North American Leadership

Michael J. Freeman - CEO (PPC)

Michael J. Freeman joined PPC in 2011 bringing more than 25 years of successful leadership in the federal market space. He works closely with PPC’s senior management team on leading and executing corporate business strategy and he will work to refine PPC’s’ strategic direction to ensure corporate growth and leadership in the progressively competitive IT market.

Michael is a successful and proven executive who has established himself in the Federal environment as a strong business and P&L leader focused on growing the base of both large and small business entities. His background includes Consulting, Services and Software development where he established himself as a proven leader in the Intelligence, DOD and Civil U.S. government market.

Business development and an intuitive market appreciation have been instrumental in Michael's success. He is a hands-on executive who engages with Federal executives in influencing, understanding and determining successful solutions for the both the customer and the company. He is recognized by many customers as a trusted partner and comes highly respected by his peers, staff, and employees. Prior to joining PPC, he was the CEO of Lucaid Inc., successfully establishing the foreign-based company in the United States. Luciad Inc. was considered a new market entry in to the Federal GIS visualization field. The company developed and sold Geographical Informational and Analytical Visualization software for the Intelligence, DOD, and civil market space.

Michael also successfully led HP’s Federal Consulting and Integration Practice based in the Washington D.C. area. He transformed the business into a recognized competitor and leader in the Intelligence and DOD markets by partnering and priming successfully in IT integration, consulting, and software application support. In this role, he was recognized numerous times for his leadership, business growth, and his ability to execute change within a transformational period. Prior to starting with HP, Mr. Freeman served as CTO for one of Northrop Grumman’s business units focusing on Homeland Security, Department of State, and the Department of Transportation to include the FAA and DOT.

Michael has a M.S. in Technology Management from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Business Management from the University of LaVerne in California. He also taught HP’s Leading for Results – Business Excellence course focusing on maximizing revenue and margins and is a graduate of Darden’s Executive Leadership training and Wharton’s Executive and Business and Finance series.

Anthony Cicco - Global CIO (PPC)

Anthony Cicco, Jr., Global Chief Information Officer, is responsible for leading all technology and security initiatives for the AEA group—AEA, PPC, and ERG. Mr. Cicco joined PPC in 2011, and is currently is responsible for overseeing and coordinating all technology, telecommunications, wide area networking, local area networking, desktop support, IT security, disaster recovery planning, applications training and support, and information management.

Anthony has more than 35 years of IT experience and more than twenty years of data center operations and management experience. He is an industry-recognized leader in planning and directing innovative IT and customer service solutions. Mr. Cicco possesses an in-depth understanding of Green IT technologies and solutions and their business application. He brings extensive IT experience developed while serving as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Chief Information Officer (CIO), as well as early career experience in data center operations and management evaluations.

During his tenure as CIO, Anthony established a vision for change, innovation, and IT transparency for GAO executives, business stakeholders, and employees. He consolidated and standardized IT infrastructure operations at GAO HQ and its 13 field offices. Through his leadership multiple network operating systems, servers, network switches, workstations, printers were standardized. He was critical in transforming GAO into a model agency by integrating people, processes, and technology. During his tenure, GAO went from 53rd to 1st in the Gartner Group’s total cost of ownership ranking while the IT organization received the highest customer satisfaction scores across the agency.

In 2005, Anthony initiated a program to redesign GAO’s data center using Green IT best practices. This project included the redesign of the data center layout, electrical feeds, server cabinets, cabling, and UPS configuration. This project avoided an estimated 8 million dollar new data center construction cost and resulted in significant space and energy savings.

Mr. Cicco also gained valuable data center experience leading many GAO IT reviews of major government IT operations including the SSA, FBI, DEA, SEC, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and DOJ’s Litigating Divisions.

He has been selected to Computerworld’s list of Premier 100 IT Leaders for his work supporting the Hurricane Katrina response, CIO Magazine’s CIO 100, and Federal Computer Magazine’s Federal Top100 list. Mr. Cicco is also a Congressional Award recipient for leadership in supporting key legislative activities under emergency conditions.

