Speakers

Larry Allen has over 20 years' experience in government acquisition. He has provided critical information and advice to most of the top 10 federal contractors doing business with the government today. His relationships in, and knowledge of, the federal contracting arena are second to none. He is routinely sought out by contractors, investment firms and other consultants to provide expert insight into various aspects of the federal market, including spending trends, market leaders, acquisition policy, and the opportunities to shape federal acquisition via coordinated government affairs campaigns.

Larry has written or contributed to three books on government contracting, including Multiple Award Schedule Contracting (contributing author), The Secret of Schedules Sales Success> (primary author), and Business to Government (contributing author). He has written numerous articles on the state of federal acquisition in periodicals such as "Federal Computer Week" and "The Federal Times". He regularly teaches classes on government acquisition and has been a guest of the governments of South Korea, Canada, and Great Britain speaking on the topic of how foreign companies can do business in the US government marketplace.

For over 20 years Larry led the Coalition for Government Procurement, a leading non-profit association of government contractors. He joined the Coalition when it had a membership of 90 companies and a budget of a little over $100,000. He led the growth of the association into a brand-name organization with over 330 corporate members and a sizable operating budget. Along the way he wrote parts of several landmark acquisition bills, promoted common sense regulations and helped modify or defeat proposals that would harm the ability of government contractors to conduct federal business that provided a fair return for their efforts.

Larry is an expert in GSA and VA Multiple Award/Federal Supply Schedule contracting, as well as GWAC and IDIQ contracts. He served as a member of the Multiple Award Schedule Advisory Panel and the "Federal Contracts Report" Board of Advisors. He has testified often before committees of the US Senate, House of Representatives, and several state legislatures. He hosts his own radio show on government procurement, "Off the Shelf" on Federal News Radio in Washington, DC.

Natalie Alms is a staff reporter at Nextgov/FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.

Lee Becker, Senior Vice President and Executive Advisor at Medallia for Public Sector and Healthcare, is the 2024 Industry Executive of the Year and is being recognized for his impactful contributions to improving service delivery to the public. With a distinguished career spanning over 20 years in critical leadership roles within the U.S. Navy Marine Corps, US Navy Bureau of Medicine, and Surgery, Lee's commitment to enhancing customer experiences culminated in his role as Chief of Staff at the Veterans Experience Office (VEO).

At Medallia, Lee advises numerous government agencies and healthcare systems on implementing effective customer experience strategies. Notably, he facilitated a remarkable 24% increase in veterans' trust in the VA over seven years through innovative tactics and strategic guidance. Lee's influence extends beyond individual agencies; he collaborates across government, industry, and non-profit sectors to unify communities and drive improvements in citizen services.

Lee's efforts have directly benefited millions of Americans by supporting federal initiatives at agencies such as the VA, USDA, IRS, SSA, and more. His contributions have led to measurable improvements in service delivery, including the successful launch of initiatives like the PACT Act at the VA and significantly increased callbacks at the IRS. Lee ensured that Medallia's solutions met the IRS' highest accessibility standards, ensuring equitable access for all taxpayers.

As an influential figure in the Federal IT space, Lee has informed government policy on customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and digital experience (DX) through engagements with congressional committees and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). His expertise and insights have been widely shared through publications and speaking engagements at prestigious summits and podcasts, further amplifying his impact.

Lee's commitment to service extends beyond his professional roles; he volunteers his time and expertise to various boards and committees, advocating for veterans' rights and enhancing public service delivery. His servant leadership style is evident in his dedication to ensuring that government agencies continually improve their customer experiences, benefiting diverse stakeholders from veterans and families to students and borrowers.​

In addition to his leadership and advocacy, Lee has contributed significantly to long-form content projects addressing civil service modernization and the alignment of federal employee and customer experiences. He continues to influence AI technology developments at Medallia to meet the rigorous requirements of government agencies, ensuring they have the tools needed to deliver exceptional services.

