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Sebrena Sawtell Climbs Ranks to Director of Strategic Growth Marketing at Booz Allen
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Sebrena Sawtell Climbs Ranks to Director of Strategic Growth Marketing at Booz Allen

Longtime Booz Allen Hamilton executive and communications specialist Sebrena Sawtell has been appointed the company’s director of strategic growth marketing.

In her new role, Sawtell – who has also been elevated to principal status – will lead a newly created team and direct Booz Allen’s expansion efforts via marketing strategies, she said in a LinkedIn post on Friday.

“Working for an amazing company that allows ideas that grow into new teams really is the cherry on top,” Sawtell added.

Sawtell has cultivated an over two decade career in marketing and public relations, nearly 15 years of which she has spent at Booz Allen. A master of business administration graduate from Southern Adventist University, Sawtell began her career as a marketing assistant for three regional hospitals in the Adventist Health Care network.

She then held the position of director of public relations for Life Care Centers of America and assistant vice president of Widmeyer Communications. While performing these roles, Sawtell additionally acted as an independent consultant for various children’s educational programs and oversaw their development and global distribution.

The executive entered Booz Allen at the end of 2007 as a lead associate. In this position, she presided on a leadership team focusing on strategic communications, organizational design and solving management challenges.

Sawtell became a senior associate in 2018, after which point she spearheaded the firm’s cybersecurity, intelligence and product marketing outreach.

The freshly minted director of strategic growth marketing believes in a marketing approach that is more than just selling something and communicates a meaningful story.

She holds a passion for educating special needs children and is a director for the Seventh-Day Adventist organization Pathfinders.

Sawtell’s promotion follows Booz Allen’s February instatement of Raynor Dahlquist as senior vice president heading up cyber strategy.

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FEMA Begins Search for Next CIO
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FEMA Begins Search for Next CIO

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is looking for a full-time chief information officer to oversee the agency’s enterprise information technology and cybersecurity processes.

A notice posted on USAJobs.gov says the CIO’s responsibilities include data and systems protection, IT workforce development and process simplification.

The authorizing official over FEMA systems will report to the deputy associate administrator for mission support and work closely with the agency’s financial and component procurement departments to manage IT investments, acquisition review and approval processes and Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform implementation efforts.

Federal News Network reported Thursday that Lytwaive Hutchinson, who has served as FEMA CIO over the past three years, will leave the federal government to join the private sector.

Hutchinson previously held a 17-year career at the Department of Defense and served in the U.S. Army for 21 years.

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DCSA Promotes Clay Socha to Full-Time Contracting Activity Head
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DCSA Promotes Clay Socha to Full-Time Contracting Activity Head

Clay Socha, acting head of contracting activity at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency since August 2021, has been appointed to the position on a full-time basis.

He played a key role in the transition of National Background Investigations Bureau operations to DCSA and oversaw the integration of contract portfolios into the agency, Nicole Evans, deputy chief acquisition officer at the Department of the Treasury, said in a congratulatory post on LinkedIn.

Socha served as director of the NBIB Administrative Contracting Office for two years before he joined DCSA in October 2019, when the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Defense completed the realignment of government background investigations activity with DCSA.

Prior to NBIB, he worked at Army Contracting Command as supervisory contract specialist and team chief.

His promotion at DCSA comes as the agency is moving data from the National Industrial Security System and the Defense Information System for Security to the federal government’s consolidated personnel vetting information technology.

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GAO: Cyber Command Should Develop Outcome-Based Metrics to Evaluate Warfighting Capabilities
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GAO: Cyber Command Should Develop Outcome-Based Metrics to Evaluate Warfighting Capabilities

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that U.S. Cyber Command come up with outcome-based metrics for Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture programs to support future Value Assessments.

GAO said Wednesday such metrics could help the command understand and determine how and whether new capabilities advance and support cyber warfighting missions.

JCWA was formed by USCYBERCOM in 2019 to help synchronize cyber warfighting functions and initiatives across the Department of Defense and includes software-enabled platforms, tools and sensors.

