Frank Reeder

Founder, The Reeder Group and Member of the OMB Transition Review Team

Frank served at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for two stints totaling more than 20 years between 1970 and 1995 where he was Chief of Information Policy, Deputy Associate Director for Veterans Affairs and Personnel, and Assistant Director for General Management. Among his accomplishments while a member of the information policy staff and later as its chief, he represented the Administration in negotiating and securing enactment of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Computer Security Act of 1987 and wrote the guidelines on implementing the Privacy Act. While at OMB, he was the U.S. Delegate to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Public Management Committee (OECD/PUMA) from 1992-1995 and he chaired that committee from 1993-95. From 1977-80, he was Deputy Director of House Information Systems, the computers and telecommunications support arm of the U.S. House of Representatives. From 1995-97, he served as Director of the Office of Administration of the Executive Office of the President.

Frank writes, consults and teaches on information policy and public management issues with The Reeder Group, a firm he formed after a career of more than 35 years in public service. He is chairman of the Center for Internet Security, a not-for-profit established "to help organizations around the world effectively manage the organizational risks related to information security …" From 2000 to 2006, he chaired the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal advisory committee.

Frank is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and serves on its board of directors.

Dr. Richard Beck

Director and Acting Performance Improvement Officer, Office of Planning and Performance Management, Department of the Interior

Dr. Richard Beck is presently the Department of the Interior’s Director for Planning and Performance Management. In this capacity, he is responsible for the office’s ability to provide leadership, guidance, and consulting services for the Department of the Interior on strategic planning, performance management, and organizational streamlining to improve decision making and effectiveness. Dr. Beck also serves as the Department’s Deputy Performance Improvement Officer. These responsibilities emphasize development of the agency’s strategic plans, annual performance plans, and annual performance reports; advising the Secretary and bureau heads on strategies for achieving programmatic improvement; leading assessments of programmatic performance across the Department; and developing methods to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Prior to his recent position, Dr. Beck worked for over 20 years at NASA, primarily in the areas of budget formulation, program management, performance assessment, and organizational design both at the program and agency-wide levels. He originally joined the federal government through the Presidential Management Intern Program in 1981. He began his career in budgeting and program analysis in the previous Office of Space Science and Applications, and subsequently expanded his experience into program management, process and organizational design through other positions including the Environmental Satellites Program Manager, Director of the Office of Earth Science Business Division, and being responsible for budget formulation activities across NASA as the Director of the Resources Management Division in NASA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Dr. Beck has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Masters in Public Administration, with a specialization in Policy Analysis, both awarded by the State University of New York at Albany. For his doctorate research in innovative management processes for research and development organizations, he was awarded the National Space Club/NASA James E. Webb Memorial Fellowship and a Ph.D. from George Mason University. Dr. Beck is also a recipient of the National Performance Review’s “Hammer” Award for Reinventing Government, which he received with his interagency colleagues for consolidating the military and civilian polar-orbiting meteorological satellite programs, and was recognized for playing a key role in NASA’s achievement of a “green” score in Integrating Budget and Performance under the President’s Management Agenda.

Samuel Mok

National President, Association of Government Accountants

Samuel Tinsing Mok is the Managing Member of Condor International Advisors, LLC, a Washington DC based management consulting firm providing innovative business relationship management and business advisory services.

He served as the Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Labor from January 2001 to May 2007. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January 2002 after being appointed to the position by President George W. Bush. Previously he served as Managing Member of Condor Consulting LLC, Comptroller and the first career CFO of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Foreign Service Officer, and Captain in the U.S. Army. Additionally, he was the Director of Accounting for Time-Life Books and Treasurer of U.S. News and World Report.

In 2006, Mr. Mok received the Prestigious Donald L. Scantlebury Memorial Award for Distinguished Leadership in Financial Management Improvement. He was named as the “Fed 100” by Federal Computer Week and the recipient of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Washington, DC, Chapter Einhorn/Gary Award. In 2005, he received the AGA Distinguished National Leadership Award. Mr. Mok served on the Republic of the Marshall Islands Trust Fund Committee and the General Administration Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School. He was elected as a Fellow of National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) in 2005 and serves on the Government Accountability Office Advisory Council on Government Audit Standards. He is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Academy for Government Accountability and is a 2006 Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration. Mr. Mok is also the recent Recipient of the 2007 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2007, Mr. Mok became the National President Elect of the Association of Government Accountants and the Board Member of Monte Jade Science and Technology Association of Greater Washington, D. C. Area.

Mr. Mok received his B.S. in Accounting from Fordham University and a M.A. in Accounting from The Catholic University of America. He is a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Certified Internal Control Auditor (CICA).

Mr. Mok and his wife, Nancy, reside in Maryland. They are the proud parents of two grown children, both attorneys, and five grandchildren.

Patrick Kennedy

Undersecretary for Management, Department of State

Patrick F. Kennedy, a Career Minister in the Foreign Service, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Under Secretary of State for Management on November 6, 2007. As Under Secretary for Management he is responsible for the people, resources, facilities, technology, consular affairs, and security of the Department of State and is the Secretary’s principal advisor on management issues. He also provides regular direction to the Bureau of Resource Management, and the Chief Financial Officer serves as a core member of the Under Secretary’s senior management team. He is the State Department’s representative on the President’s Management Council.

