Board Members
JEREMY KOCZAN, MBA
CFO, SMX
Jeremy Koczan is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at SMX, responsible for leading the company’s strategic financial objectives and executing sound business results across the enterprise. He oversees a large team of business professionals across various financial disciplines including Accounting, Audit, Tax, Treasury, Business Intelligence/Analytics, Program Finance, and Pricing. Jeremy also oversees the corporate development function with responsibility for all merger and acquisition activities including deal tracking/sourcing, due diligence, transactional structuring, and post-acquisition integration. In concert with a strong track record of organic growth and success, recent acquisitions under his financial leadership were instrumental in accelerating SMX revenue to ~$1 billion.
Prior to joining SMX, Jeremy was CFO of Altamira Technologies Corporation, a private equity backed advanced engineering, data analytics and cyber operations company supporting the Defense and Intelligence communities. He was recruited to Altamira by the Board of Directors from Raytheon where he held numerous analytical and business unit CFO positions over his 11-year tenure, running increasingly larger and more complex businesses in various markets including Airspace Management, Homeland Security, Battlespace Management, Federal IT, and the Intelligence Community.
​Jeremy is especially passionate in helping develop current and future financial leaders across the Government Contracting community. He currently serves as a Board Member, presenter, and leadership coach for CFO Rising, a registered non-profit organization whose mission is to provide future CFOs and other senior financial leaders with the knowledge, learning, relationships, and peer groups to succeed in the industry. Jeremy is one of the primary architects of the curriculum-based learning content, presents various topics as a Subject Matter Expert and provides guidance, governance, and overall leadership to the organization.
Jeremy earned his Master of Business Administration with honors from Nichols College in Dudley, MA, and his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA. He holds a Six Sigma Black Belt and an EVMS Level 3 Certification. Originally from the New England area, Jeremy, his wife Angela, and their best friend/dog “Mr. Wade” currently live in Huntsville, AL, after more than 10 years in Northern Virginia. During their free time they enjoy hiking, cooking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Diane Nguyen is CFO of Microsoft Federal. Prior to joining Microsoft, Diane served as Vice President of Finance at Science Application International Corporation (NYSE: SAIC), and Chief Financial Officer of EverWatch, an Intelligence based government contracting private equity company. Previously, she held a 15-year career at General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) – with her last position as CFO and VP of Finance in the General Dynamics Information Technology business unit where she led finance, facilities, security and procurement operations, and oversaw and integrated over $4B in acquisition deals.
​
Diane began her career in public accounting at Coopers & Lybrand and has more than twenty-five years of financial and accounting experience in the government contracting space serving as a strategic business partner to achieve company goals and maximize shareholder value. Diane’s industry background encompasses strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, internal controls, business intelligence and compliance functions.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Virginia.
Diane resides in Oakton, VA with her husband and two daughters (Taylor 16, and Abby 13). Outside of work Diane enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her family.
DIANE NGUYEN
CFO, Microsoft Federal
Jeff Leong is a strategic executive leader who serves as Chief Financial Officer. He oversees company financial management and accounting functions and assists in developing and executing the company’s strategic vision. Jeff is also a founding Board Member for CFO Rising, a non-profit in the northern Virginia area focused on identifying and developing future finance leaders. Prior to joining Owl, he has held CFO roles at numerous companies across the government contracts space. He earned Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Sciences degrees from Vanderbilt University.
JEFF LEONG
CFO, OWL Cyber Defense
Nicholas Veasey is the Chief Financial Officer at MAG Aerospace where he leads the finance, accounting, planning, tax and treasury functions for the company. Previously Nick was a Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton where he led Investor Relations, was responsible for the firm’s capital allocation strategy, and played a lead role in all aspects of M&A. Prior to Booz Allen, Nick worked for Deutsche Bank in the Industrials sector, focusing on debt, equity, and M&A transactions for large, corporate clients. Earlier in his career, he served as a Marine Reconnaissance Platoon Commander with multiple deployments to the Middle East and other overseas locations.
Nick earned his undergraduate degree from the United States Naval Academy, as well as an M.B.A. and Master of Public Policy degrees from Georgetown University.
NICHOLAS VEASEY
CFO, MAG AEROSPACE
RICH SAWCHAK
CEO, SPA
Rich Sawchak is the Chief Executive Officer of Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc., leading the company’s team of exceptionally skilled professionals working in the national defense, security, and advanced technologies communities. To continually enhance SPA’s reputation for quality and dedication to customer mission, Mr. Sawchak emphasizes teamwork, integrity, and diversity of thought. Bringing over 26 years of business acumen to the position, Mr. Sawchak’s commitment to excellence underpins strong corporate development and growth-oriented outcomes.
In previous roles, Mr. Sawchak served as Chief Financial Officer of Hypori, where he was responsible for finance, controllership, treasury, legal and business affairs, human resources, recruiting, and sales operations; he also served as the Corporate Secretary. Mr. Sawchak has a proven record of driving technology companies to succeed through financial scalability, operational excellence, and people-first culture.
Before joining Hypori, Mr. Sawchak was the CFO of Novetta for nine years until the successful sale of the company to Accenture Federal Services. He was previously employed by Schafer Corporation, where he served as Executive Vice President and CFO. Before that, Mr. Sawchak served as Senior Vice President and CFO of Paradigm Solutions until the successful sale of the company to CACI International. He has extensive experience in business operations, corporate finance, and the execution and integration of acquisitions for public and private equity-backed companies.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Mr. Sawchak also holds a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurial Finance and Strategic Cost Management from the Olin Graduate School of Management at Babson College.
Dave Thurston is a trusted advisor to senior executives and works with leaders and organizations to refine strategy, develop talent, drive change and reach new levels of performance.
Over the course of his career, Dave has held a broad variety of leadership positions at three global and market leading companies - The Barth-Haas Group, Cargill, and McDonald’s. His roles have included multiple executive management and commercial leadership positions along with responsibility for joint venture oversight, post-acquisition integration and continent-wide change leadership.
Dave has led teams, functions and entire organizations, in businesses ranging from fledgling start ups to market category leaders. His international experience includes executive roles Latin America and responsibility for European and Asian markets.
Dave’s approach is highly collaborative and client centric. He is guided by personal values that set the foundation for the curious pursuit of the challenges and opportunities at hand, followed by a strategy and plan to get after it, customizing a variety of tools including Stewart frameworks and resources to deliver results.
David holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Denver. He is a member of Business Executives for National Security.
DAVE THURSTON
Vice President of Client Solutions, Executive Consultant,
Stewart Leadership