Chair

Richard K. Bynum

Richard K. Bynum is chief corporate responsibility officer for The PNC Financial Services Group and a member of its Executive Committee. In this role, he leads the PNC Foundation; Community Affairs; ESG practice; Community Development Banking; and Diversity and Inclusion. In addition, Bynum is leading the implementation of PNC’s Community Benefits Plan through which the company will provide at least $88 billion in loans, investments, and other financial support to benefit communities of color and low- and moderate-income individuals and communities, people as well as other underserved individuals and communities over the Plan Period, a 4-year period from Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2025.

Bynum is an accomplished executive with nearly 20 years of executive leadership experience. Prior to being named to his new role in July 2020, Bynum served as regional president for PNC’s Greater Washington market from 2017-2020. He previously served as a member of PNC’s retail executive leadership team, where he led the Business Banking division. Prior to that, he served as the Greater Washington retail market executive from 2010-2014, where he led consumer and small business sales. In addition, he served as chief operating officer for Business Banking, where he led the sales force operating platform for hundreds of small business bankers across PNC’s footprint. 

Bynum began his career with PNC in 2005 in its Executive Leadership Program, holding key roles in the development and execution of revenue-driving businesses and initiatives; strengthening the brand; and enhancing engagement of employees while fostering innovation throughout PNC.

Prior to joining PNC, Bynum had a 12-year career as a senior manager for the American Red Cross. His last role with the organization was as the managing director for disaster response & emergency communications at the Chicago chapter. During his career, he was an operations director for the Kosovo Refugee Operation as well as the September 11th effort in New York.

Bynum, recognized as one of Washington, D.C.’s, most influential business leaders by the Washington Business Journal, serves on the boards of numerous non-profit and civic organizations, including the corporate council for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture; the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.; the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts; the Federal City Council; the United Way of the National Capital Area; the Greater Washington Community Foundation, and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation.

Bynum holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at the Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Florida State University.  He also is a graduate of the Consumers Bankers Association Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.


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Vice Chair

Cliff White

Cliff White was a founding partner and the financial architect of NEW Customer Service Companies Inc. (NEW), the nation’s leading provider of extended service plans and buyer protection programs for consumer products. The award-winning post-sale consumer care company became a unit of Asurion Corporation through a merger in 2008.

Mr. White is a graduate of Lehigh University, where he currently serves on the advisory board for the Dean of the College of Business and Economics. He started his career as a CPA with Deloitte Haskins & Sells in New York City. Currently he and two other founding members of NEW are partners in SWaN Investors, a diversified private investment fund with several dozen investments, including the Washington Nationals Baseball Club & Monumental Sports & Entertainment.

In addition to sitting on the Board of The Community Foundation, where he and his wife Debbie have their family foundation, Mr. White is also on The Community Foundation’s Sharing Montgomery Grants Committee and is the founder and chair of The Community Foundation’s Neighbors in Need Montgomery Fund, which assists vulnerable county residents with safety net services (food, housing and employment), workforce development and educational opportunities. Mr. White and his wife are also donors in Venture Philanthropy Partners, an innovative philanthropic organization that makes capacity investments in high-performing nonprofit organizations that serve children and youth of low-income families in the National Capital region, where Mr. White currently serves on its board as Vice Chair. Mr. White is also the treasurer of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Bethesda, MD.


Treasurer

Lesley-Jane Dixon, CFA CIPM

Ms. Dixon leads Clark Enterprises’ Investment Management Group. Prior to joining the company in 2007, Ms. Dixon was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Lord Abbett where she focused on small and micro-cap strategies. She developed a robust skill set over a 20-year career on Wall Street that centered on research, analysis and portfolio management. Ms. Dixon earned the Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) designation, and is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a BS from The School of Business and Accountancy. Ms. Dixon serves on the board of the Nonprofit Village, formerly as Treasurer. She is also a board member and Grant Committee Chair for The Community Foundation in Montgomery County. Additionally, she is on the Investment Committee for Safe Shores – The DC Children’s Advocacy Center, and mentors and sponsors a scholar through Generation Hope.


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Secretary

David E. Shiffrin

David Shiffrin is a former real estate attorney with over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate field. He was a partner with the law firm of Linowes and Blocher until 1991 when he joined the Resolution Trust Corporation where he was Senior Counsel for Real Estate.  He also served in that capacity at the FDIC when the RTC completed its work.  After leaving the FDIC, Mr. Shiffrin was a Special Advisor to the FCC Auctions Division, assisting the Commission with its auction program of wireless telecommunications spectrum.

