Y.E.S. Speaker Breakfast: Bridging the Gap - Getting a Seat at the Table

All ambitious professionals seek ways to increase their influence and access to money and power. But how does one gain access to these exclusive circles? How as a young executive does one rub elbows with the powers that be? How do you get a seat at the table?

Join the Young Executive Society (YES) Tower Club of VA for the latest in our speaker series breakfasts as we hear from a distinguished panel of successful entrepreneurs who have achieved this and more.

Admission: $35.00
To register call the Tower Club at 703.761.4250 or email Lindsey Williams at Lindsey.Williams@ourclub.com

Our panel of executives include:

JD Kathuria, Founder & CEO of WashingtonExec

JD Kathuria is founder and president of WashingtonExec, an outcome-oriented networking organization and online news publication that provides breaking and featured coverage and hosts exclusive events for the area’s executives of consequence.

Since launching the company in 2011, Mr. Kathuria has grown its membership to include more than 200 executives, entrepreneurs and thought leaders within the private, public, nonprofit and academic sectors.

A firm believer in the importance of trusted, long-termprofessional relationships, Mr. Kathuria is well regarded in the DC businesscommunity as a connector and advisor. He and his team host upwards of 80 events each year to facilitate long-lasting relationships and encourage meaningful thought exchange among their participants.

Mr. Kathuria, a Virginia native, is a staunch advocate for investing in STEM education. He took his passion to new levels last year and launched the inaugural STEM Symposium 2014, powered by WashingtonExec. The event, now in its second year, aims to engage and bring together 2,500children, parents and executives from the industry, government and nonprofit sectors so as to increase awareness of the STEM education gap.

Prior to forming WashingtonExec, Mr. Kathuria co-founded a weekly e-magazine in 2003, where as editor-in-chief he oversaw editorial content. His more than 1,000 interviews with government, business, education and political leaders gave him unique insight into the nuts and bolts of the government contracting community.

Mr. Kathuria holds a BA degree in Political Science from George Mason University. Today he sits on the executive committee for the 2015Management of Change (MOC) Conference and serves on the Development Committee for the National Kidney Foundation. In addition, he serves as a member of the advisory council of the Bite Me Cancer Foundation and is an active member of The Tower Club Tysons Corner Board of Governors. From 2006-2011 he served on the Board of Directors of SECAF.

He resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children.

Keith Moore, Partner, Martin Blanck & Associates

Keith Moore became a senior partner with the firm of Martin, Blanck & Associates in 2008. Hisfocus is providing strategic business advice for clients that do business with the Federal Government, along with some commercial work in the areas ofhealthcare and homeland security. Mr.Moore builds business relationships amongst companies and government executives to achieve mutual success. In addition to having a portfolio of companies that range from large, medium and small, his personal clients hold set-aside status in the areas of Service Disabled Veteran Owned, 8(a), Woman-Owned, and HubZone. IT is a major area of concentration for his clients.

The firm of Martin, Blanck & Associates has more than two dozen senior executive partners with expertise in health care policy,program development, executive management, strategic planning, informatics,public health strategies, and homeland security.

Prior to joining Martin-Blanck & Associates, Mr. Moore was a key member of the team that helped build the Department of HomelandSecurity (DHS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA)–the largest government department established since the Department of Defense in the 1940s.

Mr. Moore served as a Senior Advisor in transportationsecurity at TSA. He was the primary point of contact on policy issues for a variety of security programs on vetting passengers, baggage, cargo, associated biometrics, and Homeland Security Presidential Directives. He also managed an intelligence information protection division at TSA. As Special Assistant to the Deputy Administrator, he headed multiple leadership initiatives to advance research and development funding, industry initiatives, TSA business transformation and culture, and Department transportation priorities.

Having experience as a lawyer early in his career, Keith also worked in the venture capital world. He cofounded and launched a privacy/security data compliance resource company for a Dallas VC firm.

