Janet Clement – Chief Executive Officer
As CEO of Jefferson, Janet Clement epitomizes leadership with her dynamic approach, exemplifying over 30 years of expertise in spearheading growth, change, and innovation. Her tenure is marked by an unwavering commitment to customer-focused solutions. Under her stewardship, Jefferson has flourished, both in market reputation and internal strategy cohesion. Janet’s belief in the transformative power of a people-centric culture has been pivotal in creating an innovative workplace. Her hands-on leadership style fosters collaboration across executive and senior management teams, driving solutions that address government challenges with client-centricity and high-impact results.
Before her current role, Janet oversaw a small business’s growth from $20M to $50M as the Chief Operating Officer. Her strategic vision and execution led to the establishment of a Shared Services Business Unit and the significant win of the Department of Commerce HR Shared Services contract. Her previous positions include Senior Director at ASI Government and a nine-year tenure at Unisys Federal, where she developed a Human Capital Practice and managed strategic accounts across various federal agencies. Janet’s roots in the public sector include significant roles at the U.S. Mint and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Her active involvement in industry organizations further strengthens her leadership. She is a member of the Executive Committee for Professional Services Council and for the Industry Advisory Council for ACT-IAC, as well as a member of the founding board of directors for the Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Development (CREED).
Martin Mackes – Chief Delivery Officer
Marty Mackes, the Chief Delivery Officer at Jefferson, stands as a testament to over three decades of distinguished service in delivering solutions to Federal Government clients. His expertise spans across Homeland Security, Defense, Intel, and Civilian agencies. Marty’s leadership has been instrumental in steering an exceptionally talented team, fostering a culture of extraordinary delivery while aligning with business growth and corporate strategies. He oversees Jefferson’s Mission Support Team, including Enterprise Program Management, HR, Talent Acquisition, Contracts, and IT.
Marty’s previous tenure as Chief Delivery Officer at Avantus Federal saw him transforming program management and delivery models, contributing to the company’s expansion to over 1,000 employees. His rich experience includes senior roles at Unisys, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Standard Technology Incorporated, where he led businesses servicing various federal and defense markets.
His academic background includes a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Old Dominion University. Marty’s commitment to industry excellence is reflected in his chairmanship of the Homeland Defense Business Council (HSDBC).
Jeremy Arensdorf – Chief Growth Officer
Jeremy Arensdorf, serving as the Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer at Jefferson, is the driving force behind the company’s new business initiatives and proposal efforts. His tenure at Jefferson is marked by transformative growth, guiding the company into new service areas and agencies. With a portfolio of serving over 20 federal agencies, his expertise in federal acquisition, organizational development, and project management is unparalleled.
Jeremy’s credentials include a PMP certification and being a Fellow of ACT-IAC. His leadership has been acknowledged through his chairmanship of the Acquisition Management Shared Interest Group and his selection for APMP’s 40 Under 40 award. He holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA with high distinction from Hastings College.
Before joining Jefferson, Jeremy’s dynamic background includes being the Director of Forensics at Doniphan-Trumbull High School in Nebraska, where he established a premier speaking program.
Dr. Allan Burman – Jefferson Solutions President
Dr. Allan Burman, President of Jefferson Solutions, has been a transformative leader since establishing the government consulting practice in 1996. His leadership has seen Jefferson providing a spectrum of services, including analysis, program management, and acquisition assistance to over 60 government agencies.
Dr. Burman’s distinguished government career includes policy roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the White House’s OMB. As the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, he was a pioneer in establishing performance-based contracting and emphasizing outcome-focused federal management practices.
His accolades include being a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, past Chairman of the Procurement Round Table, a Board Advisor at NCMA, and a Senior Advisor to Government Executives at the Partnership for Public Service. His educational background is equally notable, with a PhD from George Washington University, a Master’s degree from Harvard, a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Bordeaux, France, and a Bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University.
Jessica Dusewicz – Controller
Jessica Dusewicz is the Controller of Jefferson Consulting Group. She is a critical member of the executive team and provides strategic management and oversight of all accounting activities for the company. Jessica works closely with delivery management to execute accounting best practices across the organization and to empower Jefferson’s teams to deliver excellent client service to their federal and non-federal clients. Jessica’s expertise comes from her 18 years of experience in government contractor accounting.