Mr. Shiffrin served from 1999-2000 as the Interim Executive Director of CulturalDC (fka Cultural Development Corporation), a private nonprofit organization in Washington, DC, that engages in real estate development for the arts.

Mr. Shiffrin serves on the Board of Trustees of The Community Foundation.  Mr. Shiffrin also serves on the Boards of several nonprofit associations, including Arena Stage, and CulturalDC.  He co-chaired the capital campaign for the Source Theater, a project of CulturalDC.   He has been a member of the Boards of Trustees of WETA and Facilitating Leadership in Youth (FLY), served on the Clark University Board of Visitors, and served for many years at The Maret School as a senior advisor to the Scholarship Auction.  Mr. Shiffrin was the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Arena Stage from 2010 until 2013 and currently serves as a Vice Chair of the Board.

Mr. Shiffrin has a B.A. from Clark University and a J.D. from the New England School of Law.   Mr. Shiffrin is married to the former Peggy Kobacker.  


Quanda M. Allen, CAP

Quanda M. Allen leads the corporate strategy that drives cross line of business referrals for wealth and insurance at Truist Bank, a top 10 U.S. institution with nearly 60,000 teammates and $548 billion in assets as of September 2022.

Prior to this role, Quanda was the Client and Advisor Experience Leader for the Specialty Wealth team which includes the Foundations and Endowments, Sports and Entertainment, Medical, Legal, Corporate Trust and Escrow and International divisions. As a key business partner, she drove revenue growth and brand awareness through integrated marketing and communications strategy, insightful thought leadership and differentiated client experiences.

Quanda is the founder and creative force behind the content marketing and thought leadership strategy for the Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice. Under her executive leadership and oversight, the Practice refined its value proposition, rebranded all its marketing material, deployed an innovative online platform and developed more than 100 unique pieces of proprietary thought leadership content – several of which she authored. Her philosophy to wealth management marketing is rooted in delivering content-driven value in an efficient and effective manner while equipping advisors to build trust through deep personal relationships.

As a corporate trustee and bank officer for more than 17 years at both Truist (previously SunTrust) and Bank of America, Quanda has moved more than $11 million in private foundation philanthropic dollars to support nonprofit organizations in the areas of education, at-risk seniors, youth development and the arts. She has also served more than 100 nonprofit organizations as a client manager where she led a matrix team to provide fiduciary oversight as well as investment and administrative solutions. One of the accomplishments of which she is most proud, is her recent work on the Truist Diverse Asset Manager Taskforce which led to the establishment of a dedicated team focused on expanding the asset management platform at Truist to include more fund options owned and/or controlled by women, ethnic minorities, the differently abled, veterans and other groups.

Quanda is an active Washington, DC community leader who serves on the board of Sitar Arts Center’s Executive, Investment and Capital Campaign committees. As a former board member, she was a founding co-chair of National Capital Area Boy Scouts of America’s ScoutReach program which is designed to bring scouting to inner city youth. Quanda’s community engagement has been recognized by Outstanding Atlanta (2009) and SunTrust Bank’s Presidential Volunteer Award program (2015-2018). She is a member of the 2020 class of Leadership Greater Washington and a 2024 Executive MBA candidate at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.


S. Decker Anstrom

Decker Anstrom serves on the Board of Directors of Discovery, Inc., as well as on the boards of national nonprofit groups (Island Press; Climate Central; and Planet Forward).

Anstrom, who lives in Washington, D.C., served as U.S. Ambassador and Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 2011 and 2015 World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC 12 and 15), held under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union. WRC’s, which convene every three to four years, are treaty level conferences involving more than 150 countries that consider international and regional spectrum allocation and regulatory issues that support satellite, mobile, aviation, and other wireless services.

He retired as President of Landmark Communications and Chairman of The Weather Channel Companies in late 2008, following Landmark’s sale of The Weather Channel to NBC. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Comcast Corporation from 2001-2011.

Prior to his positions at Landmark (headquartered in Norfolk, VA), Anstrom had a long career in public service and in the communications industry. During the Carter Administration, he was a senior staff member in the White House Office of Management and Budget, working on the creation of the U.S. Department of Education, and then served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. He subsequently joined and later became President of Public Strategies, a Washington-based public policy consulting firm.

