PODCAST: Leading With Courage with Acquisition Experts Soraya Correa and Greg Giddens Season · Ep
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PODCAST: Leading With Courage with Acquisition Experts Soraya Correa and Greg Giddens Season · Ep
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This episode features highlights from our timely and candid Critical Conversation exploring the evolving landscape of U.S. national defense and homeland security. Our distinguished panel of Academy Fellows will examine how to align strategy, resources, and operational readiness in a rapidly changing environment. Featured Speakers: Jane Holl Lute – Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Michael McCord – Former Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Departmen...
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This episode features highlights from our timely and candid Critical Conversation exploring the evolving landscape of U.S. national defense and homeland security.
Our distinguished panel of Academy Fellows will examine how to align strategy, resources, and operational readiness in a rapidly changing environment.
Featured Speakers:
Jane Holl Lute – Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Michael McCord – Former Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Defense
Peter Levine - Senior Fellow, Institute for Defense Analyses
Moderated By James-Christian Blockwood, President and CEO of the National Academy of Public Administration
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June 1, 2026
Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Soraya Correa, President and CEO of the National Industries for the Blind and former Chief Procurement Officer at the US Department of Homeland Security, and Greg Giddens, of Potomac Ridge Consulting, and former Chief Acquisition Officer at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, on how federal acquisition enables mission outcomes beyond compliance. Giddens describes procurement as a strategic bridge between government missions and pr...
May 18, 2026
James-Christian Blockwood discusses U.S. Office of Personnel Management's modernization of federal HR and retirement IT systems with OPM’s Rebecca Ayers and Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot. Building on a 2021 academy report urging congressional funding to modernize OPM systems, they describe the administration’s goal to build a merit-based workforce and modernize people management through the Federal HR 2.0 initiative. Key elements include moving agencies onto a mandatory single cor...
May 4, 2026
Host James-Christian Blockwood talks with Academy Fellow and McGeorge School of Law Professor Clark Kelso and American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Adam White about why public agencies struggle and what the executive branch does in response. They discuss how checks and balances slow action and make errors hard to undo, while polarization and congressional dysfunction push presidents toward unilateral action, creating separation-of-powers conflicts and court intervention. The conve...