Speakers

Dr. Theresa R. Horne is the Director of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA).

In this capacity, Dr. Horne exercises leadership of the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) and equal employment opportunity (EEO) teams supporting approximately 14,000 federal employees and contractors. Dr. Horne manages, directs, and coordinates the day-to-day operations and strategic vision of the office. She is responsible for interpreting EEO policy and regulations to implement higher level actions that directly shape the culture at DCSA and improve operations throughout the agency.

Prior to this role, Dr. Horne served as the Chief Diversity Officer for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) where she created and managed the implementation of the DEIA Strategic
Plan, advised the Executive Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council on key opportunities to bolster
women and underserved groups through sourcing, recruitment, retention and upward mobility
for a 21,000+ employee organization. Dr. Horne successfully led the reasonable accommodations team, Anti-Harassment program, organizational climate assessments team, special emphasis programming team, diversity training, and the agency-wide vaccine exemption planning process, building policy and processes that were utilized across the Department of Homeland Security.

Additionally, Dr. Horne led award-winning culture efforts internationally in Yokosuka, Japan with
Defense Logistics Agency before returning to Washington, DC to continue her work as a Senior
Program Manager at the National Labor Relations Board. Her culture work has been recognized
by federal and private industry earning her many awards like the Meritorious Service Award as
well as being recognized as one of Mogul’s Top 100 DEI Leaders in 2021 due to her extensive
inclusion work for women and people of color across the federal government. Dr. Horne is a
sought after speaker and trusted thought leader on the intersection of DEIA, leadership
development and human capital.

Dr. Horne earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Masters of Education,
emphasis in Assessment, Testing and Measurement from Ashford University (now University of
Arizona Global Campus) and a Doctorate of Education Leadership and Learning, emphasis in Education Administration from Aspen University. She is a proud Army war veteran and stalwart
advocate for civil, human, and veteran rights.

Shannon Jackson serves as Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). In this role, Mr. Jackson leads the organization’s efforts to maximize the use of small businesses across the acquisition portfolio through outreach, policy, advocacy, and training to support the health and well-being of the American people.

Previously, he held various positions within the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) — including OSBP Acting Director, Deputy Director of OSBP, Associate Director for the DoD Mentor Protégé Program, and Senior Advisor to the Director of the DoD OSBP. Mr. Jackson has served almost 30 years in the federal government and has held various leadership positions throughout his career, including his military service, retiring as Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S Army. Mr. Jackson led a network of 700 full- and part-time small business professionals across the DoD. Noteworthy is that the work of DOD’s small business workforce results in more than $50 billion in prime contract spending on contracts to small businesses and over $40 billion in subcontract spending for small businesses, annually.

Mr. Jackson believes that small business is the heart of our nation’s economy, and he is committed to building an agile and resilient industrial and manufacturing base that supports economic growth and development.

Ms. Veronica Hinton is the Principal Deputy Associate Director for Employee Services at The United States Office of Personnel Management. In this capacity, she co-leads the development of policies, guidance, and programs across the human capital lifecycle, to include talent acquisition, pay and leave, labor relations, training and development, performance management, the Senior Executive Service, work-life and telework for the federal workforce. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Hinton served as the Department of Defense’s Principal Director for Civilian Personnel Policy and Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer. Her responsibilities included development and oversight of civilian personnel plans, policies and programs that affect over 930,000 defense employees worldwide. Ms. Hinton has held various leadership positions in the Department of the Treasury, Department of Air Force and Department of Defense. She served as the Department of Treasury Associate Chief Human Capital Officer for Human Capital Strategic Management, Director of the Air Force Senior Executive Management Office and the Director for Personnel Service Delivery Transformation at Headquarters United States Air Force, and the Deputy Director for Manpower, Personnel, and Services at Headquarters Air Combat Command. Ms. Hinton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Texas State University, a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Development from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University. Her awards include the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, Secretary of the Treasury Meritorious Service Award, Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence, and Secretary of the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

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Dr. Janice Underwood joins the Biden-Harris administration as Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (ODEIA) at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In this capacity, she leads OPM’s technical assistance role in the government-wide DEIA initiative established by Executive Order #14035, which will include convening an executive council for all federal chief diversity officers, and leading an interagency team to provide strategic technical support to all relevant agencies in advancing their agency DEIA plans.

As a national expert in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across multiple sectors, Dr. Underwood has championed to make structural inequity visible in government and education sectors as a state official, a university administrator, teacher educator, researcher, national board-certified special education science teacher, and diversity trainer.  Dr. Underwood has been published in numerous journals and has received several awards for her exemplary contributions to advancing equity and justice at the intersection of government and politics.  She previously served as the inaugural Virginia Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (CDO) to Governor Ralph Northam.  This secretary-level role was the first of its kind in the Commonwealth and to exist nationally. 

