Tim Clark, Editor at Large, Government Executive Media Group

Tim Clark is Editor at Large at Government Executive, previously serving as the magazine’s editor in chief, publisher and president. He has spent his journalistic career studying and writing about government, and is a founder of National Journal and New York’s Empire State Report. Clark is a fellow and former board member of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Kari Craun, Director of the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center at U.S. Geological Survey 

Kari J. Craun is the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC). This Center performs a wide range of functions in support of maintaining a seamless, current, nationally consistent coverage of base geospatial data for the United States. The Center also develops digital and graphic products, including U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps and The National Atlas digital and graphic products. The Center manages several broadly-scoped contract mechanisms for acquisition of geospatial products and services through the commercial sector.

Ms. Craun is a Past-President of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) and is currently Past-President of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society. She received a B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1984 and an M.S. degree in Photogrammetry from Purdue University in 1987. She is currently pursing a Master of Science degree in Geospatial Information Science through an on-line program at Northwest Missouri State University. Ms. Craun resides in Rolla, Missouri with her husband, Jeff, and two daughters, Zoey and Natalie.   

Jonah Czerwinski, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Jonah J. Czerwinski is Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and leads the VA Center for Innovation (formerly VA Innovation Initiative, or VAi2). As Director of the Center, he is responsible for designing, launching, and leading the program's implementation across VA. The VA Center for Innovation identifies, prioritizes, funds, tests, and deploys the most promising solutions to VA's most important challenges. The Center taps the talent and expertise of individuals both inside and outside government by funding new, innovative solutions that increase Veterans' access to VA services, improve the quality of services delivered, enhance the performance of VA operations, and reduce or control the cost of delivering those services that Veterans and their families receive. The Center’s portfolio currently includes 135 innovation projects with a total funding of $108 million. 

In his role of senior advisor, Jonah assists the Secretary on a range of strategy and policy issues regarding VA budget, management, and transformation. He advises senior VA leadership in identifying, articulating, and disseminating strategic guidance and management priorities. He represents VA on the steering committee of the White House Business Council.  

Prior to joining VA, Jonah was Managing Consultant at IBM Global Business Services and was a Senior Fellow in IBM's Global Leadership Initiative. He is the co-author of IBM’s "Global Movement Management: Strengthening Commerce, Security, and Resiliency In Today's Networked World." From 2001-2006, Jonah served as Director of Homeland Security Projects at the Center for the Study of the Presidency. He was appointed Senior Fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute of the George Washington University and Director on the Board of the Partnership for a Secure America. He was a member the Task Force on Leveraging National Laboratory S&T Assets for 21st Century Security. Jonah began his career at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

Jonah’s media appearances include interviews on CNN and CNN-International, in addition to interviews for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and other major news outlets. In addition to authoring, editing, or co-authoring a number of publications, Jonah has testified before the U.S. Congress on efforts to combat the threat of smuggled nuclear weapons. Jonah earned his A.B. in Philosophy from Salve Regina University and M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. 

Michael Dimock, Associate Director for Research, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press 

As the associate director for research, Michael Dimock is principally responsible for the development of the center’s research projects, including questionnaire design, project management, the analysis of polling data, and the presentation of survey results. Dimock also plays a central role in writing reports, and providing information to news organizations and others interested in polling and data analysis.

Dr. Dimock received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California-San Diego in 1996, and taught at North Carolina State University before joining the Pew Research Center in 2000. His published research includes articles and book chapters on voting behavior, public opinion and survey methodology.  

David Dye, Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP 

David Dye is a Director in the Federal Human Capital Practice with more than 25 years of executive leadership and management consulting experience in the Federal government and commercial sectors. He has contributed to the improved performance of employees, work teams, and organizations and assists clients in developing and aligning human capital programs to achieve organizational strategy and mission.  David leads the Human Capital practice in developing marketing, business development, and sustaining client relationships for human capital work at various government agencies.  Currently, he is the lead executive working with the Partnership for Public Service in support of the Best Places to Work program.

David is a certified human resource professional (IPMA-HR) and holds a Top Secret Security clearance.  He is a President of the International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council, where he led the development of the association’s first HR certification program.  David also holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from The George Washington University.   

Judy England-Joseph, Strategic Advisor, Partnership for Public Service

Judy has been with the Partnership for Public Service since 2006. She is currently a senior consultant and prior to that role was it's Research Director. Her work has covered a wide range of federal performance management and measurement issues. 

Judy was previously a managing consultant with CPS Human Resources, a self-supporting public agency that provides human resources consulting services to government and non-profit agencies. She served as the project manager for CPS’ contracts with the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the aftermath of 9/11 when the Institute faced rapid expansion in response to the Nation’s urgent bioterrorism research agenda. 

