed to support agency modernization through a marketplace of shared solutions and services in areas such as Financial, Grants, and Real Property Management, Human Capital, Travel, IT, and Cybersecurity.  His team partners with agency and policy leadership across these functions to identify and address modernization opportunities and challenges in areas such as technology, funding, agency readiness, governance, procurement, workforce, and data. Among other things, these partnerships include coordinating with Quality Service Management Offices and the Shared Services Governance Board, collecting feedback on and publishing the Federal government’s Modernization Framework (M3), and advancing a government-wide program to obtain agency agreement and participation in Federal-wide mission-support business and data standards used in procurement, cost transparency, and technology modernization.

Prior his arrival at GSA, Rob served 6 years, culminating as Chief Information Officer, in delivering a technology portfolio servicing a small agency of 600 law enforcement, audit, analyst, and attorney personnel across 45 regional and field offices.  Mr. Wuhrman also served 10 years at the American Institutes for Research, a non-partisan evidence-based behavior research firm, designing and deploying shared data platforms, information center technologies, and public-facing digital services to advance public health communications priorities across HHS components on topics such as heart disease, high blood pressure, infectious diseases, opioid abuse, childhood obesity and physical activity.  Robert has a bachelor’s degree in management, cum laude from Harvard University Extension School and is currently completing his Master’s degree in the same.

David A. Peters

USDA Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) – Digital Infrastructure Services Center (DISC)

David Peters was selected as Associate Chief Information Officer (ACIO) of USDA OCIO’s DISC organization in October 2020. In this role, David leads all enterprise hosting/cloud, network services, and enterprise applications solutions development. Leveraging his prior business leadership and solutions development experience, David transformed the DISC organization to a more customer-centric IT Solutions provider within USDA through the implementation of the Cloud Working Group, Customer Quarterly Profile Meetings, and unified customer teams, processes, and tools to enable complex solution support across cloud, low code, and legacy platforms while also implementing customer experience metrics.

Prior to joining USDA, David served as the Deputy Executive Director, GSA Centers of Excellence (CoE) where he led all engagement operations from concept to completion.  Under David’s leadership, the CoE initiative doubled agency engagement. David joined the GSA Technology Transformation Service (TTS) Centers of Excellence in November 2018 and led the CoE lighthouse engagement with the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In this role, David led six IT Modernization teams comprised of 150 staff, contractors, and USDA detailees to drive enterprise transformation via cloud adoption, data analytics, contact center consolidation, and increased customer experience management. The CoE initiative was launched with the sponsorship of the Office of American Innovation (OAI).

Prior to TTS, David split his career between government and private sector where he led multiple solutions development and solutions management/marketing teams. In an earlier position at GSA, David led telecommunication supplier engagement responsible for $3.5 billion annual in federal government purchases. As the leader of GSA’s Enterprise Mobility program and FSSI-Wireless, David was the Federal Government’s first Mobile Category Manager and was a 2014 Federal 100 award winner.

David joined GSA in 2010 after spending nearly 14 years with Verizon and AT&T. He continues to leverage his commercial background in his approach to program development and management where customer-engagement is the most critical ingredient for success. David also served on the board for the Washington DC/Federal Government Chapter of the Independent Telecommunications Pioneers Association (ITPA) from 2015-2019 and received the 2018 ITPA Federal Government Excellence award.

David has an MBA with concentrations in marketing and information systems from Penn State and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He lives in Fairfax Station, Virginia, with his wife and three sons and enjoys coaching baseball and basketball.

Lisa Zellers

Chief Strategy Officer
Viatrie

Lisa Zellers’ almost 20 years of professional experience spans multiple technology verticals and horizontals across more than 10 federal agencies. A strong leader and collaborator, Lisa develops, recommends, and implements technical and process-oriented solutions to support customer business goals. She designs and executes enterprise-wide solutions, implementing Agile, Code Quality, and DevOps methodologies to enhance service delivery, specifically in software engineering management. She has run product and platform teams at both small and large companies. Lisa creates and manages transition plans for large-scale transformations, incorporating organizational change management (OCM) methods throughout the project lifecycle. As a Co-founder of ViaTrie, Lisa serves as a Chief Strategy Officer and manages technical delivery for enterprise-level client projects.

