Carrie Martin is Director of Business Operation for the 82d Contracting Squadron at Sheppard AFB, TX, an organization she has been attached to since 2009. She started her journey as a summer intern who became a student intern, who then became permanent after graduating college. All of this while playing NCAA Division II softball. Carrie has been very involved in the innovation space within the Air Force, and was one of the founding members of RAPIDX, the Air Force’s innovation contracting network. In her current role as the Director of Business Operations, she is the clearance authority for procurements between $5M and $10M.

Disclaimer: Any opinions provided are her own and may not reflect the opinions of the USAF or DoD.

Courtney Fairchild is the Co-Founder, President, and CEO at Global Services. For twenty-five (25) years, Courtney has led her team in obtaining over 3,000 contract awards in excess of $20B in value. Courtney is a Graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program (2017) and SBA’s Emerging Leaders Program (2015) and is the recipient of the following awards: Enterprising Women Award (2017), Women Impacting Policy’s Founder’s Award (2016), SmartCEO’s Brava Award (2015), MEA Magazine’s 50 Women of Influence and Power Award (2011), Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Awards – Rising Star Award (2009), and The American Small Business Coalition (ASBC) Member of the Year Award (2008). 

Dolores Kuchina-Musina, Ph.D., is a Chief Disruptor and founder of REXOTA Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm that supports organizations in pursuing, capturing, and managing federal contract and agreement awards. With over a decade of experience in government contracting, she has a proven track record of delivering innovative solutions, strategic insights, and compliance guidance to clients across various sectors and industries. she holds certifications in federal contracts management, proposal management, and inside sales, as well as a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy.

With over 20 years of progressive experience in federal procurement, Mr. Jaime Gracia is a visionary leader and a subject matter expert in delivering innovative, cutting-edge acquisitions, training, projects, and programs for public and private sector clients. 

His most recent public sector role was being the Director of Strategic Enterprise Programs in the Center for Acquisition Experience (CAE) at the U.S. Department of State, where he led the new Acquisition Experience (AcqX) program across the Department, defining and enhancing the perceptions and touchpoints of professionals, customers, and stakeholders with the acquisition ecosystem. He also spearheaded the Industry Liaison Program, the Cognitive Procurement Program for RPA, ML, and AI tools, and the OMB programs for Category Management, Vendor Management, and Value Engineering. 

Dr. Elder has been named one of the "10 most influential people in Analytics". He's authored innovative data mining tools, is a frequent keynote speaker, and has chaired international Analytics conferences. His courses on analysis techniques -- taught at dozens of universities, companies, and government labs -- are noted for their clarity and effectiveness. Dr. Elder was honored to serve for 5 years on a panel appointed by President Bush to guide technology for National Security.

Lou Kerestesy has 30 years’ experience in government, about half as a government employee and half as a consultant. He was a local government official from 1985-1989 (Portage County, OH) and a Federal Government official from 1989-1997 (USEPA). Lou’s consulting experience includes executive positions in a federal management consulting company, and owning and operating two independent consulting practices.

Lou’s past and current ACT-IAC participation incudes ELC 2015 planning committees; MOC 2015 planning committees; Small Business conference solution zone facilitation; Acquisition Excellence 2015 planning and facilitation; AM SIG leadership team (2014-2105); The Institute for Innovation Innovator’s Circle (2013-2014); and the QGTR IT-Business Alignment Team Lead (2010).

Mike Carroll is the Chief of Acquisition and Procurement at the US Army Human Resources Command, where he leads a team of professionals responsible for managing the procurement process and ensuring compliance with federal regulations and agency policies. He has 30+ years of leadership experience in government contracting, certified by the Department of Defense as a Contracting Officer at the most senior level. Mike holds an MBA in Contracting from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification.

Raj Sharma is chairman of Public Spend Forum, a SBIR Phase III company sponsored with 10 sponsoring customers, that specializes in deep market and supply chain intelligence tailored for public sector teams, suppliers, and investors. They focus on emerging technology market trends, supply/demand, risks, and investment insights to inform critical decisions related to technology selection, risk management, investments and commercialization. They achieve this through rapid on-demand research and consulting, comprehensive market briefs, and AI-powered analytics.

Stephen J. Yuter is currently a Vice President at BrainGu, a hypergrowth defense technology company supporting both federal and commercial sectors. As part of the Executive Leadership Team, Mr. Yuter oversees all aspects of contracts, risk management, and compliance. In his previous roles as Principal with Booz Allen Hamilton, Senior Vice President with FleishmanHillard, and Chief Contracts Strategist with Deloitte, he provided invaluable insights into shaping and strengthening go-to market strategies to support exponential growth across their respective Public Sector practices. As a former member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), Mr. Yuter provided executive leadership for operations, policy, and workforce development across several civilian and defense agencies, and served as source selection authority for over $10B of contracts.