Judy is a retired federal executive. She was with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) for 26 years and led GAO’s work in the Housing, Community and Economic Development, Small Business, Emergency Management, Telecommunications and Energy areas. She oversaw more than 600 congressionally requested reviews of federal programs, many of which resulted in legislative actions, budgetary savings and improved government performance. She represented GAO by testifying in more than 100 congressional hearings, on national television, in the press, and at national conferences. 

She led or served on several GAO human capital initiatives designed to improve the performance evaluation system, enrich the training and development programs, streamline the recruitment and hiring programs, and enhance the training, mentoring and coaching of new employees. She has received numerous GAO awards. She is a graduate of American University.  

William D. Eggers, Author, If We Can Put a Man on the Moon: Getting Big Things Done in Government

William (Bill) Eggers is one of the country’s best known authorities on government reform. An author, columnist, and popular speaker for two decades, he has built a significant following among public sector thought leaders in the U.S., Canada and overseas. Eggers has advised dozens of cities, states and foreign countries and trained hundreds of public officials on government restructuring. He is a sought after speaker, giving close to 100 speeches each year. His most recent book, If We Can Put a Man on the Moon: Getting Big Things Done in Government, was published by Harvard Business Press in the fall of 2009. 

Currently as the global director for Deloitte Research and executive director of Deloitte’s Public Leadership Institute, he is responsible for research and thought leadership for Deloitte’s Public Sector practice. 

Eggers is a former appointee to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s Performance Measurement Advisory Commission and the former Project Director for the Texas Performance Review/e-Texas initiative. He was involved in two performance reviews, in which he identified over $2.5 billion worth of savings and non-tax revenues for the state. More than 60 percent of the recommendations in the reviews were enacted into law. Eggers also served as a Commissioner for the Texas Incentive and Productivity Commission and a designee on the Texas Council on Competitive Government. 

Eggers is a former senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and the former director of Government Reform at the Reason Foundation. Earlier, Eggers assisted reformers in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union with the transition to market economies. Eggers graduated magna cum laude from the University of California at San Diego. 

Peggy Focarino, Commissioner for Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Margaret A. (Peggy) Focarino is Commissioner for Patents for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She was appointed to this position in January 2012.  

In her role as Commissioner, Ms. Focarino leads approximately 9,300 employees in the Patent Organization as the chief operating officer. She is responsible for the management and direction of all aspects of this organization.

Ms. Focarino began her career at the USPTO in 1977 as a Patent Examiner. She has won numerous awards during her 35 year career, but the one she is most proud of is being named the 2010 Recipient of American University’s School of Public Affairs Roger Jones Award for Executive Leadership. This annual award recognizes just two public servants in all of federal government whose careers are marked by extraordinary effectiveness in organizational performance and strong commitment to training and development of employees.

In addition, Ms. Focarino was recently named to Managing Intellectual Property’s 2012 list of the 50 Most Influential People in the World of Intellectual Property.

Ms. Focarino has an undergraduate degree in Physics from the State University of New York and a Certificate in Advanced Public Management from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of citizenship and Public Affairs.

Paul Forte, Chief Executive Officer, Long Term Care Partners, LLC

Paul E. Forte is Chief Executive Officer of Long Term Care Partners, LLC, a joint venture company formed by John Hancock and MetLife, and now a fully owned subsidiary of John Hancock. Long Term Care Partners is the exclusive administrator for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP), which is the largest long-term care insurance program in the nation, and is also the administrator of BENEFEDS, a Federal Government benefits enrollment and premium administration system supporting the Federal Dental and Vision program (FEDVIP) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAFEDS) programs. Together, these programs touch more than 3 million federal employees, annuitants, and family members. 

As head of Long Term Care Partners, Forte supervises all aspects of the company, including sales, marketing, customer service, underwriting, claims, care coordination, information technology, security, and finance. Under Forte’s leadership, the FLTCIP has met or exceeded the performance standards set by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management every year since its inception. Forte was instrumental in the award of the second FLTCIP contract to John Hancock in 2009.  

Previously, Forte served with John Hancock in its Group Long Term Care, Group Life, and International Departments. One of the first managers of John Hancock’s large long term care insurance business and one of the first to implement large employer group contacts, Forte is regarded as a pioneer of the long-term care insurance industry. He has taken an active role in dialogue on the future of the long-term care insurance industry and more broadly on national long-term care policy issues. 

Mr. Forte has testified before Congress and has been a featured speaker at national conferences. He has also appeared on radio and television programs, and has published articles in various professional journals. Mr. Forte was named a Delegate-at-Large to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging from the State of New Hampshire. He holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. 

Tom Fox, Vice President for Leadership and Innovation, Partnership for Public Service

Tom Fox is the Vice President for Leadership and Innovation at the Partnership for Public Service where he oversees the Center for Government Leadership (CGL) and the Partnership's growing portfolio around innovation in government. 