Lisa received a B.S in Business Information Technology with a concentration in Decision Support Systems and a second major in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech, and a M.S. in Management of Information Systems from George Washington University. She volunteers and leads projects in many public-private partnership organizations in the government technology community, including ACT-IAC, Shared Services Leadership Coalition (SSLC) and Professional Services Council (PSC).

Yasmeen Burns

Director of Customer Experience (CX) and Solution Designer
The Clearing

Dr. Yasmeen Burns is the Customer Experience Solution Designer at The Clearing, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm, with over 20 years of expertise in customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), organizational development, and human-centered design. Her work emphasizes the importance of building public trust, particularly in federal agencies where transparency and trustworthiness are key to achieving impactful CX and EX outcomes. Dr. Burns has driven transformative CX and EX initiatives for clients such as the Social Security Administration (SSA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the General Services Administration (GSA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Department of Defense (DOD), helping them remove systemic barriers, enhance organizational alignment, and foster coordinated action that supports agency-wide effectiveness, growth, and innovation.

An advocate of human-centered design, Dr. Burns brings a people-first approach to her work, ensuring that both employee and customer needs are central to the strategies she develops. Her academic credentials include a BA from Georgetown University, an MBA in Organization Development from Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctorate with a focus on Public Trust from Bowling Green State University.

Dr. Burns is a respected voice in organizational development and customer experience, having served on the Board of the Organization Development Network (2012–2015), received the 2017 OD Network Service Award, and been a convening member of the Organization Development Gathering (2017–2019). She currently sits on the Advisory Board for the University of Richmond’s Customer Experience Program and the Organization Development Review (ODR) Board. Her team’s work has earned The Clearing consecutive US CX Awards for CX Digital Transformation and CX Innovation, underscoring her commitment to creating trust-centered, innovative solutions that meet the unique needs of federal organizations and their stakeholders.

Topher Marshall

Human Factors Engineer, ViaTrie

Topher is a human factors engineer focused primarily on user experience and in-depth user research, working to ensure that end products meet the needs of stakeholders and users and that all solutions seamlessly integrate within existing ecosystems. Topher’s experience spans multiple disciplines including IOT device development, large scale systems, and government solutions. He is currently working at USDA to enable enterprise cloud vendor management to drive cost savings and technical efficiencies across the department.

Troy D. Edgar

Partner
IBM, US Federal Finance & Supply Chain Transformation Leader

Troy Edgar is an IBM executive in the US Federal consulting business serving as Partner leading Finance and Supply Chain Transformation.  He brings together the IBM service lines and practice areas to our federal market clients and helps IBM better understand the voice of the customer and reinforce the eminence of our brand. He is also the host of the Ameritocracy podcast that promotes guests and empower listeners in their pursuit of merit and success.

Edgar was previously the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for the $90 billion budget, financial systems modernization, and financial operations for all DHS management and operations. Edgar is a U.S. Navy veteran with more than 25 years of consulting, corporate and public sector experience as a senior executive delivering consulting services to over 40 Fortune 500 companies across many industries including government, aerospace and defense, logistics and technology.

He started his consulting career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after nearly a decade with Boeing as the CFO for the company’s $3 billion military aircraft logistics and C17 USAF/Boeing Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership (GSP) business. He later founded Global Conductor (GC), a $130 million boutique consulting firm specializing in F500 business transformation, corporate consolidations, restructuring, acquisition integration, shared services, and systems integration. GC was named one of Consulting Magazine’s Fastest Growing Firms in 2016 and 2017.

Edgar holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Dr. F. Stevens (Steve) Redburn

Professorial Lecturer, The Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration
George Washington University, United States

Dr. Steve Redburn, Professorial Lecturer, The Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University. International consultant on budget process, author, and lecturer with 3 decades of government experience. Formerly Study Director, National Academy of Sciences; Project Director, National Academy of Public Administration; Senior career executive, U.S. Office of Management and Budget; Adjunct Professor, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, Adelaide, Australia.

Kenneth L. Newton

Director, Service Delivery Directorate
NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) 

 Ken Newton serves as the Director, Service Delivery for the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) in Hancock County, Mississippi. As the Director for Service Delivery in an Agency-wide effort to stand-up a shared services center, Mr. Newton’s duties include: managing more than 100 civil servants in the Service Delivery Directorate; serving as the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative for the NSSC Service Provider Contract; serving as the Transition Manager responsible for effectively and efficiently leading the change effort involved in transitioning activities in Financial Management, Human Resources, Procurement, and Information Technology; and, implementing a Customer Contact Center that utilizes the latest technology for customer relationship management, automated call distribution, and integrated voice response. Mr. Newton is responsible for interfacing with stakeholders and customers on all matters regarding technical integration and operational readiness. 

