Washington, D.C. – August 27, 2013 – The Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC) announced today the addition of Brandon Torres Declet, CEO of Southern Crux International LLC; Mo McGowan, partner at Command Consulting Group and former assistant administrator for the office of security operations at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); and Angela Rye, principal at IMPACT Strategies, have joined the prestigious board of strategic advisors.
“Homeland and National Security represents a broad range of disciplines and we are extremely proud to welcome such esteemed leaders from Congress and TSA. GTSC continues to attract the foremost professionals interested in applying their expertise to the mission of securing the country and assuring that our government partners have the best innovations, technologies and solutions the industry has to offer,” said Kristina Tanasichuk, CEO of GTSC.
“We have a tremendous amount of work to do to maintain the free flow of people and commerce throughout the United States while ensuring the highest level of security in our transportation systems,” said McGowan. “We must marshal the innovation of the private sector to bring leading-edge solutions to our mission. Neither government nor the private sector can do it alone, and GTSC serves as a unique meeting point for these ideas and needs to come together.”
During his 2002 to 2009 tenure at TSA, McGowan also served as deputy assistant administrator for operations and general manager for cargo and supply chain security. He was responsible for over 53,000 personnel, the screening of 2 million commercial air passengers a day, administering compliance and inspection programs, developing performance based metrics, and enhancing all programs within operations while managing a budget in excess of $3.7 billion. He has been officially recognized as a “Plank Holder” for being one of the founding fathers of TSA.
“Small businesses play an essential role in homeland security – their innovation and creativity brings some of the freshest solutions to market,” said Rye, former senior advisor and counsel to the House Committee on Homeland Security. “I’m excited about contributing to building their capacity and understanding of the federal market.”
Rye served as the executive director and general counsel to the Congressional Black Caucus and was tasked with developing its overall legislative and political strategy. She also served as senior advisor and counsel to the House Committee on Homeland Security under the leadership of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and developed the Committee’s general political strategy with a focus on assisting disenfranchised, small minority owned businesses. She is a principal at IMPACT Strategies, a firm focused on national policy and political issues.
Added Declet, “As small businesses grow, they naturally begin to look at opportunities to sell their products and services internationally.”
Brandon Torres Declet brings more than a decade of experience working among senior government officials internationally and at the federal, state and local level. He previously served as counsel to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and as counsel to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) on the House Committee on Homeland Security. He will work with GTSC members to understand ways to diversify their revenue, including serving as the strategic advisor to GTSC’s international outreach workgroup.
A full list of GTSC’s board of strategic advisors, members and mentors is available at www.GTSCoalition.com.
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GTSC is a nonprofit, non-partisan association of companies that create, develop and implement solutions for the federal homeland and national security sector. Our mission is two-fold: first, to provide exceptional advocacy, capacity building, partnership opportunities and marketing in the Federal security space for small and mid-sized companies. Second, to support and assist our government partners achieve their critical missions with the highest integrity; best and most innovative technologies; and results-based, quality products and services to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from any terrorist attack or natural disaster. For more information on these mentors and the Government Technology & Services Coalition, please visit www.GTSCoalition.com.
For more information, please contact Whitney Kazragis, Public Affairs Manager, at [email protected].