In this role, Tom leads the CGL team, develops innovative coursework, facilitates classroom activities, and provides one-on-one assistance to rising leaders through the Excellence in Government Fellows program, Annenberg Leadership Seminars, the DHS Fellows program, and our three-year leadership initiative with the Department of Education. 

In addition, Tom writes the FedCoach column for The Washington Post three times a week, and he serves as adjunct faculty at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. 

Prior to joining the Partnership, Tom's experience included work in the public and private sectors, including Arthur Andersen, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the U.S. Senate. 

James Hearn, Director for Federal Programs and Budget Process, U.S. Senate Budget Committee

Jim Hearn is Director for Federal Programs and Budget Process for the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. For the last 17 years he has advised four sets of Budget Committee chairmen/ranking members and staff directors, committee members, and others in the Senate and throughout the federal government on policy analysis and the federal budget. In 2011, Jim was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He frequently guest teaches in public policy classes at universities throughout the DC area.

For the 109th Congress, Jim was selected for the Stennis Congressional Staff Fellows Program – a bipartisan, bicameral fellowship for senior-level staff of the United States Congress that is the premier leadership development program on Capitol Hill. Jim is editor of and frequent contributor to the committee's Budget Bulletin, a periodic newsletter that distills and explains the latest legislative and budget developments for congressional, media, and other interested readership in a clear, approachable manner.

Prior to coming to the Senate Budget Committee, Jim spent 10½ years at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – a nonpartisan agency that produces policy analyses, cost estimates, and budget and economic projections that serve as a basis for Congress’ decisions about spending and taxes. At CBO he prepared hundreds of cost estimates for legislation affecting programs throughout the federal budget, wrote and delivered testimony, and received the CBO Director’s Award for Outstanding Service.

Jim has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science, with a minor in statistics, at Boston University where he was a Trustee Scholar.

Sydney Heimbrock, Deputy Associate Director for Strategic Workforce Planning & Executive Director, OPM Innovation Lab

Sydney Smith-Heimbrock leads Employee Services’ Center for Strategic Workforce Planning.  Her team develops forecasts and strategies to position the Federal workforce for future requirements, and tests creative new solutions through OPM’s Innovation Lab.  Dr. Heimbrock also serves as Provost of the HR University, the Federal Government's "one stop" Human Resources Career Development Center. 

Dr. Heimbrock brings 20 years of public- and private-sector senior management experience in human capital development, performance management, and government reform worldwide.  As a senior management consultant, she designed and conducted performance management training for government clients throughout the United States and internationally. During her previous federal service, Dr. Smith-Heimbrock served as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Director of International Technical Cooperation, leading global workforce development and government reform programs in partnership with the International Labor Organization, the World Bank, the Department of State, USAID and other key agencies.  

Dr. Smith-Heimbrock earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Miami University of Ohio, concentrating in Public Administration and Comparative Politics.  She holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Syracuse University and Stanford University.  Dr. Smith-Heimbrock has published and presented numerous papers on public policy and human capital development, and conducted original research on the competencies required to govern by network.

Jill Herzog, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton

Ms. Herzog is a Principal with Booz Allen Hamilton and is a member of the Strategy and Organization - Strategic Communications Team where she leads the firm’s social marketing capability. Ms. Herzog’s projects span several HHS and DoD agencies. She is an award-winning communications professional with more than 20 years of experience directing multi-year social marketing and health communication projects for government and corporate clients. Ms. Herzog is highly skilled in strategy development, campaign implementation, marketing research, materials development, dissemination, and public-private partnerships. She has fostered partnerships between government clients and entertainment, nonprofit, and corporate entities, including major broadcast and cable networks.

William Hoagland, Vice President Public Policy, CIGNA

Mr. Hoagland has completed 33 years of federal government service, 25 spent as staff in the U.S. Senate.  In 2007 CIGNA Corporation appointed him as Vice President of Public Policy to work with CIGNA business leaders, trade associations, business coalitions, and interest groups to develop CIGNA policy particularly on health care reform issues at both the federal and state levels. Prior to coming to CIGNA from January 2003 to January 2007, he served as the Director of Budget and Appropriations, Office of Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN).  In this role he served as a liaison to the leadership of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.  He assisted in evaluating the fiscal impact of major legislation and helped to coordinate budget policy for the Senate leadership.

From 1982 until 2003, Mr. Hoagland was a staff member of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, serving as that Committee’s staff director from 1986 to 2003, reporting to Senate Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), chairman and Ranking Member during this period.  He participated in major federal budget legislation including the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Budget Deficit Reduction Act, the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and the historic 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement. In 1981 he served as the Administrator of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture.  He was one of the first employees of the then newly created Congressional Budget Office in 1975, working with its first Director, Alice Rivlin.

