Speaker Spotlight

Dr. Andrukh is the Ukraine Program Director for Progress Humanity. She is a highly decorated psychologist, military veteran, and international negotiator with a rich background in psychology and law. She served 17 years in the Ukrainian military, where she earned numerous awards, including the prestigious Order of Princess Olga 2d degree, for her heroic efforts in negotiating the release of hostages during the 2014 invasion and evacuating orphanages during 2022. Her career is marked by significant contributions to international negotiation and conflict resolution, having worked in various crisis situations, including the Syrian refugee crisis and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Dr. Andrukh’s expertise extends to academia as well, where she has taught at top Ukrainian institutions and authored 11 peer-reviewed publications focused on emotional burnout among operatives.

Throughout her career, Dr. Andrukh has been involved in high-stakes negotiations that have saved countless lives. Notably, she played a key role in the Minsk and Normandy Format talks, offering strategic psychological insights to Ukrainian leaders and negotiating the exchange of prisoners of war during the Donbas conflict. Her work has been recognized internationally, particularly for her efforts in Afghanistan, where she orchestrated the evacuation of Fatema Hosseini, a journalist targeted by the Taliban. This mission, along with her subsequent efforts to evacuate nearly 800 children during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, has earned her international acclaim and several awards, including the silver medal “For courage while performing special assignments.”

Dr. Andrukh’s contributions extend beyond the battlefield. Following her retirement from the military due to medical reasons, she continued her work in international negotiation and conflict resolution as a civilian. She has collaborated with the United Nations and Red Cross in refugee crises and served as a volunteer at the Polish border during the early days of the 2022 war in Ukraine. Her work in these areas, coupled with her academic achievements and media recognition—including a documentary that won a gold award at the New York Film Festival—solidifies her reputation as a leading figure in conflict resolution and humanitarian efforts on the global stage.

Amir Bagherpour, Ph.D., is a Managing Director and the Analytics & Visualization Lead for Data & AI at Accenture Federal Services. He spearheads the development of advanced analytics platforms and methodologies to help organizations make more informed decisions. At Accenture, he has held various leadership roles, including head of Data & AI for Strategy & Consulting, Public Safety Lead for Data & AI, and Technical Project Lead for Applied Intelligence programs. Before joining Accenture, Dr. Bagherpour co-founded a startup focused on developing predictive analytics software. His industry experience encompasses both commercial and federal sectors. Dr. Bagherpour previously served as the Chief of the Advanced Analytics Team at the Bureau of Conflict & Stabilization Operations and subsequently as the Director of Data Analytics in the Office of the Secretary of State. Earlier in his career, he worked as an application engineer at NSK Corporation, designing bearings and motion control components for automation processes. Dr. Bagherpour holds a Ph.D. in Political Science with a specialization in Quantitative Methods from Claremont Graduate University, an MBA from the University of California Irvine, and a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies and Systems Engineering from West Point. He has published in prestigious academic journals and publications such as Foreign Affairs and Scientific American. Dr. Bagherpour is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), where he focuses on the study of disinformation, conflict, and emerging technologies. He is also a senior fellow at TransResearch Consortium (TRC), an academic consortium focused on the data driven study of global power transitions. A veteran, he served honorably as an armor officer in the U.S. Army.

Ms. Kimberly D. Buehler was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in August 2019. She currently serves as the Director for the Army Office of Small Business Programs, where she provides executive leadership for all aspects of the Army's small business mission, including advocacy and outreach for all small business programs, development and dissemination of policies and procedures for execution of small business functions, and oversight for the execution of the small business program at the Army’s contracting activities--equating to more than $20 billion dollars of annual spending.

Ms. Buehler represents the Secretary of the Army at congressional committee and subcommittee hearings on small business matters, and leads strategic inter-agency communication with the Small Business Administration, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the Minority Business Development Agency (Department of Commerce), and other agencies and presidential commissions.