Prior to becoming the Director for Service Delivery, Mr. Newton served as Deputy Director for Service Delivery since August of 2006. Prior to the NSSC, Newton served as the Operations Integration Manager (Oct. 2004 to July 2006), Budget Operations Lead, and Executive Officer for the NSSC Project at NASA Headquarters. In the role as Budget Operations Lead, he was required to promote collaboration at all levels of the financial community ranging from the Chief Financial Officer to institutional budget and finance leaders. 

His ability to communicate operational, financial, and budgetary impacts effectively has helped to facilitate the necessary organizational and policy changes to implement such a centralized service delivery model for the first time in the Agency’s history. NASA in more recent years has strived to achieve management and institutional excellence comparable to its technical excellence. The development and implementation of the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) was intended to help to achieve this challenging strategy. 

Mr. Newton began his NASA career at the Kennedy Space Center where he last served as an Independent Assessment Engineer in the Assessments Division of the Safety, Health, and Independent Assessment Directorate. Prior NASA experience includes: Lead, Logistics Engineering Management in the Joint Performance Management Office, Logistics Operations Engineer in the Logistics Operations Directorate, and Shuttle Operations Engineer in the Shuttle Operations & Management Directorate. 

Mr. Newton graduated from the University of Florida in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He joined NASA in September 1989. Mr. Newton will be appointed to the federal Senior Executive Service (SES) effective March 25, 2012. 

For information about the NASA Shared Services Center, visit: http://www.nssc.nasa.gov 

Jeffrey Schramek

Executive Director
Administrative Resource Center
Bureau of the Fiscal Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Jeffrey (Jeff) Schramek was appointed the Executive Director of the Administrative Resource Center (ARC) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (Fiscal Service) on November 7, 2021. Mr. Schramek directs a staff of nearly 1,200 people and provides leadership, direction, and guidance on shared services, accounting functions, data transparency, and innovative solutions to ensure Federal financial management is more efficient, transparent and customer oriented. Additionally, Jeff provides leadership to ARC’s financial management, procurement, travel, and human resource shared service lines.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Jeffrey Schramek served as the Deputy Commissioner for Financial Services and Operations (FS&O), Fiscal Service. In that role, Mr. Schramek directed a staff of nearly 1,700 people in seven locations and was responsible for the oversight of a number of support organizations including six Federal Reserve Banks (fiscal agents) and 80 financial institutions (financial agents). Mr. Schramek was responsible for providing oversight to the federal government’s collection and disbursement of funds, delinquent debt collection, and the financing of the Federal government through both wholesale and retail services.

Mr. Schramek joined the federal government in 1991 when he joined DMS just after its inception and continued to advance through the ranks of that organization. He started his career in the Debt Services Division in Washington, D.C. and soon became the Director. He was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2006 as the Director of DMS’s Operations Center in Alabama. In July 2009, he was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner (2009-2011) and stayed in that position until receiving his appointment as Assistant Commissioner in July 2011. In February 2018, Mr. Schramek returned to Washington, D.C. as the Deputy Commissioner of FS&O. Mr. Schramek understands the importance of integrity, accountability, collaboration, learning and excellence. He has strong relationships with his Assistant Commissioners, directors, managers, and employees, as well as senior leadership at Treasury and other Federal and state agencies and organizations.

Quan M. Boatman

Director. Interior Business Center
U.S. Department of Interior

Quan M. Boatman is the Deputy Director of the Interior’s Interior Business Center. She serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer to ensure effective planning and management of IBC services, operations, and resources. She is also responsible for guiding IBC’s strategy, risk, and performance management functions while supporting IBC’s three customer-facing shared service areas of assisted acquisition, financial management, and human resources/payroll.

With nearly 20 years of professional career experience (11 with the federal government), she is recognized as an expert in cost reduction and program efficiencies which result in improved management of organizational and budget resources to eliminate waste, streamline processes, and implement continuous improvement processes.