The 1997 and 2005 National Journal listed him as one of the Washington 100 Decision Makers and referred to him as a “bottom-liner who in not a hard-liner.”  Roll Call, the daily publication of Capitol Hill consistently named Hoagland as one of the top 50 Hill Staffers.  In 2002, he received the James L. Blum Award from Distinguished Service in Budgeting.  The National Association of State Budget Officers honored him in 2004 with its Leadership in Budgeting Award and in 2006 he was inducted as a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration.

Hoagland is an affiliate professor of public policy at the George Mason University and a board member of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; National Campaign’s Public Policy Advisory Group focusing on teen pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy; the National Academy of Social Insurance; and the National Advisory Committee to the Workplace Flexibility 2010 Commission.  In 2009 he was appointed to the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform examining the overall structure of the budget, authorization, and appropriations process and was a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force that published “Restoring America’s Future” in November 2010. 

Born in Covington, Indiana he attended the U.S. Maritime Academy and holds degrees from Purdue University (B.S.) and the Pennsylvania State University (M.S.).  His family’s Indiana family farm was awarded by that State as a “Hoosier Homestead” for having remained in the family for over a century.

Hon. Clay Johnson III, Former Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget, 2003-2008

Clay Johnson was the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget in Washington, DC, from 2003 thru 2008. Previously, he was Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel and prior to this, the Executive Director for President George W. Bush’s transition into office. As such he helped prepare the Bush Administration to govern, helped President Bush select and recruit his senior officials, and then led the Bush team in the reform of many federal programs. 

Clay also served Governor Bush as the head of his Appointments Office and subsequently his Chief of Staff. He was President of the nationally prominent Horchow and Neiman Marcus mail order companies, and held management positions at Pepsico, Citicorp, and the Dallas Museum of Art. He has a BS degree in Administrative Sciences from Yale University and an MS degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. 

Currently Clay co-chairs the Aspen Institute’s Commission to Reform the Federal Appointments Process in Washington, D.C., and is president-elect of the Texas State History Museum Foundation in Austin. 

Jeff Johnson, Assistant Director, IT Engineering Division, and Chief Technology Officer, FBI

Mr. Jeffrey Johnson is the Assistant Director for the Information Technology Engineering Division and Chief Technology Officer. He is responsible for engineering IT solutions and developing standards to support continuous innovation, including the Sentinel program. 

Mr. Johnson’s division is charged with improving the technology to deliver IT infrastructure services, platform services, and enterprise case management, data management, and mobility capabilities to the FBI. In the past year, the FBI’s IT Engineering division has delivered a Service Management portfolio of tools, a Secure Mobility platform, Network Automation tools, National Security Classification Management, revitalized Enterprise Architecture, and dictation software capabilities to the enterprise. 

Prior to joining the FBI in August 2009, Mr. Johnson served in the private sector where he managed a variety of IT development projects. He provided enterprise instant messaging platforms and implemented world-class solutions for server build, patching, server management, server imaging, and host intrusion prevention. Previous roles include Financial Services Director of Sales with Aditi Technologies where he oversaw relationships and business strategies with the company’s North American customers, and with Lehman Brothers in several technology roles as Windows Server Engineering Manager, Windows Server Support Manager, and Unified Communications Manager. 

Mr. Johnson served in the U.S. Navy for five years and he received a Bachelor of Science degree with merit in Marine Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. 

Joe Marks, Staff Correspondent, Nextgov

Joseph Marks covers government technology issues, social media, Gov 2.0 and global Internet freedom for Nextgov. He previously reported on federal litigation and legal policy for Law360 and on local, state and regional issues for two Midwestern newspapers. He also interned for Congressional Quarterly’s Homeland Security section and the Associated Press’s Jerusalem Bureau. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in international affairs from Georgetown.

Doug McCuistion, Director, Mars Exploration Program, NASA 

Doug McCuistion leads the Mars Exploration Program. Mr. McCuistion has held positions in Earth and Space science at NASA Headquarters, the Goddard Space Flight Center and US Navy. At Headquarters he was the Director of Flight Programs for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. At Goddard, he worked on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), Geosynchronous Operations Environmental Satellite (GOES), Landsat, NEXUS (a James Webb Space Telescope precursor), and as a Deputy Director in the Information Systems engineering division. Prior to his career in space, Mr. McCuistion was commissioned as an Ensign from Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola and spent 13 years as an F-14 Tomcat RIO, and also worked the Navy's GEOSAT Follow-On mission. He retired at the rank of Commander in 1998.

Doug has been recognized with the rank of Meritorious Senior Executive, and awarded two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals; two Navy Commendation Medals; and various NASA, Navy, and other-Agency individual and group achievement awards.  

