Corporate Executive Leadership (CELP) Program
THE CELP TEAM
CELP Facilitators
Wes was formerly a global executive at the IBM corporation. He has held several senior executive positions throughout Asia, Europe, and the US. He has been responsible for multiple international lines of business, global sales and operations, the Venture Capital Group, and business development assignments for emerging markets. Wes was also the first Pan-Asian American to be appointed Executive Assistant in IBM’s corporate office, serving the Chairman, CEO, President, CFO, and Senior Vice President of Human Resources. He was also the first Asian American to be appointed IBM VP and Managing Director. He chaired IBM’s Asian Diversity initiatives, where he was recognized as the “conscience & guardian” of the Asian community throughout IBM. Wes served on the boards of numerous professional and community organizations, including the Business Advisory Council for the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) and international venture capital firms. He was recognized as one of the “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business” by the Asian American Business Development Center and received the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Dynamic Achievers Award. Today, he advises on business development, leadership and talent development initiatives with major international universities, global corporations, and senior management teams. Wes is an executive advisor and co-developer of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Asian Leadership Program. He also serves as an executive advisor to Ascend. He was previously an officer and served on Ascend’s national board. Wes has multiple degrees from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He was a member of IBM’s Certified Client Director Profession through the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. |
Wes Hom, Former IBM Vice President and Managing Director; Executive advisor and co-developer of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Asian Leadership Program, Executive Advisor to community leadership organizations
Amy is a committed advocate for workplace fairness and inclusion. While at HSBC, she served on the bank’s U.S. Diversity Council and chaired its employee resource group for Asians and Pacific Islanders. She continues her advocacy as an executive advisor to Ascend, North America’s largest non-profit dedicated to advancing Pan-Asian professionals. In parallel, she develops and facilitates leadership workshops that aim to inspire and empower current and emerging leaders, reflecting her passion for fostering greater representation of Asian leaders in business and beyond. Amy and her husband enjoy life as empty nesters in Potomac, Maryland, and take pride in seeing their son embark on his graduate studies. |
Amy Shang is a seasoned financial services professional with more than two decades of experience spanning front office, support, and consulting roles. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from Stanford University, and her career bridges both leading financial institutions and specialized consulting work. Notably, Amy served as EVP of Strategic Implementation (Regulation) at HSBC North America, where she led the bank’s regulatory response efforts, including the implementation of the Dodd-Frank legislation. Prior to HSBC, she held roles at Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Bank of America, and MMG Partners.The Planning Team
Alizabeth Cho (Accenture Federal Services) 2024 / CELP Cohort 8 Co-Lead Alizabeth is a Senior Manager with Accenture Federal Services with over 15 years of experience in cybersecurity and compliance. She brings expertise across the full cybersecurity lifecycle having worked with numerous federal clients to secure and strengthen their security posture. Recognized for the ability to connect technical teams with executive leadership, she works to balance cybersecurity risks with business goals, aligning security priorities with organizational needs. Passionate about knowledge sharing, she enjoys teaching and mentoring to inspire and develop the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. When she's not busy being a cyber warrior, she enjoys spending time with her 3 children and acting as chauffeur to their many activities. If she has any spare time, she enjoys listening to audio books, snowboarding, golfing and learning new skills in crafting. |
Uyen Tran is a Business Manager at Salesforce / CELP Cohort 8 Program Lead Uyen is an accomplished business leader and trusted advisor with over 17 years in Medtech and healthcare life sciences spanning provider, medical and surgical devices, biologics, pharmaceuticals, robotics, software, and digital technologies. With over 10 years in leadership and management roles, Uyen has also led teams through change management and several M&A integrations, 3 being multi-billion-dollar acquisitions. Consistent results and recognized excellence led to being the first and only female sales leader in her division at Wright Medical and business unit at Stryker, and serving on several executive strategy committees, advisory councils, and corporate partners teams. Transitioning into the tech industry, Uyen now works with healthcare and life science startups and growth companies in the U.S. and Canada to transform, scale, and drive better business decisions with the world's leading data analytics platform, Tableau - now part of Salesforce. Uyen is a first generation American whose parents were Vietnam War refugees, sponsored and immigrated to the U.S., and achieved the American dream running a family business in the DMV for over 30 years. They taught her appreciation and honor for the freedoms and opportunities we have, and instilled a grit, drive, and faith in her that is deeply rooted. Passionate about serving others, Uyen strives to do so through her work. She loves being active, sports, comedy shows; her favorite times are spent with her family, especially her husband and daughter. |
Steven Lazo - Senior Manager (Deloitte) 2023 / CELP Cohort 8 Program Management Steven have over 13 years of experience providing innovative methods of cyber risk management and cybersecurity services to federal clients within the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. He has been integral in helping his clients protect and defend information systems and networks from cyber adversaries and manage their access management through the implementation of Identity, Credential, and Access Management solutions. |
Margaret Erickson is a Sr. Manager at Accenture with over 16 years of experience in the industry. She has extensive experience in program/project management and in leading and delivering large scale system implementations. In her current role Margaret leads Strategy and Growth for her account. She is also passionate about I&D and serves as her accounts I&D champion. |
A proud UVA graduate with a degree in Economics, Ashley is motivated by the intersection of strategy and technology in the national security community. She stays informed on the emerging trends and challenges in the field. Outside of work, Ashley enjoys making crafty cocktails, staying active, and navigating the highs and lows of being a devoted DC sports . |
Nicole graduated from Claremont McKenna College, where she majored in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). With 8 years of debate experience, she is a passionate public speaker. In her free time, she explores new neighborhoods in DC on long runs and uploads book reviews on Goodreads. |
Alana's experience is in web development and maintenance of web sites and graphics design ranging from community service to technical web sites. Alana's background includes converting existing web site's outdated coding to meet today's web code standards, 508 guidelines, as well as the latest web & usability standards and organic SEO. Alana owned webEvolutionary services for over 19 years and enjoys volunteering for Non Profits and as well honing her crafting skills. |
Margaret Erickson, Program & Project Management Senior Manager at Accenture Federal Services / CELP Program Advisor
Ashley Smith, Accenture Federal Services / CELP Planning Team, is beginning her career at Accenture Federal Services, supporting strategy and consulting in the Defense & Intelligence portfolio. She leads analytics for a managed services program, utilizing data and automation to drive decision-making and implement process improvements. 
