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Meet the Team

DEFENSEWERX Headquarters Team

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Meet the Board of Directors

Board of Directors

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Teresa Harrington

Chief Operations Officer

Teresa Harrington serves as Chief Operations Officer for DEFENSEWERX, Inc. In this role, she ensures seamless implementation and exceptional team member and government partner service across key operations, projects, and initiatives for DEFENSEWERX, its innovation hubs, and its ecosystem.

Dr. Harrington brings deep expertise in strategic and business planning, operations, research, marketing, corporate strategy, STEM policy, and economic and workforce development. Prior to joining DEFENSEWERX in 2021, she led industry relations and key revenue and operations initiatives for an award-winning Inc. 1000 Hall of Fame litigation services firm and served as Chief Executive Officer for a leading Southeastern U.S. communications and economic development consultancy. Dr. Harrington has served as a trusted advisor and in leadership roles in several notable workforce and economic development, STEM, and public policy initiatives at state, regional, and federal levels. She has presented and moderated at national industry conferences and been published in national and industry media including the National Law Review, Corporate Counsel, National Law Journal, Context Florida, and Florida Trend and has served as an award-winning podcast host and producer for national audiences in areas including commercial litigation, corporate risk, science, and tech. Dr. Harrington was awarded the Go-To Thought Leadership Award for multiple consecutive years by National Law Review for her thought leadership contributions on topics ranging from commercial risk and litigation to intellectual property and innovation.

Dr. Harrington earned a Doctor of Business Administration degree through Trevecca Nazarene University and completed her dissertation on the topic of Exploring the Factors that Inhibit and Promote Small Business Owner Engagement with Federal Innovation. She earned an MBA through the prestigious Gies College of Business at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences through Thomas Edison State University. She holds several specializations, certifications, and industry memberships and is a frequent speaker and contributor at industry conferences, panels, and thought leadership forums.

Michael B. Gray

Senior Director, Financial Systems and Transformation for ICF International, Inc

Mr. Michael B. Gray is the Senior Director, Financial Systems and Transformation for ICF International, Inc., a Virginia based global consulting and technology services company, which provides a range of services for government and businesses, including strategic planning, management, marketing and analytics.

Prior to joining ICF International, Inc. Mr. Gray served as the Senior Business Advisor/CFO for the Commander and President, Air University (AU), USAF. He serves as a key strategic advisor in support of all Air Force education programs presented by AU including Air War College, Air Command and Staff College and Air Force ROTC. Mr. Gray advises the AU Commander and President regarding organizational change and technological innovation to enhance professional military education development. He provides other advice at the discretion of the AU Commander and President.

Mr. Gray is an accomplished global leader with a 25+ track record in maximizing operational efficiencies and bottom-line growth across Fortune 500 companies. He is a recognized turnaround agent with success in leading service delivery for both government and commercial projects and known for his ability to mentor and develop high performing organization and next generational leaders.

Recruited to return to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in 2001 as Deputy Controller for the Applied Technology Group, he led business transformation to mature the business side of the $50M systems engineering and services business unit, delivering improvements across all areas of accounts receivables, accounting, budget control, facilities, contract, and compliance.

Immediately following this success, he was appointed Vice President of Finance and Business Unit Controller in 2004 for the Systems and Technology Solutions business unit, a $1B revenue organization within SAIC. In this role, he led the business unit through an aggressive M&A period, successfully directing the integration of people, contracts and systems to achieve $6M+ in cost savings while increasing global labor utilization efficiency. During this time, he was instrumental in developing and mentoring future leadership talent for the company; many of whom were chosen for key positions in the newly formed SAIC company in 2013.

In 2012, he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Operations Finance, and hand-selected by the Chief Financial Officer to lead the strategic integration of resources and operations following SAIC’s decision to split in 2013. Here, he played an integral role in the company’s enterprise business transformation, positoning SAIC to achieve ~$20M in indirect cost savings.

