Meet the volunteer leaders of APMP-NCA.

Why does APMP-NCA serve the proposal management and business development community so well? Because it’s run by volunteers from that very community. Maybe you’ll be an APMP-NCA leader someday!

2012 APMP-NCA Board Executive Board:
President, Olessia Smotrova-Taylor
Vice President, Maryann Lesnick
Treasurer, Eric Schwarz

Secretary, Colleen Jolly

Directors At Large:
Annual Conference Chairperson, Dana Seward

Boot Camp Chairperson, Noelle Rzasa

Corporate Partner Program Chairperson, Andrea Tasker

Event Logistics Chairperson, Michelle Sullivan

eZine Chairperson, Julia Pochekueva

Marketing & Web Site Chairperson, Alex Brown

Membership Committee Chairperson, Kristin Pennypacker

Networking Committee Chairperson, Ros Angus

Speaker Series Chairperson, Lisa Pafe

Executive Board Bios:

President, Olessia Smotrova-Taylor

Olessia Smotrova-Taylor has 17 years of professional experience in a variety of industries, focused on proposal and capture management, marketing, and communications. She has been a member of APMP since 2005, and has served on the APMP-NCA Board of Directors since 2008 as the Executive Summary eZine Chair. She regularly presents at the APMP-NCA roundtables, Boot camps, annual conferences, and other events. A recognized thought leader in the proposal profession, she has been contributing articles and blogs to the APMP publications, and her materials have been added to the APMP Body of Knowledge. She leads OST Global Solutions, Inc., a fast-growing Maryland company specialized in business development, capture and proposal consulting, and training. Prior to founding OST, Olessia worked as a business developer for Raytheon and Lockheed Martin and wrote for the Financial Times of London. She has a BA in International Affairs from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Duties:

• Provides the vision and direction for the chapter.
• Has general charge, supervision, and authority over the property, affairs, and business of the chapter and its officers.
• Conducts monthly board meetings. Initiates the meeting agendas. Establishes and communicates the meeting location and time. Ensures all board members and committees routinely report on activities. Tracks action items from each meeting.
• Prepares chapter business announcements for each Speaker Series, including introducing new members, announcing upcoming events, and conducting special recognition.
• Writes email broadcast announcements to promote the chapter’s education and networking events.
• Writes a column for the NCA newsletter and ensures that all important events and association business are reported in the newsletter.
• Maintains co-signature check-signing responsibility with Secretary/Treasurer and serves in his/her absence to ensure bills are promptly paid.
• Serves as a point of contact with regional chapters, regional directors, and the International Association for Chapter Communication.
• Provides marketing and membership information to potential new members.
• Responds promptly to inquiries from members and non-members.
• Works with the Chapter Liaison to encourage interaction with other associations and coordinate co-sponsored events.

Vice President, Maryann Lesnick

Maryann Lesnick, APM.APMP, PMP, serves as Vice President of Proposals for Base Technologies, Inc., in McLean, Virginia. She has over 30 years of technical, managerial, and business development experience in a diverse range of information technology areas, for federal agencies and the private sector (public utilities and telecommunications companies).She has prepared hundreds of proposals for contracts and task orders, both written and oral, and has delivered several oral proposals. Maryann served as the APMP-NCA Event Logistics Chair in 2011.  She also served on the APMP-NCA Boot Camp Committee for three years, and was committee chair in 2010. She is a certified Practitioner Level APMP and a Program Management Professional (PMP).

Duties:

• Works closely with the President to participate in and/or lead NCA initiatives.
• Attends monthly board meetings, contributes constructive ideas to improve the NCA chapter, and reports on activities.
• Provides strategic direction and participates in various NCA committee activities.
• Provides marketing and membership information to potential new members.
• Responds promptly to inquiries from members and non-members.
• Develops the slate of officers and presents them to the membership at the November Speaker Series.
• Assumes NCA President duties (in the absence of the President).

Secretary, Colleen Jolly

With PPF.APMP accreditation and over a decade of proposal experience, Colleen manages a global professional proposal graphic company: 24 Hour Company.

Very active in APMP, she is Layout Editor for the APMP Journal and regularly contributes articles. She is a frequent worldwide speaker on creative and general business topics, and has spoken at many APMP conferences. Additionally, she manages the online SIG/COI on information graphics, a joint effort between NCA and UK chapters.

Colleen is an award-winning artist and business professional, most recently as a finalist for the Stevie Awards Creative Professional of the Year, 2009. Her company won entry into Inc. 5,000’s Fast Growing Companies for 2007, and she has been published three times in a women’s entrepreneurial calendar. She is incoming Secretary for the International APMP in 2011 and was named an APMP Fellow in 2010.

