Joshua Marcuse is currently the Head of Federal Strategy for Google. Outside of that, he advises for Schmidt Futures which is an organization that bets early on exceptional people making the world better by applying modern tools from science and technology to knit talent into networks. He previously worked as Executive Director of the Defense Innovation Board, and continues his passion for evolving government to be effective, efficient, and customer-centric.
As the Co-founder of Globally, a nonprofit organization that brings together diverse and talented communities around specific themes, he believes that the American people deserve a government that displays the entrepreneurship, innovation, and efficiency of the private sector. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP), an organization that create dialogue between tomorrow’s foreign policy leaders and today’s accomplished experts.
We are very excited to have him as one of our speakers and to kickoff the theme-based discussion on Opportunities for Product Management in Government.
Dan Ward served in the US Air Force for more than 20 years. His specialty was leading high-speed, low-cost technology development programs and he retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After hanging up his combat boots, he launched Dan Ward Consulting LLC to help clients reduce the cost, time, and complexity of delivering world-class innovations. He currently works at the MITRE Corporation as a senior principal systems engineer and Innovation Catalyst.
Mr. Ward has three engineering degrees and received the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Afghanistan leading a team of officers from five different countries. He was a Senior Associate Fellow with the British Institute for Statecraft and a Non-Resident Cybesecurity Fellow with the New America Foundation. His first two books were: F.I.R.E.: How Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained and Elegant Methods Ignite Innovation (HarperBusiness, 2014) and The Simplicity Cycle: A Field Guide To Making Things Better Without Making Them Worse (HarperBusiness, 2015), and he gives guest lectures at universities in the US, UK, and South America. He’s testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee and the British House of Commons, and his expertise on innovation has been recognized by the White House.
Dan knows what it takes to achieve success even under extreme uncertainty in defense environments. His presentation on case studies will kickoff the theme-driven discussion of Critical Success Factors for Government Product Management.
Robin is currently a Senior Project Manager at ICF International. Robin has been working on the frontlines of large product acquisition and delivery in government for over 20 years; first in industry managing product delivery lifecycles, then analyzing and assessing management systems at DCMA and the US Navy, and later as a consulting specialist.
Robin volunteers with various industry-government working groups to advance the knowledge base on program controls. Routinely speaking on better ways to organize and manage product delivery, she brings her experience working with consumer product and business-to-business manufacturing, information technology, aerospace & defense, as well as all stages of the product development life cycle – through successes and failures.
Her presentation will address why agile needs product management, lessons from the front lines! Her presentation on Why Agile Needs Product Management.. will help set up our themed discussions on Challenges in Product Management in Government.
