Employees in the Spotlight

Since joining the PSC in March as Director of Program Management/Business Operations for Information Technology Infrastructure and Operations (ITIO), Jeanette Duncan is excited about what’s on the IT horizon.

She is responsible for IT vendor and contract management, business operations including budget and investment strategy, and project portfolio management. She develops acquisition strategy and is responsible for the budget that affects the rates. She is currently overseeing a multi-million dollar IT acquisition with Contract Officer Chris Atkins (see below).

“There are tons of opportunities to improve and make things better,” she said. “It’s a good environment. I like the fact that people want to work together and set the standard for a service delivery organization. They acknowledge they have a lot to do and are willing to roll up their sleeves and put forth the effort. People make a huge difference and there are a lot of really great people here. They care about the job they’re doing.”

She manages the IT infrastructure and operations for 10 regions, six remote locations and 22 offices in the DC metro area. Before coming to PSC, Jeanette was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Army Installations and Environmental Programs at the Pentagon before attending Senior Service College.

A Wisconsin native, she served eight years in the Army, as an MP, drill sergeant, recruiter and did two tours in Germany. She got her start in IT working in a public defender’s office where she took on extra duties of business process re-engineering, systems development, while ensuring the computers and network was running. Since then she worked her way up to the Systems Integration Supervisor and Project Manager for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“I looked at this (PSC) as an opportunity to get inter-agency experience,” she said. “I worked in academics at the University of Wisconsin and had not had an opportunity to work for different federal organizations until now. It’s a different view of how the rest of government does business, from an inter-agency perspective.”

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and a Master’s in Business Leadership both from Upper Iowa University, in Fayette, Iowa. In addition she has a Master’s of Science in National Resource Strategy, National Defense University, Washington, D.C., with an Information Operations Concentration. She received the Distinguished Decoration for Exceptional Civilian service in 2006, the highest award the Secretary of the Army can give to a civilian. In 2009 she was honored with the Superior Civilian Service Award. In her spare time she enjoys scuba diving and travel. She’s been to every continent except South America and Antarctica.

As a Contracting Officer for a multi-million dollar IT acquisition,

Chris Atkins is used to seeing big ticket contracts.A Strategic Acquisition Service (SAS) employee, his assignment is dedicated support to the Information Technology Infrastructure and Operations (ITIO), a component of Information and Systems Management Services (ISMS).

The major acquisition he is working on encompasses four technical areas: Seat Management (IT assets such as desktop, laptops, printers and their management), Infrastructure and Email Management, Application Hosting, and Continuity of Operations/Disaster Recovery. The IT acquisition is for a customer consortium of ACF, AHRQ, AoA, SAMHSA, OS and HRSA regional offices. It will support approximately 9,000 end users and 78,000 email clients. The goal is to modernize and maximize efficiencies and eliminate unnecessary duplication by consolidating IT services. The ITIO is responsible for providing the services through performance-based contracts and managing IT infrastructure support.

“I like being able to see a project from beginning to end, cradle-to-grave,” he said. “You begin the contract action and see it through the closeout process. It’s always nice to see the end result. Did you get what you really wanted at the end of the acquisition? It allows us to measure our success through the outcome.

Chris has been with PSC since August 2008. “We have some really good qualified and knowledgeable contracting and acquisition personnel,” he said. “You don’t always find that at other agencies. Usually you find people in training coming up. Here you have solid personnel from a knowledge standpoint and a lot of colleagues that are good resources for the sharing of ideas. I like how the overall management of the organization is set up and the resources available within PSC.”

Chris was born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He was a Supply Officer in the Navy with a sub specialty in acquisitions and contracts. He served 25 years. His previous Naval assignment was at the Defense Contract Management Agency, Northrup Grumman facility in Bethpage, NY. He earned an MBA from Providence College with a concentration in Finance, and a bachelor’s degree in Business at Valdosta State University in Georgia.

"Chris brings to SAS a special blend of IT and DoD acquisition experience,” said SAS Director Christie Goodman. “His support will prove invaluable as we continue to focus on the quality of our acquisitions and responsible business growth both within and outside of HHS. He is a great complement to our contracting professionals at the Supply Service Center, the Kansas City Cooperative Administrative Support Unit, and here at Headquarters. We are fortunate to have Chris on our team."

In his spare time, he enjoys jazz music, writing (mostly fiction), and is a big basketball fan.