KARA S. BARNES
Kara Barnes is a former senior officer with the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations, bringing over 20 years of experience at the intersection of national security, technology, and business processes. She has led interagency teams addressing complex global challenges and held senior roles including Chief of Counterintelligence, Chief of Operations, and Chief of multiple Covert Action Programs. A graduate of the Marine Corps War College with a master’s in National Security Strategy, Ms. Barnes brings deep expertise in translating mission needs into technical solutions and guiding organizations through high-stakes decision environments.
JACK CATTON
Maj. Catton has over three decades of operational and enterprise U.S. Air Force experience spanning requirements, modernization investment planning, operational test and evaluation, and joint war planning. A former Director of Requirements at Headquarters, Air Combat Command, and Chair of the Combat Air Forces Requirements Oversight Council, he now leads Catton Consulting and advises on impactful collaboration with the U.S. Government and mission-driven capability delivery.
VENICE M. GOODWINE
Mrs. Goodwine most recently served as Chief Information Officer for the Department of the Air Force (USAF) and Space Force (SF), where she led Enterprise IT, Data & Artificial Intelligence, and Cybersecurity directorates—overseeing a $17B portfolio enabling missions of approximately 20,000 cyber operations and support personnel. She advises CORAS.ai and HumanTouch on aligning agentic AI to the Department of War’s needs—maximizing operational impact, efficiency, and lethality.
Mr. Kessler is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Air Programs) and has served for over 35 years in the Senior Executive Service to the federal Government in program management, engineering, flight testing, weapons, strategy, and budget.
Mr. Kessler is founder of Kessler Integrated Systems Solutions, LLC, a consulting business offering a broad range of technical, management and organizational efforts in support of government, military, and industry. He also consults on strategic planning, program management, work force development, systems engineering and test and evaluation (T&E), primarily focused on U.S. Navy manned/unmanned platforms and weapon systems. Further, Mr. Kessler is a Board member for several businesses, including The Patuxent Partnership, and is the current President of the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance.
JOE MCDADE
Mr. McDade, SES-3 Retired, brings decades of experience driving innovation and transformation across the DoW, with expertise in data architecture, personnel systems, and mission alignment. He previously served as the Acting General Counsel of the Air Force (SAF/GC) and as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs (AF/A8).
John “OSCAR” Meier, a recently retired Commander of the Naval Air Force Atlantic (AIRLANT), spent over 35 years advancing and preserving the U.S. Navy’s mission and vision. Throughout his years, John’s expertise in electronic attack, nuclear propulsion, and other traditional warfighting capabilities grew alongside his visionary leadership and desire to drive innovation and forward thinking to military operations. John’s most recent accomplishment, prior to retirement, was the AIRLANT’s Maintenance Operations Center (MOC) created to foster a data driven environment to drive down maintenance cost and further increase mission capable rates across naval aviation. In addition to AIRLANT, John also served in various leadership roles at NAVY Warfare Development Command, Carrier Strike Group TEN, PCU USS Gerald R. Ford, Electronic Attack Squadron 136, and EA-6B/EA-18G/NGJ programs.
Partner-in-Charge of the Washington, DC office of Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP (Lippes Mathias), Mr. Rossetti is Lippes’ Public Law and Policy team leader, and leading advisor on federal issues, including issues arising before the Congress and federal Government, including the Department of the Interior. Additionally, Mr. Rossetti advises clients regarding federal Indian law and state attorneys general issues and federal investigations.
Mr. Rossetti has a long and accomplished law and lobbying career, with nearly 30 years of experience in Governmental Investigations & Enforcement Actions, Indian Law, and Litigation & Dispute Resolution. Prior to Lippes Mathias, he served in several senior and leadership roles at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, U.S. Department of the Interior, Erie County Attorney’s Office, the former N.Y. State Office of the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities, N.Y. State Office of the Attorney General, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Pat Sullivan, former Executive Director of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, led a global workforce of over 11,000 employees delivering and sustaining advanced information technology, communications systems, and cyber solutions to US naval, joint, and national forces worldwide. Pat’s prior executive positions include Executive Director for the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence as well as the Director for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance at the Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific.
ANDREW TIONGSON
Vice Admiral (Ret.) Andrew J. Tiongson has more than 36 years of leadership in the U.S. Coast Guard across global operations, interagency partnerships, and enterprise resource management. As the Assistant Commandant for Resources and Chief Financial Officer, he managed the USCG $12B+ portfolio and led strategy, accountability, and modernization investments. He advises CORAS.ai and HumanTouch on applying data-driven governance, operational rigor, and AI-enabled decision advantage to complex national security missions.
JENNIFER WENDEL
Jennifer Wendel is the former Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she managed a $7B IT portfolio supporting 83,000 personnel. She previously served over two decades at the FBI, culminating as Acting Deputy CIO, where she led enterprise IT modernization and cyber initiatives. Her experience guiding large-scale federal IT transformation brings invaluable perspective to CORAS as it scales mission-ready Agentic AI decision intelligence solutions.