Prior to the IBC, Quan held various leadership roles with the U.S. General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). In the Office of Customer and Stakeholder Engagement, she served as the Director of the Vendor Engagement and Training Division, overseeing execution of two national programs: Voice of the Supplier Program Management Office (PMO) and federal acquisition workforce training; and Branch Chief of the National Account Management Strategy Division, overseeing a national customer engagement team supporting DoD and civilian agencies’ procurement contracting activities. In the Office of Enterprise Management, Quan served as the Acting Branch Chief for the Category Management PMO and Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) PMO, responsible for the $460M government-wide procurement obligations, program delivery, management controls, and performance oversight.

Quan began her federal career as a Team Lead at the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the Chief Procurement Officer where she led enterprise management of acquisition spend valued at $11B for sustainable operations for information technology (IT) services, professional services, office supplies, software licenses, relocation, financial management, and logistics management. In 2013, she was selected for a detail assignment with the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a policy analyst with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy supporting OMB’s Government-wide Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI).

Before the federal government, Quan worked for the private sector, state government, and non-profit organizations and held various professional positions, gaining extensive experience in project management, business process improvement, supply chain management, and cost reduction management for global and geographically separated organizations. Quan holds a Master of Business Administration from Strayer University, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Tech, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). She is a native of Richmond, Virginia, and currently lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with her husband, Johnny, and they have three adult children.

Byron M. Adkins, Jr.

Associate Director, Operations Division
Farm Credit Administration

Byron M. Adkins, Jr. is a distinguished senior executive with over 18 years of experience in the federal government and military service with the U.S. Army. Appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2014, he currently serves as the Associate Director for Operations at the Farm Credit Administration (FCA). In this role, Byron acts as the Security Senior Official and Designated Safety and Health Official (DASHO), overseeing a wide array of operational services including property management, COOP and emergency response, infrastructure and safety, environmental and sustainability programs, mail services, fleet/transportation services, printing services, physical security, and personnel security.

Before his tenure at FCA, Byron was the Director of the Interior Business Center (IBC) within the U.S. Department of the Interior. There, he led the delivery of shared services to support Interior offices and bureaus, as well as over 150 other federal agencies, including FCA. He managed over 40 service lines, generating more than $300 million in revenue, and led a workforce of 900 employees across multiple locations, including Washington D.C., Herndon, VA, Denver, CO, and Sacramento, CA.

Byron’s previous role was as the Director of the Office of Facilities and Environmental Quality (OFEQ) in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was responsible for departmental policy, programs, and operational functions related to real property, sustainability, environmental management, and facility services. Additionally, he oversaw all operations and maintenance for the Herbert C. Hoover Building (HCHB) and managed the $1 billion HCHB Renovation and Modernization Project.

Earlier in his career, Byron served as the Deputy Director of the Eastern Business Service Center at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, overseeing facilities management, acquisitions, and information technology directorates. He also held senior leadership roles at the Department of the Interior’s IBC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Operations, including serving as Deputy Chief of Staff at IBC and as a budget analyst and project manager at USDA’s Office of Operations. Byron also gained valuable legislative experience as a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill.

Byron’s professional journey began as an intern with the City of Richmond, VA’s Department of Public Utilities as an electrical engineer. He was later commissioned into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, serving in various assignments worldwide. Following his military service, he transitioned to the private sector, where he supported the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command as a project manager for over two years.

Byron holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and is a certified Project Management Professional. He is an alumnus of the Harvard University Executive Education Program for Senior Executive Fellows and holds an MPA from Troy University and an MBA from George Washington University. He is a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, Roger W. Jones Awardee, and a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow. Byron is married and has two children.

Iman Aquil

Partner, IBM Consulting

Iman Aquilis a Partner with IBM Consulting and leads its Public and Federal Finance Transformation practice with a focus on financial management, process improvement and audit readiness, while promoting innovative solutions such as intelligent automation and mobility. He leads numerous financial management and business system modernization efforts in the Federal sector. Mr. Aquil received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.B.A from George Mason University.

Hilton C. Robinson II

Senior Manager, Deloitte Consulting

Mr. Robinson focuses on transforming and optimizing business operations to help clients achieve strategic goals, improve customer service, reduce costs, and improve operational performance. He has more than 15 years of international experience in the public, private, non-profit, and higher education sectors helping clients navigate the full lifecycle of shared services and enterprise service delivery.

