Staff Biographies
She comes from a large family who have dedicated their lives to public service, especially in law enforcement. She is active in her community, including founding and serving as a leader in the “Parent, Staff and Community Organization” at a local school. Lisa is a native Washingtonian and is raising her two sons in the same tradition. Laura Keehner Rigas
As the former Press Secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Laura served as the chief spokesperson for former Secretary Michael Chertoff and managed all national and international media and press contact with the department and its agencies. Prior to her position at DHS, she was Senior Advisor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. Laura also served at the White House as Deputy Associate Director for the Office of Presidential Personnel where she helped manage the appointment process for federal boards and commissions. Before serving in the administration, Laura was the first Government Liaison at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Laura earned her Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from the College of William and Mary and her Master’s degree in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has been active in several volunteer capacities, including as a member of the Junior League of Boston and a former board member of the Junior League of Washington. She resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband Michael J. Rigas.
Clinton E. Long Conrad Busch In 1995 he retired from the Army after a career that spanned 28 years. He served as an infantry and public affairs officer in command, staff and instructor positions in Vietnam, Germany, and the United States. In his later career, he was a public affairs officer for Admiral Bill Crowe and General Colin Powell when they served as Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In his final assignment he was the Director of Public Affairs for the United States Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson. Less than a month after reporting for that position in 1992, he directed the public affairs aspects of the military's humanitarian relief effort in the wake of hurricane Andrew in Florida. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he is a graduate of Valley Forge Military College, Penn State University and the University of South Carolina. He is also a graduate of the Army War College and an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America. He is married to the former Candice Jean Kranz.
Sarah Rossetti joined BENS in August 2011 as Deputy Director of the Southeast Region. She is responsible for the development and distribution of BENS Southeast membership communication materials, for helping with member engagement, recruiting and retention, and for managing the BENS Southeast office. She also organizes BENS Southeast member events, including speakers and trips. Sarah is a graduate of Auburn University in Business and Hotel and Restaurant Management.
Matthew Elias was named the Director of the Texas Region of Business Executives for National Security (BENS) in January 2007. Prior to joining BENS, Matthew served for seven years in several leadership roles at the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, later GuideStone Financial Resources, the pension board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Matthew completed a 21-year Naval Aviation career in 1999. His career included numerous operational tours flying the P-3 Orion, an exchange tour with the Royal Air Force flying the Nimrod MK II, and a ship’s company tour on the USS MIDWAY (CV-41), home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan. He also completed a Pentagon tour as the Political Military advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations on the Asia-Pacific region. His final assignment in the Navy was as the Commanding Officer of Navy Recruiting District, Dallas. A native of Rhode Island, Matthew is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and earned a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1995 with a dual concentration in International Policy and Institutions and Strategic Management. Layne de Alvarez Layne de Alvarez joined BENS in September 2011 as the Deputy Regional Director for Texas. She began her career as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency working Latin American issues. While overseas, Layne worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency in Pakistan and completed various projects for the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, Germany. Layne most recently worked as a counterintelligence specialist in the Counterterrorism Center and the Special Activity Division at CIA. Layne is a native of Colorado and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She and her husband Alex have two children and reside in Houston. Katie Kenning A 5th generation Bay Area native, Katie earned her undergraduate degree at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and an MBA, with a concentration in marketing, from Notre Dame University, Belmont. Katie serves on the San Francisco Fleet Week and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame committees. In her spare time she enjoys sailing, hiking, scuba diving, and is an avid sports enthusiast.
Debbie McCarthy Debbie holds an MA in International Economics from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and a BA in Economics from Holy Cross. She and her husband, Neil McCarthy, have two grown children and currently live in Chappaqua, NY.
Laura Willoughby was named the Director of the Washington, D.C. Metro region area in February 2010. In this role, she develops and coordinates BENS members and programs in the Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, Baltimore, Annapolis and Norfolk, Va. regions. Laura brings more than a decade in private industry and non-profit experience in technology and national security to her role at BENS. Prior to BENS, she worked for an intelligence firm in Annapolis, MD, and was previously Executive Director of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, where she expanded the group to a regional concern, grew membership 300 percent and created a robust series of events, programs and roundtables, many of them built around the intelligence and homeland security communities. She was owner of a boutique PR firm, Splash PR, and began her career in broadcast and print journalism, where she was an award-winning journalist with several newspapers.