She holds a BA from Georgetown University, and is active in leadership roles and board positions in arts and women’s non-profit organizations, including South East of England Woman’s Enterprise Ambassador.

Duties:

• Generates mailing list as required for meeting fliers and promotional materials.
• Coordinates with Treasurer to ensure membership status of meeting attendees.
• Coordinates activities for Membership Appreciation night. This includes identification and purchase of handouts/gifts for attendees.
• Prepares annual article for the newsletter on the status of activities and plans for upcoming events.
• Ensures speakers are notified of time and location of event and sends them directions if required.
• Provides minutes of board meetings to the Board of Directors and submits a copy to the national organization.

Treasurer, Eric Schwarz

Eric has more than 18 years’ experience as an analyst, program manager, and business developer, with exposure to all aspects of proposal development and management.

Since 2004 he has been working as the capture/proposal manager for Information Builders’ Federal Systems Group. Prior to his business development career, he served for over 13 years in the U.S. Army.

Eric holds BA and MBA degrees. He has been an active member of APMP since September 2007.

Duties:

• Maintains all financial records for chapter.
• Prepares and delivers financial reports to the Board of Directors.
• Reviews bills for accuracy and pays bills in a timely manner.
• Reimburses board members for expenses such as supplies, printing, etc.
• Provides board members and the national organization with an annual report, plus a semiannual report and list of meeting attendees for affiliation credits.

At Large Director Bios (in alphabetical order)

Annual Conference Chairperson, Dana Seward

Dana Seward joined VSE in 2008 and currently serves as Deputy Director, Business Capture Center. She is responsible for supporting corporate and business group business development through all phases of the business development lifecycle. She provides support staff for business capture and proposal related efforts, and is responsible for research data and analysis of business opportunities and oversight for BCC business development processes and ancillary database.    Dana earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Troy State University, Dothan Alabama.

Duties:

• Plans/organizes the chapter’s annual conference.
• Regularly attends board meetings and reports on activities.
• Regularly attends and support chapter events.
• Participates in planning and decision-making.
• Solicits support for all programs from the members and colleagues of the organization.
• Meets and welcomes new members and colleagues, and provides information about the organization and events, answers questions, and makes introductions to other members and colleagues.

Boot Camp Chairperson, Noelle Rzasa

Noelle, AM.APMP, serves as the Proposal Manager and Capture Manager for Base Technologies, Inc. in McLean, VA. She has over 10 years of experience providing capture, proposal, and program management support for information technology companies serving the federal market.

Noelle has broad experience in business development and specializes in managing all aspects of the proposal development process for companies providing IT infrastructure services to federal and commercial clients. She is instrumental in analyzing business opportunities, managing proposal development activities, and in ensuring quality, consistency, and compliance throughout the proposal process.

Noelle has served on the Proposal Basics Boot Camp committee for the for the past three years, and was a subcommittee Chair of that Committee for 2010. Noelle has been a member of APMP NCA since 2005.

She holds a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from the State University of New York, Brockport.

Duties:

• Plans/organizes the Proposal Basics Boot Camp.
• Regularly attends board meetings and reports on activities.
• Regularly attends and support chapter events.
• Participates in planning and decision-making.
• Solicits support for all programs from the members and colleagues of the organization.

Corporate Partner Program Chairperson,  Andrea Tasker

Andrea Tasker has been an active member of the APMP NCA throughout the year on two annual planning committees. She was as an active member of the Proposal Basics Boot Camp publicity committee and the exhibitor chair of the Mid-Atlantic Proposal Conference and Expo. Andrea is an account manager at ENEXDI where she creates and maintains client relationships. She has BSBA degree in Marketing from Robert Morris University.

Duties:

• Support Corporate partners at events (logistics, advertising)
• Organize and set up webinars for platinum partners (4 a year)
• Coordinate with all chairs on corporate partner participation.
  

Event Logistics Chairperson, Michelle Sullivan.