The congressional watchdog said the command has launched efforts to evaluate JCWA acquisitions but has not yet developed the metrics needed to support Value Assessments, outcome-based evaluations that seek to determine the effect of an acquisition program on mission outcomes and whether such outcomes are worth the investment.

“DOD concurred with the recommendation and identified steps it is taking to develop metrics for future Value Assessments,” the GAO report reads.

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Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner on DISA’s Thunderdome, Defense Enclave Services Contract
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Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner on DISA’s Thunderdome, Defense Enclave Services Contract

Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient, said the Thunderdome zero trust program and the Defense Enclave Services initiative are key to DISA’s future work as the agency tries to transition from being a hardware agency into a software organization, Breaking Defense reported Thursday.

“Thunderdome is a way to reimagine… how we look at networks in the future and it’s really more data-centric than it is the old equipment and hardware-focused,” Skinner told the publication in an interview.

In January, DISA awarded Booz Allen Hamilton a $6.8 million contract to prototype a zero trust security and network architecture over the next six months.

Skinner said about four or five services will be offered under the Thunderdome prototyping initiative, including Secure Access Service Edge. He noted that DISA expects DES to help lessen contract actions by consolidating contracting for network capabilities.

“So what we’re trying to do with the DES contract is through one contractor bringing all the innovation and the good things that we provide from network performance, network monitoring and network management,” Skinner said. “That’s really what DES is supposed to be. We’re trying to integrate, be consistent and accountable for the consolidation of all these IT integrated network operations — that’s the end goal.”

In late February, Leidos announced that it won the potential 10-year, $11.5 billion DES contract to help DISA consolidate information technology networks of the Department of Defense’s Fourth Estate organizational entities.

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President Biden Invokes Defense Production Act to Ensure Reliable Supply of Critical Materials
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President Biden Invokes Defense Production Act to Ensure Reliable Supply of Critical Materials

President Biden has issued a presidential determination to strengthen domestic production of critical materials used in manufacturing clean energy technologies and reduce dependence on foreign sources.

The determination released in accordance with Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 will direct the secretary of defense to support feasibility studies for beneficiation, mining and value-added processing to help expand and protect domestic capabilities for the production of lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese, nickel and other materials, the White House said Thursday.

The executive branch will also require the head of the Department of Defense to carry out a survey of the domestic industrial base for the mining and beneficiation of critical materials used in producing large-capacity batteries for automotive, stationary storage and e-mobility sectors. 

The DOD secretary should also submit to the president and Congress an annual report detailing the results of the survey.

In early 2020, the previous administration invoked the Defense Production Act to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the defense industrial base.

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Constellis Subsidiary Awarded $195 DOE Contract for Security Services; CEO Terry Ryan Quoted
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Constellis Subsidiary Awarded $195 DOE Contract for Security Services; CEO Terry Ryan Quoted

An arm of risk management and mission services company Constellis has received a five-year, $195 million contract from the Department of Energy to provide protective measures for facilities.

The contract tasks Constellis-owned Centerra with evolving and strengthening security procedures at the DOE’s Washington, D.C. and Germantown, Maryland headquarter offices, the company said Thursday.

Terry Ryan, CEO of Constellis, shared that the organization is “honored” to complete the duties. The new work constitutes the sixth active contract for Constellis with the DOE.

“As the premier global provider of high-end security services, Centerra is part of the Constellis enterprise that provides a wide-range of turn-key security solutions to our customers,” Ryan, a previous winner of the Wash100 Award, said.

Centerra is expected to furnish the DOE buildings with K9s and other protections. The project will be a collaboration with the department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory and Centerra will act as safeguard for the laboratory’s environmental sustainability efforts, aiming to empower mission effectiveness.

Constellis has maintained an ongoing partnership with the DOE for 60 years. One contract Centerra is currently working on is a 10-year, $4 billion award for site services at the DOE’s Hanford location.

Under this contract, along with Leidos and Parsons, Centerra is performing land management, security, information technology and emergency services.

