May 2022

Lexington-Concord Chapter’s Former President Honored for Exceptional Contributions

Congratulations to Kevan Kivlan for being among 100 recipients to receive the 2022 Federal 100 award! This award honors exceptional contributions made to federal IT over the past year. Kevan has earned his place on the list through contributions made as the Director of the Office of Customer and Stakeholder Engagement, part of the General Services Administration. In this role, Kevan provides program, project and acquisition advice to federal, state and local governments.

Each year a list of 100 people, ranging from civil servants to political appointees, to contractors, are nominated to The Federal 100 awards. In its 33rd year, the awards honor individuals who go above and beyond their assigned duties in government. This year, GSA Region One’s own Kevan Kivlan, Director, Customer & Stakeholder Engagements New England and FAS Market Research as a Service (MRAS) Program Office, received this prestigious award.

What were you nominated for?

The nomination process for the Federal 100 project is anonymous. I was completely unaware of being nominated until people started reaching out to me when the award announcement was made. I suspect my nomination is related to the Market Research as a Service (MRAS) program and the development of the 3 Robotic Process Automations through OCFO. In the past two years, we have automated the entire RFI/Sources Sought process saving the Government countless hours and scaling MRAS by 450% since FY19. Additionally, we know we have researched approximately $20 billion in requirements across every branch of Government and most executive agencies.

What was your reaction when you found out you were chosen for the Federal 100 list?

I was surprised. I had no idea I was even nominated and did not expect it. I don’t see myself as an IT leader, the truth is I have ideaphoria and have a strong network of GSA partners who help make my ideas a reality. MRAS could never have been built without Kristy Wilbur, Tiffany Shabanian, Sandra Clerk-Brown, Patrick Willers, and many others across GSA. All that said, the award is incredibly humbling, and I am proud of what we have accomplished.

In your opinion, what is the importance of IT in the federal government?

The importance of IT in Government is to make the client experience as easy as shopping on Amazon, Walmart, or trading stocks on Fidelity. If it’s done right, citizens and other government agencies should easily interact with servicing agencies, whether they are applying for a research grant, paying their taxes, or trying to lease real estate or buy services from GSA.

Congratulations Kevan on this well deserved honor!!

We’ve welcomed some amazing guests as part of our speaker series!

In October, the chapter welcomed Ms. Kristen Baldwin, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering (SAF/AQR) to our webinar speaker series. Ms. Baldwin directs an annual $2.6 billion science and technology program; a $1 billion developmental prototyping and experimentation program; functional management of more than 14,000 military and civilian scientists and engineers; and overseas the international science and technology outreach program for the Air Force. She enlightened participants on a variety of topics focused on how her organization supports AF transformation and accelerating the fielding of capabilities. Areas of discussion included her organization’s mission; how it is accelerating capability development and transition; its strategic priorities; digital transformation; human capital development and training; expanding partnerships with the defense and commercial industrial bases; technology transfer; experimentation; and a host of others emphasizing that accelerating capability development and transition is an imperative to support the US national strategy.

McCarter & English LLP partners Mr. Daniel Kelly and Ms. Tiffany Hubbard discussed COVID vaccination mandates for Federal contractors during a distinguished speaker series webinar in November. Kelly reviewed the numerous orders and regulations including Presidents Biden’s Executive Order directing COVID-19 safety protocols as well as other executive orders and regulations directing vaccine mandates for Federal contractors. He explained that current guidance frequently changes and addressed covered contracts, subcontractor flow down requirements, recovery of costs, and restrictions. He also noted that there are several states which have different regulations in conflict with the federal mandates and discussed risks to contractors. Hubbard provided insight into laws governing exceptions (e.g., religious beliefs, disabilities, etc.) and explained definitions of exceptions and accommodations for affected employees. Conclusion: there are a plethora of orders and regulations not consistently implemented across agencies and states so they advised contractors to seek legal counsel when in doubt.