Mr. Moore holds a Juris Doctor from New England Law in Boston, and has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Villanova University.

Nicholas Jordan, Owner of Capitol Bridge Holdings

Nicholas Jordan is the owner of Capitol Bridge Holdings, a Virginia based holding company with interests in Capitol Bridge Services, a consulting and professional services firm; Capitol Bridge Ventures, a direct investment and advisory firm; and interests in other businesses within the Cyber Security, Social Media, and Venture Capital sectors. Prior to starting the Capitol Bridge companies, Mr. Jordan worked for Deloitte Consulting supporting their Mergers& Acquisitions and Venture Capital groups. While at Deloitte Mr. Jordan also served on the Deloitte Leadership Advisory Board, (D.L.A.B) which was comprised of the firms most senior former government officials. In this capacity he worked one on one with these former government officials and the federal consulting account and segment leads to bring new business ideas and strategies to market. Mr. Jordan has also worked on Capitol Hill as a Scheduler and Bodyman for a member of Congress and on WallSt. within Citigroup’s Investment Bank.

In his free time Mr. Jordan serves a mentor to small business owners through Sir Richard Branson’s Centre of Entrepreneurship B-Engaged Mentorship Program. He also manages a non-profit mentoring organization called “Get on the Street”,designed to assist minority students in obtaining internships and jobs in Finance, Consulting, and Marketing & Advertising. Mr. Jordan serves on a number of non-profit boards including: Teach em’ to Fish Community Development Corporation, a business incubator ministry in Prince Georges County, Maryland; The Ridley Scholarship Fund, The University of Virginia Alumni Association Board of Managers and Young Alumni Council; The Ambassadors Council for the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship; The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s “Finest Campaign; and the African Continuum Theatre Company.

Mr. Jordan graduated from the University of Virginia with Honors and a Distinguished Major in Political & Social Thought.

Our panel is moderated by Y.E.S. Chair, Ryan Rauner

Ryan Rauner, Broker,Veatch Commercial Real Estate

Ryan Rauner, Broker with Veatch Commercial Real Estate, specializes in tenant and buyer representation with a focus on office and industrial space. Mr. Rauner’s clients range from start-ups to established nationwide companies and his areas of expertise include government contracting, strategic planning, and negotiations.

In addition to real estate brokerage Mr. Rauner is the Chair of the Young Executive Society of the Tower Club and is involved in many philanthropic and volunteer organizations. He is a founding member of the Future Fund, a giving circle for young professionals,who mission is to promote philanthropy and community service in 20, 30, and40-somethings as well as Young Business Leaders (YBL), a C-level executive forum focused on the same. Mr. Rauner sits on the board of Five Talents, which provides micro-financing in developing countries; Final Salute, which provides assistance to homeless female veterans; is a member of the Equal Footing Foundation’s Millennial Board, dedicated to providing an “equal footing” for our area’s youth regardless of race, creed or economic circumstance; and serveson the gala committee for the Arts for Autism Gala, which benefits the Autism Society of Northern Virginia.

Ryan serves on the advisory board of Hummingbirds Consulting, a woman-owned, minority-owned IT staffing company located in Tysons Corner, VA. Mr. Rauner is politically active; serving on the Finance Committee for the Fairfax County Republican Committee, is a founding member of NextGen GOP a statewide organization whose mission is to engage millennials/the next generation of Republicans, and is a board member of the Northern Virginia Republican Business Forum.

Ryan is a graduate of Leadership Fairfax’s Emerging Leaders Institute (Class of 2010). On the weekends, Ryan enjoys volunteering with the Tenley Achievement Program (TAP), a mentorship program under the Youth Leadership Foundation, which focuses on character development along with academic excellence for underserved youths in our nation’s capital.

Mr. Rauner holds a BA inPolitical Science and a Minor in Sociology from Villanova University and is a lifelong resident of Fairfax County, VA.