Varetta Huggins, PgMP, PMP, CSM, ITIL, is a National Speaker and your Government Contracting Expert. Varetta is also the President and CEO of V-Project Management Consulting LLC, aka V-PMC, an SBA-certified 8(a) and WOSB and D/MDOT-certified D/M/W/SBE Government Contracting firm in the Washington DC Metro Area since 2009.  Varetta started the V-Government Contracting Success Program aka V-GovCon Program in 2018 to help small business owners and entrepreneurs to navigate the Government Contracting industry.  V-PMC is the main sponsor for our V-GovCon Summit and Varetta will be the Summit Host.

Varetta earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Hampton University and her Master of Science degree in Information Systems Technology from the George Washington University. She has over 20 years of experience as a Government Contractor supporting 6 Federal Government Agencies with IT Portfolios worth over $5 billion. 

Varetta is passionate about helping small business owners gain access to Federal Government Contracts. For every small business owner or entrepreneur who would like to grow their business with Government Contracts and Grants, she has the best approach to equipping you with the right tools, techniques, and processes, to show you "HOW" to navigate Government Contracts and Grants. 

Varetta graced the cover of the CIO Today Magazine as “5 Most Powerful Women in Business to Watch in 2022”; she was featured in the Insight Success Magazine as "One of the 10 Most Admired Women Leaders in Business 2022"; she has graced the cover of the Women Leaders Magazine as “One of the 20 Most Inspiring Women Leaders 2021”; and she has been interviewed by Super Mogul, Kathy Ireland on Fox Business News Network & Bloomberg TV.

In her spare time, Varetta has volunteered numerous hours in local school, church, and engineering organizations focused on mentoring and engaging children and teenagers about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.  

Melissa "Lisa" Oliva, is the Deputy Director and Senior Business Advisor in the Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  Lisa is a highly rated, passionate executive with 13+ years of Federal experience.  She served the U.S. Department of the Treasury with distinction as a member of the team supporting the launch of the $46 billion Air Carrier Loan Program (ALP) and National Security Loan Program (NSLP) under Title IV of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.  The ALP and the NSLP provided American workers and companies vital, timely assistance during the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic.  Lisa’s contribution ensured the Department was able to design and implement the ALP and NSLP in a manner that supported these vital industries, protected taxpayers and was consistent with the requirements of the CARES Act. Lisa received the Treasury’s Secretary Certificate of Appreciation for her contributions in support of American workers and preserving critical industries.

On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, and Lisa  was hand-picked by Treasury Senior Leadership to serve as the Objective 2 Team Lead.  Lisa assesses findings on the current state of businesses owned by small and very small businesses, Minority Serving Institutions, HSIs, and HBCUs located in the underserved communities, with a key objective of developing actionable outcomes. Lisa developed and deployed the Advancing Procurement Readiness Series to provide procurement readiness initiatives for the vendor community to prepare them for competitive federal contracting and grant opportunities.  Her diligence continues, as she is developing a pilot program to track spending practices across the agency and compare historical procurement and pricing trends for future contracts through a combination of AI/ML, blockchain, data analytics and research & evaluation methodologies.

Lisa has a strong acumen for leveraging research, data analysis and interrelationships to drive change and produce results for stakeholders and customers. She supports development, economic growth, and retention of MBE/WOSBs, and promotes economic development throughout commercial corridors leveraging public private partnerships. She envisions a business environment in which: small businesses are connected in real time with federal, local, and global business opportunities; businesses are able to navigate their website quickly, confidently, and effectively; and, every entrepreneur and business with a great idea and a great plan has the resources and capital commitment to deploy them in support of Treasury’s initiatives and core mission. Lisa is skilled at conducting research to identify gaps and conduct strategic planning to resolve issues. She possess a record of creating positive change, and producing results directly related to small business, women-owned business and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which is the direct object of current Federal role objective and goal. She has a strong ability to utilize Treasury organizational knowledge to create stakeholder and customer opportunities and learning events, which in turn meets department goals and objectives.

Lisa assesses findings on the current state of businesses owned or controlled by minorities or women and she recommends and implements ways to encourage MBEs to compete in the procurement process. She develops authoritative and targeted training and development initiatives for the minority-owned and women-owned business community to prepare them for competitive federal contracting and grant opportunities. She also innovates with team members to create requirements for custom business solutions using Share Point and other digital collaboration tools to aid Treasury in accomplishing common goals and objectives. She builds Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and Data Analytic tools to highlight, track, and eliminate barriers to help increase the competitiveness of the minority-owned and women-owned business vendor community.   She is developing a pilot program to track spending practices across the agency and compare historical procurement and pricing trends for future contracts through a combination of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Block Chain, Data Analytics and research & evaluation methodologies.

Lisa prepares recommendations to cabinet-level officials, executives, and senior management using industry best practices, lessons learned and data compilation for implementation approaches that result in new programs, policies, and enhancements to ensure the utilization of minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

Lisa maintains excellent Internal and External Stakeholder relations while building coalitions and interrelationships across several Federal agencies, private organizations, educational institutes, and the small business community.  She provides valuable training, educational events and personnel enrichment while serving at the Department of Treasury. She often leverages opportunities to develop individual personnel through mentorship, shadowing, and direct training experiences. She serves as a principal advisor to Senior Executive Service (SES), senior agency officials and key decision makers to drive inclusive procurement policy as well as identify and resolve organizational operating and performance issues. She also prepares long-range acquisition plans that include visualization of appropriate milestones and successful outcomes.