In her most recent role as Virginia CDO, Dr. Underwood collaboratively labored toward building affirming work, learning, economic, and social environments for the Commonwealth of Virginia as a roadmap for continued access and success for the state and the nation.  In 2021 Dr. Underwood and her team at the Governor’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion launched the ONE Virginia Plan, the first ever statewide DEI strategy across 100+ agencies. In this role, Dr. Underwood operationalized DEI across state government, collaborated with external stakeholders to build DEI offices in other states, and led the Virginia COVID-19 Equity Leadership Taskforce, which has become a model for several other states and local governments.  Most notably, Dr. Underwood worked with leaders at all levels to champion the legislative equity agenda of the Northam administration, which resulted in historic and nationally recognized accomplishments.

Dr. Underwood earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Hampton University in Psychology and Behavior/Learning Disorders.  In 2015, she earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Old Dominion University, where her research focused on ways to use the culturally relevant pedagogy framework to reform STEM-H fields, education, and other public fields. 

Catherine Sanz started her law enforcement career in 1977 as a Northeastern University Criminal Justice co-op student with the Federal Protective Service. In her 31 years of service she served as an instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Center, special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Customs Service. She supervised undercover child exploitation and money laundering operations, general smuggling, commercial fraud, and money laundering investigations. In 1998, Ms. Sanz transferred to Customs headquarters and managed the Asset Forfeiture Program and served as the Assistant Director for the Department of Treasury’s Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture. In 2003, she developed, implemented, and managed the asset forfeiture program for the newly formed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency under the Department Homeland Security. She was promoted in 2006, to the Senior Executive Service as the Assistant Director for Mission Support for ICE Office of Investigations. As Assistant Director, she managed a budget of $1.4 billion and was responsible for all budget formulation and execution. Ms. Sanz served as WIFLE Secretary, Vice President, and President in 2007. Since 2008, she has served as a member of the Past Presidents Committee and more recently as a Board Member of the WIFLE Foundation, Inc. In January 2012, Ms. Sanz became the Vice President for the WIFLE Foundation and Deputy Executive Director for WIFLE, Inc. and, in 2013, became the President and Executive Director for each respective organization. Ms. Sanz holds a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University in Boston and a M.A. in Forensic Psychology from Marymount University, Arlington, VA.

McCourt Chair at the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Abraham Grungold is a retired Federal Employee with over 36 years of federal service. He is the owner of AG Financial Services, a business is to help employees with their TSP and FERS retirement decisions. He has written over 30 articles about the TSP and FERS.

My name is Dallen Haws and I love talking about the security and freedom that a strong financial plan can bring to our lives. I have seen how information can change everything. I have a Bachelors in Business and Finance as well as an MBA. I love fitness and the outdoors. On the weekends you will find me in the mountains, with family, or talking about personal finance. I am married to the girl of my dreams. Somehow she deals with my never ending talks about personal finance. We love having adventures together.

Steve Somers was appointed President of Graduate School USA in January 2022. He has spent almost 10 years in the education industry, serving most recently as Vice President of Corporate Development at Kaplan, Inc. for five years, where he executed over 15 deals as a strategic partner across Kaplan’s various business units. Previously, he was Vice President of Corporate Development, Investor Relations & Treasury at Rosetta Stone, where he helped expand Rosetta’s language business through two acquisitions and enter the literacy business with the acquisition of Lexia Learning.

Before his time in the education space, Mr. Somers led M&A and IR at two public companies — first in the wireless industry with SunCom Wireless, where he led its sale to T-Mobile and then at GSI Commerce, in the e-commerce industry, where he helped grow GSI before its sale to E-Bay. Earlier in his career, Mr. Somers was an equity research analyst at DLJ.

Mr. Somers is a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) and earned a B.S. in Business and Economics with a concentration in Finance from Lehigh University and an MBA from Villanova University.

National Managing Principal, Grant Thornton

Courtney Buble is a staff correspondent who covers the federal government with a focus on oversight, management, contracting and regulations. In 2022, she won the American Society of Business Publication Editors' Young Leaders Scholarship and was selected for the Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellowship for 2022-2023. Before joining Government Executive in July 2019, she worked for NBC News. Courtney graduated from The George Washington University in 2018.

Ross Gianfortune hosts the GovExec Daily podcast. Prior to joining Government Executive’s staff, Ross Gianfortune worked at The Washington Post, The Gazette Newspapers, WXRT Radio and The Columbia Missourian. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from University of Missouri and a master's in communications from the American University.

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.

Erich Wagner is a senior correspondent covering pay, benefits, organized labor and other federal workforce issues. He joined Government Executive in the spring of 2017 after extensive experience writing about state and local issues in Maryland and Virginia, most recently as editor-in-chief of the Alexandria Times. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.