Prior to joining PPC, Anthony provided IT Governance, CIO mentoring, and IT energy management and optimization services to SRA clients. He developed SRA’s comprehensive Green IT Maturity Model that is based on industry best practices and sound IT governance. He also provided CIO support to a broad spectrum of Federal government customers—implementing his IT Governance, strategic planning, portfolio management, and enterprise architecture expertise to craft tailored, innovative solutions to individual agency issues. He earned his M.B.A. in Organizational Management from California State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Dale Tuttle - Vice President, Business Technology Solutions Division (PPC)

Dale Tuttle serves as PPC’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this role, he is responsible for the technical direction of the firm including the development of customer-based solutions for both our federal and commercial customers. This includes establishing and maintaining key technical partnerships and other strategic relationships. He works closely with the executive and operational leaders to align PPC’s core capabilities with emerging market trends and coordinates these activities across the AEA group.

Dale has more than 18 years of experience in the IT sector and has been with PPC for 13 years. His previous roles at PPC included launching a new business sector as well as managing a large operating division primarily concerned with developing and deploying web-based solutions to federal and commercial customers. Prior to joining PPC in 1999, Mr. Tuttle’s career included IT management and field engineer positions at Advanced Technology Systems, WPI, and the Center for International Earth Sciences Information Network (CIESIN). Before pursuing an IT career, Mr. Tuttle served as a visiting assistant professor at Hood College and Virginia Tech. Mr. Tuttle is a frequent speaker at IT conferences around the country, concentrating on portal implementation best practices, identity management, and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Dan Rice - Vice President of Finance, Accounting, and Contracts (PPC)

Dan Rice has 20 years of experience in financial operations, management, sales support, and process improvements. At PPC, he is responsible for all of the firm’s finance functions, including financial planning, financial reporting, pricing, accounting, and taxation. In addition, he shares responsibility for many of the company’s professional relationships, including audit, tax, banking, and retirement plan investment and administration.

Prior to joining PPC, Dan held the position of Director of Managing Practice Principal at Hewlett Packard (HP), overseeing all aspects of P&L and business operations within the US Postal Service practice, worth $43M in IT infrastructure solutions and application development consulting. Before that, Dan was the Director of Operations at HP’s $240M Federal Solutions and Infrastructure Practice, where he managed all business and strategic planning functions for agencies such as DOD, and intelligence and civilian agencies.

Earlier in his career, Dan served as Northrop Grumman’s Director of Business Management, coordinating all business functions, operational support, and financial planning processes for the $360M Civilian Agencies and the $400M Public Sector Solutions units. Prior to this, he was the Director of Finance at Northrop Grumman and managed all financial planning processes—including forward pricing, five-year financial planning, capital budgeting, audit reviews, and project costing for the Government Solutions Division.

Dan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Mary Washington. He also completed courses in Executive Development Strategic Finance from the University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School, and Executive Leadership/Development from the University of Virginia. He holds a certificate in Contracts and Procurement from UVA.

Joseph Duklewski - Vice President of Sales and Business Development (PPC)

Joseph Duklewski joined PPC with more than 30 years of successful sales and business development leadership in federal and commercial markets. He works closely with PPC’s management team on leading and executing corporate sales strategy.

Joseph is a proven executive who has established himself in the federal environment as a strong sales and business development leader experienced working for hardware, software and consulting organizations focused on growing the base of both large and small business entities. His background includes hardware, consulting services, and enterprise application software.

He has managed sales teams focused on commercial and federal sales at Digital Equipment (HP), Intermec Technologies, Primavera, and SAS Federal. His ability to see the big picture while delving into the complexity of the problem and recommending and implementing the appropriate solutions has resulted in a history of consistent award winning performance.

Joseph earned his Masters of Administrative Science Degree from Johns Hopkins University and his Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Baltimore

Jennifer Gertenbach - Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development (PPC)

Jennifer Gertenbach brings 20 years of executive leadership, management, and organizational development experience. As VP of Human Resources and Organizational Development at PPC, she plays a key role in organizational design, process improvement, performance management, workforce planning, talent selection, —thus driving the organizational strategy that aligns with the Mission and Vision of a growth oriented Project Performance Corporation. Jennifer is integral part of the senior management team as PPC.

Prior to joining PPC, Jennifer was Associate Administrator, Human Resources at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, where she provided strategic direction Organizational design and development with oversight of Human Resources and Hospital registration and Insurance verification. Additionally, she was one of the leaders and authors of the Human Capital section of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award application—America's highest honor for innovation and performance excellence.

In her career, Jennifer served as a Consultant providing project-based human resource services and organization design and restructuring processes to commercial and non-profit organizations that included the Washington Post, FBI Laboratories, and AoL.com. She was Director of Human Resources at Vacation.com, and was responsible for restructuring and consolidating the HR function, defining and leading cultural change partnering with the senior executives. Jennifer began her federal contractor experience as Director of Human Resources at Texel Corporation, a Federal Contractor, in telecommunication. She started her career in Operational management with the privately held luxury hotel chain, Hyatt Hotels.

Jennifer is SPHR certified, and is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management as well as Marymount University’s Alumni Board. She is also a committee co-chair of the HR Leadership Awards of Greater Washington. She is also an ICAN counselor of the not-for-profit The Women’s Center, where she assists women that are re-entering the workforce. She is a certified facilitator with DDI for Targeted Selection in hiring, and is qualified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). She completed Executive Coaching certification through Leadership International.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology, Master of Arts Degree in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development, with a certification in Organizational Development from Marymount University.

Gregg Melanson - Vice President, Government Information Technology Solutions & Services Division (PPC)

Gregg Melanson leads Project Performance Corporation’s Government Information Technology Solutions & Services Division (GITSS). Gregg’s team offers our clients expert level services in the areas of infrastructure design, installation and operations; software development and integration; security; and enterprise architecture. His division specializes in open source SOA and virtualization; budget formulation and infrastructure energy optimization.

Gregg determines the strategic positioning of the division in the marketplace and manages its marketing, sales and performance. His division serves a wide variety of clients including the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), Office of Management of Budget (OMB), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the State of Virginia.

Gregg brings more than 22 years of experience in both the federal and commercial sectors. His career includes leadership positions at Walt Disney, C-Technologies, Catapult Technology and NCI. Gregg’s federal work includes clients such as; Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), General Service Administration (GSA), Veterans Affairs (VA), US Courts, and the Department of Energy (DOE). One of his accomplishments includes leading the development of the award winning Violations Tracking System for the USDA/DHS. In the commercial sector, his clients have included Staples, FedEx, UPS, Marriott, Starwood and Walt Disney Company. His commercial experience includes leading Sprint’s Network Transformation Strategies PMO with a charter from the CEO to permanently reduce operational expenses by $2B.

Gregg serves on the board of College Transit LLC and The Craig Blass Memorial Scholarship Fund, is a Mentor for the George Washington University MBA student Mentor-Protégé program and is active in a number of Industry groups including AFCEA, ACT-IAC, and IGC.

Nathan Smith - Vice President, Energy, Environment, and Climate Solutions Division (PPC)

Nathan Smith leads PPC's Energy, Environment, and Climate Solutions Division. His division provides strategic and technical consulting in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable transportation, carbon management, climate adaptation, water quality management, environmental due diligence, and environmental program development. Nathan is responsible for the operations and strategic direction of the division, leading accounts for the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Transportation, Transportation Research Board, US Department of Agriculture, and a range of commercial entities.

Nathan has more than 12 years of experience supporting federal agencies and multi-national corporations in the design and creation of performance-driven energy and environmental management programs. He has managed and delivered over $75M in environmental, sustainability, energy efficiency, training, facilitation, and program support contracts to federal government clients. Nathan is the Program Manager for PPC's support to DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office where he leads a team of energy efficiency experts and web-based tool developers who support the Better Plants program. Nathan has supported development of greenhouse gas inventories under Executive Order 13514 for the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He has managed the design, development, and deployment of large, web-based information management systems for several DOE programs. He has designed and developed custom GIS applications that use spatial data sets to optimize environmental remediation projects. As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Nathan has developed and delivered project and program management training courses for DOE’s Project Management Career Development Program, the Food and Drug Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and several EPA Program Offices.

Prior to joining PPC, Nathan was an Environmental Scientist at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI). At RTI he specialized in mapping and spatial data analysis for the EPA's water quality monitoring and assessment program.

