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CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to Leave Office in June
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CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to Leave Office in June

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will step down at the end of June after more than two years in service.

The agency announced Friday that Walensky submitted a letter of resignation—the same day that the World Health Organization declared the end of the COVID-19 global health emergency.

Walensky was instrumental in restoring public health normalcy after two years of the COVID pandemic. She launched a series of reforms under the Moving Forward campaign, working to improve communications and response missions within the agency.

During her term, the CDC invested in infrastructure modernization, creating the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, digitalizing information systems, and increasing the public health workforce.

“As Director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the front lines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity,” President Joe Biden remarked. “Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans.”

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Laura Stanton Offers Update on GSA’s Ascend Cloud BPA
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Laura Stanton Offers Update on GSA’s Ascend Cloud BPA

Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Category at the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, said GSA has issued several requests for information and is still in the market research phase with the Ascend blanket purchase agreement for cloud products and services.

Stanton noted at a May 2 conference that GSA is finalizing the performance work statement for Pool 1 for platform and infrastructure as a service with a plan to release a draft request for quote in the summer, according to a post published Friday on the agency’s new cloud and software community forum.

GSA also intends to host an industry day and will ask industry to provide comments on the draft RFQ.

Stanton said the agency has asked agencies about their needs with respect to Ascend and has conducted an analysis of alternatives research.

GSA also announced the launch of the new cloud and software community forum to provide agencies and industry updates on Ascend and other information on the agency’s cloud portfolio.

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Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach Nominated as Air Combat Commander
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Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach Nominated as Air Combat Commander

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, has been nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the Air Combat Command.

Wilsbach is also the commander of the Air Component Command and Indo-Pacific Command at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Wash100 honoree announced Thursday.

The general has flown more than 5,000 hours and 71 combat missions since 1985. He was an Air Force instructor pilot for 11 years before becoming an aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Command.

His later assignments include being deputy commander of U.S. Forces South Korea, and commander of the United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command.

As leader of PACAF, Wilsbach is responsible for more than 46,000 Airmen stationed in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Japan and South Korea.

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AIA Raises Concerns Over Proposed Supply Chain GHG Disclosure Requirement for Federal Contractors
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AIA Raises Concerns Over Proposed Supply Chain GHG Disclosure Requirement for Federal Contractors

The Aerospace Industries Association has urged the Office of Management and Budget to block a Federal Acquisition Regulation Council proposal that would direct certain federal contractors to report their greenhouse gas emissions throughout their supply chains.

AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning said in a statement published Wednesday the FAR Council proposal comes with “impractical” requirements and “should be sent back to the drawing board.”

“Our industry has set a number of goals to cut emissions and remains committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Trying to comply with onerous, impractical – and in this case, impossible – requirements only hinders our progress,” noted Fanning, a previous Wash100 awardee.

Remy Nathan, senior vice president of policy at AIA, wrote a letter to OMB Director Shalanda Young, expressing concerns over the proposal’s purportedly challenging requirement for Scope 3—to tabulate emissions resulting from activities not controlled or owned by the contractors.

“Attempting to calculate these emissions would require companies to set up new, costly, complex data collection systems—for data that is largely outside of their control and provided by entities who are likely unable to accurately calculate their own emissions information,” Nathan wrote in the letter.

Nathan also cited the administrative burden the proposal would bring to small businesses.

Marine Corps Activates Innovation Unit to Accelerate Warfighting Capability Development
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Marine Corps Activates Innovation Unit to Accelerate Warfighting Capability Development

The U.S. Marine Corps has formally activated the Marine Innovation Unit at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York to accelerate the development and adoption of advanced technology and warfighting capabilities.

The activation of the Marine Innovation Unit, part of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is in accordance with the 38th Commandant’s Planning Guidance and Force Design 2030, which provides a strategic direction for talent management, education and training and command and leadership, the service branch said Friday.

The unit brings together the existing Marine workforce and professionals from various career fields to work on achieving some of Force Design 2030’s objectives and initiatives.

“MIU exists to act as a strategic connector between industry and the entire Marine Corps. Our Marines are eager to provide that critical capability and enable success for our customers throughout the Total Force,” said Col. Matthew Swindle, commanding officer of MIU.

According to its website, the MIU has four branches focused on advanced capabilities, commercial engagement, defense engagement and technology innovation.

Avril Haines: New ODNI Office Oversees Intelligence Community’s Fight Against Disinformation
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Avril Haines: New ODNI Office Oversees Intelligence Community’s Fight Against Disinformation

Avril Haines, director of national intelligence and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, said a new organization within her office oversees the intelligence community’s efforts to counter threats posed by foreign actors seeking to influence the U.S. government, The Intercept reported Friday.

Established in September 2022, the Foreign Malign Influence Center is charged with countering foreign disinformation that compromises U.S. election security and might sway the general public’s opinion.

The office uses all elements of the intelligence community, including departments and agencies with diplomatic and law enforcement functions, to combat disinformation campaigns.

“It encompasses our election threat work, essentially looking at foreign influence and interference in elections, but it also deals with disinformation more generally,” Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Haines added that the FMIC is also analyzing intelligence from other foreign adversaries besides Russia to help inform interagency efforts against foreign malign influence.

“What we have been doing is effectively trying to support the Global Engagement Center and others throughout the U.S. government in helping them to understand what are the plans and intentions of the key actors in this space: China, Russia, Iran, etc.,” Haines said.

