How to Meet the Workforce Requirements of the President's Executive Order 13781 Training Workshop

Confirmed Guest Speakers:

Rebecca S. Ayers, PhD

Manager, Performance Management Solutions (PMS),

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Rebecca S. Ayers serves as the manager for Performance Management Solutions (PMS) in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).  PMS provides reimbursable solutions to Federal agencies to address individual and organizational performance matters necessary to properly create and sustain a healthy and effective results-oriented culture.  She is also the Program Manager for USA Performance, OPM’s automated performance management system. She has managed consulting work and performance management projects for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Air Force, Health and Human Services, and numerous other independent agencies. Prior to this position she served as the Strategic Planning and Performance Manager for HR Solutions, the reimbursable divisions of OPM, and was responsible for organizational strategic and business planning and execution and performance management and evaluation. 

Rebecca has facilitated and worked with both public and nonprofit organizations to identify organizational goals, develop strategic plans, and implement performance management systems. She regularly presents at professional and academic conferences on performance management and strategic planning best practices and latest trends and research. She began her Federal career as a Presidential Management Fellow at OPM where she managed workforce and succession planning projects for other Federal agencies. 

Rebecca’s leadership in the development of USA Performance was recognized by a Government Computer News’ Rising Star award in 2014. USA Performance also won the NextGov Bold Award and People’s Choice award in 2014 for creativity and courage for driving advancement in government. Her leadership in the community and in the Federal Government was recognized by the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Leadership award in 2015. Rebecca is currently the President-Elect for the Junior League of Raleigh.

Rebecca holds a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Transatlantic Studies from the University of Bath, England. She completed her Ph.D. in Public Administration at North Carolina State University where her research included public management, performance management, and strategic planning.  Her recent research examines the importance of goal alignment in Federal agency performance appraisal programs and program performance.  She is also teaches the Public Organizational Behavior class in the Masters of Public Administration program at North Carolina State University.

Rebecca is a fulltime teleworker with OPM and resides just outside of Raleigh, NC.

Jeffrey Neal

Senior Vice President

ICF International

Former Chief Human Capital Officer for hte Department of Homeland Security.

Jeffrey Neal is Senior Vice President for ICF International. Prior to ICF, Jeff was the Department of Homeland Security Chief Human Capital Officer, where he was responsible for human capital programs for 190,000 employees. He established Department-wide programs for Leader Development and making workforce sourcing decisions, and led the implementation of collective bargaining at TSA.

Jeff served as Director of Human Resources for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) from 2000 - 2009. At DLA, he dramatically improved HR services and strategy while reducing costs by more than $50 million. That and DLA’s enterprise leader development program were cited by the Partnership as models for other federal agencies. DLA HR’s Agency-wide culture assessment and change program significantly improved employee engagement.

Jeff is a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration, a Partnership for Public Service Strategic Advisor to Government Executives (SAGE), and blogs at ChiefHRO.com, where he writes about federal management and human capital issues.

Tom Gilbert

Assistant Director of Strategic Issues

United States Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Tom Gilbert is an Assistant Director in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Strategic Issues team. Mr. Gilbert leads performance evaluations on issues related to Strategic Human Capital Management across the federal government. Recent work has focused on improving human capital management at the Veteran’s Health Administration, the government-wide distribution of performance ratings, innovation in the public sector, and performance management and executive pay across federal agencies. Before working on human capital issues, Mr. Gilbert was a Senior Analyst at GAO with a focus on tax policy and administration, evaluating efforts such as the Internal Revenue Service’s performance during the tax filing season and the use of tax incentives for community and economic development, disaster relief, housing assistance and other targeted areas. Mr. Gilbert has been at GAO for almost 15 years.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kalamazoo College and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Bob E. Corsi, Jr, PE

Secretary of Board of Directors

Senior Executives Association (SEA)

Former Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services

Headquarters, U.S. Air Force

His professional career spans 46 years with the United States Air Force with 28 years on active duty and 18 years as a civilian in the Senior Executive Service. When he retired from federal service in Oct 2016, he was the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He was responsible for comprehensive plans and policies covering all life cycles of military and civilian personnel management. This included military and civilian end strength management, education and training, compensation and resource allocation as well as the delivery of fully-qualified, ready Airmen for the Joint warfighter while meeting all the needs of our Airmen and their families. He oversaw the execution and programming of the Manpower, Personnel and Services portfolio with an annual $40.9 billion personnel budget for 660,000 military and civilian Total Force airmen.

He was commissioned upon graduation from Manhattan College in 1970 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and attended West Virginia University receiving his Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering in 1975. During the next 28 years, he served in a wide variety of positions of increasing responsibility at wing, major command, and Air Force headquarters levels. He has held positions of design engineer and chief of engineering, military assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Military Manpower and Personnel, and chief of manpower requirements at Headquarters Strategic Air Command. Before his retirement as a colonel, he was the senior military career manpower officer in the Air Force overseeing the management and development of over 2,000 manpower professionals. He entered the Senior Executive Service in July 1998, following his retirement from active duty. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the Deputy Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force where he was responsible for all budgeting, manpower and personnel management, and facilities for over 5,000 personnel in the National Capital Region. In addition, he was the Deputy Director, Manpower and Organization, at Headquarters Air Force, responsible for both sizing and budgeting for the Total Force and the determination of the force mix of active duty, civilians, and contractors.

