Leadership

Rachele Cooper founded Aptive with a goal of leveraging technology and communications to improve organizational performance and support our nation’s Veterans.

With this mission in mind and using skills acquired over an eclectic career — serving in the military, working as an engineer at the Naval Research Lab and leading national marketing and communications campaigns — Rachele and her team offer Aptive’s clients fresh perspectives, unique insights and committed partnership.

She’s led complex, high-profile engagements spanning health promotion and disease prevention, strategic communications, technology transformations and organizational change management. Since forming Aptive her work has impacted health care modernization, the opioid epidemic, Veteran homelessness, suicide prevention, access to care, health technology and national defense. Rachele is a member of the Elev8 Advisory Council.

• U.S. Navy Veteran
• 2024 CEO of the Year (Mid-size Business), Washington Exec
• 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year, Mid-Atlantic Region, Ernst & Young
• 2023 CEO of the Year (Small Business), Washington Exec
• 2022 FedHealthIT 100 Awardee
• 2020 Leading for Impact, Women in Leadership honoree
• 2020 Dream Big Veteran-Owned Business Achievement Award – U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Prosci Change Management Practitioner
• M.A., New York University
• B.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan

Ben Barker is an experienced industry leader with over 16 years of success across the federal government contracting landscape. As Chief Strategy Officer, Ben helps guide Aptive’s corporate strategy and leads Aptive’s Growth Team, providing oversight, guidance and technical direction for Client Development Leads, Capture and Proposal Managers, Solution Architects and Writers. Ben assists Aptive in expanding its footprint in the federal government while focusing on innovative customer solutions.

Ben is an accomplished executive with expertise in technical program management, solutions engineering, leadership and corporate strategy. Within these focus areas, he has led and managed initiatives for companies like GovCIO, Leidos and ManTech. Most recently, Ben was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Senior Vice President (SVP) of Growth & Solutions for GovCIO, resulting in private equity sale to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS).

• Certified Scrum Master
• Associate Certificate in Contract Management, The George Washington University
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• 2024 FORUM IT100 Award Winner
• 2025 ENGAGE Federal Health 150 Honoree

Jennifer is a proven leader in the federal professional services industry with over 25 years of experience driving business development, capture operations and corporate development for large international companies, including ICF, Philips Healthcare and Deloitte. She leads business growth activities in partnership with Aptive business leaders, ensures the company continues to create and deliver differentiated solutions and capabilities with an eye toward gaining and retaining competitive advantage and market leadership.

Jennifer is solutions-driven with strong experience adding appropriate growth infrastructure and resources to federal practices as organizations expand. She takes a customer focused approach and is skilled in identifying, establishing and growing strategic partnerships across the industry. Jennifer successfully leads cross-functional teams to support the implementation of strategic initiatives that ultimately increase revenue and market share, achieving key growth targets.

Known for her ability to create and execute impactful account strategies, Jennifer utilizes her background in organizational behavior to tailor responses and solutions to customer needs. Jennifer’s research experience, client delivery skills and extensive understanding of the federal marketplace allow her to accurately and effectively analyze the competitive landscape to shape winning strategies. She has guided small businesses into the mid-size market, coached and led teams on a $1B+ pipeline of sales opportunities, managed portfolios worth hundreds of millions of dollars and assembled multi-functional teams to solve agency-specific challenges.

• MBA, Organizational Behavior, The George Washington University

• BBA, Marketing, Economics, Temple University

As Chief Financial Officer, Stephen is responsible for the financial management of Aptive. He leads and provides strategic direction to a team of talented finance professionals and problem solvers covering accounting and controls, financial planning, tax, pricing, project budgeting and risk management, and he partners with business executives to execute our profitable growth strategy and corporate development initiatives.

Stephen is an accomplished leader and has a proven track record of driving strategic initiatives, optimizing financial performance and fostering organizational growth. He has held key roles focused on strategic planning and alignment between financial objectives and broader organizational goals, most recently with KippsDeSanto & Co (Capital One Financial), where he spent nearly 10 years as an investment banking professional focused on advising business owners, C-suite executives and key operational stakeholders across the federal sector through strategic growth initiatives, mergers & acquisitions activity, and other complex corporate transactions, including capital raises.

He has a history of successfully navigating complex financial landscapes across diverse industry sectors and he works diligently with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to guide and support decision-making to help improve financial performance and implement innovative strategies to drive organizational excellence.

• MBA, University of Rochester – Simon Business School
• B.A., Economics, Colgate University

Tammy Czarnecki is a registered nurse and former Veterans Health Administration (VHA) executive with over 30 years of experience working for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). At Aptive, Tammy leads and develops the organization’s health-related capability areas and fosters innovation across programs. She also spearheads initiatives that advance Aptive’s mission as a leader in health solutions for federal agencies.