David Canada is Director of Global Supplier Diversity for Boeing Defense Space & Security (BDS). Named to this role in 2023, he has primary responsibility for building stronger relationships with the diversity office at the DoD and with the respective representatives of the branches of services.

David joined The Boeing Company in 2007 as an Industrial Engineer on the V-22 Osprey line. He implemented new project management tools that resulted in automated workforce planning and improved the schedule planning efficiency. David grew, taking on new challenges and roles across Boeing.

As IT Procurement Manager, he managed 18 procurement agents, 30 suppliers, and more than $250 million in contracts. He moved on to serve as Chief of Staff to the Vice President of BDS IT Business Partners. He continued his career as the Senior Manager, Mergers & Acquisitions Integration Strategy, where he led mergers and acquisitions estimated at $2.5 billion, and also manages critical cybersecurity issues and systems.

David earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University, and a master’s degree in Business Administration and a Certification in Project Management.

Giving back is a part of who David is. He serves on the board of the following non-profit organizations: Black Alliance of Colleges & Employers (BACE), Step Afrika, Wearable Tech Ventures and Positive Deposits. David is also very passionate about STEM education and increasing the number of minorities in technology fields. He serves as an active corporate representative for the Black Engineer of the Year Awards, Advancing Minorities Interest in Engineering as well as the National Society of Black Engineers. In addition, he was selected to be a member of the Racial Equity Task Force and is co-leader of the BGS Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Mark Cancian (Colonel, USMCR, ret.) is a Senior Adviser with the CSIS International Security Program. He joined CSIS in April 2015 from the Office of Management and Budget, where he spent more than seven years as Chief of the Force Structure and Investment Division, working on issues such as Department of Defense budget strategy, war funding, and procurement programs, as well as nuclear weapons development and nonproliferation activities in the Department of Energy. Previously, he worked on force structure and acquisition issues in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and ran research and executive programs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

In the military, Colonel Cancian spent over three decades in the U.S. Marine Corps, active and reserve, serving as an infantry, artillery, and civil affairs officer and on overseas tours in Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq (twice). Since 2000, he has been an adjunct faculty member at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he teaches a course on the connection between policy and analysis. A prolific author, he has published over 40 articles on military operations, acquisition, budgets, and strategy and received numerous writing awards. He graduated with high honors (magna cum laude) from Harvard College and with highest honors (Baker scholar) from Harvard Business School.

Mark Correll is the Federal Strategy Director and Director of Air Force programs for the full-service Architect-Engineer firm HDR, Inc. In his role at HDR he spearheads development of strategic action plans and ensures goals are translated into actionable capture opportunities for future program directions as well as engaging the Department of the Air Force in all aspects of client development. Prior to joining HDR in 2022, Mr. Correll was a member of the Senior Executive Service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety, and Infrastructure, the Air Force Deputy Civil Engineer as well as serving on active duty in the Air Force for over 29 years where he commanded squadron, group and wing levels before retiring as a Colonel in 2010. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, earned his Master of Science in Engineering Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Texas.

Bianca Henderson serves as the Director for the Naval Facilities Engineering System Command (NAVFAC), Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). Bianca leads 13 Small Business Professional’s across the NAVFAC enterprise with a small business spend that exceeded $5.6 billion dollars in FY-24. Bianca, has 28 years of Gov’t Contracting experience, and obtained DAWIA/FAC-C Level III Acquisition certifications. Bianca has worked for NAVFAC for 7 years and is passionate about advocating for small business utilization. She finds her job as a small business leader very meaningful and impactful. Bianca is also 11-year Marine Corps veteran.

Joachim Holger Waldemar Christian, Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, was born on 7 June 1969. His Royal Highness Prince Joachim is the son of HM Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark (d. 2018). He is included in the order of succession to the Throne and may act as Regent when HM The Queen and HRH Crown Prince Frederik are abroad.

