Beacon’s COO Accepted into ACT-IAC Program

Beacon Associates touts itself as a “company of leaders,” and they’ve recently shown that their staff are leaders among leaders. Two of Beacon’s employees have been accepted into two of the American Council for Technology Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC’s) prestigious leadership programs. Ann Marie Bryant, Beacon’s Chief Operating Officer, was accepted into the 2011 ACT-IAC Partners Program and Marcus Fedeli, a Beacon Program Manager, was accepted into the 2011 Voyagers Program. In the past, most people accepted into these elite programs have had to apply multiple times. However, Bryant was accepted on her first nomination.

The Partners Program is an executive leadership development program that pairs government and industry professionals. Ann Marie Bryant was selected, in part, based on her leadership, experience, intellectual curiosity, and warm personality, in addition to the outstanding results she has achieved for Beacon Associates. Bryant was hired as Beacon’s second staff member in 2003. Since then, she was promoted from Director of New Projects to Vice President of Business Solutions, and subsequently to Chief Operating Officer.

As part of her application, Bryant wrote, “On my first day at Beacon in 2003, I arrived to an empty office to find a box with a computer on it sitting on my desk. A sticky note said, ‘I hope you know what to do with this.’ That simple line sums up so much of my career at Beacon. Building a company from the ground up, we have encountered every challenge possible, and I have learned ‘what to do with this’ in all aspects of building a federal contracting company and expanding into the commercial market.”

Beacon President and CEO Carol Koffinke nominated Ms. Bryant for the program. “I am completely committed to providing the right tools, training, and resources to Beacon leaders to allow them to achieve their peak potential,” said Koffinke. “We provide the opportunity for our employees to achieve personal excellence. We develop leaders.”

In another area of her application, Bryant wrote about her relationship with Koffinke.  “Over the years, I have partnered with Carol to create a vision and strategy for Beacon’s growth, then implemented, fostered, and refined that vision and strategy. I developed all the initial processes and policies that met the initial needs and challenges of the company, and that became the foundation for the next phase of the company.”

Bryant went on to explain how she expanded Beacon’s Leadership Team with the right people to build upon her initial work. “My job now is to leverage the talents and relationships of our staff which means developing each individual into a leader and providing the resources and tools needed to empower them in their role,” she said.

When asked about her goals for participation in the program, Bryant responded, “I am excited to both learn from the diverse group of leaders within the Program and to share the knowledge I have gained from growing Beacon Associates into a $20 million company. My goal is to share what I have learned from my personal and corporate experiences and assist other growing businesses and business leaders in learning how to navigate the federal environment and how to make a positive impact in their connections with the Government.”

“Participation is not just a yearlong personal growth experience, but continues on as they [Marcus and Ann Marie] will become ACT/IAC Fellows so they can continue to benefit from the networking and knowledge from these programs,” stated Joanne Woytek, the Program Manager on Beacon’s NASA SEWP contract and also a Partners Fellow. As ACT-IAC Fellows, they are representing some of the brightest minds within the Government technology communities; “committed to life-long leadership development, trusted collaboration, and working together to solve government’s biggest IT challenges.”

Beacon Associates is a company of leaders, putting people at the center of winning solutions. People are their most important asset, and they make the difference on every one of their projects. Their clients include Cabinet-level federal agencies, Global 500 firms, and local organizations. Beacon’s expertise is to partner with their clients using thought leadership, exceptional people and vast experience which results in quantifiable benefits.

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Categorised in: 2011