Tammy started at VA as a bedside nurse in the Pittsburgh Medical Center and spent the last seven years of her career as Deputy Assistant Under Secretary for Field Operations before retiring in 2023. In this role, Tammy served as the principal advisor to the Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations, directing the day-to-day operations of all 18 Veterans Integrated Service Networks, Member Services, VHA Police, Office of Diversity and Civic Engagement and the Office of Emergency Management.

As the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Administrative Operations, Tammy managed 10 national program offices, including Occupational Safety and Health, Procurement and Logistics, Emergency Management, Healthcare Technology and Member Services.

Tammy also worked in Clinical Operations, leading the integration and execution of clinical services throughout VHA, and served as the Director of Performance Management for the Office of Quality and Performance, developing national performance measures for VA’s Health Care System.

• M.S., Organizational Leadership, Geneva College
• M.S., Nursing Administration, University of Pittsburgh
• B.S., Nursing, University of Pittsburgh
• Diploma, Nursing, West Penn School of Nursing
• Registered Nurse
• Member, American College of Healthcare Executives
• 2022 Presidential Distinguished Rank Award recipient

Max Entman is a proven communications and marketing leader with a track record of launching strategic, results-driven campaigns and public awareness programs. He guides project teams as they deliver strategic and innovative solutions to Aptive’s clients. He also leads business development activities, helping Aptive expand its strategic communications and recruitment marketing footprint across the federal government.

He has over 13 years of experience in the communications and marketing field with a focus on delivering digital and creative solutions to accelerate innovation and transform target audience behavior. In addition to experience with numerous federal agencies, Max brings the perspective of leading work with large corporations and leading non-profit organizations to the development of solutions for Aptive’s public sector clients. From enterprise website transformations to targeted digital campaigns with multimillion-dollar budgets, he leads teams to drive business value for Aptive’s clients.

• M.A., Global Communication, The George Washington University
• B.A., Public Policy and International Relations, Duke University

Susan Hayashi, Ph.D., is a strategic leader with a proven track record in advancing complex health initiatives within the Civilian Health account at Aptive. With over 25 years of experience, she excels in health integration, program evaluation and implementation to tackle pressing health care challenges. Dr. Hayashi articulates a compelling vision for Aptive’s services, fostering collaboration with health-focused agencies to enhance public health outcomes. Her data-driven approach not only informs decision-making for federal and state agencies but also empowers health professionals to deliver impactful results that improve lives. Skilled in account management and growth, Dr. Hayashi has successfully developed go-to-market strategies and enhanced multi-million-dollar pipelines, significantly boosting her company’s annual revenue.

In previous roles, Dr. Hayashi has supported federal entities such as the Administration for Children and Families, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Institutes of Health and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She has directed projects in research and evaluation, medical education, health communication, behavioral health/primary care integration, maternal and child health, health equity and chronic health conditions.

• Ph.D., Michigan State University
• M.S., Miami University
• B.A., Hope College

Sarah drives the full lifecycle of business development activities for Aptive’s Department of Veterans Affairs account, leading growth activities while cultivating new client and partner relationships. With over 20 years of experience in health care consulting, performance optimization and portfolio management, her expertise in agency acquisition practices and the competitive landscape are instrumental in driving business across the federal health domain. Sarah is passionate about supporting her client’s missions and works collaboratively across the organization, empowering her team to reach their full potential.

Sarah joins Aptive from the global market research company, Ipsos, where she served as the Federal Services Practice Lead for the last seven years. In this role, she revitalized a public sector portfolio, boosting profitability and leading double-digit growth year over year. Sarah has also held past positions with Atlas Research and Booz Allen, supporting the Veterans Health Administration and Defense Health Agency as well as private sector health care systems using her expertise in operations, change management, strategic communications, business intelligence and program evaluation.

• MBA, Organizational Design, Virginia Tech
• B.S., Marketing Management, Virginia Tech
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB)

Kay Bagchi provides leadership in client service delivery across Aptive’s Veteran health account for capabilities and solutions in strategic planning, program and project controls, enterprise-wide program integration, program evaluation, Congressionally mandated reporting, governance, data analysis and organizational change management support. Kay has more than 20 years of consulting experience spanning federal government clients such as the Veterans Health Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, General Services Administration and commercial clients in the finance and health sectors. She leads Aptive’s Mental and Special Population Health Capability Group.

• M.A., Professional Communication, Clemson University
• M.A., English, Calcutta University
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• Certified Agile Scrum Master

Laura Floyd is a results-driven business executive with extensive enterprise information technology (IT) services and consulting experience with Department of Defense (DoD) and federal, state and local government organizations. At Aptive, she supports the Human Experience account, overseeing more than 100 consultants and a vast portfolio of technology, communications, advertising, business operations and human capital projects.  

