Kirk T. Rostron is a co-founder and Managing Partner of The Mt. Vernon Group ("MVG"), an alternative investment placement and advisory firm. Prior to launching MVG, Mr. Rostron served as a Director within Merrill Lynch’s Hedge Fund Development and Management Group, focusing on worldwide private placements of alternative investments. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for Hovde Capital Advisors where he contributed to the growth of the hedge fund business and the launch of the private equity business. Mr. Rostron came to Hovde from a previous term with Merrill Lynch where he served as Director and Head of U.S. Capital Introduction in the firm’s Global Equity Finance and Services Group which he helped launch on a global basis.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Rostron founded and later sold HedgeCall.com, a service of Investor Broadcast Network that was seeded by Intel Capital Group, Safeguard Scientific, and PaineWebber. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Economics from Florida State University and a Master’s Degree in International Economic Integration from the University of Birmingham (U.K.). Mr. Rostron was also the founder of the No Greater Sacrifice Foundation, a nationwide charity that provides academic scholarships for children who have lost a parent in the US Armed Forces and also serves as a Trustee on the board of the Florida State University Foundation.

Pete Bilden is a Vice President at Stone Key Partners, where he advises Homeland Security and Defense Technology clients on strategic alternatives and M&A transactions. Prior to joining Stone Key, Pete was an Aerospace and Defense banker with Goldman Sachs. He is based in New York and Greenwich, CT.

Before joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Bilden served the nation as an Army officer and aviator, commanding company and platoon-level scout aviation units in Korea, Egypt, and various stateside assignments. Additionally, he led a special operations aviation training cell at the United States Army Special Operations Command headquarters (USASOC) at Fort Bragg, NC. Mr. Bilden’s awards and qualifications include the Army Aviator badge, Airborne badge, Global War On Terror badge, Multinational Forces and Observers badge, Meritorious Service Medal, and Army Commendation Medal. He was commissioned through Duke University’s Army ROTC program in 1994.

Mr. Bilden holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a BA in History from Duke University. He and his wife Samara, also a Duke undergraduate and business school graduate, have two sons, Benjamin and James. Pete’s brother Philip is a member of NGS’s Advisory Board.

Forthcoming

Chip Grace is a Managing Director with Wynnchurch Capital, Ltd., a Chicago-based private equity investment firm. Mr. Grace has 15 years of private equity, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions experience having joined Wynnchurch at the firm’s founding in 2000 following a career in investment banking with Salomon Smith Barney and A.G. Edwards & Sons.

Mr. Grace serves on the Boards of Directors of several privately held companies including Calyx Transportation Group, Inc., Highway Technologies, Inc. and Webex, Inc.

Mr. Grace holds a BA from Duke University and a MBA from The University of Chicago. Mr. Grace and his wife Emily live in Chicago, Illinois with their daughter Elizabeth.

Ms. Kalka is a Senior Associate for Booz Allen Hamilton, a management consulting company located in McLean, VA. Her efforts over the past twelve years have focused on business process improvement, strategic planning, and organizational design. In addition to managing an administrative team of 60, Ms. Kalka has worked and managed multiple, concurrent projects for a variety of public and private sector organizations with an emphasis on Defense organizations. She has received the following awards: Booz Allen Hamilton’s Woman of Distinction Award, Booz Allen Hamilton’s Value in Practice Award, Booz Allen Hamilton’s Outstanding Senior Associate Award and Alpha Chi Omega’s Outstanding Young Alumnae Award. She has a BS from the University of Delaware, a MBA from Virginia Tech and is also a Leadership Fairfax Graduate. In addition to her work with NGS, Ms. Kalka is a board member of Celebrate Fairfax, Inc., recently finishing her term as Chairman of the Board. She lives in Potomac Falls, VA, with her husband, Tom Kalka and son, Thomas. Her husband, Tom, served in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer.