Prince Joachim’s military career started in 1987 as recruit in the Queen's Own Regiment. In 1988, Prince Joachim was appointed as a sergeant, and in 1989, he was appointed as a lieutenant of the reserve. After becoming a lieutenant, Prince Joachim served as a Platoon Commander of a tank squadron in the Prince's Own Regiment from 1989 to 1990. In 1990, Prince Joachim was appointed a first lieutenant of the reserve and in 1992, after completion of advanced training level I for officers of the reserve (VUT I), came his appointment as a captain of the reserve. From 1996 to 2004, Prince Joachim was the commander of a tank squadron in the mobilization force of the Prince's Own Regiment and, from 2005, was attached to the Danish Division’s staff as a major of the reserve. Following appointment as a lieutenant colonel of the reserve in 2011, Prince Joachim was designated as the chief of the Liaison Officers Group in Total Defence Region Fyn, Syd and Sønderjylland. From November 2015 to June 2019 Prince Joachim served as special advisor to the Danish Chief of Defence in relation to the implementation of the new total force concept, focusing on the Home Guard and personnel of the Reserve. From August 2019 to June 2020 Prince Joachim attended the 69th session of the Center for Advanced Military Studies (CHEM) and the 72nd session of the Institute of Advanced National Defense Studies (IHEDN) at École Militaire in Paris. Since September 2020 Prince Joachim is Defense Attache at the Royal Danish Embassy in Paris.

Scott A. Kiser, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director of Air Force Small Business Programs, located at the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. He is responsible for policy, advocacy, execution and advice pertaining to Small Business Programs and personnel throughout the Department for both Air Forces and Space Forces.

Mr. Kiser, a Manhattan, Kansas, native, was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in 1985 and served 27 years on active duty. He garnered extensive experience in international, major weapons system, operational and logistical contracting. Throughout his career, he held other key positions, to include Senior Contracting Official as Chief of Contracting, Headquarters Air Combat Command; Director of Contracting, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center; the Alternate Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting and Chief, Contracts Policy, Headquarters, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command; the Director of Contracting, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass; and most recently as Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Contracting at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. He aided the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Contracting in leading an 8,000 military and civilian contracting organization responsible for annually executing $70 billion for acquisition of major weapon systems, logistics, special access program, operational supplies and services and resourcing worldwide contingency operations. He served as the Air Force Head of the Contracting Authority and provided policy, guidance and oversight of Air Force Acquisition and Contracting Operations. Mr. Kiser retired from active duty as a colonel in August 2012 and entered Senior Executive Service in June 2014.

Dave Leinberger assumed the role as the Chief of Army Community Partnerships in July 2024. In this position, Mr. Leinberger encourages innovation and collaboration between our installations and local communities to develop partnerships that are mutually beneficial, identify cost efficiencies, reduce installation service response times, and strengthens the relationship with the local communities outside our installations. Mr. Leinberger focuses the utilization of collaborative partnership authorities to achieve these goals. These authorities include Intergovernmental Support Agreements (IGSAs), Cooperative Agreements, Mutual Aid Agreements, Memorandum of Understanding, Enhanced Use Lease, and Other Transaction Authority.

Previously, Mr. Leinberger served as the Army Community Partnership Program Manager, Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, in September 2019 and maintained that role following the ACSIM’s transition to Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9 (Installations).

Brian Liesveld currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for DEFENSEWERX, Inc. In his capacity as CEO, Brian oversees operations and management of the DWX innovation hubs as well as executing Board of Director’s strategic vision.

Prior to his role as Chief Executive Officer, Brian served as the Vice President for the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City, LA. In this role, Brian oversaw the operations supporting the Air Force Global Strike Command as well as Cyber Curriculum delivered to over 3 million students across the United States.

Brian’s previous roles include the Associate Director of the Defense and Security Research Institute at the University of Arizona as well as multiple roles within the Department of Defense. Most notably, Brian spearheaded the creation of the DoDs first University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) to be established in more than 20 years.

Deputy District Engineer for Programs and Project Management; Baltimore District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Baltimore District is one of six Districts in the North Atlantic Division. Baltimore District employs aver 1100 people executing hundreds of projects annually including military design & construction, civil planning, design & construction, and environmental restoration.