Prior to assuming his new position, he was Director of the Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation from May 2007; Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Management from April 2005 to May 2007; and from February 2005 to April 2005 he headed the Transition Team that set up the newly created Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

From September 2001 to May 2005 he was U.S. Representative to the United Nations for Management and Reform with the Rank of Ambassador. During this period he also served from May 2003 to the end of November 2003 as Chief of Staff of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and from May 2004 to late August 2004 as the Chief of Staff of the Transition Unit in Iraq.

In 1993 he became Assistant Secretary of State for Administration and served in the post until 2001. Concurrently, from August 1996 to August 1997 he served as the Acting Under Secretary for Management; during 1998, as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security; and from 1997 to 2001 as the coordinator for the reorganization of the foreign affairs agencies. From 1973, when he joined the Foreign Service, to 1993, he served in a number of positions in Washington and overseas, including as Management Counselor at the Embassy in Cairo and Executive Director and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Executive Secretariat.

Mr. Kennedy is a native of Chicago, Illinois and received a BSFS from Georgetown University.

Jane Norris

Radio Host, Federal News Radio

Jane Norris and Tom Temin host the "Federal Drive" weekday mornings on FederalNewsRadio AM 1050, featuring news and information for and about the federal government.

Before joining WFED, Jane served the Bush Administration as the Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Administration for Children and Families, in the Department of Health and Human Services and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and also as Acting Assistant Secretary at DOL.

Joining the Administration from an accomplished career in media, Jane is an experienced political analyst. She has contributed on-air analysis to NBC, CNN, MSNBC and Court TV.

Jane has been a pioneer in talk radio. She began her career on a power house station in Los Angeles, California, graduating from San Fernando Valley reporter to talk show host on KFI-AM, and went on to host her own live radio call-in programs on WINK-AM, Ft. Myers, Florida and WSB-AM, Atlanta, Georgia. One of the first Talk-TV hosts, Jane hosted a live call-in television talk show weekdays at WAVE-TV in Louisville, KY.

Jane also managed the business side of broadcasting. Starting out as a behind-the-scenes promotion director, she helped catapult stations in Philadelphia and Boston to the top of the ratings in their respective markets. And her public relations skills were sought by International businesses such as the MIDEM organization, hosts of the American Market for International Television Productions (AMIP) television conference which introduced International Television programming to U.S. audiences.

In addition to her broadcast work, Jane has written editorial commentaries for the Lexington Herald Leader and columns for Today’s Woman Magazine. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University and has done post-graduate study in Political Science and Arts Management at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

John Desenberg

Senior Policy Director, The Performance Institute

Jon Desenberg brings more than 14 years of public sector experience to his current position with The Performance Institute, specifically in the fields of performance management, strategic planning, knowledge management and IT Program Planning. As Managing Director, he successfully led the United States General Services Administration’s (GSA) Performance Management program, which ultimately resulted in the largest single enterprise-wide performance program in the Federal government, with aligned goals and measures cascading to all 13,000 employees. Jon has spoken extensively on Strategic Planning, Workforce Development, Project Management, Knowledge Management and Performance Metrics to groups in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. He co-authored a textbook on Knowledge Management and Electronic Government that is available from Management Concepts Press.

Ted Kniker

Executive Consultant, Federal Consulting Group, National Business Center, Department of the Interior

Ted is an executive consultant with nearly 20 years experience in government. He is an expert in developing internal evaluation and monitoring capabilities and creating performance metrics and program evaluation strategies for hard to measure programs.
He is also an expert in the OMB Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) and is a frequent and popular presenter on PART, performance measurement and evaluation. Several senior executives have noted Ted’s ability to explain planning and results measurement processes and methods in an easy-to-understand, non-threatening way. Ted has been recognized by President Bush for his contributions in budget and performance integration.

Prior to joining FCG, Ted was the Chief of Evaluation and Performance Measurement for the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and a senior advisor on measurement to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy from 1998 to 2006. Under his leadership, his evaluation office was recognized as a best practice and achieved the highest international affairs score on the OMB Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). Ted also conceptualized and developed an integrative online performance measurement system that OMB recommended be used for all government exchange programs.

From 1992 through 1997, he served as the Senior Program Manager for European Academic Exchanges where he managed nearly 20 higher education exchange programs with the New Independent States, including fellowships for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty/researchers. Several of those programs served as models for the State Department’s recent development of exchanges for the Middle East. Ted entered public service through the former United States Information Agency in 1989 as a Presidential Management Fellow, and specialized in introducing quality management principles and practices to the offices he served.

Ted received his Master’s degree in International Relations from George Washington University and his B.A. in political science from Grinnell College. In 2000, he obtained a certification as a Management Planning and Analysis Specialist in 2000 and in 2004 graduated from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School’s Executive Potential Program. In 2004, he was appointed to the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.