Programs

Marleitha Williams

Supplier Diversity Program Manager
Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Board System

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Marleitha G. Williams is the supplier diversity program manager for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In this capacity, she is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as it relates to the inclusion of minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises in the Board’s acquisition process.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Board in 2011, Ms. Williams worked at Alabama’s largest electric utility corporation, Alabama Power Company, where she provided leadership and strategic direction to corporate business units in delivering results toward defined supplier diversity goals.

Throughout her career in Supplier Diversity and Supplier Relations, she has been affiliated with various organizations that focus on minority and women business development, including the U. S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, National Minority Supplier Development Council and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. She has been recognized in local and national publications such as Women Enterprise USA for her work in Supplier Diversity. Ms. Williams received her bachelor’s degree from Birmingham Southern College.

Maria Prince

Global Procurement ESG Leader
DuPont

Maria is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience inStrategic Sourcing, Product Development Supplier Diversity, Sustainabilityand Supply Chain, working forwell-known companies like Walmart,PepsiCo, Sysco Foods, Academy Sports & Outdoors and LBrands.Maria has spent her career leading and developing people, managingsuccessful cross functional teams, building relationships and gettingresults that improve profitability.

She has multiple industry experience infood and beverage, consumer packaged goods, technology, and retail.Shehasabreadth ofDE&I, sustainability,sourcing knowledge and bestpractice experience she has leveraged throughout her career. Her international experience hasallowed her to travel the globe working with diverse teams and supply chain partners.As the Global Procurement ESG Leader, MarialeadsSupplier Diversity and Sustainability,DE&Iand Supply Chain RiskManagement.She will lead these efforts across a procurementorganization thatsupports40 countries,90 manufacturing sites and 10 global R&D centers.Before joining DuPont, Maria was Vice President at NMSDC (National Minority SupplierDevelopment Council), the largest organization certifying minority owned businesses (MBEs) anddedicated to the development and growth of MBEs working with member corporations toprovide business opportunities.

In her role, she developed programs that provided training,business opportunities and capital investment for minority business owners. She has also beenkey executive of aminority business which gives her a unique perspective on what it’s like to bea business owner.Maria earned her MBA from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University ofTexas at Dallas. She volunteers for several charities that support women, is a 25-year memberof Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and a member of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) aprofessional organization for sourcing and procurement practitioners.

She is a frequent guestspeaker and panelist on the topics ofESG,DE&I, Supplier Diversity and Strategic Sourcing.She has earned numerous awards and recognition for her work in developing minority andwomen owned businesses and has servedon several nonprofit boards.Her most recent awardwas being nameda top 25 Diversity Change Leader by Diversity Plus magazine.She currentlyserves on the Tuck Business School Diversity Board at Dartmouth College andrecently joinedthe board of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerceand theGlobal Diversity AdvisoryCouncil for the World Trade Center ofPhiladelphia

Robert Medina

Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP)
NASA

Mr. Robert Medina is the Deputy Associate Administrator, for the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) at NASA Headquarters (HQ), since January 2023. Prior to this position, he served as a Small Business Program Manager, at NASA HQ OSBP, from September 2019 to December 2022. Mr. Medina was a Senior Procurement Analyst and Small Business Specialist at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Edwards, California from March 1994 through September 2019.

Mr. Medina is a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico and graduated from New Mexico State University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Accounting degree. After graduation he continued to work with NASA. He began his career with NASA in 1977 as a cooperative education student.

During his forty-five years with NASA, Mr. Medina has worked in many different procurement positions and at different NASA Centers. He has worked as a purchasing agent, price analyst, contract specialist, contracting officer, procurement analyst, and small business specialist. In addition to his procurement background, he worked three years at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology, as an Institutional Program Manager, having oversight over NASA’s three Research Centers (Ames, Langley, and Glenn). Most recently, Mr. Medina served on a detail at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Small Business Programs, from December 2016 through December 2017, serving as a Small Business Program Manager with oversight of the small business programs at NASA Stennis Space Center, NASA Shared Services Center, and NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Mr. Medina has been a long-time supporter and member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). He is a NCMA Fellow and has held a number of NCMA chapter office positions, as well as national functional positions. Mr. Medina also is a member of the Department of Defense (DoD) Western Regional Council for Small Business Education and Advocacy and has served on the Executive Board for the council, as well as a chairperson of the council’s Interface Committee. In 2008 and 2013, he was selected as NASA’s Small Business Specialist of the Year

Michelle E. Warren

Deputy Director Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU)
U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Michelle Warren began her federal career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1988, as a Federal Market News Reporter within the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Agency, then later served as the Contracting Officer for the Commodity Procurement Branch, responsible for the supervision of purchasing teams which administers contracts for commodities for distribution to the National School Lunch Program and other Food Assistance Programs.

By 2010, Michelle was assigned Program Manager in the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). In December 2015, Michelle was appointed Deputy Director in OSDBU and still holds that position. It is her responsibility to provide maximum opportunities for small businesses to participate in USDA contracting activities. Michelle served in the Acting Director’s capacity from December 2016-May 2022.

Educating, and Supporting the Buyer and the Seller is OSDBU’s core value.

Michelle’s philosophy is, “Think about what you want to do, DO IT, then think about what you have done!”

Michelle is a graduate of Virginia State University located in Petersburg, VA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business and Economics.

