The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council, or ACT-IAC, has appointed Gary Washington, former chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as chief strategy officer.
In a LinkedIn post, ACT-IAC said Washington will assume his new role at the nonprofit organization later in November.
“Gary Washington is an outstanding federal technology leader with keen insights and experience across government and the commercial sector,” said Dave Wennergren, CEO of ACT-IAC CEO and a two-time Wash100 awardee. “We are absolutely delighted to have Gary join the ACT-IAC leadership team and support our continuing mission to accelerate government mission outcomes through collaboration, leadership and education.”
Nextgov/FCW reported Monday that Washington transitioned to the newly created role of chief innovation officer at USDA after the department tapped Sam Berry, an associate from the Department of Government Efficiency, to serve as CIO in September.
Who Is Gary Washington?
Washington spent eight years as CIO of USDA. In this capacity, he oversaw the development of IT strategies, portfolio management, IT operations and information security. He helped establish five IT modernization centers of excellence and advanced cloud adoption, IT infrastructure optimization, service delivery analytics and customer experience.
He also served as acting secretary of USDA and the department’s acting deputy secretary.
Washington’s federal career spans multiple agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget, the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. At FDA, he served as director of IT governance and deputy director of infrastructure.
The Strayer University graduate spent a decade in the U.S. Air Force as a computer operator and command control specialist.