Robin Gardner

Director, CGI Federal

Robin Gardner has been working in the IT industry for over 25 years, with a focus on the Federal Government.  Currently a Director at CGI Federal, Ms. Gardner is responsible for business development within the Regulatory Agency Programs (RAP) business unit, helping various sectors grow and develop relationships with their government counterparts.  She has been active within the IT community in a variety of capacities focused on government and industry collaboration.  Currently, Ms. Gardner is a VP for Programs with AFFIRM, a non-profit whose overall purpose is to improve the management of information, and related systems and resources, within the Federal government. She has been a leader within ACT-IAC in a variety of capacities and is an IAC Fellow.  She is a member of the PSC Vision conference team, having led teams and presented findings at the Vision conference in the past.  Ms. Gardner believes that participation and collaboration are two ways individuals and organizations can best find solutions to challenging problems, bringing forth innovative thinking.

Tashona Beale

Customer Experience (CX) Strategist and leader within the Department of Defense (DoD) Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) Field Activity

Tashona Beale is a Customer Experience (CX) Strategist and leader within the Department of Defense (DoD) Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) Field Activity. Since joining WHS in 2012, she has assumed the role of CX Strategist in the WHS Customer Experience Office, where her focus lies in mitigating customer pain points, orchestrating service recovery, and strategically planning for the evolving needs of both the organization and its customers. Tashona is at the forefront of implementing innovative CX initiatives across WHS services.

In her current capacity, Tashona aspires to achieve three key goals: Firstly, she aims to foster creative collaboration, bringing diverse stakeholders together to develop CX strategies that yield measurable outcomes. Secondly, she is dedicated to instilling human-centered design practices into the organizational culture, ensuring that all stakeholders benefit from this approach. Thirdly, Tashona strives to build cross-functional coalitions of resources and support to optimize the utilization of the Shared Services Model. Notably, she holds a CX Certification and is recognized as a Certified Practitioner of Human-Centered Design.

Before her tenure in the WHS CX Office, Tashona built a rich background in the private sector, followed by an impactful journey in federal government acquisitions. During this phase, she ascended to the role of Contracting Officer and Team Lead, leading major acquisition and collaborative efforts across WHS and various Federal Agencies, managing extensive customer portfolios. Tashona’s expertise encompasses a seamless blend of private sector acumen and federal government experience, making her a trusted CX expert and leader in her field.

Andrea Sampanis CGFM

Grants QSMO Director
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Andrea Sampanis is the Director for the Grants Quality Service Management Office (Grants QSMO), which has a government-wide mission focused on the standardization and modernization of the grants management IT systems environment. The Grants QSMO manages a Marketplace of innovative, customer-focused solutions aimed at reducing burden for grants applicants and recipients while improving efficiencies for federal awarding agencies.

Andrea leverages her 20 years of public and private sector experience to enhance the QSMO Marketplace of both federal and commercial providers through data-driven grants ecosystem analysis. She also works to improve the grant applicant/recipient experience through multiple Customer Experience (CX) initiatives. The CX work done by the Grants QSMO led to their selection as a 2023 Service to the Citizen Award Winner and launch of the Federal Grant Systems Hub.

Prior to joining Grants QSMO, she supported the Navy’s SAP implementation across the Naval enterprise and served as a Program Manager at GSA’s Office of Shared Solutions and Performance Improvement (OSSPI) for the President’s Management Agenda goals for Sharing Quality Services and Results-Oriented Accountability for Grants. Before joining public service, Andrea was a Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting where she was the Chief of Staff for their Shared Service offering and served clients at DOD, DHS, and IRS.

Andrea earned her Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) from George Washington University and her bachelor’s from Providence College. She is a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), SAP ERP certified, and holds her COR Level II certification. Originally from Missouri, Andrea now lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Peter and is a proud mother of Tristan and Isabel.

Brad DeMent

Brad DeMent leads Enterprise & Specialized Services, which hosts the firm’s government consulting practice. He has also specialized in Shared Services and Global Business Services design and improvement for over 25 years in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Although his focus is on shared services strategy and implementation, Brad also specializes in Intelligent Automation applications to bring next generation capability to organizations. Before working with ScottMadden, Brad was a defense and intelligence consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton for 10 years in McLean, VA. Brad earned a B.S. in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A from George Washington and Marymount University.