Laura previously worked at CACI where she ran the human capital management practice overseeing some of the industry’s largest software development programs supporting DoD. Prior to CACI, she was a vice president at Perspecta (now Peraton) where she managed the financial and regulatory segment for the organization’s civilian, state and local government group. She was responsible for overseeing operations and growth for a large portfolio of civilian accounts, including the Federal Reserve Bank, Department of Education, U.S. Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of the Comptroller and of the Currency, among others. She has more than thirty years of experience with companies that are now part of Perspecta’s heritage, including EDS, HP, HPE and DXC Technology. 

Before joining Perspecta, Laura served as the chief operating officer (COO) and managing director for the County of San Diego program and the COO and managing director for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Enterprise Navy Program/NMCI. Laura is a graduate of the ACT-IAC Partners program and also served as an ACT-IAC Board Member.  

• Executive MBA, Thunderbird School of Global Management 
• B.S., Business Administration, Spring Hill College 
• IT Board Member, The American Council of Technology and Industry Advisory Council 
• IT Board Member, Shared Services Leadership Coalition 
• Certified Information Technology Infrastructure Library Foundations v3  
• Fed100 Award Winner 

Emily Howell is a research-driven communications strategist and business development specialist with a decade of experience leading multimillion dollar campaigns for federal clients. Emily uses her background in service delivery for agencies such as the Departments of Transportation and Veterans Affairs, National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to identify client pain points and develop high-quality, innovative solutions. She has overseen the capture, bid and execution of hundreds of millions of dollars of communications and marketing projects throughout the federal government. She excels at building relationships with partners and clients and developing teams that drive results.

• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health 950 Award Winner
• MPH, George Washington University
• B.A., University of Michigan

Emily is an experienced leader in contingent workforce solutions with robust skills in management, operations and leadership. She leads a nationwide staffing initiative for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) where she oversees a program management office and is responsible for organizing, directing and managing all aspects of contract operations. She also designs and implements innovative approaches to manage the 40+ partners, staffing agencies, clinical associations, credential verification organizations and universities that support the VHA initiative.

With a wealth of expertise spanning more than a decade, she has honed her abilities across several sectors. She has overseen portfolios of strategic workforce solutions clients for national hospitals and health systems made up of 150 hospital facilities. She leads cross-functional teams of client-facing individuals to provide exceptional service delivery to clients and collaborates across service lines to provide optimized workforce solutions.

In prior roles, Emily led Managed Service Programs for major health systems with close to 75 facilities across several states. She has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in contract renewals and grown revenue portfolios by 40% and business portfolios by over 350%. Emily specializes in building strong relationships and fostering long-term partnerships, actively participating in fundamental people and process strategy improvement initiatives.

• B.A., International Business, Minor, Spanish, University of Central Florida
• Founding Board Member, One Hope United

Kathryn (Kat) Dame oversees human resources, talent acquisition, learning and development, employee experience, internal resource management, quality and compliance to design and implement strategies that enhance the 500+ employee workforce’s capabilities, skills and performance. Kat has over 20 years of experience designing and implementing strategies to enhance employee’s experiences, capabilities, skills and performance. She also serves as the executive sponsor and co-founder of the 50+ member Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Group, working together to develop and execute a measurable and thoughtful DEI strategy focused on workforce diversity, workplace inclusion and sustainability and accountability. She is also the executive sponsor to the Aptive Cares program, which focuses on employee volunteers to support community engagement and service activities that align with our corporate values.

• Society for Human Resource Management, Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
• Diversity and Inclusion Certificate, Cornell University
• MarCom Platinum Award Winner, “Print Media | Print Creativity”
• The Holmes Report, Gold SABRE Award Winner, “Marketing to Youth”
• B.A., Communications, Spanish, James Madison University

Brian LoVecchio is a business strategist and operations leader with over 20 years of experience leading large-scale transformation programs with federal government clients and global Fortune 500 companies. At Aptive, he oversees a portfolio of projects related to health technology, particularly electronic health record modernization. Brian’s focus is on ensuring successful project delivery, maintaining contractual compliance and promoting growth within his team. Drawing on his extensive consulting background, Brian leads business development activities that expand Aptive’s portfolio with new clients.

Brian’s experience spans a range of areas, including digital product development and management, merger integration, strategy development and implementation and business process redesign. His expertise in management, business strategy, financial advisory and data governance models has contributed to national digital product launches for large commercial companies, provided operations and restructuring guidance for multiple large federal agencies and program offices, and managed the implementation of large-scale technology platforms for both large federal agencies and financial services companies.

• MBA, Finance and Strategy, University of Rochester
• B.S., Business Management, SUNY Geneseo

Marisa Cole is a strategic powerhouse leading a team of creative thinkers and communicators in strategic engagement initiatives. She oversees project delivery, drives service offering maturation and conducts business development activities for a growing portfolio of contracts across the federal government, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD). She is a skilled writer and facilitator with 20 years of experience mobilizing change in federal and health care environments. Marisa’s areas of expertise include managing strategic communications efforts and directing change management for large scale enterprise-wide transformation initiatives.