Pat McGinnis, Professor of Practice, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University

In addition to teaching at GWU, Pat McGinnis serves as a Senior Advisor to The Monitor Group, a strategy firm that works with corporations, government agencies and social sector organizations to improve performance and impact. She advised the White House on Appointee Leadership programs from 2009 to 2011. From 1994 to 2008, she was President and CEO of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government, where she expanded leadership development programs and produced the report now recognized as the basis for the E-Government Act. In government, she served in the Office of Management and Budget, where she led the effort to create the U.S. Department of Education. McGinnis also held senior posts at the Senate Budget Committee and the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Health and Human Services.

Hon. Beth McGrath, Deputy Chief Management Officer for Department of Defense

Ms. Elizabeth (Beth) A. McGrath was sworn in as the Department’s first Deputy Chief Management Officer, a Senate-confirmed and politically appointed position, on July 1, 2010. Ms. McGrath leads the Department’s efforts to better synchronize, integrate and coordinate DoD business operations and serves as the Principal Staff Assistant (PSA) and advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense for matters relating to management and improvement of business operations. Ms. McGrath is focused on achieving sustainable and enduring improvements and efficiency and effectiveness in the Department’s business related enterprise policies, processes and systems. She also serves as the DoD Performance Improvement Officer and is responsible for formulating the legislatively mandated Departmental Strategic Management Plan. 

Ms. McGrath serves as the Milestone Decision Authority for numerous business-focused Major Automated Information Systems (MAIS) and also executes the Department’s primary governance body for business transformation, the Defense Business System Management Committee; establishes performance goals and measurements for the Department’s business operations; implements the Department’s Continuous Process Improvement efforts; and is the Vice-Chair of the Performance Accountability Council that is responsible to the President to reform the government-wide security clearance process. Her responsibilities require extensive integration and coordination across the Department as well as with many Federal agencies, such as the Office of Management and Budget, Director for National Intelligence and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  

Previously, Ms. McGrath served as the Deputy Director for Systems Integration, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) where she created a financial migration strategy that was executed with a collective budget of approximately $1B. She managed the entire financial architecture supporting DoD-wide standard financial systems, integrating it with the Department’s evolving target, enterprise architecture. Project scope included logistics, personnel, medical, acquisition and financial missions including many information technology solutions. 

Prior to joining DFAS, Ms. McGrath served in a variety of program management roles culminating in Program Executive Office-level oversight responsibility. She possesses extensive knowledge of acquisition-related statutes, regulations and policies with over 20 years applied acquisition experience with Major Defense Acquisition Programs and MAIS. She served as the Business and Acquisition Manager on an international torpedo defense program with the United Kingdom and held numerous other financial, acquisition and program management positions within the Department of the Navy. 

Ms. McGrath was awarded the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award for Fiscal Year 2008 and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award in October 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from George Mason University, is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute, is certified Acquisition Level III in Program Management, Financial Management and Logistics and is a member of the DoD Acquisition Professional Community.

Tim McManus, Vice President for Education and Outreach, Partnership for Public Service

Tim McManus joined the Partnership for Public Service as Vice President, Education and Outreach inJune 2006. In this role, Tim leads the Partnership’s efforts to ensure government has the talent it needs to meet the country’s critical needs. This includes overseeing Call to Serve – a vibrant network of more than 750 colleges and universities dedicated exclusively to promoting federal service – and working directly with federal agencies, the Administration and Congress to improve federal recruitment and hiring.

Tim has testified on the need to reform the federal hiring process, and more effective utilization of student internships and other pathways into federal service. Tim is also a frequent commentator and contributor on the issue of federal recruitment and hiring with the media.

Prior to joining the Partnership Tim worked for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers domestic volunteer service programs. Tim has also worked in a number of marketing and management positions in the nonprofit sector.

Tim is active in a variety of volunteer activities, community boards and professional organizations. Tim is a graduate of St. Olaf College.

Gautam Mukunda, Author, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter

Gautam Mukunda is an assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. Before joining the HBS faculty, he was the National Science Foundation’s SynBERC Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT’s Center for International Studies. His research focuses on leadership, international relations, and the political, economic, and social implications of innovation and technological change.

He received a B.A. in psychology and sociology from American International College; after which, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Jackson Nickerson, Associate Dean, Brookings Executive Education

Jackson Nickerson is Associate Dean of Brookings Executive Education, the Fraham Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. He also a non-resident senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a senior non-resident fellow at the Grameen Foundation. Earlier in his career, he was an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Dr. Nickerson’s research, which can be found in the leading academic journals, has won numerous awards, including twice winning the Olin Award Recognizing Research That Transforms Business. His research on pharmaceutical manufacturing, which has been discussed in Business Week, has led to tangible changes in the way the FDA oversees pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Dr. Nickerson teaches strategic management and leadership courses on innovation, organizational strategy and critical and strategic thinking. He has developed award winning curriculum in the area of critical thinking, receiving the first Innovator Award from the MBA Roundtable, a collaborative organization comprised of 150 business schools worldwide. This content has been adapted for the public sector and now serves as the bedrock of Brookings Executive Education.