Previous assignments include Chief, Environmental & Munitions Design Center, program manager for Washington, D.C. area, Baltimore District program manager for Environmental Protection Agency, Base Operations Engineer for a U.S. Army Reserve command, and industrial engineer at the Directorate of Public Works, Fort Meade, MD.

Mr. Morrow holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Systems Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1982.

Charles F. Sills is a recognized authority on U.S. Government contracting, and an advocate for Small Business/Diversity Supplier access to Federal and Military acquisition opportunities, serving as the President & CEO of the American Defense Alliance – which hosts major Defense Requirements conferences across the country, connecting private sector innovators with the Pentagon, Military commands, and Congress to accelerate National Security solutions.

Concurrently, he serves as Chief Operating Officer of the Minority Business Development Agency’s Federal Procurement Center, under the U.S. Commerce Dept.; and manages the partnership under which MBDA affiliated companies attend and benefit from ADA conferences. He is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Council, and the Executive Committee of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force). He is also a Member of the Board of the American-Eurasian Business Coalition, focusing on international infrastructure, energy and investment initiatives, and serving on multinational task forces such as the Danube Basin Environmental Restoration Program and the Japan-U.S. Joint Fund for Social & Economic Development.

As a former Naval Intelligence Officer, he held positions at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Middle East Force, and NATO Supreme Allied Command/Atlantic; and subsequently worked in Lockheed Martin’s International Division managing strategic marketing and export licensing for defense systems as well as renewable energy technologies. His education includes an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and an A.B. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs.

Ms. Patricia Waddell is the Director, Office of IT Services, Information Technology Category (ITC), Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). The Federal Acquisition Service provides buying platforms and acquisition services to Federal, DoD, State and Local governments for a broad range of items from office supplies to motor vehicles to information technology and telecommunications products and services.

Ms. Waddell is responsible for a portfolio of contracts that offer government agencies a diverse set of IT services valued at nearly $25 billion annually. Some of these offerings include Alliant 2, 8(a) STARS III, VETS 2, Multiple Award Schedule Special Item Numbers (SINs) for IT Professional Services, Training Courses, Electronic Commerce, Health IT Services, and Automated Contact Center Solutions. Her team is also working on the launch of Polaris, GSA’s next-generation small business GWAC and Alliant 3.

Before leading IT Services Patricia served as the Director for the IT Business and Operations Division, managing business operations, budget, and financial management. She previously led the Office of IT Business Programs for GSA’s largest Multiple Award Schedule, MAS 70. As Deputy Director of that program, she managed a major acquisition and business program with more than 5,000 contracts and $16.5 billion dollars in annual sales. During her tenure, she established the business development and marketing strategies that set a strategic direction for the program that led to an increase in business outcomes.

Patricia received her Master of Arts in Public Administration (MPA) from Bowie State University, Bowie MD, and Bachelor of Science (BS) in Adult Education and Nutrition from Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Patricia is a Certified Federal Internal Coach and trained at the Treasury Executive Institute.

Ms. Washington was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in November 2023 as the Director, Office of Small Business Programs after 15 years of civilian service. In this role she serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Navy on all small business matters. Ms. Washington has been charged with overseeing small business acquisition policy; strengthening government and private sector partnerships; and fostering opportunities to leverage small business as a strategic advantage for the benefit of our warfighters. From April 2018 until October 2023, Ms. Washington served as the Deputy Director in this office.

Ms. Washington’s previous experience includes serving as the Director of Acquisition and Contracts for the Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) Command Program Executive Office for Submarines from October 2016 until March 2018. In this capacity, she was responsible for directing, prioritizing and coordinating all acquisition initiatives across Team Submarine.

From June 2009 until January 2016, Ms. Washington assumed the duties as the Team Submarine Enterprise Wide Contractor Support Services Manager. She was the subject matter expert for management responsibilities for five support services contracts totaling execution of over $125 million annually and oversight of 600 contractors. As the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for these contracts, Ms. Washington was responsible for cradle to grave requirements generation, contract award and post-award execution.