Josh Wellner Prior to that, he lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for six months as a consultant on a modernization and transformation project. He served in the United States Navy as Surface Warfare Officer for six years, four of those years on Sea duty in various Division officer roles. Following his tours at sea, he was selected to serve as a Senate Liaison Officer for the U.S. Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs. In that position, he escorted Members of Congress and their staffs on official domestic and international travel. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.
Henry (Butch) L. Hinton, Jr.
Julie Grundman is a Director for Policy and manages the BENS’ cybersecurity portfolio. In this role, she is helping to formalize member support of BENS’ government partners in the cybersecurity arena. Previously, Julie practiced corporate law at the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster, LLP, in New York City. Julie holds a B.A. in political science, with honors, from Grinnell College and a J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School. She is a member of the Massachusetts and New York Bars, the American Bar Association, and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy..
Prior to joining BENS, Doris served at the U.S. Africa Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, as Senior Strategic Advisor in the Strategy, Plans and Programs Directorate/J-5. Doris provided a broad strategic perspective to the 3 D construct (Defense, Diplomacy and Development), developing and leading strategic initiatives and engagements. Previously, Doris was engaged in international economic development and homeland defense. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, she joined the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), a not-for-profit organization that leverages the expertise of American business executives to promote stability and prosperity through private enterprise development. As Vice President for Europe and Eurasia, Doris oversaw the development and operations of IESC’s activities in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union countries. Following 9/11, Doris supported the Department of Homeland Security to advance international, interagency and private sector partnering. She executed international engagements with partner nations and developed public-private partnerships between U.S Government and businesses in support of American critical infrastructure protection. Doris holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and lives in Washington, D.C.
Susan C. Maybaumwisniewski
Paul E. Taibl
Prior to joining BENS, Paul was a senior analyst at Strategic Planning International. From 1992-93, he directed the defense policy and budget research for the independent, not-for-profit Defense Budget Project, now known as the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. At BENS, he has been the project lead and/or editor of many of its significant study efforts, including: the Tail-to-Tooth Commission: Arming the Pentagon to Change its Business Practices; The Report of the Independent Panel on the Central Intelligence Agency In-Q-Tel Venture; Pay for Performance at the CIA: Restoring Equity, Transparency and Accountability; Getting Down To Business: An Action plan for Public-Private Disaster Response Coordination; and, Getting to Best: Reforming the Defense Acquisition Enterprise. A former US Air Force officer, he served for 22 years including duty as a C-141 and C-5 pilot, forward air controller in Vietnam, and, at the Pentagon, as Chief of Plans Integration for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from military service in1990 as a senior fellow at the National Defense University where he wrote on defense industrial mobilization and strategic airlift issues. Paul, a graduate of the US Air Force Academy, has a B.S. in Economics and a M.S. in Operations Research. He lives with his wife, Judy, in Burke, Virginia. They have two grown sons.
James Whitaker
James is a graduate of the University of Missouri. Linda Moseley Executive Assistant to the President & CEO lmoseley@bens.org
From 1987—1996, Ms. Moseley worked in the National Security Program office of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government for their Executive Education Programs. Over the course of her affiliation there, she served as interim Executive Assistant to the Director of the National Security Program; Curriculum Coordinator, working directly with the Kennedy School faculty; Extracurricular Events Director; and Coordinator for all VIP guest speakers from DoD, Congress and the private sector. Ms. Moseley was a 20-year Air Force wife. That life experience, coupled with her years working in the national security arena at Harvard’s Kennedy School, brings a clear understanding of the military, Department of Defense and other government agencies to her professional role at BENS. She has two adult children, Matthew, and Meredith, and resides in Alexandria, VA. back to top
Devin Holmes
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Joining BENS in October 2002, Steve Lowe brings over twenty years of senior managerial experience in operations, finance and information technology. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and CFO of AIIM International where he oversaw acquisitions and mergers, designed a new Financial Reporting system, and led cost-cutting and consolidation operations. Steve earned his bachelor's and master's Degrees from Purdue University. 