Prior to joining Jefferson, Jessica provided controller and accounting services to clients as a Senior Consultant for SDL. She has supported dozens of successful JAMIS Prime implementations, provided her clients with ongoing training, audit support, and guidance on internal accounting best practices.
Prior to SDL, Jessica was the Accounting Manager for Geodesicx, where she managed the finance and accounting operations and assisted with the implementation of JAMIS Prime. Jessica also worked with Kearney & Company for nine years, where she advanced within the internal accounting department from Timekeeping Administrator to Project Accountant. Jessica holds a B.S. in Finance from George Mason University.
Laura Noce – Vice President, Human Resources
As Jefferson’s Vice President of Human Resources, Laura is responsible for all aspects of our human capital programs and strategy. With more than 25 years of experience in human resources and leadership, Laura works to create an employee-oriented, high-performance culture that emphasizes empowerment, quality, productivity and ongoing development of a superior workforce here at Jefferson. Her expertise and tactics align Jefferson’s human resources strategy with the organization’s mission and business objectives.
Before her current role, Laura served as the Human Resources Director & Facility Security Officer of a woman-owned consulting firm that provided services to the federal government. Within that group, Laura led the human resources & security functions and implemented new best practices across the organization.
Laura earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She is an active member of the national and local chapters of the Society of Human Resource Management.
MJ Sivulich – Senior Vice President
MJ Sivulich is the Senior Vice President leading Jefferson’s Business Solutions practice. She provides government affairs, federal business development, and public sector marketing support to industry clients. She delivers vital insights into market trends and growth strategies and guides businesses toward market dominance. She has a long track record of helping nonprofits and small, mid, and large businesses meet and exceed their growth objectives through business development strategy, proposal support, capture support, and market research.
As Legislative Director at Teledyne Brown Engineering, MJ was key in securing federal support and business growth through strategic legislative initiatives, demonstrating her knowledge in navigating federal legislation. Her expertise in federal affairs was honed during her tenure with two Blue Dog Democrats in Congress, focusing on federal appropriation.
MJ is active in the GovCon community and leads the ACT-IAC FIE VA Team and is a co-lead for the PSC VA Task Force and the PSC VA Vision Team.
MJ’s educational background, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the South, provides a lasting foundation for her career. Her unique combination of legislative knowledge and business skills makes her an invaluable asset to Jefferson, where she continues to be a leading force in federal business consulting.
Karen O’Brien – Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Karen O’Brien, Senior Vice President, leads the Emerging Accounts portfolio, a grouping of select large and independent agencies where Jefferson is performing and expanding service delivery, and serves as General Counsel. She is a government contracts attorney and recognized expert on procurement law. Leveraging her procurement expertise, Karen provides high-level acquisition assessment reviews, strategic assessments, and acquisition assistance to numerous federal agencies.
Before joining Jefferson, Karen was Of Counsel to a small firm where she practiced government contract law, including contract administration matters, claims, disputes and bid protests. Prior to that, she managed the Government Contracts publications program of the George Washington University Law School.
Karen began her career as a procurement law attorney in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. While in the Army, Ms. O’Brien served as the legal advisor to the Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting and the Head of Contracting Activity in Southwest Asia. She also served as a staff attorney for the DoD Advisory Panel on Streamlining and Codifying the Acquisition Process (Section 800 Panel).
Ms. O’Brien is an author on key texts in the field of government contracting, including The Government Contracts Reference Book and Competitive Negotiation: The Source Selection Process (published by CCH Publishing). Karen received a Juris Doctor from the Vermont Law School and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Niagara University.
Michelle Straughn – Senior Vice President
Michelle is a Senior Vice President and leads the Infrastructure and Natural Resources (INR) Portfolio. A seasoned management consultant with over 25 years of experience, Michelle is an expert in transforming organizations and providing acquisition, business process reengineering, organizational assessment and redesign, data and analysis, and strategic planning services, as well as human capital, cost and performance, IT, and operations management support.