Calvin Mitchell

Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Education

In 2020, Calvin J. Mitchell Jr. joined the U.S. Department of Education leadership team as the Acting Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). In 2021, Mr. Mitchell transitioned to Director of OSDBU. As Director, Mr. Mitchell provides executive leadership and policy direction for developing and implementing policies and initiatives throughout the Department to ensure that all socioeconomic categories of small business are afforded opportunities to compete for contracts. Prior to the Acting OSDBU, Mr. Mitchell was the Deputy Director of Contracts and Acquisitions Management (CAM). As CAM Deputy Director, in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for overseeing the work of four contracting divisions that provide operational procurement services to the Department of Education. Prior to joining the Department, Mitchell served as the Branch Chief of the Accounts Management Division at the General Services Administration. Mitchell led the organization toward meeting the Government-wide strategic goals to support all 24 CFO Act agency vision, mission, and strategic goals. Separately, Mr. Mitchell served as a Congressional Fellow for the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. In this position he served as the Principal Procurement Advisor to Committee leadership and provided guidance and oversight to Members and Committee staff on procurement, small business programs, and related acquisition issues within the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Mitchell has also held leadership positions at the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

Darlene Bullock

Executive Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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E. Darlene Bullock’s January 2020 appointment as the Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) is in succession to her service as the OSDBU Deputy Director from 2015 to late 2019. As the Executive Director, Ms. Bullock implements the Department’s small business procurement programs across DHS’s $23 billion procurement operation, which awards over $8 billion each year to small businesses. Ms. Bullock’s various roles and work in the OSDBU, has helped DHS achieve consecutive scores of an “A” or “A+”, since Fiscal Year 2009, making DHS the largest federal agency to have such a consistent success record on Small Business Administration’s annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard.

Before joining the OSDBU, Ms. Bullock was a Division Director and Contracting Officer in the DHS, Office of Procurement Operations (OPO). OPO is one of the largest procurement divisions in DHS obligating about $5 billion a year. Her division supported the Office of the Secretary and other high-visibility DHS Headquarters offices. Ms. Bullock oversaw and managed the award process of the first DHS-wide Program Management, Administrative, Clerical, and Technical Services (PACTS) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contracts which were set-aside for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs). PACTS had an estimated value of $1.5 billion. The creation and award of the PACTS vehicles has enabled DHS to meet and exceed the 3% SDVOSB goal since Fiscal Year 2010.

With over 32 years of experience in procurement, federal assistance, and acquisitions management, Ms. Bullock has held leadership positions at several Federal and local agencies including DHS, U.S. Agency for International Development, U. S. Department of Commerce, District of Columbia Government, and the U.S. Army.

Ms. Bullock began her acquisition career with the U.S. Army, successfully completing the Department of Defense contract specialist intern program. She was a Certified Federal Contract Manager (CFCM) with the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and maintains her FAC-C Level III Certification in Contracting. She has completed various Federal Executive leadership courses in her career. She has an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Business and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MBA in International Management from Southeastern University

Jean Lin Pao

Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Jean Lin Pao is the Director for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), serving as the principal advocate for utilizing small and disadvantaged businesses in federal contracting to meet HUD’s mission. As a member of the Senior Executive Service in a cabinet-level department, Ms. Pao has over twenty-five years of federal experience in small business advocacy, enterprise human capital management, employee engagement and training, budgeting and acquisitions, information technology planning, administration, business management, strategic planning, program evaluation, and policy development. Previously, she served as the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research and Chief Management Officer/Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Management and Administration in HUD’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer. Ms. Pao holds a Bachelor of Arts in urban studies from Barnard College, Columbia University and a Master of Public Policy from the Harris School, University of Chicago. She is an Excellence in Government Senior Fellow and a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award. She is also a certified executive and leadership coach.

Leonardo San Román

Manager, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s Procurement Assistance Division
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

Leonardo San Roman currently serves as the Manager for the DOT Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s Procurement Assistance Division. In this capacity, Mr. San Roman is responsible for ensuring the Department of Transportation's compliance with Federal statutes and initiatives as they relate to small business development and other disadvantaged groups.

Prior to joining DOT, Mr. San Roman served as Project Manager for the Plans, Policy, and Resources Directorate with the Naval Audit Service. Previously he served as the Finance Director for the Senate of Puerto Rico. He has also served as the Deputy Director for Administration, Budget and Finance for the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico at the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration in Washington, D.C.

Mr. San Roman earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, and obtained a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Donna Ragucci

Executive Director, OSDBU
U.S. Department of Treasury

Ms. Donna Ragucci serves as Director for the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) and assumed her duties in March 2018. She is responsible for Small Business Programs that include mission, compliance, outreach, and training for a 5,000 member organization obligating over $6.7 billion annually. Her office ensures compliance with the federally directed Category Management Initiative and meeting the Small Business Administration statutory socio-economic small business prime and subcontracting goals. Ms. Ragucci aligns best business practices with other OSDBUs throughout the federal government. In her tenure, her office received national recognition from the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Association and the National HUBZone Association. Her office is a Core Cluster member of the White House Initiatives Group on HBCUs, championing the awareness of and increasing federal contracting opportunities for HBCUs and the underserved communities and the White House Initiatives Group on Advancing Racial Equity in Federal Procurement. Ms. Ragucci also chairs the 93-member Federal OSDBU Council that assists SBA by influencing small business policy and legislation.

Ms. Ragucci’s held numerous leadership and public trust positions during her 35 years with the federal government. She was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in March 2018. She graduated from the Senior Service College in May 2015. Ms. Ragucci has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Athens State University, and she earned a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Florida Institute of Technology.

Her awards include the Secretary of the Army Excellence in Contracting Award, Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award, Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Excellence, and three Department of the Army Achievement Medals for Civilian Service. Ms. Ragucci is a member to the Acquisition Corps. She holds federal certification Level III in Contracting, Level II in Purchasing, and Level II in Program Management.