Through executive education and consulting activities, Dr. Nickerson has engaged and impacted numerous organizations for government, industries and not-for-profits, including architecture and art, chemicals, education, finance, health care and pharmaceuticals. Dr. Nickerson is a director of the publicly listed company CleanTech Biofuels and a director of nformd.net, a privately held new media company.

Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Norman Ornstein is a long-time observer of Congress and politics. He writes a weekly column for Roll Call called "Congress Inside Out" and is an election eve analyst for CBS News. He served as codirector of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and participates in AEI's Election Watch series. He also served as a senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission. Mr. Ornstein led a working group of scholars and practitioners that helped shape the law, known as McCain-Feingold, that reformed the campaign financing system. He was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004.

His many books include The Permanent Campaign and Its Future (AEI Press, 2000); The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track, with Thomas E. Mann (Oxford University Press, 2006, named by the Washington Post one of the best books of 2006 and called by the Economist "a classic"); and, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism, also with Tom Mann, published in May by Basic Books. He received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan. 

John Palguta, Vice President, Policy, Partnership for Public Service

Prior to joining the Partnership in December 2001, John was a career member of the federal senior executive service as Director of Policy and Evaluation for the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the culmination of a federal career spanning almost 34 years of experience in federal human resources management and public policy issues.  

Prior to joining MSPB in 1979, John was a branch chief in the Office of Personnel Management’s personnel office. He also held various positions with OPM’s predecessor, the U.S. Civil Service Commission, starting as a personnel management intern in 1970 in the Commission’s San Francisco Region and later serving as a personnel management advisor for federal agencies in the four states served by the region. In 1976, he moved to Washington, D.C., to become an agency officer in the Commission’s Bureau of Personnel Management Evaluation. He began his career in federal service with the U.S. Post Office in 1968.  

John received a B.A. degree in Sociology from California State University at Northridge and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California. He is active in a number of professional associations and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, Vice Chair of the Coalition for Effective Change, and a past President of the Federal Section of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR). He has published a number of articles on federal human resources management issues and is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and other forums. He has received MSPB’s highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Award, and also received the 2006 Warner W. Stockberger award, which is the highest honor presented annually by IPMA-HR.

Richard Parker, Deputy Associate Attorney General for Diversity Management, Department of Justice

Richard Parker is currently the Deputy Associate Attorney for Diversity Management at the U.S. Department of Justice.  In that role, he serves as the Executive Director of the Attorney General's Diversity Management Advisory Council and as the Department’s day-to-day coordinator for diversity management issues.  Within the Department, he has served in several capacities, including most recently as Special Counsel on Diversity Recruitment and Outreach.  Richard initially joined Justice in 2006 as a trial attorney with the Appellate Section of the Tax Division.  

Richard is a 1986 graduate of Emory University, and a 1996 graduate of the Southern Methodist University School of Law.  His honors from SMU included being selected to the membership of Order of the Coif, serving as the Managing Editor of the SMU Law Review Association, and receiving the SMU Outstanding Graduate Student Award.  Following law school, he served as a federal judicial law clerk, and then joined the New York City office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as a litigation associate.  He subsequently received his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, where he served on the Tax Law Review as a graduate editor and merit scholarship recipient.  This was followed by another federal judicial law clerkship, and then with a position as a general attorney with the Internal Revenue Service – Office of Chief Counsel. Throughout his academic and legal careers, Richard has demonstrated an active interest and commitment to supporting and fostering diversity and inclusion, including effective coalition and consensus building.

Katherine McIntire Peters , Executive Editor, Nextgov

As the executive editor of Nextgov, Katherine McIntire Peters leads editorial strategy and operations for Government Executive Media Group’s federal technology website. Prior to taking the reins of the top-ranked digital publication focused on the implementation and policies surrounding federal agencies’ technology use, Peters was the senior correspondent for Government Executive magazine, where she covered defense,homeland security and energy issues across government.

Prior to joining Government Executive in December 1995, Peters served as an associate editor and staff writer at Army Times. She also worked as a writer and technical editor at both IDC Washington and EDS.

Peters holds a BA in English Literature from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania and an MA in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University in Washington. She also attended the Catholic University of the West in Angers, France.

Charles Prow, General Manager, IBM Global Business Services

Charles Prow is the IBM general manager responsible for the Global Business Services (GBS) Public Sector business. Mr. Prow is responsible for managing all aspects of the GBS Public Sector business, including federal government, state and local government, and healthcare.In addition to achievement of the US GBS Public Sector growth and business results, Mr. Prow is the Global GBS Public Sector leader responsible for the strategic positioning; capability development and deployment; and talent development and acquisition. 