Michelle provides stellar business development, capture, growth management, and strategic leadership and guidance, to over 25 programs and projects primarily supporting United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Department of Interior (DOI). The services provided in INR span all of the Jefferson offerings to include program/project management and analysis, human capital management, strategic planning, acquisition and grants management lifecycle support, communications, training and facilitation, and process automations and data analytics.
Prior to joining Jefferson, Michelle served in the roles of Chief Operations Officer (COO), Founder and President of a woman-owned small consulting firm, and Senior Manager/Engagement Director at various large government consulting firms.
Michelle holds a BA from the University of Maryland and a Master of Public Management from the Maryland School of Public Affairs. Michelle is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the American Association for Budget and Program Analysis (AABPA).
Eric Bolstad – Senior Vice President
As a Senior Vice President, Eric leads Jefferson’s USAID portfolio. With over 30 years of experience supporting USAID programs in 24 countries, including as a USAID direct hire contract specialist, a USAID democracy officer and as both a contract/grant specialist and a Director of Finance and Administration for USAID implementing partners, Eric provides a unique perspective in solving international development issues and managing international development projects. Eric is an expert in financial management, grant and contract management, field operations, policy development, budget development, internal auditing, personnel training and supervision, project start-up and close-out, and project development and implementation.
Prior to joining the team at Jefferson, Eric led the finance and administration of USAID projects for FHI 360, International Relief and Development (IRD), Academy for Educational Development (AED), and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (Solidarity Center) including long-term assignments in Serbia and Montenegro for IRD and in Indonesia for both IRD and AED.
Eric served 6 years with the Army National Guard (California and Virginia). As Platoon Sergeant (E6), he managed the training, health and welfare of personnel of 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company, 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 29th Infantry Division (Light), in Fredericksburg, VA. Eric has a BA in International Relations from and a BA in Spanish from California State University – Chico and holds an MBA with a concentration in Contract Management from Florida Tech.
Kevin Houley – Vice President
Kevin Houley is a Vice President and Defense Portfolio Lead. Kevin is a visionary leader and executive with 25 years of experience supporting National Security Initiatives for the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Over the course of his career, Kevin has had the privilege of leading highly technical, diverse workforces. Kevin takes pride in his ability to adapt to changing priorities while maintaining a holistic perspective for his clients. He has proven his leadership time and time again while effectively driving change, achieving objectives, and successfully managing programs in stressful, high-pressure situations. Kevin places great value in developing collaborative relationships with internal and external customer teams.
Prior to joining Jefferson, Kevin was the Senior Director for Teradata’s Public Sector. He was accountable for service sales and P&L on all consulting engagements, personnel management, and providing pre-sales expertise for prospective DoD clients. After 9/11, Kevin joined Northrop Grumman/TASC and during his tenure, he served as CIO of the State and Local Government Sector and managed $400M, 250+ FTE global classified programs. In this role, he led his team to over $750M in new business. Kevin states that his success was based on outstanding relationships with industry partners, outstanding employees, and strong listening skills with the customer.
Kevin’s educational background includes a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, an MBA from George Washington University and a Graduate Certificate in Intelligence Analysis from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy.
Kaelin Kovacik – Project Management Operations Director
Kaelin is the Project Management Operations Director at Jefferson. Kaelin leads internal efforts to identify, analyze, and implement business process improvements within the company to better serve clients. As a PMI-certified Project Management Professional, Kaelin develops and implements procedures and best practices to ensure Jefferson executes its business operations smoothly, and with precision.
Kaelin also leads Jefferson’s quality initiatives, working closely with delivery and mission support teams to identify opportunities for process improvement that increase efficiency and reduce program operating expenses, mitigate risk, and allow Program and Projects Managers to focus on delivering excellent client service. Further, Kaelin manages the implementation of executive-sponsored, strategic initiatives such as Annual Operation Plan (AOP) development, system implementations, and more.
Kaelin comes to Jefferson from Avantus Federal, where, as Project Manager, she led contract delivery for a joint Department of Transportation and Office of Management and Budget effort designed to evaluate the federal government’s implementation of the Federal Data Strategy.
Kaelin obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Kentucky and a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from American University.