In an Executive Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz last year, Ryan said he believes the company’s capabilities are a “business necessity” due to “domestic and international security requirements” as well as “the world situation and our domestic crises at the local, state and federal level.”

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TRANSCOM Commander Jacqueline Van Ovost Delivers Fiscal 2023 Posture Statement
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TRANSCOM Commander Jacqueline Van Ovost Delivers Fiscal 2023 Posture Statement

Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost said in U.S. Transportation Command’s latest posture statement that TRANSCOM will face challenges in addressing high-end conflict amid the world’s complex security environment, as defined in President Joe Biden’s Interim National Security Strategic Guidance.

She said in a statement posted Tuesday that TRANSCOM must sustain integration with the U.S. military services, federal and state agencies, other combatant commands and industry partners.

Van Ovost discussed how the Department of Defense’s power projection is dependent to the critical elements of TRANSCOM’s warfighting framework: global mobility posture; global mobility capacity; and global command, control and integration.

“Diplomatic alignment with our allies and partners enables access, basing and overflight for U.S. forces and is critically important to the rapid deployment of personnel and equipment at the time and place of our choosing,” she said regarding global mobility posture.

The general also noted that TRANSCOM seeks continued congressional support for the recapitalization of sealift and refueling capabilities to meet global transport needs.

Van Ovost delivered the TRANSCOM posture statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Senate Confirms Nani Coloretti as OMB Deputy Director
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Senate Confirms Nani Coloretti as OMB Deputy Director

The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm the nomination of Nani Coloretti to serve as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

President Biden announced his intention to nominate Coloretti to the position in November alongside then acting OMB Director Shalanda Young, who was confirmed to head the agency on a full-time basis in early March.

Coloretti served as senior vice president for financial and business strategy and treasurer at the Urban Institute before her nomination.

She held various federal government positions under the Obama administration including as the deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, assistant secretary for management and acting chief financial officer of the Department of the Treasury and acting chief operating officer of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Executive Spotlight: Cindy Murphy, VP of Intelligence Community Business Development With CACI
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Executive Spotlight: Cindy Murphy, VP of Intelligence Community Business Development With CACI

Cindy Murphy, vice president of Intelligence Community Business Development for CACI, recently spoke with ExecutiveGov regarding the impact that the latest technology is having on CACI in order to drive the company’s digital transformation efforts to stay ahead of the intelligence community’s needs.

In addition, Murphy also discussed how digital solutions are improving network management and agility for the intelligence community as well as how diversity and inclusion play a significant role in CACI’s long-term success during the latest Executive Spotlight interview.

“Now as a leader at CACI, I am a member and active participant in our Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. I take personal accountability in ensuring that CACI provides an environment and culture that is inclusive. I have formally and informally mentored many young women throughout my career, and each time it has resulted in mutually beneficial and long-term relationships.”

You can read the full Executive Spotlight interview with Cindy Murphy below:

ExecutiveGov: With the influence of emerging technologies impacting every aspect of business, how has your company been able to drive digital transformation efforts to stay ahead of need in the Intelligence Community?

Cindy Murphy: “At CACI our most valuable asset is our people.  Driving digital transformation starts with talent.  We embrace innovation through our intern and college hire programs; entry level talent has grown up digitally and offers fresh perspectives and experiences that allow us to rapidly innovate.

We partner new generations of technologists with our solution architects, customers, program execution organization, and growth teams to identify technology gaps and future mission needs. We collect, track, and share this meaningful and actionable information across our organization.

In addition to our formal training and certification offerings, we promote our culture of innovation via our subject matter expert-led technology forums like Communities of Practices (COP).

CACI has over 25 active COPs in both technical expertise and professional proficiencies.  These organized, collaborative groups are a great way for our workforce to learn relevant topics, network with others, share trends and best practices, and advance their tradecraft.  Advancing our workforce, ultimately helps advance our customers’ missions.

Another way we drive digital transformation efforts ahead of need in the Intelligence Community is by embedding analysts and mission engineers into our delivery teams to purposefully focus on mission outcomes.