Nicole Jonassen, Accenture Federal Services / CELP Planning Team, is beginning her career in federal government consulting at Accenture Federal Services in the Defense and Intelligence Portfolio. With passions ranging from international relations and national security to energy and environment policy, she aspires to contribute to public missions through her work in the private sector. In her current role, she leverages data science and data storytelling for her client. 
Alana Heng, CEI Webmaster and CELP Planning Team
Harinder Gill (Accenture Federal Services) 2022 / CELP Cohort 8 Co-Lead Harinder is a first-generation American, who immigrated to the US in 1995. As an inquisitive mind, he keeps up to date on new tech trends, their application to real world scenarios, and their impact (both positive and negative) on the day-to-day. He has worked across industry (Healthcare, Entertainment, Not-for-profit), he brings a unique perspective to help drive success for his federal clients. He lives in Maryland with his family and is an avid sports enthusiast, bicyclist, and enjoys the great outdoors. |
Grace Flaak (Accenture Federal Services) / CELP Cohort 8 Program Lead Grace Flaak is a Delivery Lead in AFS’ Defense & Intel Portfolio where she oversees the operations and growth of multiple managed services. She has previously managed service delivery for high-profile clients across commercial and government (both federal and local) sectors nationwide. Grace is a data-driven problem solver who enjoys facilitating team collaboration to deliver optimal processes and structure. In addition to her program responsibilities, Grace is involved in leadership development as Accenture’s DC Asian Pacific American (APA) ERG Lead. She mentors leaders from the APA community, celebrating their heritage while fostering professional growth. A graduate of Ascend CELP Cohort 5, Grace serves as one of the CELP Program Leads, supporting AFS’ long-standing partnership with Ascend. Grace graduated from UVA and currently lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and 2 young children. Her spare time is filled with her children’s activities but in her extra spare time, Grace enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading a good book, and eating. |
Dean Lee, Specialist Leader (Deloitte) 2023 / CELP Cohort 8 Program Management Dean is a Cloud Security Leader at Deloitte & Touche LLP, Cyber & Strategic Risk Services. He has over thirteen years of experience serving as a cloud, network, and cyber security architect and engineer including designing, configuring, implementing, and securing on-premise and cloud environments. Dean has supported a wide variety of clients including the Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Marine Corps), Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. |
Samantha Lee, Growth and Innovation Leader (Accenture Federal Services) 2023 / CELP Cohort 8 Program Management Sam has worked at Accenture for over 11 years leading teams across a variety of Defense clients focusing on data, analytics and emerging technology. She now focuses on connecting client challenges with innovative solutions across all of Accenture's Defense and VA clients. In her spare time, Sam enjoys traveling to interesting and unique places, finding great new places to eat, practicing Pilates, and spending time with her husband Robert and dog Kona. |
Joy was promoted to Managing Director in 2023 and possesses over 15 years of information technology experience in government consulting where she has managed the implementation of complex applications across the full software development life cycles (SDLC). Her skill sets include a wide range of custom development and support capabilities for various technology stacks (e.g. Java, .Net, BMC Remedy, Cognos, and Business Objects). Additionally, Joy has driven the implementation of several modernization efforts such mobile adoption, Business Intelligence (BI) integration, technology upgrades, Agile transformation, and testing automation. For over 10 years, Joy has worked for Deloitte Consulting, LLP. She is currently a Senior Manager in the Government and Public Sector practice and primarily supports custom application development and technology modernization projects in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sector. In her spare time, Joy loves to travel and learn about different cultures and history. To date, she has travelled to 26 countries and her last international trip was to Israel and Jordan. She has expanded her domestic travel experience and just returned from a trip to Alaska. Her love for travel and exploration stems from constantly living in various places as a military brat in the Navy. |
She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a background in science and healthcare management before shifting gears and uprooting her post-grad life to live in DC. Her hobbies include coffee-shopping, eating, indoor climbing, and as of recent, running. |
Richmond Hwang, Deloitte /CELP Planning Team |
Joy Ignacio, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP / CEI PMO Co-Lead and CELP Program Advisor
Tiffany Bui, Accenture Federal Services / CELP Planning Team, is kickstarting her career in federal consulting as a first year Technology Analyst at Accenture Federal Services under the Defense and Intelligence portfolio. Her role is currently with the PMO team where she helps oversee personnel and automate process improvements for the program.