In 1987 he joined the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) as Executive Vice President; he became President and CEO in 1994. During his tenure he led the cable industry’s efforts that helped result in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In 1999, Anstrom joined The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC — which included The Weather Channel cable network, weather.com, and WSI, the leading business-to-business weather provider) in Atlanta, GA as President and CEO. In 2002, he became President of Landmark Communications, a privately held, diversified media company that owned newspapers, local television stations, database centers and print and classified advertising businesses, as well as The Weather Channel Companies. In that position he also served as Chairman of TWCC.

In addition, Anstrom has served on numerous cable industry boards (including NCTA, which he chaired for two years), two nonprofit boards in the Hampton Roads area (the Chrysler Museum and public television and radio broadcaster WHRO), and on the Boards of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Institute for Educational Leadership, and the National Environmental Education Foundation.

Anstrom received a BA degree from Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) and attended the Woodrow Wilson Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University for one year.


Michelle L. Bender, CFP

Michelle grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and moved to the Washington, DC area shortly after college. She is a Certified Financial Planner and brings over 25 years of solid financial and asset management experience to Potomac Financial Consultants, LLC. During Michelle’s career she has held positions at Arthur Andersen, Private Wealth Advisors, and several other financial and asset management firms, including Potomac Financial Consultants, LLC.

She is a graduate of Seton Hill University with dual degrees in Accounting and Human Resource Management. Michelle achieved the Certified Financial Planner designation through the College of Financial Planning. She is actively involved in the financial services industry, is a member of the Financial Planning Association, and is actively involved in the Million Dollar Round Table.  She volunteers her time with the MDRT Foundation in various roles each year.  Michelle is a Registered Representative of Kestra Advisory Services. She is currently a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and Poolesville Chamber of Commerce, as well as a past president of Women Business Owners of Montgomery County.

In Michelle’s spare time, she spends time with her husband and twin children shuffling them between sporting events, as well as she enjoys time on her peloton or running in road races.


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Artis Hampshire-Cowan

Ms. Hampshire-Cowan recently completed a 23-year tenure at Howard University which included serving as senior vice president and secretary, interim chief operating officer, and acting president. A sought-after speaker and trainer, her training specialties include organizational development, leadership, managing change and transition, diversity, board-CEO relationships, board development, and strategic deployment. Prior to serving as senior vice president, she served concurrently as secretary and vice president for human resource management and provided executive oversight for a workforce of more than 6,000.

Before joining Howard University, she spent 12 years working with the government of the District of Columbia. This included time as a congressional lobbyist, consumer and regulatory enforcement administrator, attorney-advisor to the deputy mayor for economic development, and senior advisor and counsel to the city administrator. She also served as general counsel of RFK Stadium, where she led the negotiations to build a new Redskins Stadium. She subsequently served as special counsel to County Executive Wayne Curry in his successful bid to relocate the team to Prince George's, Maryland.  Hampshire-Cowan graduated with honors from Morris Brown College with a degree in business management and received her JD from Temple University Law Center. She is also a graduate of Harvard's Institute for Higher Education Management.


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Lia Dean

Lia Dean is the president of Retail Bank & Premium Card Products at Capital One. In her dual role, Lia provides strategic direction and leadership for the Retail Bank and the Premium Products and Experiences (PPX) teams. She is responsible for nearly 9,500 Retail associates, more than 500 Branches and 40+ Cafés across the country. Lia continues to shape and lead national bank marketing. In PPX, Lia leads more than 500 associates with a sharp focus on building innovative digital experiences, delivering breakthrough marketing and driving Upmarket Card product strategy. She also leads the Corporate Strategy organization, providing directional guidance for Capital One’s most important long-term business opportunities and challenges. In addition, Lia serves as an Executive Committee member.

In her previous role as Head of Bank Retail & Marketing, Lia led consumer marketing for Capital One’s Bank, and strategy, network management, customer experience and day-to-day operations for all of Capital One’s retail locations serving more than 10 million customers across the United States. Over the last several years, she oversaw the development, launch and expansion of Capital One Cafés to dozens of markets across the country. She joined Capital One in 2014 as head of strategy for Capital One’s Retail and Direct Bank business.

Prior to joining Capital One, Lia was a Partner with McKinsey & Company, with a focus on consumer marketing and growth strategy. She served C-level executives of Fortune 100 clients across financial services, telecom, media and consumer tech, with extensive work in China, Korea and across Europe. Earlier in her career, Lia served as part of the founding team, and in various sales and marketing leadership roles, at CashEdge, a fintech venture that was acquired by FiServ in 2011 for more than $400 million.

