Washington Post
By Judith Mbuya
Monday, June 05, 2006
Position: President, Triple Canopy Inc., a Herndon company that provides security to governments and corporations globally.
Career Highlights: Chief financial officer, Triple Canopy; senior vice president, operations, Maximus Inc.; co-founder, president and chief operating officer, iBrite Inc.; vice president, finance, TRW Systems and Information Technology Group; corporate vice president and chief financial officer, federal, BDM International Inc.; senior vice president, corporate contracts and financial management, BDM International; senior vice president, program management and information systems, BDM; vice president, administration, BDM; director and assistant vice president, contract administration, BDM; contracting officer and branch director, Naval Air Systems Command/Naval Material Command.
Age: 57
Education: BS, analytical management, U.S. Naval Academy; MBA, George Washington University.
Personal: Lives in Reston with wife Peggy.
How did you get to where you are?
I caught the entrepreneurial bug early when I created a neighborhood lawn service at age 8 or 10 with a friend who is now a partner in a major accounting firm. And
I continued at the Naval Academy with the creation of a business that sold slogan T-shirts, greeting cards and gemstones for our class rings. So today I'm at the helm
of a company and trying to apply a lot of the passion for the entrepreneurial spirit in a company that is two years old. But I'm surrounded by a management team that
is full of experience. I was attracted to Triple Canopy because the founders, U.S. Special Forces veterans, were committed to create a special company that would take
a leadership role in setting standards in training, performance and ethical conduct in a new industry involving private security firms. Worldwide we help protect our
clients' lives and high value assets. This was the job that my whole career had prepared me for.
My biggest break came when I was hired by BDM, a small company in the engineering systems integration and information technology marketplace. My 17 years at BDM was an experience of a lifetime. I was part of the senior-management team that grew the business from $80 million to $1.2 billion when TRW acquired the company. My invaluable learning experience included building a business in a competitive market place, being acquired, participating in a management buyback, going public, making several acquisitions and finally being acquired. So this lifetime of experiences I gained while at one company [provided] many significant business milestones that I feel I can apply at Triple Canopy. As a co-founder of iBrite, I got the opportunity to start a company and obtain funding from the first investors. I honed my strategic planning and market research skills while controlling scarce investor funding in the new market of enterprise software for handheld computers.
At Triple Canopy, I hope to provide leadership and contribute to the company's future by helping it successfully meet the challenges of growth by drawing from all my experiences and being a mentor to the future leaders.