OUR ADVISORS
Malcolm Frost, MG (Retired)
Advisory Board Member
Mike Stone, MG (Retired)
Advisory Board Member
Provides executive leadership development and coaching for Fortune 500+ corporations. Provides public relations and communications advice for federal/state government and corporate clientele. Also gives expert advice to companies in the health and wellness and information operations industries. Has extensive keynote and public speaking experience in the areas of leadership, crisis, culture, goal setting, risk, extending influence, and health and fitness.
As a U.S. Army retired Major General, led all initial entry training, public affairs & relations, and crisis communications for the over 1.5M members of the United States Army with organizational budgets in excess of $538M. 20+ years experience in strategic communications, media relations, crisis and risk management, and leadership development.
Mike Stone counsels businesses through the intricacies of federal government contracts and partnership agreements. With his extensive military background and knowledge, Mike is able to provide strategic insight with federal and state contracts for small Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses, 8As and large global corporations. He helps companies obtain partnership agreements as a Sub or Prime and helps work through FAR and other compliance issues. In addition, he assists with federal bid submissions and provides networking and other relationship opportunities to organizations seeking government affiliation. Guiding clients through the federal budget process and priorities is an essential component of Mike’s practice to ensure the quickest route to profitability and that resources align with the intended goal. Mike is a retired Major General from the U.S. Army with more than 30 years of military service.
Mike has ten years of experience serving as in-house counsel for privately held corporations as well as seven of those years as a General Counsel. Prior to that, he gained experience representing automotive manufacturers in crash-worthiness cases and he served as litigation counsel for an automotive OEM handling warranty claims. While Mike is not a patent attorney, he has extensive experience in managing intellectual property portfolios.
He served as a Deputy Director in State government for more than eight years supporting two governors. While working for the National Guard in this capacity, Mike served on Governor Rick Snyder’s Cyber Executive Team and worked closely with the National Governor’s Association and National Security Staff on cyber policy matters. Mike also has an extensive energy and sustainability background.
Tom Perison, COL (Retired)
Advisory Board Member
Bill Fleser, LTC (Retired)
International Business Developer
Accomplished executive with over thirty five years of experience and success in war fight and Homeland exercise planning/execution, ORSA, LSS, PPBE processes, policy development, senior leader / international engagement, program management and strategic planning. Successfully led large, diverse organizations in complex work environments across several states producing solutions to national and state issues.
Experience and success managing $2.2 billion annual budget.
Known for providing solutions to diverse and complex issues ranging from organizational redesign and management to national level program management. Success developing new opportunities, capture management and opening new markets. Talent manager.
William (Bill) Fleser is a retired Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel with over 22 years of uniformed service, mainly in SF and joint assignments. He recently retired from the civil service after serving 20 years, the last 10 as Deputy Director and Program Manager/Senior Civilian of USSOCOM's J3-International Branch, which is an international SOF coordination center with representatives from 27 nations. Bill holds Masters degrees from Cornell University and the National War College, and is a graduate of the National Defense University Chief Information Officer certification course. Bill currently lives in Central Virginia and is a charter member of the Global SOF Foundation.
Rick Orth, LTC (Retired)
FSO & Diplomat for Africa
Jon Serkis, J3I
Business Developer
Colonel (Retired) Richard K. “Rick” Orth, a successful senior executive with over 30 years of management experience, has led multidiscipline teams in business development and project management in the U.S. Federal Government, African Government and Commercial sectors. He serves as Managing Director, Ambessa Solutions LLC specializing in Political and Security Consulting services. Rick commissioned in 1982 as an Armor officer and served 26 years in the U.S. Army. He retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel in July 2008. His military career highlights include commanding a tank company during OPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD/STORM, Defense Attaché (Rwanda 1996 – 1998, Uganda 2001-2005, and Ethiopia/Djibouti 2005-2006), Africa Branch Chief, J-2 Joints Chief of Staff, and culminating is Military Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Department of State. Upon retiring he joined the private sector initially as Director Strategic Planning, AECOM Government Services Program Manager Africa and the Near East for SOC, a Day and Zimmerman company; as Africa Regional Analyst, Professional Solutions (ProSol); and Director Business Development – Africa, Michael Baker International. Director Operations, Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions: Program Manager Overseas Programs, Mid-Atlantic Professionals DBA SSI; and Program Manager Vetting Linguistic Support Services, TJFACT.
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Rick serves as the Deputy Chairman and Permanent Secretary for the Officers of the First Division “Big Red One.” He served on the Corporate Council on Africa Infrastructure Sub-committee, the American Council of Engineering Companies International Sub-committee, and two terms on the International Stability Operations Association (2009 – 2010 and 2010 – 2011). He is a lifetime/founding member of the Foreign Area Officer Association. He has published articles and lectured on African Security issues.
With 32 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry, Jon Sirkis began his career working for the United States Army. Highlights of his career include assignment with USSPACECOM and serving with CENTCOM in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Mr. Sirkis worked space-related missions for 14 years and defense-related work for the remainder of his career. He currently serves as Director, Business Development for IME. He holds dual Master's degrees in Space Systems and Information Management.