Lia serves on the Executive Committee of the Federal City Council. She is also the Executive Sponsor of the Women’s Business Resource Group at Capital One. Born and raised in Maryland, she attended Yale University and M.I.T., and now lives in Washington, DC.


Michael A. Echols

Michael A. Echols (Mike), is the CEO of a Kennedy Space Center based non-profit called IACI, and CEO of a for-profit company he founded called Max Cybersecurity LLC (dba Max Services), located in Washington DC. Max Cybersecurity provides national security and cybersecurity project management. In 2018, Max Services provided quality assurance for all power restoration activities across Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Mike spent 10 years in critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity leadership at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He led several White House national security initiatives before resigning his position in September 2016.

Among his leadership accomplishments at DHS, Mike served as:

  • Point person for the rollout of Presidential Executive Order 13691 for President Obama

  • Chair of the Communications Sector – one of 16 U.S. Critical Sectors

  • Chair of the Network Security Information Exchange

  • Designated Federal Official for the President’s NSTAC – 30 CEO level members from Defense, IT and Comm Sector companies making recommendations to the President.

Mike most recently authored four Forbes online articles. He was also featured on a PBS cybersecurity special called Roadtrip Nation. Mike has led two organizations to CSO 50 Award honors. And, he is on the HHS Cybersecurity CISA 405d Task Force.

Mike is a graduate of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative – Harvard Kennedy School of Public Health and the Federal Executive Institute. He holds a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Biotechnology, a Graduate Certificate in Technology Management from University of Maryland University College. His Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice is from the University of Maryland where he now serves as President of the Black Male Alumni Network. Mike was the University of MD. Distinguished Alumni in 2018.


Matthew W. Edwards

Matthew W. Edwards focuses on high-stakes matrimonial cases involving complex financial arrangements, family-owned or closely held businesses, and complex custody matters. Matt also helps clients negotiate and enforce prenuptial agreements. In addition to legal analysis, Matt routinely works with forensic accountants, valuation experts, certified financial planners, and professional therapists to provide a clear path to a quick and favorable resolution of his clients’ divorce and custody matters. Matt also advises as general and civil litigation counsel to high-net-worth clients and their businesses. When necessary, Matt is a tenacious courtroom advocate at the trial court and appellate levels.

Matt volunteers as a family law mentor for the D.C. Bar Advice & Referral Clinic, where he advises pro se litigants on family law and domestic violence matters. Over the course of his career, Matt has devoted thousands of hours to pro bono work, including on behalf of the Greater Washington Community Foundation.

Matt was recognized by Best Lawyers in 2020. He currently serves as Chair of the Litigation Community of the D.C. Bar, and as a member of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee. He is also a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

Prior to joining Ain & Bank, Matt was a commercial litigator in the Washington, D.C. offices of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP. While there, he focused on complex commercial and securities litigation on behalf of clients such as the General Electric Company, Facebook, Inc., and Big 4 accounting firms.


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Rachel Goslins

With over 25 years’ experience in the cultural sector, creative industries, social impact and law, Rachel Goslins is the Executive Director of the Miliken Center for Advancing the American Dream. Prior to that she served as the Director of the Arts & Industries Building at the Smithsonian Institution where she was responsible for all aspects of developing and implementing plans to reopen the building, closed to the public for over a decade, as a space to explore creativity, innovation and the future. She also served as Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, an advisory committee to President Obama on cultural policy, from 2009 until late 2015. Under her management, the Committee launched several major national initiatives in education and cultural diplomacy, facilitated significant federal and private funding for arts and humanities programs across the country, and spearheaded a successful campaign to use high-profile artists, actors and musicians as advocates for arts education. Earlier in her career, Rachel founded a documentary production company, directing feature documentaries and working on productions for PBS, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, and History. She also served as the Director of the Independent Digital Distribution Lab, a joint PBS/ITVS project. Before working in the arts, Rachel was an international copyright attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and the U.S. Copyright Office. Rachel received her B.A. in English Literature from UC Santa Cruz and her J.D. from UCLA's School of Law. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Institute for Contemporary Art in Richmond, VA, a 2012 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and serves on the Advisory Committee for the Halcyon Incubator.


