Nagesh Rao
Chief Information Officer
G. Nagesh Rao currently serves as Chief Information Officer for the Bureau of Industry and Security within the US Department of Commerce. Most recently he was Director of Business Technology Solutions (BiTS) at the US Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of the Chief Information Officer, and prior to was Chief Technologist & Entrepreneur in Residence within SBA’s Office of Investment & Innovation.
Over the last 20+ years, Nagesh has worked for numerous organizations in the public, private, and not for profit sectors. During his time in the public-sector, he has co-developed federal-wide policy initiatives around spurring small business and technological innovation as well programmatic endeavors such as i6 Green, Patents for Humanity, USAID’s-SBAR Program, and SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Furthermore he oversaw the revamp and modernization of SBA’s digital platforms including SBIR.gov and SBA.gov, as well led technology direction, as part of SBA’s COVID-19 leadership response team, with respect to the agency’s Virtual Command Center, PPP and EIDL endeavors via the CARES Act. Under Nagesh’s current leadership, the Bureau’s OCIO staff has been fully reconstituted and has commenced with a multi-year digital modernization process to adopt use of COTS, Cloud, and SaaS based technology solutions to enhance and support the operational business and mission.
Nagesh is a Mirzayan Fellow of The National Academies, an Eisenhower Fellow and a Marshall Memorial Fellow. Among many accolades that Nagesh has received over the years, recent prominent ones include the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman & Hind Rattan awards from the NRI Welfare Society, Fed 100, FedScoop 50, ACT-IAC Collaboration Award, DC Inno 50 on Fire, and the 2019 Gears of Government award.
Kevin J. Kurland
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement
Mr. Kurland is responsible for implementing BIS’s export enforcement program, overseeing a dedicated team of analysts and Special Agents that enforce BIS’s export control and antiboycott missions. BIS Special Agents are located in 30 domestic locations and seven embassies/consulates around the globe.
Mr. Kurland previously served as BIS’s Deputy Chief of Staff-Policy for the Under Secretary for Industry and Security from 2019-2021, Director of the Office of Enforcement Analysis from 2011-2021, and member of the White House Task Force on Export Control Reform from 2009-2017.
Mr. Kurland also previously served BIS as Acting Chief of Staff for Export Administration from 2009-2011, Director of the Office of Technology Evaluation from 2006-2011, and Director of the Treaty Compliance Division from 2002-2006.
Prior to joining BIS in 1997, he worked as an international trade analyst at Graham & James, LLC.
Mr. Kurland holds an M.A. in Comparative Regional Studies Europe from The American University and a B.A. in International Relations from Syracuse University.
In December 2021, Mr. Kurland was awarded the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award.
Keven Valentin
Chief Financial Officer and Director of Administration
Mr. Valentin leads the Financial Management, Budgetary, Human Capital, Acquisitions, Internal Controls, Risk Management, Privacy, and Space Management activities across BIS.
Prior to serving as the BIS Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Director of Administration (DOA), Mr. Valentin served as the BIS Budget Officer, where he ensured BIS was properly resourced to meet its mission. Mr. Valentin also served at the Department of Commerce (DOC), Office of Budget, with oversight responsibilities in support of the U.S. Census Bureau and Departmental Management budget. In this role, Mr. Valentin provided technical guidance and support to senior DOC and bureau leadership, and regularly engaged in all phases of the DOC budget process.
Mr. Valentin has spent his entire career working within the budget and CFO community and has also served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where he managed resources and supported recovery efforts during the historically active 2017 hurricane season. Mr. Valentin also served at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in multiple financial management and acquisitions positions.
Mr. Valentin is a native of Chicago, where he attended Loyola University’s Business School, and later graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Puerto Rico earning his BA in Accounting and Finance.
Greg Capella
Deputy Under Secretary
On July 18, 2022, Greg Capella joined the Bureau of Industry and Security as the Deputy Under Secretary.
Previously, Greg led the National Technical Information Service as the Deputy Director and then as the Acting Director. Greg drove the redefinition of the NTIS mission to address Congressional and Departmental of Commerce concerns that peaked when Congress introduced the NTIS Elimination Act. Greg inspired the organization to rapidly transform from its data repository and publishing origins to providing leading edge data science services to Federal Agencies. Greg accomplished this transition within the solely fee-for-service organization without additional funding, even after over 60% of the prior services that were funding the organization were discontinued.
Prior to this role, Greg served in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), first as the Deputy Executive Director of Enterprise Systems Development Office and then as the Acting Executive Director. In this role, he significantly increased the ability of every DHS Component to share data and resources, encouraging synergies between the recently formed Department, and instituted multiple Cloud-based shared services.
Greg came to DHS from the commercial sector where he was the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of a commercial information technology firm and also served as a Director at a large, information technology and analytics corporation.
Greg retired from the U.S. Air Force after completing a career that encompassed various high technology research and development initiatives, including support to satellite and space shuttle launches; leading an organization providing electronic warfare analyses, including during Desert Storm; providing new technology for gathering and analyzing infrared and ultraviolet emissions from weapon systems; and supporting nuclear command and control systems.
Greg has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and a Bachelor’s of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy. Greg also holds a patent for online banking technologies.
Evan Broderick
Evan Broderick serves as the Deputy Director for the Information and Communications Technology and Services (ICTS) program at BIS. In this role, Mr. Broderick supports operations and policy development under Executive Orders 13873, 14034, 13984, and 14110. Mr. Broderick previously served as a Senior Cybersecurity Analyst within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) providing policy support to the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, the Secretary of Commerce and the National Security Council on various issues impacting the Internet and digital economy. Before NTIA, Mr. Broderick provided intelligence support as the Deputy Assistant Director for Strategic Intelligence to BIS, supporting the adjudication of export licenses for controlled technology.
Prior to his work within the Federal Government, Mr. Broderick served as a Senior Training and Development Specialist with Raytheon, training military intelligence specialists for the Department of Defense. Mr. Broderick also served over five years with the Army at Fort Lewis Washington, including two years in Iraq developing both tactical and strategic operational plans in his military career as a Brigade Master Analyst.
Mr. Broderick holds a B.S. in Professional Chemistry and a Minor in Mathematics from Bridgewater University and a M.A. in Criminal Justice with a certificate of Forensic Criminology from the University of Massachusetts.