Dale Bell

Mr. Bell is a seasoned executive with over 26 years of experience in strategy, facilitation, and collaboration. He is a leader and subject matter expert in financial assistance management, enterprise performance management, strategic planning, project management, and business operations improvement. Mr. Bell has been in the federal government Senior Executive Service since 2010, and an advisor to the public sector since 1996.

Mr. Bell is the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Grants at the Department of Health and Human Services. He is responsible for oversight and support of the HHS $1T financial assistance portfolio, including the translation of federal policy into the HHS environment and grants workforce development. Mr. Bell leads HHS wide grants improvement and modernization initiatives, including administrative burden reduction projects, award closeout systems modernization, and policy streamlining. Mr. Bell oversees governmentwide programs and initiatives including Grants.gov, Grants Quality Service Management Organization (QSMO), GrantSolutions (largest federal cross agency grants management service provider), and Grants Data Standards as mandated in legislation. He provides leadership across the federal government in financial assistance on policy, awarding systems, and federal process improvement. Mr. Bell serves as the first agency co-lead of the Council on Federal Financial Assistance, and has been the Co-Chair of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) Grants Management Symposium since its inception in 2018.

Prior to joining HHS, Mr. Bell served at the National Science Foundation as the Division Director in the Division of Institution and Award Support (DIAS), and Acting Deputy Office Head in the NSF Office of Budget, Finance, and Award Management.

At NSF, Mr. Bell was responsible for the stewardship and process integrity of NSF’s financial assistance program: NSF policy development and implementation, community outreach and training, stewardship of the award management system and data integrity, advocacy for external user business requirements, advanced monitoring of NSF’s portfolio, and cost analysis advisory services to grants officials. Mr. Bell provided strategic guidance on NSF IT policy and strategy through the DIAS Systems Office, on the NSF Capital Planning and Investment Control Board, and as the Co-Chair of the Financial Services Modernization IT Investment Committee. Mr. Bell provided leadership on the President’s Management Agenda Priority Goal for Grants, served as representative on the Financial Assistance Committee for E-Government, and co-chaired the National Academy of Public Administration Grants Symposium. Prior to NSF, Dale was a Principal at SRA/Touchstone Consulting Group, and Senior Manager at Unisys Corporation and the Andersen Office of Government Services.

Through his various executive positions, Dale gained extensive experience in grants policy development and management, leading projects in federal, state and local governments, enterprise performance management, strategic planning, awards systems management, pre-award, cost analysis, audit resolution and advanced monitoring. Dale worked with internal stakeholders, including grant-making programs, awards officials, advisory boards, general counsel, and the Office of the Inspector General. Dale is also experienced with external stakeholders, including the Office of Management and Budget, Department of Treasury, the General Services Administration, the General Accountability Office, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Jason Payton

Jason Payton is a partner in the Enterprise & Specialized Services practice and is the Government & Public Sector leader. He has experience in energy and corporate services, including strategic planning, large-scale implementations, inventory optimization projects, and business planning and forecasting. Industries include utilities, aerospace, and not-for-profit. Before joining ScottMadden, Jason worked for a large building materials distributor and logistics company. In this role, he developed business solutions for national customers, managing the procure-to-pay process and maximizing supply chain efficiencies. Jason holds a B.S. in psychology from Morehouse College and received an M.B.A., with a focus on finance and strategy, from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University.

Lívia Vužňáková

SVP, Head of Global Finance Success
SAP SE

Lívia Vužňáková is a distinguished professional who has shaped various organizations with a visionary approach to driving operational efficiency and a culture of continuous improvement across a 19-year career in SAP. Lívia now leads SAP’s Global Finance Success, which started as a traditional shared services organization and evolved during the past years into a culturally, functionallz and geographically diverse organization spanning the globe with over 80 nationalities represented, based largely in 3 Services Delivery Hub locations: Buenos Aires, Prague and Manila.

Lívia Vužňáková holds an Executive M.B.A. from ESSEC Business School (France) and Mannheim Business School (Germany). Her prior SAP leadership experience encompasses high impact roles in finance such as Commercial Director, COO in Product Development organization, and Chief of Staff to the Group CFO.

Mary Davie

President Mary Davie Consulting LLC

Following a 35 year career in the federal government where she held numerous leadership positions, Mary serves as President of Mary Davie Consulting serving as an advisor to senior leaders on how to plan and execute strategies focused on business growth and effective management of operations.

