NSSA TEAM
Mr. Steven D. Jacques,
USAF (Ret), Executive Director and Founder, NSSA; Managing Partner, Velos
Steve Jacques, Executive Director and Founder of the National Security Space Association, brings to his role decades of experience in and intimate knowledge of the National Security Space and Intelligence communities. A retired Air Force officer, Mr. Jacques supported DoD space programs, served as the Secretary of the Air Force’s Congressional Liaison for Space and S&T programs and policies, and served as the Secretary of Defense’s Legislative Liaison for Intelligence, Space, and Airborne Reconnaissance policies and programs. Mr. Jacques is currently a Managing Partner at Velos, where he routinely interacts with space and intelligence leadership in the Executive branch, industry, and Congress. In 2004, Mr. Jacques co-founded the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation, preparing him for his role in leading the National Security Space Association as Executive Director.
Joe Dodd, Chair of the NSSA Board of Directors, provides NSSA his valuable leadership and knowledge of national security space. In his current position as VP for Corporate Development at Linquest Corporation, Mr. Dodd understands the value of independent thought and leadership. Mr. Dodd has worked at Linquest, a systems integration and engineering company supporting many government space organizations, since 2011. Prior to joining Linquest, Mr. Dodd served in multiple corporate leadership roles in positions at TASC Inc., the commercial remote sensing industry, Hughes Space & Communications, and the Aerospace Corporation. Mr. Dodd will bring to his position as Chair of NSSA’s Board of Directors his valuable experience as an independent leader in the National Security Space community.
Mr. Joseph K. Dodd,
Chair of the Board, NSSA; Vice President, Corporate Development, Linquest
Chris Williams, Vice President and Chair of the NSSA Moorman Center for Space Studies, provides expert analysis and insight to NSSA. Mr. Williams has held senior positions in the Executive and Legislative branches of government. At the Department of Defense, Mr. Williams served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense, and as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Mr. Williams also served on various Government advisory boards that advised the Secretary of Defense on national security policy and military strategy matters. Mr. Williams held a series of Leadership and Committee professional staff positions in the United States Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, including National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader, Deputy Staff Director and Budget Director on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Professional Staff Member on the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Williams will bring to his position great dedication and knowledge of the National Security Space Community.
Mr. Chris Williams,
Chair, Moorman Center for Space Studies
Mrs. Mandy Vaughn,
Chair, NSSA Education and Workforce Development Center
Mandy Vaughn, Chair of the NSSA Education and Workforce Development Center, brings profound expertise to NSSA. Mrs. Vaughn originally joined Virgin Orbit, VOX Space’s parent company, in 2015, but then led the way to create VOX Space, which provides the national security community of the USA and allied nations with responsive, dedicated, and affordable launch services for small satellites. She also currently serves as a member of the National Space Council’s User Advisory Group. Vaughn, who is an Air Force ROTC graduate, has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mr. Jeffrey T. Ley,
Chief Operations and Development Officer
Jeffrey T. Ley, CEM, CMM, brings decades of experience building best in class programs to drive growth and member engagement for non-profits to the National Security Space Association. Most recently, he helped build the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) into the premier organization supporting the Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Community.
Prior to his time at USGIF, Jeff worked for PGI, Inc. where he led the production of industry leading events in myriad industries globally. Some clients of note included the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), Peoplesoft, and Oracle. Jeff has earned multiple professional certifications to include his CEM (Certified in Exhibition Management) and CMM (Certified in Meeting Management). Mr. Ley has taught courses in a multiple aspects of event planning and is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Mr. Mike Tierney,
Chief of Legislative Affairs
Mike Tierney, trusted by senior executives in industry, government and media, provides timely and objective analysis of U.S. military investments in space capabilities.
A graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A., 2003) and the Catholic University School of Law (J.D., 2006), Mike joined Velos in January of 2011. Mike performs rigorous analysis for both public and private sector organizations on legislative, regulatory, budget and acquisition policies affecting the federal market. His analysis has been featured in SpaceNews, Aviation Week, The Denver Post, Breaking Defense and many other media outlets covering the space industry.
Organizations leverage Mike's legislative expertise and unique knowledge of the U.S. military space budget to inform and execute effective strategic engagement plans for the federal market. A talented and prolific writer, he is routinely relied upon for technical assistance in legislative drafting and persuasive writing. He is the co-founder and organizer of the annual Strategic National Security Space Budget & Policy Forum in Washington D.C., and he previously served in the 111th Congress as Military Legislative Assistant and lead legislative advisor on Defense, Intelligence, and National Security policy to U.S. Representative Frank Kratovil (MD-1), then a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
An entrepreneur with demonstrated success, Mike also has a passion for developing solutions that leverage analytics and visualization to efficiently distill value from complex, big data.
Mr. Matt McNitt,
Director, Operations
Matt McNitt, Director of Operations, brings a passion for space and a broad understanding of the National Security apparatus to NSSA. Matt oversees day-to-day operations as well as strategic initiatives at NSSA. McNitt brings years of Executive Branch and space experience to NSSA. Most recently, McNitt served as a Special Advisor to the NASA Administrator where he managed strategic communications and advised NASA leadership on a range of topics and priorities. Matt is a graduate of American University's School of Public Affairs. Previously, Mr. McNitt served in the White House, managing personnel at National Security agencies including DOD, DHS, State Department and the Intelligence Community.