In December, Marissa McCoy, Chief of Staff, AF Cyber Operations Portfolio/Innovation Engagement & Partnerships, MITRE, and chapter VP, Diversity, hosted a New Horizons Diversity Series webinar. McCoy introduced featured guest speaker, Mark Crouter, Career and Leadership Coach, MITRE, who piloted an instructive, interactive session with participants assisting them in building their unique personal user guide (an introspective tool) which helps individuals understand how they work best with others and what each needs from others to perform at their highest level. The guide is designed to improve self-awareness as well as provide the results with co-workers to give them insight into the individual’s unique characteristics and needs. By sharing the guide with others and encouraging them to also build their own guide, each party gains valuable insight into individual as well as team strengths, characteristics, and needs. McCoy concluded affirming that the guide is a very useful tool to foster workforce collaboration and inclusion.

In February, Stuart Wagner, Chief Digital Transformation Officer, USAF & Space Force, regaled webinar participants with an informative discussion about accelerating change across the AF and DOD. Acknowledging that the rate of digital change has to increase, he noted that first the AF/DOD have to embrace a telemetry strategy (used by all high-tech companies) which requires three steps: (1) measure the rate of change of platform health and return on investment (ROI); (2) find dependencies and points of failure; and (3) leverage advance analytics and automation to accelerate. He then discussed the results of Bravo O, a new AF/DOD-wide “hackathon” experiment intended to kickstart AF/DOD innovation. It was and will continue to be used to overcome the challenges of insufficient resources and time to innovate and execute by gathering a number of teams for one-week periods to experiment with innovative ideas; test use case assumptions; and deliver “quick and dirty” prototypes.

Dr Asma Abuzaakouk, Industrial Organizational Psychologist, MITRE, educated participants on the neuroscience behind the brain’s “hard-wired” biases and their impacts on emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and decision making during the chapter’s Diversity webinar in March. To survive, the brain constantly scans for danger. Whenever perceived, our predominate Threat system (one of three, Threat, Soothing, and Drive) is triggered and our innate biases respond to the perceived danger (such as those dissimilar to us). “If you breathe, you are biased” -- even without realizing it. Given this, Dr. Abuzaakouk, offered tools to help build awareness of how bias influences thoughts/behaviors; how to recognize/manage bias in decision-making; and how to regulate our threat system and biases to promote inclusion (vice exclusion) in the workplace and society. In short, neuroscience proves that inclusion is essential to well-being; not only societal but organizational since it is proven to garner increased performance and return on investment.

Chapter Hosts Annual State of AFLCMC Address

Ryan Connell, DCMA and VP Programs, hosted the chapter’s annual State of AFLCMC (Air Force Life Cycle Management Center) event in January. Lt. General Shaun Morris, Commander, AFLCMC, updated virtual participants on progress his Command is making in implementing initiatives in his three major focus areas:  Who--Airmen (shaping the workforce); Where--Facilities (connecting people wherever they are working and accrediting secure workspace more quickly); and How--Information (transitioning to a digital environment).  He noted that while these three emphasis areas are unchanged from last year, initiatives in each are evolving in the face of the pandemic, resource constraints, and senior leadership input.  This year, one of his most significant challenges has become “on-boarding” new civilian hires and reshaping the workforce as a result of increased attrition and retirement rates; Covid restrictions; and Congressional decrements to his manpower budget.   Moving to a digital environment with constrained resources poses significant challenges as well but digital transition is key to aligning with the Air Force priorities and that network collaboration tools are essential to connect people wherever they are.   He concluded by responding to a host of questions covering a broad range of topics further illuminating the future direction of the Command. Event sponsors (whose generous support helps sustain the chapter’s scholarship programs) included: Applied Research Solutions; Booz Allen Hamilton; FishEye; GDIT; Leidos; Mainsail Group, Inc.; Oasis Systems; Odyssey Systems; Quantech; and SAIC.