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Denielle Pemberton-Heard

As a shareholder with Diversified Search, Denielle partners with corporations, boards of directors, and not for profit leaders to identify executive level talent for corporate boards and c-suite roles across multiple sectors. She also served as CEO of STEMconnector, a professional services firm committed to increasing the number of STEM-ready workers in the global talent pool and is a Board Advisor for POD. 

Denielle previously spent fifteen years as Group Counsel, Programming and Business Affairs at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), where she directed work on behalf of PBS and its 300 plus member stations. Before joining PBS, she held legal and business affairs roles with Thales, Inc., Time Life (TWX), and Discovery Communications, Inc. (DISCA) where she also supported corporate philanthropy and community affairs efforts. Denielle began her law career in private practice as a commercial attorney with Wiggin and Dana and was subsequently associated with the New York firm of Cowan Liebowitz and Latman, 

A past Regional Judge for President Obama’s Presidential Commission on White House Fellowships, Denielle is committed to service. She also served as a Trustee of the Toy Industry of America Foundation; on the Advisory Committee of DCVLP (DC Volunteer Lawyers Program to end domestic violence) and on the Board of Governors of the Case Western School of Law. She is a member of The Links, Inc. and Delta Sigma Theta, a public service sorority. 

Denielle has a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University, a Law Degree for Case Western Reserve University, and is an alumna of Columbia University Graduate School of Business.


Sarah Moore Johnson

Sarah Johnson is a respected leader in the Washington, DC estate planning community who concentrates on estate planning, trust and estate administration, business succession planning, asset protection, and charitable giving while minimizing income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and as a Top Attorney in the Washingtonian magazine, Sarah focuses on planning for multi-family offices, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, and art collectors. She particularly relishes streamlining and improving existing estate plans for her high net worth clients.

Prior to attaining her law degree, Sarah was a senior financial analyst in the Valuation Services Group of Arthur Andersen LLP in Atlanta, and in that capacity gained considerable knowledge in valuing assets and using discounts in estate planning. Sarah also clerked for American Cancer Society's Office of Corporation Counsel, where she became familiar with the tax laws applicable to charitable organizations.

Sarah is a Southerner at heart and puts clients at ease with her relaxed, friendly manner. She earns their respect with her attention to detail, honesty and depth of knowledge. A master of organization, she strives to simplify and de-clutter her clients’ estate plans wherever possible.


Karen Leder

Karen Leder has over 30 years of marketing, fundraising, event planning, and communications experience for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. In 2011 she founded the Power of Pink to honor her sister, who is a two-time breast cancer survivor. The Power of Pink has raised over $1 million to help women receive breast health services in the Greater Washington region, regardless of their ability to pay.

In her last “full-time, paid” position, she served as the associate publisher of a National Journal magazine, Government Executive, overseeing revenue from print and online advertising, circulation, and conferences. With a passion for health and fitness, Karen is currently an Integrative Health and Wellness Coach and also teaches yoga and group exercise classes.

She has a B.S. in Journalism with a minor in Marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park. Karen is a native Washingtonian and resides in Bethesda with her husband, Ethan. Together, they have three children and a playful chocolate lab, Josie.


Catherine Leggett

Catherine Leggett is the former Senior Vice President for Human Resources at ICMA-RC, a nonprofit, independent financial services corporation focused on providing retirement security for public sector employees. Before joining ICMA-RC, she worked at Vertis, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland, Freddie Mac, and Hechinger Company as Senior Vice President for Human Resources.

Her nonprofit board leadership includes Montgomery Hospice, the Montgomery County Family Justice Center, the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.), the Maryland State Commission on Public Art, American Film Institute (AFI), Imagination Stage, the Strathmore Music Center, and the Maryland State Arts Council. Catherine received a B.A. in sociology and psychology and J.D. from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and is an employment lawyer by profession.


Ronald Machen

Ronald Machen is a partner at the law firm of WilmerHale.  He serves on the firm’s Global Management Committee and is Co-Chair of the firm’s Investigations and Criminal Litigation Group.  He is an experienced litigator, having tried more than 35 cases to verdict, who specializes in complex criminal and civil actions. He also routinely helps clients navigate high-stakes, crisis situations that garner the attention of multiple regulators, Congress and private litigants.  Before returning to the firm in 2015, Mr. Machen served as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he oversaw the investigation and litigation of major criminal and civil matters.  As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Machen embraced a holistic approach to public safety by investing in intervention and prevention programs designed to educate young people, reduce domestic violence, and protect immigrants and other underserved communities.  He also created the first Conviction Integrity Unit, focused on identifying past wrongful convictions, in any federal prosecutor’s office.  Mr. Machen was recently identified as a Criminal Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal, recognized by Chambers USA for his white-collar crime and government investigations practice, and selected by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America.