Throughout her career, Marisa has supported a wide variety of government clients, including DOD, VA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Postal Service (USPS) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). She is highly skilled in cultivating trusting relationships with clients and colleagues and has a passion for clear communication and transformative change. Marisa’s prior roles focused on advising and coaching executive and mid-level leaders on communications and change management skills and techniques; creating innovative approaches to reach diverse, geographically-dispersed populations; and providing trusted guidance on communication, branding and marketing of organizational initiatives, policies and services. She has spent a significant portion of her career implementing and guiding change management strategy to transform large, integrated health care systems into high reliability organizations.

• Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• M.A., Communications, The Johns Hopkins University
• B.A., International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University

Kim Kinser is a communications and public relations expert with over 18 years of experience advising executives, leading teams and executing strategic communication plans. She has worked across various sectors, including government, healthcare, non-profit and higher education, providing guidance on communications, social media and public relations matters. Kim has a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams, executing global communication strategies and facilitating partnerships.

During her career, Kim has created communications and PR plans for 9.5 million beneficiaries, led teams in reporting and measuring communications effectiveness and ensuring successful client delivery, contractual compliance and contract growth. She manages a direct portfolio of projects across the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Energy and supports contract growth within the Human Experience account by performing business development and capture activities in alignment with the account’s portfolio.

Kim’s work has appeared on the White House blog and featured as a best practice in Charlene Li’s book “Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead.”. She has held previous roles with Deloitte, Humana, CALIBRE Systems and the American Cancer Society.

• B.A., Public Relations, Western Kentucky University
• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• Business Strategy Certificate, McKinsey Academy

Jon Brooks is a federal leader and U.S. Army Veteran with more than 20 years of experience supporting multiple agencies. At Aptive, Jon oversees a portfolio of health care-related projects and is responsible for the overall management of service delivery, quality, risk and cost control. He monitors and reports on the team’s financial performance, manages resources, builds key stakeholder relationships, leads project teams and mentors a learning culture across the enterprise.

Jon’s work in the industry includes project and program management experience leading large-scale, enterprise-level, transformative initiatives, including health care transformation, supply chain improvement/optimization and IT transformation. He has led teams of 50+ subcontractors and managed a $1.4B prime contract award, including a portfolio of 14 contract/task orders with over $30M in total contract value. Jon also led activities within the full business development lifecycle and designed go-to-market strategies.

In past roles, Jon has supported the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. He has built multi-year pipelines while leading pricing activities and coordinating strategic capture initiatives. Jon’s efforts led to exceeding profitability goals by over 75%, doubling service line headcount and revenue. He is a proven leader who has worked for top firms such as Rios Partners, IronArch Technology and Deloitte and is highly skilled in developing meaningful relationships and strategic partnerships.

• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Supply Chain Professional (ASCM)
• Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (ASCM)
• MBA, American Intercontinental University
• B.S., Business Administration, University of Arkansas

Meredith Singh is a change management consultant with over 16 years of experience providing program oversight, educational product development and health care quality data reporting and analysis to federal and non-profit clients. She leads a team of high-performing professionals to support the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Healthcare Transformation to develop and sustain VHA’s High Reliability Organization enterprise-wide implementation plan. Meredith also leads Aptive’s efforts to support the VA Caregiver Support Program, which offers clinical services to caregivers of eligible and covered Veterans enrolled in the VA health care system.

Meredith has served several federal and non-profit clients, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Her knowledge of VHA culture and organizational structures enables her to accelerate cultural adoption across targeted stakeholder groups.

She delivers high-quality, timely work products and services within budgets ranging from $25K to $75M and is proficient in managing resources and staff. Meredith has led large numbers of staff across four different modernization efforts, including four partner companies to manage VHA’s Journey to High Reliability, VA Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients and Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.

• MBA, George Mason University
• B.A., St. Mary’s College of Maryland
• Certified Professional, Patient Safety
• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)

Abby Rosenberg helps clients address challenges, implement organizational improvements, communicate effectively and improve health care access and equity. With nearly 15 years of federal consulting experience, Abby leads technical assistance, health education, research and evaluation and program management projects, using data to drive decision-making and impact. She supports projects for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Defense Health Agency and Department of Health and Human Services.

• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• MPS, Georgetown University
• B.A., Communications, University of Maryland

Taylor Wood is an experienced communication and change management strategist dedicated to building and leading proactive teams that go above and beyond for her clients. She oversees a portfolio of communication and marketing teams across several government agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Office of Personnel Management. In this role, Taylor focuses on growing and expanding Human Experience’s event management capability and enhancing Aptive’s recruitment marketing services through implementation of technical solutions.

Throughout her career, she has focused on learning various leadership styles and techniques to help others achieve success. Taylor is passionate about training others to lead with empathy and foster positive working relationships, enabling teams to provide exceptional service to clients. In previous roles, Taylor has led numerous communication teams and enterprise-wide transformation initiatives for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Department of the Navy, VA, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Energy.

