Washington, D.C., April 30 — The Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC), the premier organization for small and mid-sized companies in homeland and national security today announced that Tamla Tymus, former Subcommittee Director/General Counsel for the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency under Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), and Amy Hutchens, former Special Assistant United States Attorney, Air Force Judge Advocate and CEO of CLEAResources, LLC have joined the Board of Advisors.

“We are excited to continue our tradition of excellence for our members by adding two very critical Advisors to our Board.  Tamla has had a tremendous career with the Democratic leadership of homeland security in Congress, and Amy is at the forefront of ethics and compliance for federal government contractors. Their insights and engagement with us is an extremely added value for our members,” said Kristina Tanasichuk, Founder & CEO of GTSC.

“Small business has always been critical to the homeland security mission – former Chairman Thompson was very committed to assuring that innovative new ideas had a chance to germinate and grow,” said Tymus at the release.  “I am drawn to the Coalition for that reason – a fair and equitable playing field for innovators and entrepreneurs interested in serving the homeland and national security mission.”

“Ethics in contracting has emerged as one of the most serious and critical topics to every government contractor.  With False Claims Act suits and whistleblower protections, every company must take the requirements of the FAR and embed them in their culture.  I am excited to work with GTSC members to achieve the highest ethical standards in the business,” said Amy Hutchens.

GTSC has added ethics certification to its Capacity Building programming to assure that small and mid-size companies have an easy way to assure their employees are trained and familiar with the ethics requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).  The first certification session, led by Hutchens, will take place May 6.

Members of the Board of Advisors provide input to GTSC’s programming, identify areas of collaboration, and increase the awareness and understanding of the Federal homeland and national security mission.   GTSC works on behalf of its members with the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  Since its inception, GTSC has worked with these agencies to achieve mission in an increasingly challenging budget environment, advocate for the value of small businesses, increase understanding of mid-tier companies, improve market research and increase collaboration between the public and private sector.