Potomac Officers Club

Tiffanny Gates, Blackbird Technologies

Tiffanny Gates is the vice president for cyber strategies at Blackbird Technologies, a position she has held since December 2010.

In this position, Gates focuses on developing future programs in the company’s cyber and advanced technologies business areas.

Before joining Blackbird, Gates served as vice president of strategy and business development for ManTech International‘s mission, cyber and technologies solutions group. She also was the group’s lead cyber strategy officer and coordinated on investor relations and outreach, while also participating in acquisition efforts.

Prior to that role, Gates served in ManTech’s security and mission assurance group in the positions of vice president, chief technology officer and deputy chief of the cyber sector.

Gates joined ManTech upon the company’s acquisition of Emerging Technologies Group. At ETG, she served as president and chief executive officer for more than five years. The company said she had a successful track record of growth and recognition in the computer forensics and analysis community and successful coordination of global operations.

Before becoming president and CEO, Gates served as ETG’s corporate vice president and chief operations officer to federal government customers, including the Defense Department.

Prior to joining ETG, Gates was a consultant to a national security/information assurance team for the commander of the Naval Security Group, a now-inactive intelligence organization within the Navy. She also supported construction of C4ISR architectures for a program involving information operations and maritime cryptologic architecture.

Gates also worked with the National Security Agency as a technical analyst, specializing in counterintelligence threats from information technology.

Prior to starting her civilian career, Gates served in the Navy for seven years as a cryptologic officer.

Gates graduated from the Naval Academy.

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, Inmarsat

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch is senior vice president for government policy, strategy and outreach for Inmarsat‘s U.S. government services business unit.

Cowen-Hirsch shapes Inmarsat’s strategic direction and policy relating to government and leads the government outreach and advocacy program. She shapes the program’s execution and government focused capabilities.

Cowen-Hirsch, a 20-year veteran of the defense and aerospace industry, also has spent part of her career in the public sector as a member of the Senior Executive Service of the Defense Department.

At the Defense Information Systems Agency, she served as program executive officer for satellite communications, teleport and services. In this capacity, she was responsible for acquiring capabilities that included responsive, cost-effective, mission-oriented and customer-focused SATCOM services.

Additional SES positions Cowen-Hirsch has served in include vice component acquisition executive, where she held management responsibility for the acquisition oversight and horizontal integration of DISA’s products, services, and programs.

As director of the Defense Spectrum Office, her responsibilities included developing national security spectrum strategic plans and policy, and national and international negotiation of defense spectrum issues.

Cowen-Hirsch received an Exemplary Service Medal for her service with the Defense Department.

Cowen-Hirsch is a rated experimental flight test engineer and was the first female civilian mission commander for the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft mission.

Cowen-Hirsch received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky and completed post-graduate studies in engineering management at the University of Dayton. She is also a graduate of the University of Tennessee Space Institute Experimental Flight Test Program, the Defense Department’s Acquisition Management Program and the Cambridge Senior Executive Leadership Program.