• Secret Security Clearance
• Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• M.A., Strategic Communications, American University
• B.A., Communication Studies, West Virginia University

Brett Sheats is a tactical leader with over 10 years of experience leading and supporting Veteran and disability initiatives in the consulting, government and non-profit sectors. At Aptive, Brett utilizes his strategic planning and project management skills to create course curricula and weekly materials and conduct classes for health employees.

Since starting with Aptive, Brett has used his expertise to support efforts with the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Labor and FBI. He strives to incorporate leadership and management lessons learned from the military, NGO, consulting, government and private sectors into crafting innovative solutions for his federal government clients.

Brett, a certified professional coach, deeply believes in the power of diverse teams and enjoys the challenge of cultivating and implementing effective workforce development initiatives. Prior to Aptive, he was a finance attorney for the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel in New York City and a commercial fisherman in Alaska (ask him about salmon recommendations).

Outside of Aptive, Brett serves on the board of directors for an outdoor recreational therapy non-profit focused on kayak fishing for Veterans, first responders and their families. He is a Veteran of the United States Army, serving as an airborne Field Artillery Officer from 2001 to 2005.

• Member, New York State Bar
• J.D., The George Washington University Law School
• B.S., Business Administration, Wake Forest University
• Board of Directors, Heroes on the Water
• Veteran, U.S. Army Veteran (Operation Enduring Freedom)

Megan Grobert is a strategic leader with extensive experience in business development and service delivery within the federal health sector. Megan manages Aptive’s portfolio of work in the Civilian Health account, driving new business growth, leading partnering strategy and engagement and ensuring projects meet client needs and expectations.

Megan has proven experience in improving client programs and strengthening client relationships. Before joining Aptive, she served as Vice President at Ipsos Public Affairs, where she managed a $70M public sector patient experience contract and led a $50M health portfolio, driving business development initiatives and managing a cross-functional team of over 100 professionals. Her previous experience also includes executing a quality assurance and patient experience program for a large dialysis and chronic kidney disease organization, designing patient-centric quality improvement plans and co-leading telehealth service implementation in response to COVID-19.

Megan is committed to supporting her colleagues, mentoring delivery staff and contributing to fostering a learning culture across the company. She is passionate about patient experience and has spoken at numerous conferences on improving health care outcomes. Megan has also contributed to various publications regarding patient care and patient experience.

• MHA, Ohio University
• B.A., Psychology, Miami University
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP)
• Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

Kelly Smith is an action-oriented leader with over 16 years of experience managing, organizing and executing project and program requirements within various industries, focusing on organic growth, data quality and governance and risk management. At Aptive, Kelly will oversee a portfolio of programs with the aim of enhancing customer relationships and expanding the responsibilities of her teams through innovative opportunities. She will use her insight and knowledge to assist in capture requirements to solicit and bid on new opportunities for Aptive. As a trusted advisor, she fosters trusting and transparent relationships with her team and potential clients, using keen interpersonal skills to understand priorities and pain points that inform and shape business development efforts.

Kelly has supported several large and small-scale information technology projects, providing oversight and guidance to interdependent teams to enhance performance and achieve desired outcomes. She has worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for many years and most recently served as a program director for Tria Federal, where she supported the VA Product Line Director in the Office of Information and Technology. In previous roles, Kelly was responsible for organic growth, cost management, knowledge sharing and adhering to the full systems development life cycle, often drawing on agile and lean practices to improve organizational effectiveness and quickly adapt to evolving client needs.

• MBA, Management and Ethics, New England College of Business and Finance
• B.S., Business Administration and Marketing, New England College of Business and Finance
• B.S., Environmental Sciences, Chemistry and Biology, St. Joseph’s College of Maine
• Certified Project Management Professional
• Certified Scrum Master
• SAFe Agile Certification
• SAFe Product Manager/Product Owner Certification
• Lean Six Sigma Green and Black Belts

As a growth director for the human experience account, Brian oversees business development activities, building innovation solutions that generate measurable results. Brian and his team create integrated strategies that support Aptive’s business pursuits, including client relations, pipeline management and proposal development. Utilizing best practices such as Lean Six Sigma, SAFe and ITIL, Brian devises customer-centric solutions in business analytics, cybersecurity, customer experience, health and program management that optimize operations and ensure employee success.

In previous roles, Brian led customer, employee and partner experiences for a diverse portfolio, including the Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits and Memorials Program Management Office and Technical Support team. He is well versed in facilitating executive portfolio strategic planning and providing leadership for health care initiatives with the Departments of Health and Human Services and Defense.

Brian has over 28 years of federal program and project management experience. An award-winning leader, he holds multiple certifications and clearances in the federal sector.

• MPA, American University

Imogen Thomas is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in federal acquisition and strategic growth. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to connecting government leaders with the solutions needed to accomplish their missions effectively. Imogen serves as Aptive’s client development director, where she focuses on developing winning strategies and solutions for strategic growth opportunities within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) market.