Before returning to SAIC, Michael was the Owner/Agent for Gray Insurance and Financial Services, a Nationwide Insurance and Investment services provider, where he successfully reorganized a fragmented four-county region overseeing sales and resource management of a multi-line agency with ~3,000 policies in force. Under his leadership, the region consistently ranked in the Top 5 in a district of 30 agents, and in top 10% in the State of Tennessee in all lines of insurance and financial sales.

Tim Krueger

Senior Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Tim Krueger has over 38 years of experience in the financial services industry. In 1999, he founded the Krueger Group which later merged into Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 2006 Tim focuses on investment strategies and oversees all aspects of the group. His goal is to provide financial advice in harmony with the client’s needs and objectives. Tim credits his success with understanding the client’s current situation, goals, feelings, and family dynamics.

Tim adheres to a disciplined process that delivers a consistent yet customized wealth management experience. Before any financial decisions are made, he considers a person’s situation, taking the time to fully understand who they are and what matters most to them as individuals and as business professionals. With this intimate knowledge about what they value most, Tim is able to help establish objectives and develop an appropriate approach using strategies that draw upon the breadth and depth of Merrill and Bank of America’s resources to connect all the pieces of their financial life.

In addition to consulting personal wealth management, Tim’s group spearheads efforts to help small businesses work with the Federal Government, primarily the Dept of Defense. In this regard, Tim and his group help guide small businesses with a full spectrum of guidance and support while at the same time helping them navigate to often complex structure of federal contracting. Tim’s group also assists Dept of Defense partners to find small businesses to help meet the needs of National Security.

Tim donates his time to emcee many charitable events in the Destin area and is actively involved with the community. As a staunch supporter of our nation’s military; Tim has spent countless hours volunteering his time for numerous military-related charitable organizations such as the Special Operators Transition Foundation where he mentors operators on ‘life on the other side. He has also served as the 2008 and 2009 Chair of the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Barons’ Ball and was Chairman of the Safety & Public Works Committee for the City of Destin. Tim is currently a Trustee of the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation.

Dr. John S. Wilcox

Vice President for Advanced Programs & Technology for Orbital ATK

Dr. John S. Wilcox is currently the Vice President for Advanced Programs & Technology for Orbital ATK. He is a retired member of the Senior Executive Service. His last assignment before retiring after 36 years of combined military and federal service was as the Director for Munitions, Air Force Research Laboratory, located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. In this capacity, he assisted the Commander of AFRL in strategic S&T investment planning across the technology directorates. He also led the combat air forces future weapons technology planning and execution at the Munitions Directorate providing programmatic and technical guidance to a staff of more than 500 scientists and engineers developing air-launched conventional munitions technology. The activities of the Munitions Directorate include research on missile seekers, precision guidance, navigation and control, image processing, munitions integration, warheads, fuzing, explosives and technology assessment methodology. Prior to this assignment, Dr. Wilcox served as the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Precision Engagement from 2002 to 2009.

Prior to his Civilian Service career, Dr. Wilcox was a Colonel in the United States Air Force and retired after 24 years of active duty before beginning his civilian career. He began his operational flying career in the F-111 and went on to fly the Royal Air Force and German Tornado and F-4, and F-15E fighter aircraft. He is a graduate and instructor at the United States Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He commanded the 28th Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base and was the Chief of Advanced Air Supremacy while assigned to the Directorate of Requirements at Headquarters, Air Combat Command. While assigned to the Pentagon, he served as the Senior Military Assistant for Airpower in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. His most recent assignment at the Pentagon was as the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Precision Engagement and Director of the Joint Capability Technology Demonstration Program. During Operation DESERT STORM, Dr. Wilcox served on the Targeting Team for the strategic air campaign and was the Chief, Time Sensitive Targeting, for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM while assigned to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. He also served as the Director for Night Fist operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and the Global War on Terrorism. Dr. Wilcox was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 2002 and was awarded the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive by the President of the United States in 2015 prior to his retirement from the DoD.

Michael Nelson

booz allen hamilton

Michael Nelson is the president of PAR Government Systems Corporation and its subsidiary, Rome Research Corporation. These firms provide technology, services, and critical products for the Defense Department and National Intelligence Communities. Under Mike’s leadership, PAR Government has evolved into a people-centric, technology-enabled, growth-focused company recognized for delivering innovative solutions that support and defend the U.S. Government and its allies.

