Listen June 22nd and June 24th

Kay Ely
Associate Director
Human Resources Products & Services Division Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Kay is a seasoned Federal executive known for her enthusiasm for innovation, team building and sound business practices. She is a leader and transformational change agent with a focus on customer service and good Government. Among her many previous roles at OPM she also served as the agency’s Head of Contracting Activity and as Senior Advisor for Competitive Sourcing. Kay is a member of the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) Board of Directors and served as the Chairperson for the Chief Acquisition Officers Council’s Competitive Sourcing workgroup. She also serves on the National Contract Management Association’s Board of Directors.

Prior to her return to the Federal government in May 2006 Kay served as a Senior Principal at a private acquisition consulting firm. Kay received a 2005 Government Women’s Leadership Award as the Small Business Icon. The award recognized Kay’s achievements as a small-business leader working with the Federal government and cites her “support for her community, her professional excellence in dealing with clients and her leadership and dedication.” Kay was selected for the Senior Executive Service as the Associate Administrator for Acquisition Implementation in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) where she was responsible for guiding the implementation of acquisition reform throughout the Federal Government. She contributed greatly to meeting the Administrator of OFPP’s mandate to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the procurement of property and services by Executive Branch departments and agencies.

Before joining OFPP, Kay was the Director of the Acquisition Resources Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this capacity she was responsible for the VA’s acquisition policies, the training of its acquisition workforce, and the implementation of VA’s acquisition reform initiatives. Kay also served as a senior-level contracting officer with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) where she was responsible for the award and program management of several major information technology and human resources contracts critical to the Tax Systems Modernization. These contracts included Treasury Information Processing Support Services (TIPSS), TeleFile, and Treasury Departmental Acquisition. During her tenure at the IRS, Kay was selected for the Trail Boss of the Year award, a program for information technology program managers sponsored by the General Services Administration (GSA). The highly prestigious award is granted through a peer selection.

Kay began her contracting career at the Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Secretary of the Army, spending most of her DoD tenure at the Pentagon. Prior to her Federal career, she worked as a registered and board-certified Speech Pathologist in hospitals, private clinics, and several public school systems. Kay holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in Speech Pathology from Phillips University of Enid, Oklahoma, and a Master of Arts degree in Management from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a graduate and alumni member of the Federal Executive Institute and a member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).

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