He is a registered professional engineer (PE) and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He is also a senior member of both the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has been a member of the Visiting Committee of Industrial & Systems Management at West Virginia University since 2014; and he was inducted in the Academy of Industrial Engineers in 2015 for his contributions to the profession. He was elected to the Board of the Senior Executive Association in 2014, and will serve three years guiding the Association to advise on all aspects of policy and development for the ~7,000 members of the Senior Executive Service, federal wide. He was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at West Virginia University in 2016 for his contributions to the University, his profession, and his leadership in the community assisting the poor in Appalachia. He was also appointed to the Board of Governors of the Civil Air Patrol by the Secretary of the Air Force upon his retirement from federal service in 2016.

He has received two Meritorious Presidential Rank Awards recognizing his performance among the top 5% of all members of the Senior Executive Service; and he also received the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2016 recognizing the top 1% of Senior Executives. He is also a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus where he has led a home building effort with his Council and parish for the last 16 years in the heart of Appalachia. He is responsible for the fund raising and the construction of 18 homes for some of the poorest families in our country who receive a complete home at no cost to the family. This home building effort has received both State and International Awards from the Knights of Columbus.

Upon his retirement, he established RoCor Consulting, LLC, to provide the full range of human capital advice to the public sector. He is married to Maria, his wife of 45 years. They have one child and one grandchild.

Lou Kerestesy

Founder & CEO

GovInnovators

Lou Kerestesy has 30 years’ experience as a local and federal government employee, and as a consultant to federal, state, and local government. Mr. Kerestesy created strategic planning and program evaluation systems for a county mental health system and launched the first-ever formal policy dialogue between USEPA and local government environmental officials. As an executive in a management consulting company, he increased revenue 400% and employees 120% in six years. As GovInnovators’ founder, Mr. Kerestesy helps agencies innovate their business, culture and technology models to create value for customers. Mr. Kerestesy has a liberal arts undergraduate degree and an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He is ACT-IAC’s Acquisition Community of Interest industry co-chair.

Tim Bowden, HCS

Executive Director for Consulting Delivery

People & Performance Consulting Office

Management Concepts

Tim Bowden serves as the Executive Director for Consulting Delivery for the People and Performance Consulting division at Management Concepts. In this role, he specializes in creating assessment-based, data-driven solutions to create sustainable organizational performance improvement. Prior to joining Management Concepts, Tim spent 14 years at Alion Science and Technology where he managed the Research Division to translate findings from basic research in human performance into simulation-based analysis tools to improve system design. Tim holds a BA from Rollins College and an MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Central Florida.

James M. Read

Director, Policy & Evaluation

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB)

James M. Read is an attorney and career Senior Executive at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. He currently serves as Director of Policy & Evaluation, overseeing a staff of researchers who formulate data-driven recommendations for improving the management of the federal civil service. His past positions at MSPB include Chief Counsel to the Chairman and Director of the Office of Appeals Counsel. Mr. Read has also worked in senior positions at the Department of Justice, first as Special Counsel for Personnel with the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and later as Special Assistant to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s whistleblower protection program.

Mr. Read received his B.A. from Hamilton College and his J.D. from George Washington University, and began his legal career clerking for the Chief Judge of the Court of Federal Claims. He is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia, and served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Federal Service Labor & Employment Law Committee.

Instructors:

Mika J. Cross

Federal Workplace Expert

Mika J. Cross is a seasoned Workplace Transformation Strategist specializing in innovative global workplace initiatives, culture change, strategic communications, knowledge management, next generation/future workplace predictions, mobility and flexible work policy, diversity, inclusion and employee engagement.  Her 18-year career in public service includes assignments throughout the United States Intelligence Community and across the Federal government.  She is a veteran of the Unites States Army, having served as both an enlisted soldier and commissioned officer. 

Mika is highly regarded as a thought leader for flexible and transformational workplace practices and is regularly featured as a professional speaker at industry conferences and events. On behalf of the White House and the National Security Council (NSC), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) invited Mika to contribute to the “Workforce of 2020” strategy session as a component of the joint-led task force to develop a new business model for vetting current and future Federal employees into positions of national security. Mika was invited to speak at the House Smart Contracting Caucus roundtable on Telework and Mobility, by Co-Chairmen Gerry Connolly and Rob Wittman.  She has also worked in partnership with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on behalf of the White House Council on Women and Girls and the Federal Women’s Program, to design innovative learning strategies to help align Work/Life, Diversity, Inclusion and Human Resources professionals from across the government to share strategic vision and value for integrating a flexible and supportive workplace. 

In 2014, Mika was selected as a President’s Management Council (PMC) Interagency Fellow at OPM and worked on government-wide projects affecting culture and process change. As a component of the President’s Second Term Management Agenda sub-goal on People and Culture, she helped create an online Employee Engagement Community of Practice (eCOP) within OPM’s interactive dashboard (the Unlocking Federal Talent data tool at unlocktalent.gov).  The eCOP is targeted for Senior Executive Management to help Federal agencies collect and use data to create a more engaged workplace. She also has led several workforce transformation initiatives resulting in winning the organizations she has worked for numerous industry awards- the most recent being USDA named on the Forbes 500 Best American Workplace rankings in March 2015.

Mika has led the strategic communications and initiatives capability for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and currently does so for the Department of Labor, Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (DOL VETS.)  Mika was awarded the Fed50 “Most Inspiring Up-and-Comer” award, the Federal News Radio “Causey Award” as well as a Next Gen Gov public service award. In 2013 she was named a ‘Work-Life Rising Star’ by WorldatWork’s Alliance for Work-Life Progress.    She currently serves as Government Chair of the Human Capital Shared Interest Group (HC-SIG) for the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Panel (ACT-IAC) and as a Board member for WorldatWork’s Alliance for Work/life Progress (AWLP.)