Lee Becker's selfless dedication and collaborative approach make him an indispensable advocate for improving customer and employee experiences across the public sector, embodying the principles of servant leadership and fostering meaningful change at every level.

Mr. Berteau became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Services Council (PSC) on March 28, 2016. With more than 400 members, PSC is the premier advocate of and resource for the federal services industry. As CEO, Mr. Berteau focuses on legislative and regulatory issues related to government acquisition, budgets, and requirements by helping to shape public policy, leading strategic coalitions, and working to improve communications between government and industry, focusing on outcomes and results for the government.

Prior to PSC, Mr. Berteau was confirmed in December 2014 as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. He oversaw the management of the $170 billion in Department of Defense logistics funding.

Previously, Mr. Berteau served as Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where his research and analysis covered federal budgets, national security, management, contracting, logistics, acquisition, and industrial base issues.

Mr. Berteau is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a Director of the Procurement Round Table.  He also served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School.

Jim Cook serves as ACT-IAC's Strategy and Engagement Executive, advising and supporting our efforts to implement our Strategic Plan, enhance government engagement and value. He also serves as Chair for the Institute for Innovation where he is leading the rollout of a new 3-year strategy. In this role, he supports the ACT-IAC staff on our strategic interactions with executive agency leaders, coordinates engagements with Congress and the policy community, and supports new strategic collaborations with member companies, academia, non-profit associations and foundations and other stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem.  

Previously, Cook was vice president for Strategic Engagement and Partnerships at the MITRE Corporation. In this role, he led MITRE’s strategic corporate partnership interactions with the executive agencies and Congress and promoted development of new strategic partnerships with the private sector, academia, and other non-profit, associations and foundations to address public interest challenges at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

Prior to that role, he also served as vice president and director of the Center for Enterprise Modernization (CEM), a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of the and co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). In that capacity, Cook led MITRE's support of modernization efforts for civilian government agencies.

Over the past 40 years, his private sector experience in governance, organization change, and program and systems integration; coupled with his work developing and applying information technology to the missions of federal, state, and international agencies, has given him firsthand experience with the challenges associated with technology modernization and IT-driven business transformation. As an advocate for better government, and his passion for serving the public interest, he has spent his career helping to advance improvements in civilian agency performance, acquisition, and workforce reform. He has also been an advocate for opportunities for people with disabilities, currently serving on the Board of Directors for Melwood and being a champion for more employment opportunities in the government workforce for neurodistinct individuals.

He was previously a partner and executive with IBM Business Consulting and a consulting partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he led account teams in Treasury and Financial Services. In 1997, Cook became one of a handful of people from industry to receive the IRS Commissioner's Award for his leadership in helping modernize the agency’s tax administration business processes and systems.

In 2007, he received Federal Computer Week’s FED 100 award, given to the top 100 executives in government IT, for his leadership role assisting the IRS in developing and launching a new modernization plan and governance structure which ultimately resulted in the IRS being removed from the GAO High Risk list. He also received FED 100 awards in 2014 and 2019 for his efforts to harness innovation to help federal agencies transform their missions. 

He received his bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Maryland.

Joel Friedman is Senior Vice President for Federal Fiscal Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), specializing in U.S. federal budget and tax issues. Prior to his work at CBPP , he worked on the Democratic staff of both the Senate and House Budget Committees (as Deputy Staff Director and Director of Budget Analysis, respectively), and as a Financial Economist at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. From 1996 to 2000, he worked in the South African Ministry of Finance as the U.S. Treasury's Resident Advisor, helping to develop and implement budget reforms with a focus on intergovernmental fiscal relations. He has also been a senior fellow at the International Budget Partnership, focusing on budget transparency and accountability in countries around the world. He holds an M.P.A. from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a B.A. from Pomona College.

Tim Hartman is Chief Executive Officer of Government Executive Media Group, helping catalyze the public sector with intelligence and insight.