Imogen has held key roles at ICF, Geocent, REI Systems and The War Room Group, where she has led every aspect of the growth lifecycle. Her expertise extends to leading cross-functional teams in developing complex solutions to challenging problems, drawing on her training in workplace mediation and Agile product ownership. Her track record includes designing and implementing organization-wide growth infrastructure and strategy, building qualified pipelines worth over $1 billion, and securing contract awards exceeding $250 million.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Imogen has a passion for using government acquisition as a means to support underserved communities. She has cultivated longstanding relationships across civilian and defense agencies and is well-respected within the acquisition community and the broader government vendor ecosystem. Imogen is known for her down-to-earth approach and pragmatic leadership style. She is committed to making a tangible impact in the field of federal acquisition, ensuring that innovative solutions reach those who need them most.

• B.S., Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
• Certified Scrum Product Owner, Scrum Alliance
• Facilitator, US Digital Service Digital IT Acquisition Professional Training Program (DITAP)
• Development and Outreach Volunteer, Forged in Fire – LGBTQ+ Leadership Development

Shawn is a mission-focused, results-oriented professional with a proven track record of improving how health and public service agencies operate and serve their clients. Shawn leads, manages and scales the proposal development capacity and capability for Aptive, working across the enterprise with each account to lead the production of proposal content. He coaches and trains staff on proposal development, oversees all proposal activities, ensures alignment with strategy, schedule and price and implements a repeatable bid and pursuit process.

Shawn brings a process-driven proposal response approach that focuses on storytelling and collaboration through techniques such as design thinking to develop winning strategies. He has proven experience providing methodologies, procedures, tools and templates to support proposal efforts while ensuring compliance and on-time completion. Shawn builds and fosters relationships with cross-functional teams and utilizes a collaborative approach to advance Aptive’s business pursuits.

He has held positions at Accenture and McKesson, serving various industries as he worked to advance organizational proposal planning and management processes. Shawn’s leadership extends to past roles where he managed and coordinated internal Community of Practice meetings and served as a career counselor to individuals in the company.

• Certified Foundation-Level, The Association of Proposal Management Professionals (CF-APMP)
• B.S., Political Science and Government, Radford University
• B.S., History, Radford University

Dr. Tara Fannon is a human-centered design researcher and educator with 13 years of experience developing and leading high-impact projects in the U.S. and abroad. Her work in education, non-profit, government and corporate sectors has led to actionable changes in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion; disability accessibility; mental health care access; workplace equity; and environmental sustainability. Throughout her career, Dr. Fannon has published widely and earned grants, fellowships and awards for her research and writing capabilities, including Excellence in Leadership as a market research team leader. Her love of teaching and learning is complemented by a love for mentorship and seeing team members flourish. At Aptive, Dr. Fannon leverages these passions along with intellectual curiosity and creativity, and an ability to build relationships to lead and support the research team and serve clients. Her skills, passions and exposure to different markets enable her to work collaboratively across diverse needs and interests to deliver teams and clients compelling data-driven insights and recommendations.

• PhD, Sociology, National University Ireland, Galway
• M.A., Sociology of Health and Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland
• B.A. Honors, Sociology, University College Dublin, Ireland

Taylor Grant is a creative leader and experienced designer who applies human-centered design to produce innovative and impactful visual communication materials. Through strategic oversight, she ensures the creative team develops engaging brands and campaigns that achieve client goals while informing, inspiring and encouraging action. She creates thoughtful brand identities, paid media, social, events, out-of-home advertising, websites and outside-the-box creative executions that connect with target audiences and leave a lasting impression.

Taylor has more than 12 years of experience in visual communications and her eye for design and prior work with federal agencies provides Taylor with the ability to lead, support and serve Aptive’s creative team.

• Telly Award Winner for Art Direction in Social Impact
• M.S., Communications Design, Pratt Institute
• B.A., Psychology, Dartmouth College

Josh Askarinam is a financial expert with 13 years of experience in investor relations; corporate financial strategy; accounting management; financial reporting, modeling and analysis; budgeting; business planning; and process improvement.

Josh oversees Aptive’s financial strategy and serves as a financial advisor to the executive leadership team. He enhances the availability of financial data to help executives make better informed decisions and works to ensure the company remains compliant with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and other accounting, auditing and financial regulations. Josh helps establish and implement financial policies, including performing risk assessments and preparing annual budgets and forecasts.

Josh helps preserve Aptive’s financial health by overseeing accounting operations, budgeting, improving financial processes and maintaining investor relations.

• Licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• B.S., Accounting, University of Maryland

Chris Hysick is a proven digital and information technology (IT) expert with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Chris leads a comprehensive IT team in delivering innovative, secure solutions to Aptive and its project teams, in addition to maintaining corporate certifications to remain compliant and certified to work. One of his specialties is collaborating with executive leadership and communicating their IT business concerns and objectives throughout all levels of the organization, delivering accurate and suitable information for every employee.