With thirty years of experience, Mr. Prow has assisted large, complex organizations in the Private and Public Sectors transform their operations through technology innovation and operational improvement. Specifically he has assisted Central Government Defense and Civilian departments; State, Provincial and Local governments; and Fortune 500 and mid-sized industrial, consumer goods, financial service, and healthcare companies. 

Mr. Prow has contributed to white papers and a variety of industry thought leadership and innovation pieces in his work with the IBM Center for The Business of Government. Most recently Mr. Prow edited a book titled, Governing to Win: Enhancing National Competitiveness Through New Policy and Operating Approaches. In 2008, Mr. Prow received the Federal 100 Award for his leadership in support the Department of Defense’s business transformation efforts. 

Prior to joining IBM, Mr. Prow spent sixteen years in a Public Accounting and Consulting Firm and four years in industry. Mr. Prow received a Bachelor of Science in Management and Data Processing from Northwest Missouri State University. 

Stevens Redburn, Scholar and Study Director, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Academy of Sciences

F. Stevens Redburn is scholar and study director in the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Academy of Sciences. He is directing a study for an Academy committee of high rates of incarceration in the U.S., funded by the National Institute of Justice and the MacArthur Foundation. In 2010 and 2011, Redburn was project director for the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform. In 2008 and 2009, he directed a study of the U.S. long-term fiscal outlook for a joint committee of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), published in January 2010 as Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future. He is an adjunct professor in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration of George Washington University and has taught in Carnegie-Mellon University’s graduate program in public management at Adelaide, Australia.

He is an elected NAPA fellow and currently chairs its standing panel on executive organization and management. He is co-author of a set of recommendations to the next Administration and Congress on how to strengthen the federal budget process, published in July 2012 as part of a joint NAPA/ASPA project, “Memos to National Leaders.” He has over 25 years of federal government experience, including 12 years as a senior executive in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He advised the budget director of Kosovo as part of USAID project in 2007. Redburn has authored and co-edited several books on various aspects of public policy and public management. His Ph.D. in political science is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  

Ashley Skyrme, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamiltion

Ashley Skyrme is a Vice President who leads the firm’s IT business focusing on technology strategy and transformation, enterprise solutions, and change management. She is a senior leader in the firm’s civilian government market with an emphasis on federal grant and loan programs and entitlement agencies spanning multiple benefit and assistance segments including disability, nutrition, education, disaster assistance, rural development, and agriculture assistance. Her teams have launched and managed numerous innovative government programs that integrate customer needs and business processes with web-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies.

Walton Smith, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton

Walton Smith leads the Booz Allen’s Collaboration and Social Media practice, as well as the internal corporate investment strategy to bolster the Knowledge Management and Information Sharing Program, including the Hello.bah.com platform. He steered the successful Enterprise/Gov 2.0 engagement across multiple teams improving the flow of information to and from consulting staff, and increasing the value of collaborative outcomes for non-profit and governmental agencies. He ensured adoption and usage of the new enterprise program by integrating change management strategy with the implementation of IT technologies including social networking and enterprise search. For this, Hello.bah.com was awarded the “Open Enterprise 2009 Innovation Award” at TechWeb's Enterprise 2.0 Conference.  

Mr. Smith just finished a collaboration assessment for a large banking instutution. During this process, Mr. Smith led the gathering of the overall system requirements, the market assessment and the final recommendation. Mr. Smith has led several web strategy engagements were his team evaluated current and emerging technologies to evaluate their fit the organizations technical and business requirements. Recently for the Presidential Oil Spill Commission content management system and external web site (oilspillcommision.gov) the team leveraged Drupal based on its cost and overall functionality. For the commission, Mr. Smith designed and implemented their multimedia strategy. This included live broadcast of the hearings as well as hosting of the multimedia content.  

Recently, Mr. Smith led the All Partners Access Network (APAN) project that developed and rolled out the DoD wide unclassified collaboration network. APAN is used to support several international exercises, as well as in the support of major relief efforts, which included the DoD support efforts to rebuild Haiti and the current Japanese recovery efforts. APAN was awarded the Forrester Ground Swell Award, and the IAC .GOV Excellence award.

Aliya Sternstein, Senior Correspondent, Nextgov

Aliya Sternstein reports on cybersecurity and homeland security systems for Nextgov. She has covered technology for nine years at such publications as National Journal's TechnologyDaily, Federal Computer Week and Forbes. Before joining Government Executive, she covered agriculture and derivatives trading for Congressional Quarterly. She has been a guest commentator on C-SPAN, WTOP and Federal News Radio. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dan Tangherlini, Acting Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration

As Acting Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Daniel M. Tangherlini serves a vital role in President Obama’s agenda to build a more sustainable, responsible and effective government for the American people. GSA is responsible for improving the government’s workplace by managing assets, delivering maximum value in acquisitions, preserving historic property, and implementing technology solutions.