Michelle Sullivan is currently a member of the APMP NCA Speaker Series Commitee.  She has been active in growing event attendance and awareness.  She has made the capture of attendee feedback and suggestions a priority in order to help the committee continually improve the quality of their events.  She also attended the most recent APMP International Conference to grow her knowledge of the art of proposal sciences.  She has 18 years of experience in marketing in the high tech and government contracting sector.  Her background includes the logistical and promotional management of 15 corporate user conferences, as well as tradeshows and seminars in the North American, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific markets.  She earned her BA from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Duties:

• Coordinates all meeting arrangements with hotels, including menu selection, room setup, minimum meeting attendees, billing rates, AV equipment, etc.
• Reviews and approvals all catering requirements in advance of meeting.
• Regularly attends board meetings and reports on activities.
• Prepares nametags for meeting attendees that include name and organization.
• Prepares meeting registration lists that reflect attendees in alphabetical order by last name, organization, payment status, menu selection, and membership status. Ensures a copy of this list (with walk-in information) is forwarded to the Secretary/Treasurer.
• Collects and distributes communications, promotional items, or other items for each Speaker Series meeting.
• Advises other Directors of the arrival of new first-time members at a function so that they may extend a special greeting to the new member and introduce that person to other members of the Board and chapter.

e-Zine Chairperson, Julia Pochekueva

Julia Pochekueva has been a member of the APMP NCA e-zine committee as an associate editor and participated in each board meeting throughout 2011. During this period, she has coordinated all aspects of the e-zine production for both the Summer and Fall issues. The Summer e-zine was one of the largest issues produced with the most articles in the history of the e-zine. Both issues received exceptional reviews from the membership base. Julia has seven years of experience in marketing, finance, and business administration in international corporations, small business, and non-profit organizations. As the Marketing Manager at OST Global Solutions, she has helped launch the Training and Business Development Services divisions while reinvigorating already profitable consulting division through development of new intelligent marketing plans that she and her team have implemented with success. She has Master’s degree in marketing and bachelor’s degree with honors in Business Management.

Duties:

• Edits, produces, and mails the chapter’s Executive Summary e zine.
• Coordinates written communication for the chapter and maintains a record of previous newsletters and articles about the chapter.

Marketing and Website Chairperson, Alex Brown

At OST Global Solutions, Alex was brought on to develop new lines of business, plus business development (direct BD services for clients) and multiple classroom training programs (from capture to writing). Alex’s experience growing companies, and as a skilled relationship builder, allows him to use his extensive personal and professional network in the federal arena for success with OST.

Prior to his work at OST Global Solutions, Alex supported Proposal Development Consultants as a relationship manager for consultants and federal contractors in the metro DC area. Also, at VediorNA and Ingenta, he worked both in business development and in information architecture/project management, to service Fortune 500 clients in the Boston metro area.

Alex previously served in the APMP-NCA Corporate Partner and Network groups.

Duties:

• Creates marketing communications strategies and tactics to promote chapter programs, services, and events.
• Develops website features, concepts, and copy.
• Coordinates website maintenance with webmaster.
• Coordinates market research activities.
• Regularly attends board meetings and reports on activities.
• Participates in chapter planning and decision-making.
• Solicits support for all programs from the members and colleagues of the organization.
• Is the lead technology strategist for the NCA chapter.
• Optimizes the current registration system and website.
• Implements and maintains a searchable knowledge base.
• Makes recommendations to replace existing applications with improved technology.
• Supervises contractors or vendors the board hires to implement new and maintain existing technology.

Membership Committee Chairperson, Kristin Pennypacker

Kristin Pennypacker, Principal Consultant, Lohfeld Consulting, specializes in competitive strategy and proposal management to win strategic opportunities in DoD and civil markets. An experienced proposal manager, Kristin’s expertise encompasses managing responses to large DoD procurements as well as task order proposals. Prior to joining Lohfeld Consulting Group, Kristin was a program manager for a large IDIQ contract and a former Critical Strategic Initiatives (CSI) “blackbelt” in capture strategy and proposal development with Booz Allen and Hamilton. She has more than 15 years’ experience providing strategic leadership as well as capture and proposal management for federal civil, defense, and security procurements.  She has a BA in History from Northwestern University and a MS in Information and Telecommunication Systems from Johns Hopkins University. Kristin has served on the planning committee for the NCA Speaker Series program. She holds the APMP Foundation-level accreditation.

• Encourages and promotes membership in the association and chapter through various functions.
• Maintains and updates the chapter roster of all current members.
• Works with the APMP national organization to help optimize the membership database.
• Coordinates membership rosters with the national organization each month.
• Provides an up-to-date membership mailing list to other directors or fulfillment personnel on a recurring basis for mailings such as the newsletter, special invitations, etc.
• Identifies all new members from the national organization listing, newsletter, or other sources. Sends (or causes to be sent) an individual welcoming message to each new member. Provides new member list to Speaker Series coordinator to ensure that new members are especially welcomed and identified at the first Speaker Series they attend.
• Coordinates all activities with other directors to ensure retention of existing members and promote new membership.