Chris leads the efforts for Aptive to become certified and maintain certifications in CMMC 2.0, ISO/IEC 2000-1:2018 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013. He is largely focused on assisting Aptive’s Digital Transformation services area, working closely with leaders to reduce overhead and help pinpoint valuable areas in a path forward.

Prior to working for Aptive, Chris worked in an IT support role at a company where 15 years later he became a part owner. He then moved to a role that involved overseeing a team of up to 13 people, managing technology infrastructure and operating co-located data center operations. Chris joined Aptive in 2020 and led an effort using gap analysis to understand the company’s IT deficiencies. As a result, he implemented one of the company’s first major project improvement software systems, which Aptive still uses today.

Rachael Levine leads Aptive’s quality and compliance initiatives, working across all lines of business and corporate operations to cultivate, centralize, share and leverage information. Known for her solution-oriented, highly organized style of leadership and the ability to apply human-centered design and change management strategies, Rachael empowers teams throughout Aptive to succeed by facilitating collaboration and idea sharing. Rachael institutes procedures, establishes processes and maintains and documents our knowledge base to continually improve quality and efficiency throughout the organization.

Prior to her current position, Rachael led strategic communications efforts for public health, technology, military and federal organizations for more than 10 years. She provided program management, strategic planning, communications and engagement, product development, qualitative research and evaluation, outreach and media relations/public relations support for multimillion dollar national initiatives and campaigns and helped guide senior level staff with creative consultative expertise.

• Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner (CCMP)
• Certified Human-Centered Design Practitioner
• M.A., Strategic Communications, American University
• B.A., Communications and Media Studies, Fordham University

Seth Niman leads Aptive’s media team, delivering marketing solutions and strategies to our federal and commercial clients. Seth and his team have extensive expertise in planning, negotiating and optimizing advertising campaigns designed to achieve their customers’ goals with specific, measurable results.

Seth applies a holistic approach to planning and buying across the media landscape, including digital programmatic, paid search, paid social, digital video/audio, connected television, out of home, print, television and radio. He utilizes a research-oriented process to develop the ideal media and advertising strategy, selecting the channels that align with the client’s overarching strategy and advancing their marketing objectives.

With more than 20 years of experience as an advertising, media and marketing professional, Seth has supported the branding, recruitment and product marketing efforts for Fannie Mae, McDonald’s, Cava, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

• B.A., English, University of Virginia

Tine Reese is a mission-driven leader with over 20 years of experience in design, research and technology. She leads Aptive’s customer experience and user experience (CX/UX) strategy development and execution to help government organizations deliver seamless, effective services that improve the lives of the people they serve. She collaborates with cross-functional teams to drive innovation, optimize service delivery and meet customers’ needs through human-centered design. 

Tine has many years of proven experience coaching and mentoring, cultivating high-impact teams and fostering professional development within organizations. She is a trusted CX/UX leader who has supported efforts at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as numerous private-sector clients in health care, utilities, universities and nonprofits. Tine most recently worked as a managing principal researcher and strategist at Ad Hoc where she led a portfolio research team for VA’s Veteran Experience Services. 

Tine has facilitated numerous workshops and trainings throughout her career, sharing her expertise in user experience research, product and service design and strategic consulting. A life-long learner, she is committed to her own professional development and actively pursues certifications and training in leadership, management and human-centered design. 

• B.A., Communication Arts and Design, Virginia Commonwealth University  

Certificates and training: 

• Certificate in Professional Coaching, New York University, expected completion, 2025 
• Google Project Management  
• Coaching Skills for Managers Specialization, University of California – Davis 
• Design Thinking and Rapid Experimentation for Practical Innovation, Stanford University 
• Leading for Creativity, IDEO 
• HmntyCntrd Masterclass  

Jeff Collins is a dynamic leader with more than a decade of experience leading proposal pricing and business development efforts in federal and commercial contracting. As the Director of Pricing, Jeff is leading efforts to increase Aptive’s strategic pricing capabilities to navigate the evolving competitive landscape that comes with ongoing growth. Jeff and the pricing team collaborate across Aptive to ensure the proposals we submit are responsive to client needs, cost competitive and drive profitable growth.

Jeff most recently served as the Director of Pricing and Proposals at Ipsos Public Affairs, where he led the development of cost models, standardized business development processes and supported the implementation of a federally approved accounting system. Jeff also previously worked at Westat as a Senior Pricing Analyst where he headed the pricing efforts for many of the company’s flagship contracts. His focus on developing analytical pricing tools and continual process improvement supported an increase in both win rate and capture of available contracting dollars while at Westat.

An avid adventurer in his younger years, Jeff hiked the entire 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail in 2010, traversing 14 states from Georgia to Maine.

• MBA, University of Maryland
• B.S., Management and Finance, Tulane University

An agile business strategist, Dr. Opsahl leads marketing and corporate communications at Aptive. She has 18 years of experience helping federal, commercial and nonprofit organizations achieve objectives through program management, strategic communications and research services.

