Lunch With Leaders
Are you relatively new to the acquisition/contract profession? Here’s you chance to meet with leaders in our profession and learn how to develop your professional career.
Lunch with Leaders is a learning opportunity for new professionals with five or less years of acquisition experience to meet with leaders in a small conversational setting. We select a different leader each lunch to provide their perspectives on what it means to be successful, and different approaches on how to become successful. Hear personal stories on how the leader succeeded and challenges they faced and career advice they want to share.
The best part: it’s FREE! Space is limited and the Chapter will only accept people with five or less years of acquisition experience.
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 11:30AM – 1:00PM. Lunch provided starting at 11:30AM.
Location: 8444 Westpark Drive, Suite 500, Mclean, VA 22102
To submit your name for consideration, please click here.
Featured Leaders: Heather Gerczak, Chief Administrative Officer and Manuel Mendez, Chief Financial Officer, Integral Federal, Inc.A strategic GovCon contracts and M&A integration veteran, Heather Gerczak brings nearly two decades of experience to the Integral Federal Executive Team. As Chief Administrative Officer, Heather is responsible for overseeing various critical functions within the company including Human Resources, Administration, Facilities Management, Marketing, Contracts and Security. She is instrumental in streamlining processes, aligning activities to strategy, setting goals among departments, and fostering a positive work culture, contributing to the overall success and growth of Integral.
Heather joined Integral at the end of 2022 after previously serving as Vice President of Corporate Contracts at Amentum. Her experience also includes roles at General Dynamics Information Technology where she served as the VP, Contracts for the Defense Division, L-3 Communications (now CACI) and Harris Corporation (now Peraton).
Heather currently serves as the Chair of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) for their Program Year 2025 after serving on their Board of Directors since 2017. Heather has been recognized as one of NCMA’s Advancing Professionals (2014) and is a graduate (2010) of the NCMA Contract Management Leadership Development Program (CMLDP). Heather is a Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM) and Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM) and earned the NCMA Fellow distinction in 2015.
After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Virginia Tech in 2002, Heather continued her education and earned a graduate certificate from the University of Virginia in procurement and contracts management in 2010 and a Master of Science in Management and leadership degree from Marymount University in 2015.
As Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Integral Federal, Manuel Mendez is responsible for managing the business operations of the company in support of the company’s strategic direction and growth objectives. He oversees all aspects of financial planning and reporting, accounting and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, auditing, program finance, contracts, IT, quality and pricing strategy.
Prior to joining Integral Federal, Manuel served as Vice president of Financial Planning and Analysis and Government Compliance at Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE) until its sale to Amentum in 2022. During his tenure, Manuel helped guide the company through a business area divestiture, its Initial Public Offering, several acquisitions and the company’s ultimate sale to private equity. Prior to his role at PAE, he held increasingly senior financial leadership roles at Engility and Harris Corporation.
Mr. Mendez holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University.
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P.O. Box 231324
Centreville, VA 20120