Networking Chairperson, Ros Angus

Ros serves as Director of Business Development with Proposal Development Consultants, LLC. She has more than 12 years' combined executive search and contingent staffing and management experience, advising Fortune 500 companies and federal government contractors to provide tailored human capital solutions.

She is actively involved with APMP and served most recently on the 2010 Boot Camp committee.

Duties:

• Leads networking activities at all chapter functions.
• Regularly attends board meetings and reports on activities.
• Regularly attends and support chapter events.
• Participates in planning and decision making.
• Solicits support for all programs from the members and colleagues of the organization.
• Meets and welcomes new members and colleagues and provides them with information about the organization and events, answers questions, and makes introductions to other members and colleagues.

Speaker Series Chairperson, Lisa Pafe

Lisa Pafe has served on the APMP NCA Speaker Series Committee for over three years and has chaired several events.  She is currently Principal Consultant at Lohfeld Consulting Group, Inc. where she helps contractors win government business.  With 24 years’ experience in business capture, process improvement, project and proposal management, and proposal operations, Lisa is an AM.APMP and a Project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professional (PMP) as well as a trained ISO 9001:2008 Internal Auditor.   Prior to joining LCG, as Vice President at Ace Info Solutions, Inc., Lisa was responsible for the company's full opportunity life cycle. Previously, she was President/Owner of Vision Consulting, Inc.; and Vice President of Business Development for GovConnect, Inc. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University, a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a Masters in Information Systems from The George Washington University.

Job Duties:

• Plans and obtains program presentations and speakers for Speaker Series.
• Identifies speakers for upcoming events and collect biographical information for introductions and descriptions of presentation(s) for meeting announcements.
• Prepares Speaker Series meeting announcements and info-blasts.
• Coordinates with speakers and the event chairperson prior to event to ensure all plans are in place (including handouts).
• Prepares Chapter meeting announcements for each Speaker Series.
• Communicates upcoming events to membership through e-mails, e-Zine, and Web site and other Chapter communication paths.
• Attends and participates in monthly Board meetings.
• Coordinates the contribution to the NCA eZine, reporting the Speaker Series events.

Meet the APMP-NCA 2012 Board of Directors

The election is over and the results are in. Congratulations to the new board members who will lead the association and help you have a productive, prosperous year. We appreciate their donation of time and talent, and we thank every APMP-NCA member who voted in the election.

APMP-NCA Slate of Directors for 2012

Executive Board Biographies:

President, 

Vice President, 

Treasurer, Eric Schwarz. Eric Schwarz has more than 20 years’ experience as an analyst, program manager, and business developer, with exposure to all aspects of proposal development and management. Since 2004, he has been working as the capture/proposal manager for Information Builders’ Federal practice, an independent software company providing COTS enterprise integration, intelligence, and analysis solutions. Prior to his business development career, he served for over 13 years in the U.S. Army. Eric holds BA and MBA degrees. He has been an active member of APMP since September 2007. He has served on the NCA board since 2008 and as Treasurer since 2009.

Secretary, Colleen Jolly. Colleen Jolly, PPF.APMP has more than a decade of proposal experience, and manages a global professional proposal graphic company: 24 Hour Company. She is a frequent worldwide speaker on creative and general business topics, and has spoken at many APMP conferences worldwide. Colleen is an award-winning artist and business professional, most recently as a finalist for the Stevie Awards Creative Professional of the Year, 2009. She has been published five times in a women’s entrepreneurial calendar. Colleen has been the Secretary for APMP International since 2011 and NCA Secretary since 2009.  She is also very active in other aspects of APMP including layout editor and frequent contributor to the APMP Journal. Colleen was named an APMP Fellow in 2010. She holds a BA from Georgetown University, and is active in leadership roles and board positions in arts and women’s non-profit organizations.

At Large Director Biographies (in alphabetical order by chairperson)

Annual Conference Chairperson, 

Boot Camp Chairperson, Noelle Rzasa. Noelle Rzasa, AM.APMP, serves as the Proposal Manager and Capture Manager for Base Technologies, LLC in McLean, VA. She has 11 years of experience providing capture, proposal, and program management support for information technology companies serving the federal market. Noelle has broad experience in business development and specializes in managing all aspects of the proposal development process for companies providing IT infrastructure services to federal and commercial clients. She is instrumental in assessing business opportunities, managing proposal development activities, and in ensuring quality, consistency, and compliance throughout the proposal process. Noelle currently serves as the 2011 Proposal Basic Boot Camp Chair. She has supported the Proposal Basics Boot Camp committee for the three years prior to becoming Chair. Noelle has been a member of APMP NCA since 2005. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the State University of New York, Brockport.