Throughout his career, Mr. Tangherlini has been recognized for fiscal and management leadership. Before joining GSA, Tangherlini was confirmed by the United States Senate in 2009 to serve as Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Management, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Performance Officer. In these roles, Tangherlini served as the principal policy advisor on the development and execution of the budget and performance plans for Treasury and the internal management of the Treasury and its bureaus. Tangherlini also served as the agency’s Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

From 2006 to 2009, Tangherlini also served as Washington, DC’s City Administrator and Deputy Mayor. His responsibilities included managing the day-to-day operations, budget development and performance management of District agencies. Tangherlini also served as the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) from June 2000 to February 2006.

Prior to his appointment as City Administrator, Tangherlini served as the Interim General Manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Tangherlini also served the District of Columbia as Chief Financial Officer of the Metropolitan Police Department from November 1998 to May 2000. Before joining the District government, Tangherlini worked in the Policy Office of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and in a variety of capacities during six years of service with the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President.

Tangherlini received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

James L. Taylor, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Labor

James L. Taylor was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Labor on June 22, 2010. Prior to this position, he served as Deputy Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, where he assisted the Inspector General in managing over 600 auditors, inspectors, and investigators. From 1999-2005, Mr. Taylor was the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Commerce, where he successfully implemented the department’s first integrated financial management system and earned its first clean audit opinion. Prior to his position at Commerce, Mr. Taylor served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA), where he helped transform FEMA’s financial operations to more effectively support the agency’s disaster response activities, and achieved its first clean audit opinion. Mr. Taylor has received the Donald E. Scantlebury Award for Excellence in Federal Financial Management, and the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive. He received his BA from Old Dominion University and an MPA from the University of Delaware, where he was a Public Service Fellow.

Joel Turner, Chief Deputy Clerk, Western District of Wisconsin

Joel Turner is the Chief Deputy Clerk for the Western District of Wisconsin. He has over seventeen years experience in executive management with a focus on applying innovative business practices and information technology to court operations.  

From 1997-2004, Mr. Turner was the Assistant Circuit Executive for Information Technology for the Second Judicial Circuit based in New York City. At the Second Circuit, Mr. Turner established the first Appellate oral argument video conferencing and led the development of a modernized case management/document management system for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to entering government service in 1995, Mr. Turner was a System Analyst for a foreign investment bank on Wall Street where he was a key contributor toward establishing and running their North American data networks. 

From 2008 through 2011, Mr. Turner served on the Project Steering Committee for development of the Judiciary's next generation case management system and was one of several team leads responsible for the development of requirements for the District Courts. 

In 2011, Mr. Turner was selected as a Director's Leadership Resident to work with the Office of Probation and Pretrial Services in developing a Court/AO Information Technology Collaboration Model. Since then he has been working closely with representatives from various court units and Administrative Office staff to institute a governance model for Service Oriented Architecture that facilitates sharing of software applications and data between all court units within the Federal Judiciary. Mr. Turner has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Edgewood College. 

Dave Uejio, Lead for Talent Acquisition, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Dave Uejio currently serves as Lead for Talent Acquisition at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new government organization created to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans. Dave is also a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs with a Masters in Public Policy and currently serves as the President of the Young Government Leaders' Executive Board.

Steven VanRoekel, US Chief Information Officer, Executive Office of the President 

Steven VanRoekel is the second Chief Information Officer of the United States, appointed by President Obama on August 5th, 2011. Prior to his position in the White House, Mr. VanRoekel held two positions in the Obama Administration: Executive Director of Citizen and Organizational Engagement at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Managing Director of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). At the FCC, Mr. VanRoekel oversaw all operational, technical, financial, and human resource aspects of the agency. He also led the FCC's efforts to introduce new technology and social media into the agency.

Mr. VanRoekel worked at Microsoft Corporation from 1994 to 2009, most recently as a Senior Director in the Windows Server and Tools Division. He received a B.A. in Management of Information Systems from Iowa State University.  

Reginald Wells, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Human Resources, Social Security Administration

Reginald Wells has served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration’s Office of Human Resources since July 2002. As the Deputy Commissioner for HR, Dr. Wells leads a staff of almost 400 human resource professionals providing the full range of HR services to an agency of more than 60, 000 employees. He also serves as the Chief Human Capital Officer and Chief Diversity Officer for SSA as well as the Chair of the Baltimore Federal Executive Board. Throughout his career, Dr. Wells has received many awards including his most recent recognition as the 2011 Chief Human Capital Officer of the Year. 

He received a B.A. in psychology and sociology from American International College; after which, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia.