Page 28 - FCW, April 15, 2016

THE 2016 WINNERS
MATTHEW A. TAIT
Senior Managing Director
Accenture
BRIG. GEN. (RETIRED) GREGORY J. TOUHILL
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications
Department of Homeland Security
JAMES C. TRAINOR JR.
Assistant Director, Cyber Division, FBI
Department of Justice
DEVON TROLLEY
Technical Adviser for Strategy Development and Implementation, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
ASHWIN VASAN
Chief Information Officer
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
JILL VAUGHAN
Assistant Administrator, Office of Security Capabilities, and Chief Technology Officer, Transportation Security Administration Department of Homeland Security
NAVIN VEMBAR
Chief Technology Officer
General Services Administration
ROBERT W. VIETMEYER
Cloud Computing Portfolio Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer Department of Defense
FUMIE N. WINGO
International Spectrum Policy Lead
Department of the Navy
PATRICIA WOLFHOPE
Program Manager, Science and Technology Directorate Department of Homeland Security
TIMOTHY WOMACK
Director, Digital Services
Department of the Treasury
JOANNE WOYTEK
Program Manager, SEWP
NASA
LOREN YU
Co-Founder
Nava
JUDITH R. ZAWATSKY
MAS Transformation Program Manager, Office of the Commissioner,
Federal Acquisition Service
General Services Administration
2016 PRESIDENT’S AWARD
RENATO “RENNY” DiPENTIMA
BY ANNE A. ARMSTRONG
Renato “Renny” DiPentima has won most of the awards the federal IT mar- ketplace offers — including five Federal 100 awards, FCW’s Eagle award in 2003, ACT-IAC’s Janice Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award and two
Presidential Rank Awards.
But this year’s President’s
Award recognizes another accomplishment that is argu-
ably even more significant:
his career-long commit-
ment to mentoring young
and midcareer government
executives and those who are transitioning to industry.
DiPentima spent his entire government career of more than 30 years at the Social Security Administration, where he rose from a GS-5 claims examiner to become the deputy commissioner for systems and the agency’s first CIO. He managed the transition from a paper-based approach to handling claims to an online system that processes millions of transactions each day.
Along the way, he learned some impor- tant lessons about managing expectations in
Congress and getting buy-in from his SSA team.
The lessons of inclusion and buy-in that shaped the revamping of SSA systems also governed DiPentima’s time at SRA Inter- national (now part of CSRA). Like most companies in the systems integrator com- munity, SRA hired smart executives from
government — but rarely for a specific job. Instead, new recruits spent time in the finance department to learn how the company made its money and then, not unlike a medical internship, rotated to other departments to learn about the different parts of the company’s business. At
that point, each executive would devise a role in which he or she could create new value for the company.
During his 13 years at SRA, DiPentima mentored a wave of executives who still play an important role in the community today. And he continues to serve as coun- selor through his involvement with multiple companies’ boards.
Mary Ellen Condon, who joined SRA from the Justice Department in 1999, said DiPentima was special because he listened.
“He didn’t think he had all the answers,” she said. “He let people play to their own strengths.”
She wanted to create a security practice, but at the time, DiPentima said there was no future in security — a declaration about which all involved still chuckle. He did change his mind, however, and Condon built a security practice.
Ed Meagher, another government recruit, said, “Renny has such a deft touch to men- toring.... He has given an untold number
of transitioning executives a safe harbor to ask the dumb questions and to explore the available possibilities. His advice comes in the form of subtle questions, gentle sugges- tions and constant encouragement. I owe Renny more than I can ever repay, so I just try to emulate him and pay it forward.”
Kay Kapoor, president of AT&T Global Business Public Sector Solutions, never worked for DiPentima but once took a class he taught at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “Renny has always been generous with his wisdom, insights and ideas — not only to me but to so many people in the government/contracting industry,” she said. “I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his guidance and friendship, which I treasure.” n
24 April 15, 2016 FCW.COM