She is a mission-driven professional known for improving access to and quality of services, designing people-centered initiatives and developing evidence-based, creative solutions. Much of her work focuses on assisting federal health agencies with communicating important information to key stakeholders to effect change. She’s led initiatives addressing homelessness, rural health, public health, PTSD, patient safety, health systems and Veteran services.

• 2024 SurveyMonkey Curiosity Award Finalist
• 2024 GAIN Awards Finalist, GovExec
• 2024 IGNITE Awardee, GOVTECH CONNECTS
• AcademyHealth Translation and Dissemination Institute Committee Member
• 2013 Presidential Awardee, American Association of Public Health Physicians
• PhD, Educational Leadership, University of North Dakota
• M.A., Communication, University of North Dakota
• B.A., Communication, University of North Dakota

Amelia Poling serves as the Director of People Operations at Aptive. She is responsible for leading Aptive’s overall Human Resources (HR) strategy, leadership development, cultural development, compensation and benefits, HR operations, employee relations and security. She works with corporate leaders to build and manage a people-first HR organization that reflects and supports their dynamic needs.

Amelia contributes to efforts that have resulted in: more effective and streamlined companywide talent acquisition and onboarding practices that better utilize technology; expanded hiring of Veterans; an initiative to harmonize compensation and benefit programs across the Company to promote efficient internal movement of talent; and more thoughtful, comprehensive talent development programs. One of her major contributions has been opening an important dialogue between Aptive and its employees through a comprehensive survey that engages employees at all levels and serves as the foundation for future change and progress related to people operations.

Amelia has worked with organizations such as the Department of Defense (DOD), Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). She has 12 years of experience building close, collaborative teams through transparent communication and individual empowerment. In prior roles, Amelia oversaw the delivery of risk communications instruction to identify and address concerns, communicate sensitive issues in a public forum and help identify the best formats to share information.

Amelia works to ensure that each department embodies a culture of respect, psychological safety, accountability and engagement across Aptive teams.

• U.S. Army Veteran
• Certified Human Resources Professional (SHRM-CP)
• Prosci Change Management Practitioner (CMP)

Kaveh is a creative visual storyteller with extensive video production experience, both in studios and on location. His role is to direct, manage and oversee video production and visual storytelling strategy at Aptive and to help enhance and elevate visual direction for creative campaigns nationwide. Over the past 15 years, Kaveh has been a part of teams and organizations that tell effective stories, conceptualizing creative ideas while thinking outside the box to showcase the most innovative stories, brands and campaigns. At Voice of America, he co-created the ‘People in America’ series, which became one of the most popular and widely watched visual series for TV and online platforms. At USA TODAY, Kaveh helped build and create the foundation for digital video franchise storytelling. At Moko Social Media, he helped build the video department from the ground up and created visual franchise series for all of its verticals.

Kaveh’s core passion is to create a safe, collaborative space for storytellers and creatives that helps foster vision, inspiration and creativity. “As creatives, we do our best work when we come together and that’s exactly what we’re building at Aptive and what sets us apart.”

• Expertise in Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, 508 Compliance
• M.A., Film and Video, American University
• B.S., Finance, George Mason University
• Award Winner, Platinum and Gold Hermes Creative Awards
• Award Winner, Platinum and Gold MarCom Awards

Jennifer Farrell is an innovative learning and development leader who strives to ensure employees have access to the best training and development resources to be successful in their jobs. At Aptive, she leads a team that creates and curates interactive and relevant standardized curricula for 500+ employees and implements learner-centered development initiatives throughout all levels of the organization, collaborating and consulting with business leaders to develop targeted training solutions.

Since her start with Aptive in 2022, Jennifer has established and successfully implemented a Learning Management System (LMS), five communities of practice, an executive coaching program, an internal training academy, administered the employee professional development stipend and managed a comprehensive budget for tools and resources. She also led the Veterans Training Program, comprised of transitioning military service members and Veterans who can pursue project management courses to receive certifications such as PMP, Agile and ITIL.

Throughout her career in government consulting, Jennifer ensured service delivery excellence for global learning and development contracts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Labor and Department of Defense. She designed and developed a standardized curriculum in alignment with federal guidelines used by 200,000 servicemembers annually and trained hundreds of trainers on the subject matter and adult learning principles. Additionally, as a workshop facilitator, Jennifer coached 6,000 of America’s Veterans through their military to civilian career transition by delivering dynamic and educational planning workshops. She has developed quality assurance programs, prepared contract training infrastructure and materials, built standardized virtual training templates and delivered synchronous onboarding sessions.

• M.A., Political Communication
• B.A., English Language and Literature, University of Northern Iowa
• Customer Experience Professional Certification, Medallia
• Communicating for Impact, McKinsey & Company
• Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), SHRM
• Adult Learning Theory, Association for Talent Development