Math Counts to Emerging Leaders

The chapter’s Emerging Leaders supported the Massachusetts State MATHCOUNTS competition held this year at Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday, March 5th. MATHCOUNTS promotes middle school mathematics achievement through coaching and fun "bee style" mathematics competitions nationwide. This STEM-related competition is one of the country's largest and most successful education partnerships involving volunteers, educators, industry sponsors, and students. The Lexington-Concord team proctored the competition, graded exams, and presented a $250 donation toward a scholarship fund to the top four state winners heading to the national competition. The team included Michele Cimino, Marissa McCoy, Joyce Sidopoulos, Alex Swope, David Zhou, Madison Canfield, and Evan Gaj. The top four winners included: William Hua, Jonas Clarke Middle School, Lexington; Raymond Gao, R J Grey Junior High School, Acton; Selena Ge, Blanchard Middle School, Westford; and Adam Ge, Blanchard Middle School, Westford.

Lexington-Concord Awards $33,000 in ROTC Scholarships

In April, the chapter recognized 21 of the most outstanding ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) cadets and midshipmen from across the Northeast with $1,500 scholarships at its annual ROTC scholarship ceremony held (in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic) at the Boston Marriott Hotel. USAF First Lieutenant Calean Campbell, master of ceremonies, welcomed all and introduced the keynote speaker, USAF Lieutenant General James “Jim” Slife, Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command, who delivered an inspirational address to award recipients about expectations and their future military service. Following his address, Lt Gen Slife was joined by Colonel Shane Louis, Lexington-Concord’s vice president for ROTC Affairs, to congratulate and present $1,500 scholarship checks to each recipient. Awardees included: Cadet Robert Smithers III, AF ROTC, Boston University; Cadet Kavina Thavarajah, Army ROTC, Boston University; Midshipman Samuel Lambert, Naval ROTC, College of the Holy Cross; Cadet Edenna Chen, AF ROTC, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Cadet Aden Rothmeyer, Army ROTC, MIT; Midshipman Elisabeth Aigeldinger, Naval ROTC, MIT; Cadet Timothy Swope, Army ROTC, University of Massachusetts (UMass)-Amherst; Cadet Molly Ramirez, Army ROTC, University of Vermont; Cadet Stephen Baiardi, AF ROTC, UMASS-Amherst; Cadet Jacob Villeneuve, AF ROTC, UMASS-Lowell; Cadet Jared Hakala, AF ROTC, University of New Hampshire (UNH); Cadet Kyle Cotoia, Army ROTC, UNH; Cadet Alexander Lagle, AF ROTC, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI); and Cadet Declan Williams, Army ROTC, WPI. Lt Campbell then recognized several recipients who were unable to attend the ceremony. These included: Midshipman Connor Bashears, Naval ROTC, BU; Midshipman Calista Zaenger, Naval ROTC, Maine Maritime Academy; Cadet Jordan Rijkse, Army ROTC; Northeastern University; Cadet Matthew Macaluso, AF ROTC, Norwich University; Cadet Christopher Gutierrez, Army ROTC, Norwich University; Midshipman Larmon Hamblin, Naval ROTC, Norwich University; and Cadet Logan Christian, Army ROTC, University of Maine.

Jamie Thurber, chapter president, then thanked Lt Gen Slife for honoring the chapter with his presence and informative remarks. Following which, Colonel Louis announced the winner of this year’s General Bernard Schriever Award which carries an additional $1,500 scholarship to the most outstanding cadet or midshipman among all awardees. This year’s recipient was Cadet Robert Smithers III, Boston University. Louis then thanked all for their participation; especially the chapter’s planning committee.  Lt Campbell closed by paying special tribute this year’s luncheon’s sponsor, MIT-Lincoln Laboratory.

Upcoming Events

How to Empower and Retain Women in your Workforce

May 25th from 12:00-1:00 PM EST

Join Sarah MacConduibh, former MITRE VP and current mentor and Aurora Guide at reacHIRE, as she leads a session highlighting steps your company can take to empower, engage, and retain women across your organization.

Register today!

ABMS Update

June 9th from 9:00-10:00 AM EST

We’re proud to welcome Mr Randall Walden, SES, Director and PEO, Dept of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office to provide an update on the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS).

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Spring Golf

Elmer J. Fuller Memorial Golf Tournament on Tuesday, 7 June 2022 at the Marlborough Country Club in Marlborough, MA.

Registration opens at 7:30am, shotgun start at 9am.

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