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Jim Garrettson Presents Deltek’s Kevin Plexico With 4th Consecutive Wash100 Award
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Jim Garrettson Presents Deltek’s Kevin Plexico With 4th Consecutive Wash100 Award

Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of information solutions at Deltek, recently received his 2023 Wash100 Award during a meeting with Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson.

For 10 years, the annual Wash100 Award has celebrated the government contracting industry’s most powerful individuals. To select its winners, the award puts the accomplishments of each nominee under a microscope to carefully select the most incredible leaders in the field.

This year, Plexico received his fourth consecutive Wash100 Award for his dedication to sharing his expertise with contractors to help them better connect with clients and navigate the complex public sector market. In his efforts, Plexico penned multiple pieces for EM’s GovCon Expert program and expanded Deltek’s work to share information with businesses pursuing federal opportunities. Click here to read his full profile.

While looking at past successes, the Wash100 Award also anticipates the future achievements of each executive.

Since his induction into the 2023 Wash100 class, Plexico has continued to offer his insights to federal contractors. In April, he published a new GovCon Expert article where he broke down portions President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 discretionary budget request and highlighted key takeaways for contractors.

Executive Mosaic looks forward to learning more from Kevin Plexico as the year unfolds.

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Gen. Paul Nakasone & Jen Easterly Share Thoughts on AI, Cybersecurity
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Gen. Paul Nakasone & Jen Easterly Share Thoughts on AI, Cybersecurity

Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, shared their views on the rise of artificial intelligence and emerging digital security threats, The Vanderbilt Hustler reported Sunday.

Nakasone, who is also director of the National Security Agency, highlighted the need to have safeguards in place when it comes to AI adoption.

“I think AI will be even more so than the smartphone. We have to figure out a way to have this incredible technology but also the safeguards that ensure that it doesn’t necessarily attack the foundations of our nation,” he told the publication in an interview.

Meanwhile, Easterly cited the need to initiate integrated conversations with industry and academia over AI.

Nakasone also discussed the threats posed by countries such as Russia, China and Iran on U.S. national security, while Easterly talked about ransomware threats.

“These threats are very real, not necessarily on the national security level, but if they affect people in their lives, then some of this is connected into the national security and critical security apparatus,” Easterly noted.

Nakasone and Easterly are both 2023 Wash100 Award recipients.

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NOAA Explores Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor Tech Via Joint Venture Partnerships Program
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NOAA Explores Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor Tech Via Joint Venture Partnerships Program

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Joint Venture Partnerships program is working with the commercial aerospace sector to demonstrate and evaluate the Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor technology over a period of two years.

The HyMS technology could enable data users to reduce uncertainties and gather better observation data in all-weather conditions by using high-spectral resolution in imaging and sounding microwave bands, NOAA said Thursday.

The office of system architecture and advanced planning within NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service is overseeing the Joint Venture Partnerships program.

“What we want to see is whether a hyperspectral microwave sensor could add additional information to resolve that mixed signal you get from the presence of water vapor, rain, ice particles in the atmosphere,” said Sid Boukabara, formerly the principal scientist for OSAAP.

“We realized that this technology could increase the performance of the soundings we are taking, and we saw the potential to improve Numerical Weather Prediction so our forecasts are more accurate not just for the next few days, but also what’s happening now,” Boukabara added.

Satellite company Spire is developing a HyMS technology through the Joint Venture Partnerships program and plans to demonstrate the tool by launching it into orbit in 2024.

The program also works with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center on HyMS tools originally developed for the space agency’s Earth science technology office.

NOAA said it is funding airborne, space-based and balloon-based demonstrations to assess the potential uses of the hyperspectral technology in support of its missions.

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14 New Members Appointed to SEC’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee
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14 New Members Appointed to SEC’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee welcomed 14 new members who will succeed representatives reaching the end of their four-year term.

The committee currently has two incumbent members, Applied Genetic Technologies Founder Sue Washer and BlocPower Founder and CEO Donnel Baird and three other non-voting representatives, SEC said Thursday.

The advisory panel was established in 2016 to replace SEC’s Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies. It is comprised of investors, advisers and entrepreneurs of small and marginalized businesses, including women- and minority-owned companies.

“I thank the new members for agreeing to serve on the Advisory Committee, which plays an important role in our work to facilitate capital formation for companies of every size,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said. “Small businesses employ nearly half of America’s workforce and make up more than 99 percent of America’s businesses. The investors, entrepreneurs, and advisors named today understand this well, and I am pleased the SEC will benefit from their perspective.”

The new SEC-appointed members are:

  • Wemimo Abbey – co-founder and CEO, Esusu
  • Stacey Bowers – professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law; of counsel, 3Pillars Law
  • George Cook – co-founder and CEO, Honeycomb Credit
  • Vincent Cordero – partner, co-ceo and chief business officer, Mucho Mas Media
  • Marcia Dawood – venture partner, Mindshift Capital
  • Bart Dillashaw – founder, Enterprise Legal Studio
  • Herbert Drayton III – founder and managing partner, HI Mark Capital
  • Erica Duignan – founder and general partner, Reign Ventures
  • Diego Mariscal – CEO, founder and chief disabled officer, 2Gether-International
  • Laura Niklason – founder, president, and CEO, Humacyte
  • Davyeon Ross – co-founder and president, ShotTracker
  • Jasmin Sethi –  CEO and founder, Sethi Clarity Advisors
  • Aren Sharifi – attorney, Kutak Rock LLP
  • Dennis Sugino – founder, Kansa Advisory
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