Speakers

Nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate, The Honorable Kevin Rhodes serves as the 16th Administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Also known as the Chief Acquisition Officer of the United States, Administrator Rhodes is responsible for setting policy on approximately ten percent of the annual US budget or nearly $1trillion dollars. He is responsible for the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) across the government by statue. He chairs the Chief Acquisition Officers Council and CAS board along with numerous other government-wide boards and councils. Administrator Rhodes leads the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul and CAS changes currently underway updating US procurement policies for the most significant updates in 40 and 50 years respectively.

Dr. Kevin Rhodes previously served as a senior advisor to the Director, Office of Management and Budget as part of the Executive Office of the President.
Before his OMB role, Dr. Rhodes was the Executive Vice President of Systecon North America. In this capacity, he led all aspects of Systecon North America, including strategy, senior government relations, and Congressional interface efforts. With direct profit and loss responsibility, he led Systecon North America to its best year ever in its existence.
Prior to joining Systecon, Dr. Rhodes served for 25 years of transformational senior leadership in the Air Force in various roles, including having direct interaction and influence with the last three sitting (and now the current for 4) U.S. Presidents as part of his White House position. Experiences include leading 100s of procurement professionals and managed budgets of more than $2 Billion annually in various roles such as the Director of Operations KC-46, Program Manager for Common Avionics and Materiel, and Director of Acquisition at the White House Military Office. Led the Department of Defense’s (DoD) best managed program two separate times from 1000s of programs. He served in combat and worked special programs for US Special Operations Command as well. Dr. Rhodes holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, a Masters Degree in Management, and a Doctorate of Business Administration with a project management focus. He is a distinguished graduate of the Air War College and served on the personal staffs of the Deputy Secretary of Defense and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff as an Air Force Fellow.

Dr. Rhodes previously served on the Board of Directors for the international non-profit Council of Logistics Engineers.

Laura Stanton is the Deputy Commissioner for GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). FAS provides buying platforms and acquisition services to Federal, DoD, State, and Local governments for a broad range of items from office supplies and motor vehicles to information technology and telecommunications products and services.

Previously, Laura served as Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Category in FAS, where she managed the largest fee-for-service IT procurement and services operation in the U.S. government. Laura oversaw more than 6,000 contracts that provide access to relevant and timely IT and telecommunications products, services, and solutions to defense and civilian agencies, as well as to state, local, and tribal governments.

Before rising to lead ITC, Laura served as its Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Category Management, where she oversaw a portfolio of acquisition solutions including the Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) Alliant 2, VETS 2, 8(a) STARS II and III. In addition, her portfolio also included the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) and the USAccess shared services programs. Laura’s guidance and oversight of the category teams helped ITC play a critical role in the Administration’s IT modernization efforts to drive a more efficient and effective government for the American people.

Laura came to ITC from GSA’s Office of Enterprise Strategy Management. As the Assistant Commissioner, Laura directed FAS’s strategic business planning, performance management, category management, and Acquisition Gateway adoption. She played an integral role in creating and executing a FAS strategic vision that aims to establish itself as the Government Acquisition Marketplace. She also coordinated with the Category Management Leadership Council and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to implement category management government-wide.

In 2023, Laura was the recipient of a Federal 100 Award and the Government Eagle Award for lifetime achievement in government. Laura was also a recipient of the 2015 Federal 100 Awards, presented to government, industry, and academic leaders who have played pivotal roles affecting how the federal government acquires, develops, and manages IT.

Time Brennan became Vice President for Government Relations at the Professional Services Council (PSC) in October 2023.

Tim leads PSC's advocacy efforts, engaging with Congress and federal agencies to shape policies that impact government contractors. His responsibilities include monitoring legislative and regulatory developments, facilitating member engagement, and providing strategic guidance on federal acquisition and
contracting issues.

Prior to joining PSC, Tim was the Staff Director for the Subcommittees on Technology Modernization and Oversight and Investigations on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He was responsible for oversight of VA’s $6 billion IT budget, and IT modernization programs to include Electronic Health Records, Financial Management and Supply Chain. He also worked extensively with industry and VA on a variety of contracting issues covering the vast array of supply and services contracts that VA awards on a yearly basis.

From 2009 to 2021 he served as a Level 3 Contracting Officer Representative and Program Manager for Homeland Security Standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. During his time at NIST he served as a Brookings Institute Legis Fellow and Department of Commerce Detail to the Senate
Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee performing financial and contracting oversight and subject matter expertise on homeland security issues for the committee in the 113th and 115th Congresses.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and business from the Virginia Military Institute, and lives in Cabin John, Maryland with his wife and their two sons.

David M. Wennergren is the CEO of ACT-IAC, the national non-profit public-private partnership dedicated to advancing the business of government through the application of technology. He has extensive leadership experience in information technology and change management and has served in a number of senior positions, most recently in the private sector as a Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at
the Professional Services Council and a Vice President at CACI International Inc. During his career in government, he served as the Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer, Vice Chair of the U.S. Government’s Federal CIO Council, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Management, Integration and Technology/Deputy Chief Information Officer and Department of Defense (DoD) Assistant Deputy Chief Management Officer. Mr. Wennergren is a Fellow and former Chair of the Board of the National Academy of Public Administration and a CIO-SAGE at the Partnership for Public Service. He received his B.A. in Communications/Public Relations from Mansfield University and received the University’s Alumni Citation Award in 2012. He was a recipient of a Secretary of the Navy Civilian Fellowship in Financial Management, culminating in a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs.

His awards include the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Department of the Navy Distinguished, Superior and Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Award. Other honors include the: 2012 Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership (American University), TechAmerica Terman Award 2010 Government Technology Executive of the Year, Federal CIO Council 2008 Azimuth Award winner, Federal Computer Week 2006 Eagle Award (Government Leader of the Year), 2006 John J. Franke Jr. Award from the American Council for Technology, Government Computer News 2005 Defense Executive of the Year, three Federal Computer Week Fed 100 Awards, Computerworld Premier 100 Award, and 2008 General James M. Rockwell AFCEAN of the Year. A huge believer in the “power of team,” he is also honored to have worked in two organizations that were awarded the Department of the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation.

You can follow Dave on X: @davewennergren or on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-wennergren-9416956/