2010 AWARDS

• Beth Sheehy - Emerging Leadership
• Richard Windsor - Distinguished Young AFCEAn
• Randy Findley - Distinguished Young AFCEAn

2009 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD

• Randy Findley
• Richard Windsor

2008 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD

• Jennifer Stacey
• Jennifer Walker

2007 DISTINGUISHED YOUNG AFCEAN (DYA) OF THE YEAR

• John Mitchell
• Beth Sheehy

2007 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD

• Beth Sheehy

Beth Sheehy - 2010 Emerging Leadership Award

Beth Sheehy is the Director of Staffing for Seismic LLC, a cybersecurity and software engineering firm based out of Hanover, Maryland. Ms. Sheehy earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science/Pre-Law from Kent State University in the spring of 2005, where she was selected to participate in the Washington Program National Issues. In addition to AFCEA involvement, Ms. Sheehy is active in the Kent State Alumni Association, DC Chapter and the Washington Program in National Issues Alumni Association. She joined AFCEA in the fall of 2005.

Association Positions/Committees:

• May 2009 - Present: President, Young AFCEAN Central Maryland Chapter
• May 2008 – May 2009: Vice President, Young AFCEAN Central Maryland Chapter
• May 2007 – May 2008: VP of Events, Young AFCEAN Central Maryland Chapter
• April 2007-November 2007: Silent Auction Committee Lead
• May 2006 – May 2007: Social Committee Lead
• December 2006 – February 2007: Education Committee

Contributions to AFCEA:

• Currently serves as the President of the YACs Executive Committee. In this role, she represents the Young AFCEAn Committee at chapter exec meetings, runs the YAC executive meetings, and recruits and engages new members. Prior to serving as the YAC President, Ms. Sheehy was the YAC Vice president.
• Actively recruits new members and promotes involvement; efforts resulted in a significant increase in new membership enrollment, new committee leads, and an increase in overall participation. She works closely with new program leads as they transition into lead roles.
• Ms. Sheehy is currently working to establish sub-chapters with local colleges to provide Math and Science students access to career opportunities in the Ft. Meade technology industry and increase awareness of AFCEA with a younger demographic.
• Supported the Central Maryland Chapter Ft. Meade High School and helped to spearhead the “AFCEA Adopt a School Program” for Ft. Meade High School. Wrote curriculum and created lesson plans/course material on career development, interviewing, goal setting and communication and mentored high school juniors in these areas.
• Conducted a resume writing workshop and held mock interviews with students to prepare for college acceptance and employment interviews for the 2007 and the 2008 school year.
• Actively involved in the planning of the annual Bull and Oyster Roast fundraiser and Silent Auction Drive, bi-annual Mentorship Night and socials. She volunteers in support of events such as the AFCEA 5k Walk and Family Run raising funds for the Central Maryland Chapter’s Scientific Education Scholarship Fund
• Supports the Chapter’s Scientific Education Committee initatives
• Actively involved in the Women In Intelligence Group (WIIG).

• Distinguished Young AFCEAn 2007
• Central Maryland Chapter Semi-Annual YAC Award, 2007.
• Nominated for the Excellence in Educational Partnership Award by the Ann Arundel Chamber of Commerce
• Young AFCEAn Advisory Council participant, AFCEA

Richard Windsor - 2010 Distinguished Young AFCEAn Award

Ricky became involved in the AFCEA Central Maryland Chapter (CMC) and actively supporting the Young AFCEAns (YACs) in September 2008, shortly after his return overseas supporting Joint Communications. Ricky’s prior military service and multiple years in the defense service industry serve as the foundation for his current endeavors supporting national security efforts in the cyber and information assurance domains.

Ricky assumed the newly created Volunteers Committee Lead 2008/09 in which he sought out CMC event and committee leads soliciting and fulfilling volunteer staffing request. Ricky developed the volunteer digest to quickly and consistently track chapter volunteer needs. He drafted volunteer requests for distribution and often worked as the intermediary between incoming members, volunteers, and committee leads. Ricky processed applications, and actively recruited new members with success as the YAC VP of Membership Alternate 2008/09.