Lisa Parker Jackson joined BENS in 1996 and her role has expanded to include information technology management, database administration, and office manager. In short: she handles everything that has an on/off switch. She oversaw the office move in 2009 and was directly involved in the planning, designing and building of the new space. Recently her focus has been on rebuilding the BENS database, migrating it to a new system, and providing training for all staff. 
Laura Keehner Rigas is Vice President for Communications. She is responsible for managing the internal and external communications activities of BENS and its public outreach strategy. 
Clinton Long is the Director of Publications and Web. He has over 20 years of experience in layout and publication design and has been on the BENS staff for 14 years. His responsibilities include updating the website and the design and production of printed material disseminated by BENS. Before joining BENS Clinton worked at Price Waterhouse (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) as a visual designer. He holds a B.A. degree from Morehouse College. 
Conrad "Connie" Busch became the Director of the Metro Atlanta Region of Business Executives for National Security (BENS) in 1998. Prior to joining BENS, he was special assistant to the president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and later director of Chamber Publications, Inc., the Chamber's for-profit publishing arm.
Katie joined BENS in 2010 and brings experience in marketing, business development, customer relationship management and membership development. Katie came to BENS from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce where she set a new bar for membership growth and retention. Prior to her role at the SF Chamber, Katie co-founded Capulet Marine, achieving exceptional growth in a down economy. She began her career as a worldwide product marketing manager in Hewlett-Packard’s software services division. 
William F. (Bill) Lawson joined BENS in 1996 as the Kansas City Regional Director, in which capacity he is responsible for events, recruiting and membership services in that metropolitan area.
Debbie came to BENS in 1995 following eight years on Capitol Hill, where she served as Legislative Director to Congressman Hamilton Fish, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and as Political Director for the winning campaign of his successor, Congresswoman Sue Kelly. She ran the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut Region for BENS as NY Regional Director until 2002, following which she spent six years in the private sector, first building a defense-focused strategic consulting firm in Washington, DC, and then working with a major New York philanthropist to launch a venture philanthropy/socially-driven business in Westchester County, NY. She returned to BENS in 2008 as Director of National Accounts.
As Senior Vice President for Policy, Butch oversees planning and execution of projects and engagements approved by the BENS Board of Directors. In doing so he works with government client-partners in the executive and legislative branches, leveraging the resources and experience of senior executives from the business community to help improve government operations and save taxpayer dollars.
Doris Mariani joined BENS as Vice President for Policy in April 2011. Doris has 20 years of senior management experience in private organizations and government, engaging government, businesses, non-governmental organizations and militaries in Europe, Eurasia and Africa. Her work and travels have taken her to 74 countries on five continents. Some of her focus areas at BENS include U.S. Combatant Commands, Counterterrorism and Illicit Networks. 
Susan Maybaumwisniewski is Vice President for Policy. She brings over twenty years of senior management experience with the Department of Defense. During her thirty year career as a Naval Officer, Susan had the leadership responsibility for command at all levels. She has expertise in anti-submarine warfare, education and training, and facilities management. Prior to joining BENS in June 2008, She was a professor of Acquisition at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a college of National Defense University, Washington DC. 
Paul Taibl, Vice President for Policy, has been on the staff since 1994. He pursues BENS’ interests in defense industry issues, defense acquisition and management reform, outsourcing and privatization of defense infrastructure, base closure and reuse issues and the defense budget.
James Whitaker serves as a Director for Policy and manages the BENS' energy portfolio. Prior to joining BENS, James worked at the Truman National Security Project where he oversaw Truman Advocacy efforts in the South with a particular focus on leading Operation Free – an award-winning campaign discussing the national security implications of U.S. energy policy. Additionally, James is a former campaign and legislative staffer for U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill where he handled a policy portfolio that included energy, environment, and trade issues.
Ms. Moseley joined BENS as Executive and Confidential Assistant to the President and CEO in January 1997. She is the direct point of contact for and manages all aspects of the office of the President and CEO, to include scheduling, logistics, correspondence and communication.
Devin B. Holmes is the Executive Director of Warrior Gateway (