Adam Hughes is a federal government process expert – having spent his career working to improve access to and efficiency of federal legislative and regulatory processes. Among other accomplishments, he led a team that helped Sens. Barack Obama and Tom Coburn write and pass the Federal Funding, Accountability, and Transparency Act – the legislation that created USASpending.gov.  
 
Most recently, he was the Director of Marketing, Communications, and Government Affairs at Grant Thornton, where he oversaw marketing and government affairs strategy, thought leadership development, advertising and media relationships, communications, and public policy and Congressional engagements. He also co-created and produced the FedHeads podcast - an award-winning government podcast for government geeks.   
   

Adam served in government as the Senior Advisor to the Federal Chief Information Officer’s (CIO) Council, helping to implement and improve federal IT policy, and on the Senate Budget Committee as the Director of Strategic Planning and Outreach. 

Eric Katz writes about federal agency operations and management. His deep coverage of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Postal Service has earned him frequent guest spots on national radio and television news programs. Eric joined Government Executive in the summer of 2012 and previously worked for The Financial Times. He is a graduate of The George Washington University.

Hon. Peter Levine is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses, where he works on issues related to defense management, organizational reform, human resources management and acquisition policy. Levine is the author of Defense Management Reform: How to Make the Pentagon Work Better and Cost Less (Stanford University Press, 2020). 

Recently, Levine served as a panel member for the National Academy for Public Administration Report on the Office of Personnel Management, a panel member for a National Academy of Sciences study on the acquisition workforce and a co-chair of the Independent Panel to Assess EMS Organizational Alternatives. 

From April 2016 to January 2017, Levine served as Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In this capacity, he was the principal assistant and advisor to the Secretary on military and civilian personnel policy and management. Levine also served as the Deputy Chief Management Officer (DCMO) of the Department of Defense, acting as the senior advisor to the Secretary on business transformation. He led the Secretary’s review of the Goldwater- Nichols Act and the Department’s efforts to achieve greater efficiency in management, headquarters and overhead functions. 

Prior to his appointment as DCMO, Levine served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee from August 1996 to February 2015, including two years as Staff Director, eight years as General Counsel, and eight years as minority counsel, where he was responsible for providing legal advice on legislation and nominations, and advised on acquisition policy, civilian personnel policy and defense management issues affecting the Department of Defense. Levine also served as counsel to Senator Carl Levin of Michigan and as counsel to the Subcommittee on Oversight of Governmental Management of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. 

Levine holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Dave is a Director for Strategic Engagement and Partnerships at the MITRE Corporation. In this role, he enhances MITRE’s strategic corporate partnership interactions and development of new opportunities with the federal government, states, the private sector, and academia.

Dave has more than 25 years of experience in both the public and private sectors.  Prior to joining MITRE, he served as a Director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) where he led numerous reviews of federal information technology that resulted in Dave testifying before Congress more than 100 times. He received Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100 award in 2008, 2012, and 2017. In 2017, he was the federal government’s top awardee receiving the Eagle award for his contributions to the federal information technology community. In the private sector, Dave led software development teams in the telecommunications industry. Dave is a frequent speaker and has been featured on Government Matters. He has also been a radio guest on multiple radio programs including Federal News Radio. 

Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Denver and attended the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  

Maria A Roat became the Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer in May 2020, bringing 35+ years of professional experience in information technology.

Ms. Roat served as the Small Business Administration Chief Information Officer October 2016 – May 2020 where she led SBA’s digital transformation to a more proactive and innovative enterprise services organization responsive to the business technology needs of SBA program offices and small businesses & entrepreneurs across the United States. 

Ms. Roat served more than 2 years as the U.S. Department of Transportation Chief Technology Officer and was responsible for establishing and leading DOTs technical vision and strategic direction, driving innovation and planning for technology growth supporting internal and external facing mission activities.