Our mission engineers partner with end users, such as intelligence analysts to understand day-in-the-life scenarios and use cases. These multi-function teams ensure our customers’ highest priorities are met first and that tools are easy to use and meet mission requirements.  This creative approach leverages the collective value of our team’s diverse backgrounds and skillsets and ultimately enables us to solve our customer’s challenges faster.

ExecutiveGov: As the need for digital solutions in the Intelligence Community continues to call for Agile, how does this improve its networks and data management?

Cindy Murphy: “I love this question because I am a complete ‘Agile nerd.’ As a software developer there is nothing more frustrating than developing a tool or capability without a feedback loop or insight into what features the analyst found useful, and those that need to be iteratively improved upon to make more mission impact.

My technical background includes partnering with intelligence customers to make the transition from waterfall to Agile and deliver capability to the end user faster, predictably, and reliably. At CACI, we’ve been doing that successfully for many years and have had fantastic results with our customers.

CACI is an industry leader in Agile transformations at scale. Our Agile Solution Factory, or ASF optimizes performance of Agile software, holistically integrating the benefits of Agile at an enterprise scale.

The results of CACI’s ASF on large government programs have included increased end-user satisfaction through higher quality and more secure software deployed on shorter release cycles.

Transparency and engagement are instrumental to Agile success. We measure and collect metrics across the entire Agile cycle which helps to improve the team’s productivity and provides our customers with deep insight into our performance.

We are applying the same Agile development techniques, including embedding analysts and mission engineers into our Agile scrum teams, to CACI’s new data analytics at scale platform called ‘Artemis.’

It provides a platform for rapid data discovery and visualization of massive amounts of data in one place. Artemis is a commercial-off-the-shelf tool developed for-the-Analyst, by-the-Analyst.  It’s our commitment to developing capability with the analyst in mind. The result is an enhanced user interface and user experience that provides working capability to the analysts faster.”

ExecutiveGov: How does your company ensure long term success for your workforce to drive value for your employees as you continue to face the uphill challenge to recruit and retain the best talent in the federal marketplace?

Cindy Murphy: “The talent war is our new reality and recruiting and retaining top talent has become significantly more challenging since the COVID-19 pandemic. Our IC customers demand access to highly skilled and highly cleared talent. Today’s workforce demands flexibility, meaningful work, and competitive salaries and benefits.

CACI does very well with recruiting and retaining talent because of our mission-centric approach to everything we do. One of the best sources of talent is our Employee Referral Program.

There is value in our employees sharing their experiences at CACI with their networks. We provide employee referral bonuses, which motivates current employees to work with proven talent that they know and trust. It’s a win/win.

In addition to attracting new talent, today’s talent war requires a keen focus on retaining our current, highly-skilled and cleared workforce. #makingmoves is CACI’s enterprise-wide career development program.

At CACI we are proud to have a culture that promotes career mobility, helps our employees build invaluable skills and aligns our employee’s expertise to meet our customer’s evolving missions. Our #makingmoves program embraces and celebrates our employees desire to expand and grow within the company.”

ExecutiveGov: What role does diversity and inclusion play in CACI’s long-term success?

Cindy Murphy: “Diversity and inclusion (D&I) are very near and dear to my heart. I started as an intern supporting the intelligence community over two decades ago. I was a computer science and math major. As a young female intern in the STEM field supporting the IC, there weren’t a lot of people that had similar experiences and background as me.

Throughout my career, I am grateful to those who listened and encouraged me to learn, engage and contribute. Twenty years later, I’ve made it a priority to do the same.

Now as a leader at CACI, I am a member and active participant in our Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board. I take personal accountability in ensuring that CACI provides an environment and culture that is inclusive. I have formally and informally mentored many young women throughout my career, and each time it has resulted in mutually beneficial and long-term relationships.

At CACI, we put D&I into action through our university partnerships, our internship programs, mentoring programs, and philanthropic partnerships, such as Women in Technology (WIT), Girls in Technology, and the Children’s Science Center. We also are committed to our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs).

The combination of these things helps our employees make connections, build a strong sense of community and grow bigger networks to create a diverse and inclusive culture.”

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