Event Calendar

Start Date: 4/13/2023 8:30 AM EDT
End Date: 4/13/2023 10:15 AM EDT

Venue Name: Westwood Country Club

Location:

Organization Name: SECAF Events

Contact:

Monthly Briefing: What Makes Doing Business with the U.S. Department of State Unique?

Join us for an interactive discussion. The U.S. State Department Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) will share their spend profile, tips on how to explore opportunities, resources that could help you, and how to register for their quarterly forecast briefings.  Learn about the State Department’s mission and acquisition process to increase your chances for success.  Hear about new initiatives and what some of State Department most successful small business partners do to achieve that success.

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Bios:

Rich Vinnacombe is the Deputy Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) for the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, he leads a team that champions U.S. small business interests across the Department’s $10B acquisition portfolio while supporting the Department’s mission of protecting U.S. interests abroad and implementing foreign policy initiatives. 

During his tenure, the Department has consistently received an ‘A” scorecard from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and increased small business participation by nearly $500M annually.  For his efforts, Rich is a recipient of the Department’s Meritorious Honor and Franklin awards and selected to participate in the Secretary’s Acquisition Redesign Working Group. He is a regular speaker on Federal contracting and a judge for the American Council for Technology/Industry Advisory Council (ACT/IAC) Acquisition Excellence awards. 

Mr. Vinnacombe has over fourteen years of service in the Federal Government.  Prior to the Department of State, Rich served in a Senior Service (SL) position as the first Human Capital Category Executive at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) with responsibility for overseeing the Federal Government’s $4.7B annual human capital and training contract spend. 

Before joining the Federal government, Rich worked for ten years in private industry in several information technology, consulting, business development and operations roles where he had P&L responsibility and led major projects to launch new business lines and improve organizational performance.   

Mr. Vinnacombe was a three sport Division 1 student athlete and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering/Bio-chemistry from Bucknell University. He went on to receive a joint MBA/MA in International Business from The George Washington University Elliott School, where he completed study abroad in Sweden, Hungary and Costa Rica.  Rich also completed graduate internships at the White House, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  

Rich has several professional certifications including Project Management Professional (PMP) and Federal Acquisition Certification (FAC), has completed executive leadership programs at the Harvard Kennedy School, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and the Federal Executive Institute, and completed Intermediate Spanish language training through the Foreign Service Institute. 

Mrs. Martina Williams joined the Department of State Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) in January 2023.   As Senior Procurement Analyst, she serves as the subject matter expert for the Service-Disabled Veteran Owned and Subcontracting programs within OSDBU.  Mrs. Williams brings more than twenty years of experience as a champion for underrepresented businesses, having led efforts to promote equity in the utilization of underserved businesses to the maximum extent possible, across several government agencies. 

She began her Federal government career with the Department of the Defense where she served as a Level III certified Contracting Official and Small Business Advocate.  Mrs. Williams continued her advocacy with the Small Business Administration (SBA), where she served as a Procurement Center Representative (PCR) in the Government Contracting office.  In her role as a PCR, she championed for the increase of small business participation at the prime and subcontracting levels.  Her efforts led to an increase of small business awards at her Federal agency portfolio to include civilian and military agencies.  Mrs. Williams’ dedication and passion for procurement and the growth of the small business economy led her to obtain a Masters’ Degree from Webster University in Procurement and Acquisition Management. 
 

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Cost:
Members

• $40 Register by 5:00 pm on April 10th
• $50 After 5:00 pm on April 10th

• $80 Register by 5:00 pm on April 10th
• $90 After 5:00 pm on April 10th