Ms. Roat served 10 years at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) joining in June 2004 and serving in a number of capacities including Federal Risk Management and Authorization Program (FedRAMP) Director, FEMA Deputy CIO, Chief of Staff for the DHS CIO, USCIS Chief Information Security Officer and CIO Chief of Staff, and Deputy Director, Technology Development, for TSA’s Secure Flight Program.   

Prior to joining DHS in 2004, Ms. Roat was in the private sector for 5 years deploying and managing global enterprise network management systems, as well as running Network and Security Operations Centers.

Ms. Roat was previously with the Navy Medical Information Management Command, Norfolk, and other Commands serving in the areas of global enterprise network management and engineering, and IT operations.

Ms. Roat retired from the U.S. Navy in 2007, with 26 years of active duty and reserve service, in which she obtained the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, Information Systems Technician.  Ms. Roat served in numerous leadership positions including Command Master Chief for the Reserve Intelligence Area Washington (2002-2005) and the Center for Navy Leadership Mid-Atlantic (2005-2007). 

Ms. Roat is a graduate of the University of Maryland (UMUC), Harvard Business School Executive Education Program for Leadership Development, and the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy. 

Troy K. Schneider is Executive Vice President and General Manager at Billington CyberSecurity.

Troy was President of GovExec 360 from 2022 until early 2024, and was Editor-in-Chief of both FCW and GCN for more than a decade -- first at 1105 Media and then at GovExec.

Mr. Schneider previously served as New America Foundation’s Director of Media & Technology, and before that was Managing Director for Electronic Publishing at the Atlantic Media Company, where he oversaw the online operations of The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal, The Hotline and The Almanac of American Politics, among other publications. The founding editor of NationalJournal.com, Mr. Schneider also helped launch the political site PoliticsNow.com in the mid-1990s, and worked on the earliest online efforts of the Los Angeles Times and Newsday. He began his career in print journalism, and has written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, WashingtonPost.com, Slate, Politico, Governing, and many of the other titles listed above.

Mr. Schneider is a graduate of Indiana University, where his emphases were journalism, business and religious studies.

Robert Shea is Chief Executive Officer of GovNavigators, a consultancy offering organizations public policy analysis and advocacy, marketing and communications, and business development support. Before launching GovNavigators, Robert was National Managing Principal, Public Policy, at Grant Thornton. He provided strategy, performance management, and evidence-based policymaking consulting services to federal, state, and local government clients while leading the firm’s public policy function. He also led the DEI&A Solutions Team. Among the clients he served were the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Transportation, Treasury, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Navy, Space Force, Customs and Border Protection, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, New York State Department of Budget, New York State Department of Transportation ,California Environmental Protection Agency, Harris County, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Michigan Office of Management and Budget, etc.

Robert has a more than 25 year history of working to improve government performance, 12 of them at Grant Thornton and 15 in the federal government. He recently served on the Commission for Evidence-based Policymaking.

Before joining Grant Thornton, Robert served for six years as associate director for the U. S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) leading, among other things, an initiative to measure government programs using its Program Assessment Rating Tool. The effort received an Innovations in American Government Award from Harvard University. He lso oversaw programs to implement large-scale personnel reform at the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, launched a government-wide effort to measure and reduce improper payments, and built the financial transparency website, USASpending.gov.

Prior to OMB, Robert served as senior management counsel for the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and, before that, as legislative director for Congressman Pete Sessions and as a professional staff member for the House Committee on Government Reform. He has a J.D. from South Texas College of Law and a B.A. from Connecticut College.

Nick Wakeman is the editor-in-chief of Washington Technology and joined the publication in 1996 as a staff writer. He's a graduate of Bridgewater College and earned a masters degree from American University. Follow him on Twitter: @nick_wakeman

Lauren C. Williams is senior editor for Defense One. She previously covered defense technology and cybersecurity for FCW and Defense Systems. Before then, Williams has reported on several issues, including internet culture, national security, health care, politics and crime for various publications. She has a master's in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor's in dietetics from the University of Delaware.