Mary has led organizations in strategic transformation, growth, and managed large global acquisition organizations and programs across the federal government. She had P&L responsibility over billions of dollars in services and products across diverse business lines.

From February 2020-December 2022, Mary served as the Deputy Associate Administrator in NASA’s Mission Support Directorate (MSD) supporting the strategy and delivery of NASA’s institutional support functions, encompassing an annual budget of over $3B and a workforce of over 7,000 people.  Mary led MSD in improving mission support processes, increasing efficiencies, and providing consistency and uniformity across institution capabilities and services.

Previously, Mary served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Mission Support Transformation, leading transformation efforts across NASA’s mission enabling services, through the development and execution of an ongoing transformation processes and support services.

Prior to joining NASA, Mary spent 32 years at the General Services Administration serving in numerous roles including:

• Director of the GSA Program Management Office for Human Capital Shared Services
• Deputy Commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) responsible for regional operations contributing to the delivery of more than $50 billion in products, services, and solutions used by federal, state and local agencies.
• Assistant Commissioner of GSA’s Office of Information Technology Category managing more than $25 billion in federal, state, and local purchases of IT and telecommunications products, services and solutions critical to defense and civilian agencies’ success.
• FAS Acting Commissioner
• Assistant Commissioner for FAS’ Assisted Acquisition Services, which provides customized acquisition, project and financial management services for large or complex IT and professional services solutions for DoD and federal civilian agencies.
• Assistant Commissioner for Customer Relationship Management and Sales

During her 34-year career, Mary contributed to the improvement of the federal government by leading and working on numerous cross cutting initiatives such as strategic sourcing, cyber security, category management, securing the supply chain, open government, digital transformation, and shared services.

Mary also served in numerous roles with the American Council for Technology – Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC), including President of ACT.  ACT-IAC is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving service delivery across the federal government.

Winner of the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award, her other honors include the 2016 Federal Computer Week (FCW) Government Eagle Award for her contributions to federal IT. She is also a multi-year winner of FCW’s Fed 100 Award.

Mary is a Fellow with the National Academy of Public Administration and serves as an advisory council member to the Shared Services Leadership Coalition. 

Mary has a Master of Business Administration with a focus in technology management from University of Phoenix and two Bachelor of Science degrees in business finance and business management from Virginia Tech (1988).  Mary currently serves on the Advisory Board of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, Management Department.

Randy Bridges

Deputy Director, YRCI, HRROC

Randy Bridges joined YRCI Human Resources Remote Operations Center in July 2024.  He oversees four Federal contracts to include, OPM, USDA, FHFA, and DOJ.  Randy provides leadership, strategic planning, training, and personnel alignment decisions for 79 first and second level employees including subcontractors for YRCI. Randy has been aligned with Shared Services Human Resources services throughout his career.

Randy practices a constraints-based management style ensuring that any hurdles his teams face are identified, analyzed, and overcome through strategic planning.  He is a Subject Matter Expert on Staffing, Recruitment, Employee Development, Processing Personnel Actions, On-boarding, and Employee Relations.  He was a train-the-trainer for USA Staffing®, AVUE® and other HR related electronic systems.  

Prior to Randy joining YRCI, he was a Human Resources Manager for the past 25 years and most recently served as Project Manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center, overseeing Service Level Agreements across 13 Divisions and 4 Mission Agencies. Before this role, he was the Branch Manager for Workforce Operations within the FPAC Business Center, managing 175 personnel and all hiring, benefits, pay, and personnel processing actions, ensuring adherence to federal regulations. He began his career as a Human Resources Specialist with the Office of Personnel Management, eventually holding positions with various federal agencies, including the Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army, and the Social Security Administration.

Randy graduated from the American Military University with degrees in Leadership and Human Resources Management at the Master’s and Bachelor levels.