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Sean D. Morris

Sean Morris is a member of Deloitte’s Federal Executive Committee and Global Public Sector Executive Committee. Currently, Mr. Morris leads Deloitte Consulting’s 1000+-person Federal Human Capital practice, responsible for profit and loss, solution development, and strategic planning across three distinct service lines – 1. Organization Transformation and Talent, 2. Human Resources Transformation, and 3. Actuarial, Rewards, and Analytics. As Deloitte’s Lead for the Global Security and Justice Sector, Mr. Morris focuses on solution development and delivery for transportation security, border, trade, immigration, and justice clients around the globe.

With more than 20 years of consulting experience, Mr. Morris has a track record of leading large-scale projects in conceptualizing, designing, developing, and implementing solutions through enhanced technology and innovative strategies. He has served a broad range of Federal agencies and departments, including the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Treasury, and the US Postal Service.

Social and community impact are important professional and personal endeavors for Mr. Morris. He is active in finding solutions to the scourge of human trafficking and has published and led projects for US government agencies and survivor and advocacy groups. Consulting® magazine recently awarded he and his team with this year’s Excellence in Social & Community Investment Award for work done in this important area.  Additionally, he is the Chair of the Executive Advisory Committee of The Fishing School, a DC-based charitable organization for at-risk children. He has also served as a guest lecturer and speaker on the consulting industry at the George Washington University and The American University.

Mr. Morris holds an M.A. from The American University and a B.S. from The University of Oregon. He resides on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC with his wife and their three children. He is active in coaching and cheering his children’s sports teams, dabbles in growing oysters, and is an avid rugby and soccer fan.


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David Roodberg

President of Menkiti Group, David Roodberg is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business including operations, development and strategic planning. Prior to joining Menkiti Group, David was the President & CEO of Horning Brothers and the Executive Vice President of Combined Properties. David has a BS degree from Duke University and an MBA from University of Michigan. David is also involved on the boards of Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, Urban Land Institute (DC) Executive Committee, Wesley Housing Development Corporation and University of Maryland Masters in Real Estate Advisory Board. David has also been appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Housing Production Trust Fund Board for Washington, DC setting strategies for the City’s investment in affordable housing.


Archie Smart

Archie has counseled political campaigns, global corporations, NGOs, and trade associations to use technology to solve modern communications challenges. A veteran of Madison Avenue, political campaigns, and tech startups, Archie builds offensive and defensive narrative strategies to enhance reputations and influence audiences using data, analytics, and advertising technologies.

Before founding DKR Insights, Smart was an Executive Vice President at MSL / Publicis Groupe, where he was responsible for managing global client engagements. He led integrated marketing and rapid response communications campaigns for clients in the healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and defense sectors.

Previously, Archie served as Chief Technology Officer for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign and as Chief Technology Officer at Targeted Victory. He was responsible for all technology operations, marketing analytics, online fundraising, social media, and digital advertising. Smart is President of the Smart Family Fund, a philanthropic organization supporting education, civics, arts, and underserved communities.


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William W. Taylor, III

Over the course of his 40-year career, he has litigated numerous high-profile civil and criminal matters, often under intense media scrutiny. Bill practices in federal and state courts nationwide and has tried more than 60 cases to judgment. Named one of Washington, DC’s top 30 “Superstar” attorneys by Washingtonian magazine in 2011, Bill’s professional accomplishments have been noted with recognitions in publications such as The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation.

Bill’s clients have included public officials such as former International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former Rep. Tom Feeney, and the late Sen. Alan Cranston; executives such as former New York Stock Exchange Compensation Committee chair Kenneth Langone, former Salt Lake City Olympic Committee chair Thomas Welch and former CEO of Massey Energy Company Donald Blankenship; and a wide variety of public and private organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, hedge funds, law firms, and unions, among others. He has conducted internal investigations in addition to representing clients in criminal prosecutions, regulatory enforcement, civil litigation, congressional investigation, and ethics inquiries. A former public defender, Bill is also committed to pro bono work and his clients include death row inmates.

Bill is a sought-after speaker at American Bar Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conferences and he has taught at the University of North Carolina Law School, the George Washington University Law School, and Catholic University Law School.