William Kallop served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008 attaining the rank of Captain. Will led Marines on two combat deployments to Iraq’s Anbar Province as a rifle platoon commander and company executive officer with Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment. He is currently a student at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth studying for his M.B.A. Prior to joining Tuck, Will was a financial analyst at New York Marine and General Insurance Company, a Manhattan-based commercial property and casualty insurer.

Will holds a B.S. degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He and his wife Hilary reside in Hanover, New Hampshire with their chocolate lab, Spartan.

Gary Lawson served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1997 to 2002, attaining the rank of Captain. Gary served as a platoon commander at the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and as the Aide-de-Camp for the Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division. He currently resides in New York City where he is a Vice President in the Mergers & Acquisitions department of Merrill Lynch.

Gary holds a B.S. degree with honors from the United States Naval Academy, as well as a Juris Doctor and MBA from the University of Virginia.

Rebekah Williams Lovorn is President and CEO of TruVoltage LLC, a global services consulting and communications firm. Before founding TruVoltage, Rebekah served in the Department of Homeland Security for 5 years. Her last appointment was Staff Director of the Transportation Security Administration.

In 2006 Rebekah accepted an assignment with the Department of State Global Outreach team in Iraq. While there she coordinated multinational press corps events throughout Iraq, and worked directly with Ambassadors, military commanders, Iraqi Ministers, and local Iraqi leaders on communication outreach strategies.

Rebekah began her career at The White House Office of Communications.

A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Rebekah received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration – Marketing from Mississippi State University.

She and her husband Andy live in Alexandria, VA.

Tim Nank is currently a Senior Analyst within the International Security Policy Division at Analytic Services, Inc. In this capacity he continues to work on a broad range of national security issues specifically, Nuclear Nonproliferation and Counterterrorism. Before that he worked for almost 8 years under President George W. Bush serving in several different capacities such as the National Nuclear Security Administration, US Embassy Baghdad and the White House. Additionally, before Tim’s commission as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserves, Tim served as a Petty Officer in the Office of Naval Intelligence. Tim also teaches graduate level courses as an Adjunct Professor at Trinity University (DC) for the MBA and International Security Studies programs. Tim has a BA from Columbia University, a MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College and a MA in International Affairs from Tufts University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Tim lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife Beth and daughters Paige, Reagan and Lauren.

Greg Outcalt is the Executive Vice President of SunAmerica Alternative Investments, responsible for managing the portfolio of hedge funds, private equity, and real estate for SunAmerica Financial Group, a diversified financial services firm that focuses on life insurance, retirement savings, and mutual funds. Mr. Outcalt has 23 years of experience at SunAmerica since joining the firm in 1986, and has been involved with managing its alternative investments portfolio since helping to launch the department in 1996. He has also served SunAmerica as Senior Vice President and Controller of the SunAmerica Life Companies, responsible for the firm’s accounting and risk management departments. Prior to that, Mr. Outcalt headed SunAmerica’s investment accounting department and contributed to its activities in corporate development and investment management.

Prior to joining SunAmerica, Mr. Outcalt received a BS in Accounting from Pepperdine University and an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles. He continues to be actively involved at Pepperdine, currently serving on its Athletics Advisory Committee.

Mr. Outcalt joined the board of NGS in 2008. He and his wife Kathy currently reside in Pacific Palisades, California with their sons Matthew, Andrew and Alex and daughter Megan.

Chris Rogers is a Vice President with Harris Williams & Co., where he advises clients on middle market mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and financings. Mr. Rogers focuses on the Aerospace, Defense, and Government Services sector and has also advised public and private clients across a wide range of other industries including industrial manufacturing, energy and power, consumer products, healthcare, building products, transportation and logistics, and business services. Prior to joining Harris Williams & Co., Mr. Rogers worked in the strategy consulting practice at Booz & Company and served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

Mr. Rogers earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in History, with Honors and Distinction, from the United States Naval Academy. Mr. Rogers and his wife, Lauren, live in Richmond, Virginia with their three daughters.