Jim Williams

Co-Chair of the Chief Acquisition Officer’s Council
Partnership for Public Service

Mr. Williams has 40 plus years of successful public and private sector experience, including 30 years in the US Federal Government, with over 18 years as a federal senior executive.  He was the U.S. General Services Administration’s Acting Administrator under President George W. Bush and GSA’s first Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner. He led the Presidential Transition for GSA in 2008-2009.  Mr. Williams was also the first Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s US-VISIT Program, which was successfully implemented at DHS to track the entry of foreign visitors with biometrics after 9/11. Earlier, Jim was the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) leader of their Procurement and Program Management organizations, and co-chair of their Shared Services Design Team. He was the federal government’s computer procurement expert for the US-Japan 1990 Supercomputer Procurement and the US-Japan 1992 Computer Procurement Trade Agreements. He is the Co-Chair of the Chief Acquisition Officer’s Council at the Partnership for Public Service and he has held several other leadership positions for private sector industry associations. He has received numerous awards, including two Presidential Rank Awards and four Federal Computer Week FED100 Awards. He has an MBA from The George Washington University and a B.S. in Business from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Cathy Van Hoesen

Director, Finance Standards and Customer Services

Mrs. Cathy Van Hoesen is the Director of Finance Standards and Customer Services, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). In this role, she is responsible for leading efficiency and standardization across the finance mission areas including pay transactions for military personnel, federal civilian employees, military retirees and annuitants, and disbursing transactions totaling over $579 billion annually. Furthermore, she provides oversight for the DFAS Customer Care Centers, DoD Overseas Banking and Credit Unions, and Operations Contingency Planning teams.
 
Prior to her current role, Mrs. Van Hoesen served as the Director of Financial Management. As the principal resource management advisor responsible for a Working Capital Fund budget over $1.4B and 12,000 work years, she managed funding for agency-level programs, provided oversight for customer revenue and billing, and was responsible for the agency cash position. Mrs. Van Hoesen also managed a capital investment program of over $30M comprised of Information and Technology and minor construction projects.
 
Mrs. Van Hoesen began her federal career as a budget analyst with the Department of Navy, working in various offices including Navy Comptroller and the Future Aircraft Carrier Program. She came to DFAS in 2009 and has served in many roles including Director of Strategic Planning and Management where she led planning, development, and execution of the Agency Strategic Plan. In this role, she led strategic working groups and initiatives to drive focused change in the organization.
 
Mrs. Van Hoesen earned her bachelors and masters degrees in Public Affairs from Indiana University with a focus on policy studies.

Josh Bailes

Business Development, Groundswell

Josh Bailes is a seasoned professional with a wealth of experience in federal IT delivery. While at the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Service (18F), Josh was responsible for operations and delivery and he crafted business cases for critical initiatives such as Cloud.gov and 18F’s service delivery, delivering funding for initiatives to bring agile delivery and platform as a service to federal agencies. Now at Groundswell, Josh continues to lead transformative efforts as a growth lead for Groundswell. His expertise spans platforms like Appian, SAP, Workday, UiPath, and full-stack engineering, underscoring his ability to align technology with mission-critical needs. In his current role, he develops business cases to support private equity-backed investments in cutting-edge products tailored for federal agencies.

Bob De Luca

Chief Information Officer, US Railroad Retirement Board

Bob De Luca, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the US Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), has more than twenty five years of experience in technology modernization, business strategy, and U.S. military operations,  in the public and private sector. As the RRB CIO, Bob leads major IT transformation initiatives, Strategic IT Planning and Delivery of IT Services for the agency, focusing on solutions designed to administer retirement/survivor and unemployment/sickness insurance benefit programs for railroad workers and their families. 

Concurrently, Mr. DeLuca serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 175th Cyberspace Operations Squadron in the Maryland Air National Guard where he works extensively with US Cyber National Mission Force and his State Partner teammates.  

Before joining the RRB, Mr. De Luca was the Chief Technology Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer of the FDIC and led significant IT transformation initiatives for the agency, focusing on solutions designed to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system.  Previously, he was the Acting Director of the Technology Transformation Services (TTS) for the General Services Administration (GSA). TTS helps federal agencies build, buy, and share modern technologies to achieve their digital transformation goals. Prior to this role, he led the GSA IT Modernization Centers of Excellence (CoE). The Centers of Excellence partner with federal agencies to accelerate IT modernization to enhance the citizen experience, improve outcomes, and reduce legacy IT spending across the government. 

Prior to joining GSA, Mr. De Luca served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), where he led several major transformation efforts including enterprise business systems modernization and cloud migration. These efforts directly contributed to OPIC’s ranking as one of the most innovative agencies in the federal government.  

Prior to public service, he served as the president of two private technology consulting firms.

Mr. De Luca earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and a Masters of Business Administration from Drexel University.  Mr. De Luca resides in Columbia, MD with his wife and two children.