Zach Wahl - Vice President of Strategic Solutions Division (PPC)

Zach Wahl leads Project Performance Corporation’s Strategic Solutions Division. His division provides strategic IT consulting services in the areas of project management, knowledge management, information management, and systems design and development. This part of PPC provides customized Notification Tool and Document Assembly solutions for a number of private and federal customers. These solutions leverage an array of content management, document management, collaboration, social computing, and data management technologies, both proprietary and open source.

Zach is responsible for determining the strategic direction of the division and its practices, establishing and maintaining strategic relationships with vendors and consulting partners, marketing, and overall performance of his business unit. His division leads an array of federal accounts for PPC, including the Department of Justice, USAID, Department of Education, Department of Interior, and Veterans Affairs, as well as PPC’s commercial accounts.

Zach has more than 13 years of experience designing, implementing, and managing information management systems. He has worked with more than 200 public and private organizations to successfully implement portals, content management, collaboration, social computing, and other such systems. Zach has developed his own taxonomy design methodology, has authored a series of courses on knowledge management, and is a frequent speaker and trainer on the subjects of information governance, web strategy, and taxonomy design. His experience includes projects for a broad spectrum of clients, ranging from Health and Human Services (HHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Energy (DOE). He also has extensive experience in the private sector and internationally with institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Scottish Qualifications Authority, and UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Zach has served on the board of the Washington DC Knowledge Management Institute and as the Chairman of the Institute for International Research (IIR) Enterprise Web, Portals, and Collaborative Technologies conference. Under Zach’s leadership, KMWorld Magazine identified PPC’s knowledge management offerings amongst their trend setting products in 2010 and again in 2011.

David Meyers - President and CEO, Eastern Research Group, Inc (ERG)

David Meyers has dedicated his entire professional life to supporting US government clients in their missions to improve the environment, foster safe workplaces, ensure the safety of our foods and drugs, and support other socially beneficial causes. He founded ERG in 1984 with a core staff of seven individuals. Through his leadership, ERG has grown to more than 380 professionals across the United States, and the firm has earned a national reputation for the highest quality service.  

David has been responsible for developing and directing the entire array of technical and analytic resources at the company, including ERG's capabilities in air quality, water quality, climate and energy, sustainability, facilities management, mobile source air pollution, industrial process engineering, economic analysis, environmental and occupational health, and program evaluation. He has supported EPA, DOE, OSHA, DOI, FDA, DOD, the White House staff, and other clients in developing energy and environmental policies for the past three decades. He has explored the impact of government regulations on virtually every major sector, and estimated the costs and benefits of scores of federal programs.

ERG has received two "Best Workplaces of the Year" awards (2009, 2010) from the Boston Globe based on responses to employee surveys covering such topics as career development opportunities and working conditions.  The company was also named EPA's Outstanding Small Business Contractor of the Year (1989) for its responsive services and superior performance.

Prior to founding ERG, David established himself as a successful business leader at Energy Resources Company, Inc., a diversified energy and environmental corporation based in Cambridge Massachusetts. He served as the consulting division director for the company, managing projects for government and private clients concerning environmental and energy economics. He has an M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard University and a B.A. in Economics from Swarthmore College.

Heidi Schultz - Vice President, Climate & Energy Services (ERG)

Heidi Schultz is a founder of ERG and director of the firm's Climate and Energy Services business practice, as well as the Communications and Marketing Group.  Over the past 28 years, she has dedicated herself to providing high quality service to public sector clients whose programs are designed to protect the environment and human health, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. Department of Energy, and state agencies.  By maintaining a focus on quality, and by assembling project teams that bring the best minds and technical capabilities to meet the needs of each client, Heidi has played a key role in expanding ERG's client base, revenues, and staff.

For the past 15 years, Heidi has led ERG's comprehensive technical, analytical, policy, IT, outreach and communications, and data management support to federal agencies as they have developed and implemented both voluntary and regulatory programs to reduce greenhouse gases.  She has managed eight prime contracts with EPA focusing on climate change and totaling more than $200 million. Prior to that, she managed more than 6 other EPA contracts totaling more than $150 million and related to water pollution, air quality, solid and hazardous waste management, and environmental research and development.   She has also managed several multimillion dollar contracts for the CDC related to the health and environmental effects of toxic substances.

Since merging with the AEA in late 2010, Heidi has assisted in bringing to clients the full suite of technical capabilities that the expanded group now provides.  Heidi holds a BA in geology from Wellesley College.