Mike is a proven leader with over 27 years of experience managing complex Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) programs spanning ground, air, and space-based advanced geospatial intelligence. Mike has established a process-driven management team overseeing a large cadre of engineering, research, management, and analytical production teams supporting the Intelligence and DoD Communities worldwide through his demonstrated, outcome-based leadership style.

Mike is engaged in corporate strategic planning, leads internal process transformation activities, manages future business pipelines and customer development, and ensures programmatic, contractual, and financial (P/L) oversight for his rapidly expanding team. He has leveraged his expertise to draft and implement corporate technology advancement initiatives covering AI/ML, data exploitation, commercial space, and ISR applications, leveraging cognitive computing techniques.

Before his current role, Mike was Vice President of the Intelligence and Defense Systems business unit at Riverside Research Institute. His 20-year span included designing, developing, and operational stand-up systems to manage and exploit space-based ISR, advanced research and development, program management, business development, and corporate leadership. Riverside Research is a nonprofit 501c3 organization chartered to advance scientific research to benefit the U.S. government and the public interest.

Before that, Mike worked for five years in support of Ball Aerospace, performing algorithmic development and systems engineering functions supporting space-based optical systems.

Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, and a master’s degree in Electro-Optical Engineering from the University of Dayton. Mike also holds a certificate in corporate financial management from Cornell University.

The DWX Family

DEFENSEWERX Headquarters Team

Click on any portrait for more information

Brian Liesveld

Chief Executive Officer

Teresa Harrington

Chief Operations Officer

Tami Shultz

corporate senior manager of logistics

Joanna Gomez

Corporate Controller

Abriana Samartino

Clerk - Finance, Accounting, & Compliance (FAC)

Anna Beach

Corporate Operations Deputy

Kassia Finkler

Corporate Accounts Payable Specialist

Monika Johnson

Corporate HR Manager

Kevin Starr

corporate it manager

Andrea West

corporate hr generalist

David Wilson

corporate compliance and internal control manager

Stephanie Bryan

corporate HR assistant

Board of Directors

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Brian Liesveld

Chief Executive Officer, DEFENSEWERX

Bernard Johnson

Regional manager Corporate External Affairs, Florida power and light

Michael B. Gray

Senior Director, financial systems and transformation for icf international, inc.

Tere'sa Hebert

Senior Territory Manager, Exact Sciences; councilwoman, city of destin

Tim Krueger

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND SENIOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR, MERRILL LYNCH WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Garry Haase

SENIOR MANAGER FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WITH GENERAL DYNAMICS ORDNANCE AND TACTICAL SYSTE

Spencer Baker

DIRECTOR (retired), ACQUISITION AGILITY, US SPECIAL OPERATIONS ACQUISITION, TECHNOLOGY AND LOGISTICS CENTER

Dr. John S. Wilcox

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCED PROGRAMS & TECHNOLOGY FOR ORBITAL ATK

Michael Nelson

Booz Allen Hamilton

Brian Liesveld

Chief Executive Officer, DEFENSEWERX, Niceville, Fl

Teresa Harrington

Chief Operations Officer

Tami Schultz

corporate senior manager of logistics

Joanna Gomez

Controller

Anna Beach

corporate operations deputy

Kassia Finkler

Corporate Accounts Payable Specialist

Monika Johnson

HR Manager

Kevin Starr

corporate it manager

Andrea West

corporate hr generalist

David Wilson

Corporate Compliance and Internal Control Manager

Stephanie Bryan

Corporate HR Assistant

Bernard Johnson

Regional Manager Corporate External Affairs, Florida power and light

Michael B. Gray

Senior Director, Financial Systems and Transformation for ICF International, Inc

Tere'sa Hebert

Senior Territory Manager, Exact Sciences and Councilwoman for the City of Destin

Tim Krueger

Senior Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Garry Haase

Senior Manager for Business Development with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems

Spencer Baker