Ricky served as co-lead for the 2008 Scholarship Awareness Drive on behalf of Scientific Education. He recruited volunteers, managed the call lists and workloads to meet CMC objectives; and ensured schools were aware of scholarship opportunities. Ricky created an engagement process to integrate new members with CMC opportunities and the YAC volunteer digest to track volunteer opportunities in events and programs. Ricky later grew this role into the YACs VP of Volunteers and remains proactively involved with the current chair. Ricky co-lead the CMC 2009 Bull & Oyster Roast fundraiser which sold out nearly two months early (at 559 seats). In this role he helped select a theme to the event, constructed 75+ centerpieces, coordinated volunteers, sold tickets, attended oversight and management of committee meetings, and CMC executive briefings. His fundraising efforts lead to contributions of $4,500 in auction items.

Ricky was a lead member of the 2009 5k Fun Run/Walk Committee. He served as a registrar, helped with setup, directed runners and sponsors, assembled sponsor booths, presented completion medals to runners, and assisted in the silent auction fundraiser. Ricky is co-director for the 2010 5K fundraiser and developed the sponsorship package to include a “race advertisement” booklet. Ricky was elected as the YAC VP for 2009~2010, and has been integral building the YAC membership strength and working relationships with the other chapter members. Rick has instantiated the CMC YACs LinkedIn website presence and assists in managing the site, which is a contributing factor in the increase of Young AFCEAn involvement and membership.

Ricky built a business case to develop a fundraising event in which highly sought after training and certification is offered at significantly reduced rates to AFCEA members. Ricky’s negotiations with the training vendors yielded discounts of 30%-50% and a 20% return of proceeds to the Central Maryland Chapter Educational Fund. Overhead reduction has been achieved through sponsor provided facilities and partnerships with catering services. In addition to fundraising, this program will also contribute toward building membership. Ricky is a consistent contributor to AFCEA and is the recipient of the AFCEA Central Maryland Chapter Semi-Annual YAC Award, 2009.

Randy Findley - 2010 Distinguished Young AFCEAn Award

Randy Findley is the owner and President of Pride Engineering, a software engineering firm which supports the Ft. Meade customer. Mr. Findley founded Pride Engineering in 2006. He was previously employed by Praxis Engineering as a Software Engineer. He obtained a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from John Hopkins.

VP of Technology for the Central Maryland Chapter, May 2009 – Present
Mentorship Night Chair September, 2006 – March 2009
Bull & Oyster Roast Silent Auction Committee Member, 2007
Valentine’s Ball Photo Committee Member, 2008

Mr. Findley sits as the VP of Technology for the Central Maryland Chapter. The VP of Technology role is a new position within the Executive Committee which was created as a result of the positive impact of Mr. Findley’s contributions. He modernized the appearance, increased the functionality, and created an infrastructure to support updated information on the Central Maryland website. He developed the new website using an open source portal application which allows other chapter officers to contribute and collaborate thereby making the website more robust and enabling officers to easily document their role and provide resources such as whitepapers, checklists, templates and instructions for future officers to leverage. He also redesigned the websites subscription page and the chapter mailing lists making the mailing lists easier to use and more secure. He integrated the website with PayPal to allow online purchases and improve communications with our constituency thus supporting member involvement and retention. This directly increased the chapters ability to serve our members.

Mr. Findley also developed an integrated communication system that alerts officers of certain events. When a new user subscribes to our mailing list the VP of Membership is notified, and when tickets for an event are purchase through PayPal, the Treasurer is notified along with the event lead. Randy also worked with AFCEA International (afcea.org) to auto populate the chapter designation when a new member registers via our website.

As the VP of Technology Randy updated the internal government site for AFCEA, maintained the chapter mailing lists, and the private chapter officer portal. He also updates information on events and keeps chapter information up to date, maintains a calendar of upcoming events, and populates the site with pictures and news items.

In other areas of contribution, Randy has coordinated and managed the bi-annual Young AFCEAn Mentorship Night program for 2 years prior to recently mentoring a new AFCEA member to take over the event. The event currently draws about 30 people per session and is steadily increasing. Mentorship Night is an open forum event which allows young professionals to network with and seek insight and advice from senior professionals from government, industry and military. Randy has also volunteered at several other events including soliciting silent auction items for the Young AFCEAn Bull and Oyster Roast and printing couple’s photographs at the Valentine’s Gala. He is consistently positive, participates and contributes to the chapter.

