Beacon Global Strategies (BGS), a leading strategic advisory firm focusing on global public policy, government procurement, emerging technology, and geopolitical risk analysis, announced the expansion of its National Security Technology Practice. BGS has added to its ranks former Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Ms. Suzette Kent, Cybersecurity expert Ms. Julie Grundman, Government Technology Procurement and Acquisition leader Ms. Elizabeth Hampton, former Senate Intelligence Budget and Policy Director Ms. Tara C. McFeely and former DoD Science and Technology expert Ms. Whitney McNamara who will bring decades of experience in cybersecurity, IT modernization, intelligence, and defense innovation.
"We are thrilled to expand our National Security Technology Practice by welcoming such a highly respected group of experts and look forward to the value they will add to our team," said Jeremy Bash, Partner and Managing Director at BGS.
BGS's National Security Technology Practice is focused on enabling collaboration between U.S. technology innovators and the national security community. The Practice is led by BGS Managing Director Lauren Bedula and supported by BGS Senior Counselor and former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell, and BGS Senior Advisors former DoD CIO Dana Deasy, former Vice Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, former Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Robert Cardillo, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force for ISR General Dash Jamieson, former Commander of Navy Cyber Command Admiral TJ White, Former Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army General Joe Anderson.
The U.S. Government understands that it needs to take advantage of disruptive technologies to maintain our competitive posture. We know how to navigate government procurement and team with innovators to ensure the best technologies America has to offer are available for members of our national security community."
Lauren Bedula, BGS National Security Technology Practice Lead
Ms. Suzette Kent joins BGS as Senior Advisor
Prior to joining BGS, Ms. Kent served as the Federal CIO. She joined government from industry where she has been a global leader in large-scale business transformation and has worked with many of the world's most complex organizations. Her experiences cover a wide spectrum, which include technology development, product design, customer servicing, merger and acquisition, technology and risk policy and establishing new global industry capabilities. Before taking the role of Federal CIO, Ms. Kent spent over 29 years in the financial services industry where she served as a principal at EY, partner at Accenture, consulting president at Carreker Corporation, and Managing Director at JPMorgan. Ms. Kent currently serves a board member and senior advisor for businesses and multiple technology organizations. She has been a frequent speaker in global industry forums, publisher of thought leadership pieces, and holds patents in banking processes.
Ms. Julie Grundman joins BGS as Vice President
Before joining BGS, Ms. Grundman was a Senior Manager at PwC UK, where she led the Cybersecurity in Mergers & Acquisitions team. During her time at PwC, she was also seconded in a senior operational role, acting as an Information Risk Manager for a business unit at a global oil and gas company. Ms. Grundman was previously an early employee at IronNet Cybersecurity, a technology startup. At IronNet, she managed early customer engagements and strategic alliances, and assisted in the design and growth of the business development and customer success functions. Prior to IronNet, Ms. Grundman oversaw the cybersecurity portfolio at Business Executives for National Security (BENS), working closely with government partners. She has also practiced cybersecurity, data privacy, and corporate law. Ms. Grundman received a B.A., with honors, in political science from Grinnell College, and earned her law degree from Boston College, where she graduated cum laude.
Ms. Elizabeth Hampton joins BGS as Vice President
Prior to joining BGS, Ms. Hampton worked at the General Services Administration (GSA), Federal Acquisition Service doing mission critical Assisted Acquisitions for Federal customers. She served as a GSA FEDSIM Manager within the Civilian Sector supporting a variety of Intelligence Community and Health & Human Services customers. In this role, Ms. Hampton was responsible for overseeing the successful acquisition and execution of many large and complex enterprise contracts spanning Information Technology, Professional Services, Managed Services and Logistics solutions. Her expertise is in requirements gathering, market research, acquisition strategy, contract evaluations and post award-execution with a focus on performance-based contracting. Prior to joining the FEDSIM leadership team, Ms. Hampton served as a Senior Project Manager supporting the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) where she conducted acquisitions that transitioned the organization into a new and optimized portfolio of contracts. Throughout her tenure in GSA, she supported several critical Government Wide initiatives focused on ensuring efficient solutions across the federal procurement landscape including work with the GSA SmartPay Program, the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative, Multiple Award Schedules Contracts, and Acquisition Operations. Ms. Hampton holds a Masters Certificate in Project Management from the George Washington University School of Business, a Bachelor's degree from Dickinson College in Political Science and Sociology and her Masters in Business Administration from the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business.
Ms. Tara C. McFeely joins BGS as Vice President
Before joining BGS, Ms. McFeely was the Deputy Director of the Intelligence Analyses Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) where she led the strategic development, management, and execution of IDA's intelligence-related research and analyses in support of sponsors across the U.S. Government (USG). Ms. McFeely is also an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Previously, she served as the Budget Director of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) where she led the SSCI staff oversight of the U.S. Intelligence Community's (IC's) and Defense Intelligence Enterprise's (DIE's) annual $83.0+ billion budgets, programs, and related policies as well as the annual Intelligence Authorization Act. Before joining the SSCI, Ms. McFeely was a senior advisor to multiple IC and USG clients as a Senior Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton. Ms. McFeely began her career in the U.S. Navy, initially serving as a Surface Warfare Officer managing over 120 officers and sailors within her ship's Engineering Department. She subsequently served as a Naval Intelligence Officer and intelligence collection manager at the Office Naval Intelligence, and at the Pentagon. Ms. McFeely has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Ms. Whitney McNamara joins BGS as Associate Vice President.
Before joining BGS, Ms. McNamara served as the Director of Science & Technology within the Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Board (DIB). Previously, she was an emerging technologies policy subject matter expert supporting the Department's CIO. Prior to that, she was a Senior Analyst at the national security think tank Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, focusing on emerging technologies, future operating concepts, informationized warfare and great power competition. She is a former a National Security Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and worked in the Political-Military Bureau at the Department of State and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy. She received her M.A. in Strategic Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies where she was a Bradley Fellow and a Presidential Management Fellowship Finalist. Prior to that, she spent four years working in the Middle East as a project manager and consultant.
About Beacon Global Strategies
Founded in 2013, Beacon Global Strategies is a bipartisan strategic advisory firm that provides clients an in-depth understanding of national security decision-making to advance objectives and solve problems in Washington and abroad. The Beacon team brings experience informed by their years of service in the White House, State Department, Defense Department, CIA, Justice Department, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector.
BGS is led by Managing Directors and Partners Michael Allen, Former Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and former Senior Director at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush; Jeremy Bash, Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense and CIA Director; and Andrew Shapiro, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs; and BGS Managing Directors Lauren Bedula and Kristin White.