Muriel Sarmadi, Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Muriel Sarmadi is the Chief Executive Officer of Daston Corporation. Ms. Sarmadi founded the company in 1992 and has over 22 years experience in the Information Technology industry. As CEO, Ms. Sarmadi is responsible for the management, policies and procedures for the Finance and Human Resources Departments, and development of alliances and relationships with companies for contracting and subcontracting opportunities.
Gary M. Callen, President
Mr. Callen is President of Daston Corporation. His career spans more than three decades working with clients ranging in size from mid-tier private companies to the largest corporations in the world. Gary worked for ten years with Visa, where he was responsible for building the payment solutions business with the United States federal government, state governments as well as some of the nation's largest financial institutions. Mr. Callen is experienced in international sales, product development and compliance. Mr. Callen was recruited by Citigroup, where he spent ten years building the payments solutions business from the ground up. Leveraging his prior product knowledge, successes and relationships, Mr. Callen was able to net more than 40 percent of the U.S. federal government's card programs for Citigroup, giving Citi market share leadership in that space.
Wendy L. Whitaker Nesbitt, CPA, CGFM, Chief Financial Officer
As Vice President, Ms. Nesbitt is responsible for the strategic direction and management of Daston's Business Consulting operations. She is responsible for meeting ever-changing customer needs, while maintaining high quality standards and complying with contract and reporting requirements. She has oversight responsibility for maintaining program and project profitability, as well as client and teaming relations for a number of Federal engagements related to accounting, financial management, and organizational consulting. She also develops and maintains organizational budgets, manages employee relations, and defines and implements corporate and business unit policies and procedures.
Ms. Nesbitt began her tenure at Daston Corporation in June 2004. Since that time, she has been responsible for the growth, development, and management of Business Consulting operations. Prior to working at Daston Corporation, she was a manager in Grant Thornton LLP's Global Public Sector Practice in Alexandria, Virginia , an organization that delivers business, financial, and information technology consulting solutions to meet CIO, CFO, and program/operation manager challenges. While at Grant Thornton, Ms. Nesbitt focused on providing accounting and financial management systems support to a variety of federal government agencies. Ms. Nesbitt previously served as both a Systems Accountant and Operations Accountant within the Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, where she was initially responsible for preparing monthly financial reports and later implementing financial systems and accounting policies and procedures.
Ms. Nesbitt is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Virginia, and she is also a Certified Government Financial Manager. Ms. Nesbitt graduated from Robert Morris University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with an Accounting major and Quantitative Business Analysis minor. She received both her Master of Information Systems and Master of Business Administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Ms. Nesbitt also obtained a Senior Executive Leadership Certificate from Georgetown University.
Greg Callen, Managing Director, Public Sector
As Managing Director for the Daston Corporation Mr. Callen is responsible for the employees that service our client base, profitability of the business unit, and overall strategic and management planning. Mr. Callen has spent over 10 years in the Information Technology industry he began his career in software and services at Oracle Corporation in Herndon, VA in the late-1990's. Mr. Callen was responsible for selling software and services to the Federal Government. Clients ranged from both Civilian and DOD entities through his 6-year tenure. In February of 2004 Mr. Callen joined Foundstone Inc. and was responsible for selling Enterprise Vulnerability Management solutions to include Information Security Services to the Federal Government. New clients during Mr. Callen's tenure were the Departments of Justice, Transportation, and the Executive Office of the President. ??In October of 2004 Foundstone was acquired by McAfee Inc. Through the McAfee acquisition Mr. Callen joined McAfee's Federal team selling their suite of IT Security Solutions that ranged from Antivirus to Intrusion Detection Solutions. Mr. Callen's clients included the Department of Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Energy. Through his management experience he is adept at selecting and hiring top quality employees to insure the success of the company.
Mr. Callen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He currently resides with his wife and two children in Northern Virginia.
Michael Pait, Senior Vice President, Business Development
Mr. Michael Pait has joined the team to focus effort on pursing and winning new business in the federal DOD IT arena. His focus on teaming with high-end IT partners and on winning prime contracts will result in aggressive growth and the exploration of new business avenues. Mr. Pait also has extensive on-site experience with the Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) Global Combat Support System (GCCS) and the Global Command and Control System (GCCS) programs, as well as with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mr. Pait retired from the Air Force in 1997 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, where he created and staffed enterprise policy relating to full life-cycle software development. His achievements at winning business since his government tenure have directly resulted in the booking of over $160M in new business. He has been personally responsible for three Washington Technology FAST 50 awards recognizing aggressive and sustained growth, two awards were in the #1 position and one in the #3 position.
Mark Hill, Director Project Management Office (PMO)
Mr. Hill is a multi-dimensional executive uniquely suited to taking organizations to the next level. Mr. Hill serves as a Project Manager on multiple Daston client engagements and is responsible for growing the existing base of business. Mr. Hill understands how to blend program management, strategic communications and change management with organizational development and learning programs so the combined efforts contribute to both the top and bottom line of an organization. He developed the vision, provided the leadership and hands-on experience to align, integrate and streamline development processes across the sales, partner, technical, and operational audiences with proven results. Focused on creating self-directed teams that act in alignment with organizational business objectives, he has been successful in a wide range of industries including video conferencing, biotechnology, network equipment, software development, semi conductors and military aviation.
Mr. Hill holds a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Lawrence University and completed Naval Flight Officer Training in Pensacola, FL.
Melanie Newton, Director, Business Development
Melanie Newton is Daston's regional Business Development Manager. She recently moved from Orlando, FL where she worked with a Defense contractor as a Strategic Partnership Executive and was also Director of the regional office located in Huntsville, AL. Prior to that, Melanie was a staff accountant in Cocoa, FL working as a consultant to small business Defense contractors with a focus on GSA schedules, proposal cost volumes, computation of G&A rates and DCAA compliance.
Ms. Newton holds an Associate's Degree in Accounting from John C. Calhoun Community College and attended Athens State University. She is a member of several organizations including Greater Hampton Roads Chapter of Women in Defense where she serves as membership chair, AFCEA, NCMA, AUSA and NDIA.