Semi-Annual Young AFCEAN Award, 2008

Ricky Windsor - 2009 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD Ricky Windsor joined the Central Maryland Young AFCEAns late in 2008, and he immediately jumped in to help - showing incredible initiative and leadership. He accepted and helped define the newly created volunteers committee by tracking down the committee leads, gathering volunteers details, producing a monthly volunteering digest and working to develop an engagement strategy for the new volunteers. He also worked with the Young AFCEAn VP of Membership to gather, process and submit the Young AFCEAn membership applications. Early in 2009, Ricky jumped in to help with the 2nd annual 5k planning committee, and shortly afterwards, he accepted the challenging role as a co-chair of the B&OR. He has consistently been positively involved, taken on challenging roles and made an impact in the chapter.

Randy Findley - 2009 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD Randy is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, ALWAYS smiling, cheerful and helpful. He is very enthusiastic working with AFCEA. He led the Mentorship night, website development, and a variety of initiatives to make AFCEA successful. Randy is well liked and highly spoken of. I can't imagine he doesn't give 100% and make a great impact on anything he does. He is nice, fun, and always so happy...

Jennifer Stacey - 2008 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD Jennifer Stacey has stepped up and led the B&O Ticket sales with vigor and great organization. She has been very fluid with changing processes and has championed each challenge that she has faced. Although this is her first time leading a YAC committee, she is an old pro. She worked very long hours on this and her diligence paid off! She did a great job and we did a record year with ticket sales!

Jennifer Walker - 2008 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD Jennifer Walker has a long history of supporting AFCEA and is devoted to promoting group involvement. She recently stepped up to oversee the Young AFCEAn Bull and Oyster Roast and strongly contributed to the events success. In recent months she has done an excellent job spearheading a new AFCEA group, the Women In Intelligence Group. Jennifer exhibits a strong work ethic and positive attitude.

John Wesley Mitchell - 2007 DISTINGUISHED YOUNG AFCEAN (DYA) OF THE YEAR

AFCEA BACKGROUND: Association Positions/Committees: May 2007 - Present: Central Maryland Chapter Young AFCEAn VP of Finances – As VP of Finances, Mr. Mitchell works with the YAC President to develop the YAC budget, track YAC finances, and compile a YAC annual finance report for the chapter. As VP of Finance, He has drafted a handbook to clearly articulate the YAC VP roles and responsibilities to increase the efficiency of the yearly transition of the YAC VP role to subsequent “YAC VP-elects”. Mr. Mitchell has been the chief advocate for documenting all YAC AFCEA Central Maryland Officer positions to sustain the chapter’s efforts and for other chapters to leverage. May 2006 – May 2007: Central Maryland Chapter Young AFCEAn VP of Communications/Secretary - As YAC VP of Communications, Mr. Mitchell conceptualized and wrote the YAC Central Maryland Chapter VP of Communications Handbook. He facilitated increased communication within the YAC by distributing event notices, reminders, and minute meetings for the AFCEA Executive Board Chairs, maintaining YAC mailing lists, and coordinating requests for YAC volunteers for chapter events. Feb 2006 – Sep 2006: Central Maryland Chapter 2006 Bull & Oyster Roast Fundraiser Committee Chair – Mr. Mitchell was the 2006 (2nd Annual) Bull & Oyster Roast (B&OR) Fundraiser Committee Chair. This incredibly successful event rose over $8,800.00 for the Central Maryland Chapter’s Scholarship Fund. Under Mr. Mitchell’s Leadership, 2006’s event’s attendance increased approximately 50%, and profitability increased nearly 200% over 2005’s B&OR event.

Unique contributions to AFCEA:

• In addition to chairing the 2006 B&OR event, Mr Mitchell led the “Location Subcommittee”, coordinating the catering and event location selection and payment(s) for the event.
• For the 2007 B&OR, Mr. Mitchell, as finance subcommittee, coordinated the financial process with the chapter to integrate with the chapter’s sponsor purchase program to ensure that the chapter received the funds and the company received the proper recognition.
• Mr. Mitchell conceptualized, designed, implemented, and maintains the International Young AFCEAn Advisory website. This website provides new and growing YAC chapters a medium to publish and search for ideas/information to start and/or improve the YAC program for their respective chapters.
• Mr. Mitchell generated and maintains all event information on the AFCEA classified web site hosted on the classified network at the National Security Agency (NSA). This website has led to improved communication for the AFCEA Central Maryland Chapter members, and specifically has facilitated the resolution of five event related issues.
• Mr. Mitchell contributed to other activities and events including judging at local high-school science fairs, developing an online tracking database for the 2005 B&OR, coordinating tables sponsorships and silent auction items at the 2005 Bull Roast, and volunteering for the Chapter 2007 and 2008 Valentine’s Ball.

