A Government Startup Story

In this TAC Podcast series, TAC Talks, we give you a peak behind the federal acquisition curtain and discuss highly relevant acquisition topics with top acquisition professionals and the Office of General Council. Throughout the episodes we will dissect the ins and outs of various acquisition strategies, debriefings, market research, and more!

But our first episode is a very special one. We kick this series off in no better fashion than a casual conversation with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) Associate Executive Director (AED), Ms. Michele Foster. Ms. Foster has been the AED of the VA TAC since December 2013. In this role she is also the Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) and responsible for providing business and contracting solutions for a variety of major information technology programs for the department. She leads a multi-disciplined organization of acquisition professionals and support staff in Austin, TX and Eatontown, NJ. Ms. Foster began her career as an Army Materiel Command Intern Contract Specialist stationed at the U.S. Army’s CECOM located at Fort Monmouth, after which she held many roles supporting the Army’s contracting efforts.

Join us for our discussion as we reminisce how the TAC went from a small government startup of 10 people to over 150 employees in just over a decade. She’ll share the difficulty and excitement of recruiting and hiring staff for the organization, establishing all new processes, generating sufficient revenue, and building a mature organization that will be effective for years to come. Ms. Foster will discuss some of her favorite moments along the way, as well as some insights for the vendor community and our junior acquisition professionals looking to grow in their career. She will also comment on her vision for the organization for the next five to ten years.