State of the Union: Dept of State; Homeland Security; & Education

Michael W. Derrios is a recognized leader in the field of government acquisition with

more than 25 years of federal, military and private sector experience. He has been a

member of the Senior Executive Service since 2015.

Mr. Derrios currently serves as the Senior Procurement Executive for the U.S.

Department of State. In this capacity, he is responsible for planning, coordinating,

directing, and evaluating all global procurement and contracting operations and

activities within the Department of State as well as procurement grants and

cooperative agreements, which constitute a broad and complex support mechanism

for the Department and the Foreign Service. He provides department-wide

leadership and serves as the principal expert advisor on formulating and

developing acquisition policies and business processes for conducting procurement

and contracting functions effectively and economically. The Department of State

spends approximately $9.5 billion each year to carry out its mission of representing

America’s foreign policy abroad and advancing the interests and security of the

American people.

Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Derrios served as the Senior

Procurement Executive and Head of Contracting Activity for the United States

Coast Guard (USCG) where he was responsible for all contracting functions within

the agency, including functional responsibility for over 500 civilian and military

personnel throughout the United States and abroad. He led efforts to recapitalize

assets for the Service through Major Acquisition Programs, including award of the

largest contract in USCG and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) history for

detailed design and construction of the Offshore Patrol Cutter fleet with a life cycle

value of $10 billion.

Mr. Derrios was a plank holder for the Transportation Security Administration

(TSA) and helped stand up the agency from its inception under the Department of

Transportation through its transition to DHS, serving in various contracting and

program management roles. He led a contracting portfolio valued at over $2

billion for national security programs and served as a senior advisor to the

Assistant Administrator for Acquisition, driving strategic initiatives to bolster

service delivery. He led the Checkpoint Technologies Division in the TSA Office

of Security Capabilities where he was responsible for a program management

office that deployed the nationwide fleet of passenger and carry-on baggage

screening equipment, valued at $5 billion in life cycle costs. Mr. Derrios also

served as the program director for the expansion of TSA PreCheck® helping to

increase eligible populations for expedited security screening.

In the private sector, Mr. Derrios served as a senior business consultant and

contributed to the success of a large software development and implementation

program to replace legacy contract writing systems for 20,000 procurement

professionals across the Department of Defense.

Mr. Derrios previously served on active duty as a member of the United States Air

Force and in the Maryland Air National Guard. He holds a Master of Business

Administration degree from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science

degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Lester L. Ingol is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistant Administrator for the Resilience Office of Business Management (OBM).  He entered this position in August 2023.  In this position, Mr. Ingol leads the Resilience-wide portfolio on budget operations, human resources, procurement and asset management, workforce/employee development, and Resilience employee readiness.  Mr. Ingol ensures Resilience accountability for an approximately $10 billion annual budget and guides Resilience through the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process that includes annual resource allocation planning development, the President’s Budget Request, and Congressional appropriations matters.  He also provides enterprise-wide direction on major mission support initiatives across Resilience. 

Prior to this position, Mr. Ingol served as the Acting Chief Security Officer from January 2023 to August 2023. He was responsible for directing the development and execution of FEMA’s security programs, including the security of classified information and programs, the protection of FEMA facilities including regional, field and outlying installations/offices, investigations of security concerns, enforcement of security requirements, development of security policies, identification of security initiatives, and establishing and ensuring compliance with security standards for the Agency. 

Previously, Mr. Ingol served as FEMA’s Deputy Head of the Contracting Activity within the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer. He was responsible for the management and oversight of acquisition operations, policy, and programs totaling approximately $3.76B and 9,800 transactions, annually. 

Throughout his tenure with FEMA, Mr. Ingol has served in multiple leadership positions that included Director, Acquisition Operations Division; Deputy Director, Preparedness and Internal Operations; and Branch Chief for Recovery, Information Technology, and Mission Support. Mr. Ingol, also served in major disaster operational leadership positions within the Agency, such as serving as the Resource Support. Section Chief in the FEMA National Response Coordination Center where he was responsible for the oversight of Mission Assignments, Finance, Acquisitions, and numerous emergency support functions in 2017 during Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. He also led acquisitions for response and recovery in support of numerous presidentially declared emergencies and disasters, including the COVID-19 response, Hurricanes Sandy, Michael, Matthew, Laura and Ida.

Prior to his tenure with FEMA, Mr. Ingol began his acquisition career as a Logistician while serving on active duty in the US Marine Corps where he served for 10 years. Soon after his military service he became a contract officer for the Department of the Army where he was a member of the team that implemented contracts for linguistic services in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and the Army’s linguist training centers. He was awarded the Army’s Civilian Commendation Medal.

Mr. Ingol received a MA in Management and Leadership from Webster University, and a BS in Management from Park University. Mr. Ingol is a Senior Executive Fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and has also attended The Brookings Institution Executive Leadership program. Mr. Ingol currently resides in Virginia with his wife Marie and their daughters.

Calvin J. Mitchell Jr. serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Grants and Risk Management (OAGRM), Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) and Suspension and Debarment Official. He is the senior executive responsible for leading the administration of $50 billion annual grant and contract portfolio. As the SPE he is responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and overseeing the procurement programs of the Department of Education.

Previously, he served as the Director, Department of Education, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). Mr. Mitchell is responsible for implementing the Department’s small business procurement programs across the $2.8 billion procurement operation. As Director, he is responsible for implementing policies and initiatives throughout the Department to ensure that all socioeconomic categories of small business are afforded opportunities to compete for contracts.

Prior to the OSDBU, Mr. Mitchell was the Deputy Director of Contracts and Acquisitions Management (CAM). As CAM Deputy Director, in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, he was responsible for overseeing the work of four contracting divisions that provide operational procurement services to the Department of Education. Prior to joining the Department, Mitchell served as the Branch Chief of the Accounts Management Division at the General Services Administration.

Mitchell led the organization toward meeting the Government-wide strategic goals to support all 24 CFO Act agency vision, mission, and strategic goals. Separately, Mr. Mitchell served as a Congressional Fellow for the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee reporting to Chairman Bennie Thompson. In this position he served as the Principal Procurement Advisor to Committee leadership and provided guidance and oversight to Members and Committee staff on procurement, small business programs, and related acquisition issues within the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Mitchell has also held leadership positions at the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Mitchell began his acquisition career with the U.S. Army Picatinny Arsenal New Jersey successfully completing the Department of Defense contract specialist intern program. He is a Certified Federal Contract Manager (CFCM) with the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). He has an undergraduate degree in Business and a Master’s in Business Administration from Centenary University of New Jersey.

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