PREVIOUS AFCEA AWARDS/RECOGNITION/ACHIEVEMENTS (local or international) :

• Regional Distinguished Young AFCEAn 2006
• Central Maryland Chapter Young AFCEAn of the Quarter 2005

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Mr. Mitchell has been a Senior Software Engineer with Pyxis Engineering since May of 2007. Prior to joining Pyxis, Mr. Mitchell was a Technology Consultant with Hewlett-Packard Company for four (4) years and a federal employee for the Department of Defense (DoD) for eight (8) years. Mr. Mitchell received his Bachelor and Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering.

Beth Sheehy - 2007 DISTINGUISHED YOUNG AFCEAN (DYA) OF THE YEAR

AFCEA BACKGROUND:

Association Positions/Committees:

VP of Events, Young AFCEAN Central Maryland Chapter, May 2007 – Present Oversaw and participated in the planning and coordination of all Young AFCEAn events to include quarterly social events, bi-annual mentorship nights and the 2007 (3rd annual) Bull and Oyster Roast Fundraiser. Instrumental in raising $15,968 from the Bull and Oyster Roast Event for the Central Maryland’s Chapter Scholarship Fund. The money generated from this event was an 80% increase in profitability from the 2006 Bull and Oyster Roast Event, which generated $8,800. Silent Auction Committee Lead, April 2007-November 2007 Facilitated a silent auction at the 2007 Bull and Oyster event. Recruited and lead the committee, established goals and communicated status and process. Solicited donations from local businesses to be auctioned off at the event; combined value of contributions were valued at $5,700. Proceeds were contributed to the scholarship fund.

Social Lead, May 2006 – May 2007

• Planned and coordinated association socials to gain participation and visibility.
• Actively recruited new members and promoted involvement; efforts resulted in new members and new committee leads

Supported the Education Committee, Central Maryland Chapter Ft. Meade High School, and December 2006 – February 2007

• Helped to spearhead the “AFCEA Adopt a School Program” for Ft. Meade High School.
• Wrote curriculum and created lesson plans/course material on Career Development, Interviewing, Goal Setting, and Communication.
• Taught high school juniors in these areas to include, Career Development, Goal Setting, Communication skills and Interviewing Techniques.
• Conducted a resume writing workshop and held mock interviews with students to prepare for college acceptance and employment interviews.

Previous AFCEA Awards/Recognition:

PREVIOUS AFCEA AWARDS/RECOGNITION/ACHIEVEMENTS (local or international) :

• Recipient of the Central Maryland Chapter Semi-Annual YAC Award, 2007.
• Nominated for the Excellence in Educational Partnership Award by the Ann Arundel Chamber of Commerce.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Beth Sheehy is a Technical Search Consultant for the Strategic Resource Group, based in Columbia, Maryland. Beth earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science/Pre-Law from Kent State University in the spring of 2005, were she was selected to participate in the Washington Program National Issues. In addition to AFCEA involvement, Beth is active in the Kent State Alumni Association DC Chapter and the Washington Program in National Issues Alumni Association. Beth joined AFCEA in the fall of 2005.

Beth Sheehy - 2007 SEMI-ANNUAL YAC AWARD

Beth has been very active with AFCEA during the past two years. She is the former chair for the YAC socials and is now the VP of events for the YAC's. She has been leading the Bull and Oyster Roast silent auction committee. Beth also took time out of her busy schedule to represent AFCEA by volunteering at Ft. Meade high school to teach classes and provide mock interviews with the students. Beth has done a great job with coordinating our YAC events. Beth is always very positive and is always trying to recruit new YAC's. She demonstrates a positive, enthusiastic, and hard working attitude whenever volunteering. Her hard work and dedication has been a great influence on the YAC population. Her professionalism and dedication to the YAC's is much appreciated.