Our founder, April H. Armstrong has helped dozens of technical organizations succeed with high-stakes projects and initiatives valued at more than a billion dollars through her combined expert facilitation and communication expertise. She has worked with leaders of some of the largest transformations in our country of the past three decades, including some of the largest information technology modernizations in our Federal government; the rise of connected and autonomous vehicles; and the creation of the framework guiding catastrophic disaster response and preparedness, and research that informed the National Pandemic Strategy. With her focus on projects of national significance, she is a by-name sought-after expert in the “people”
side of change.
April rose through the ranks in a large entrepreneurial consulting company, by attuning to market needs and delivering value. She built a multi-million dollar business area helping technical government and business leaders navigate large-scale strategic change, and communicate complex information in persuasive, plain language that accelerated adoption and changed behavior. She was instrumental in stabilizing multiple high-risk projects and client relationships. Accredited in Public Relations, she led media strategy to help raise public awareness on important transportation developments that can save thousands of lives every year, including modern roundabout intersection designs, new traffic incident management practices, the dangers of red-light running, and connecting our nation’s patchwork transportation systems through integrated corridor management. She led design of an influence campaign that helped overcome objections and increase the number of modern roundabout intersections, which are up to 90% safer than traditional “box” intersections, by a factor of ten in the United States in the span of a decade.
She ghost-wrote articles for transportation executives published in Public Roads (March/April 2008 and November/December 2010), ITS International magazine (July/August 2012), Mass Transit Magazine (April and September 2008) and multiple Department of Transportation publications to help regions new technologies coming to our biggest cities which can ease traffic jams and improve regional mobility. She developed media kits to raise public awareness about the dangers of red-light running, and new traffic incident management practices which can save thousands of lives every year on our nation’s roadways.
As one of four executive facilitators in a company of more than 45,000 employees and a former Division manager, April facilitated hundreds of complex, high-stakes meetings, expert panels, and consensus-building sessions with executives that result in enduring commitments characterized by follow-through. She led evaluation of the nation’s largest counter-terrorism and catastrophic disaster exercises (Top Officials [TOPOFF] 2 and 3), and co-authored the analysis which underpinned the National Response Plan and National Response Framework. Insights from the reports she co-authored were covered by CBS News, CNN‘s Wolf Blitzer, CNN Fast Facts, NBC News, the Chicago Sun Tribune and the New York Times, Ms. Armstrong is a licensed trainer with The Protocol School of Washington and a trained mediator through the American Arbitration Association.
A former competitive triathlete and avid motorcyclist, April understands and is energized by high performance. She is author of The Day One Executive™, a new book which helps professionals stand out as executives beginning on Day One of their career. April is a regular contributor to Forbes and she has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX networks across the country. She is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and the Public Relations Society of America.
Lisa is founder and CEO of Accentuate Communication LLC, a communication strategist, executive coach, and nationally certified speech-language pathologist. Her clients benefit from her decades of clinical and strategic experience which has helped technical leaders at national laboratories, research institutions, and healthcare organizations worldwide move big ideas forward through better, clearer, more impactful communication. She helps scientists, engineers, researchers, and technical leaders translate – and powerfully deliver – complex expertise into clear, credible, resonant messages when decisions, funding, leadership visibility, and momentum are on the line.
Alyssa helps leaders and teams turn cross-cultural friction into shared momentum. She founded Alyssa Bantle Global Consulting and has spent two decades guiding cross-border initiatives in the pharmaceutical, energy, and manufacturing sectors as a dual U.S.–German national fluent in English, German, and Italian. She holds a master’s degree in organizational management and leadership and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach.
Judge Armstrong graduated from the University of Alabama (B.A.), and the University of Alabama School of Law (J.D.) and received an LL.M. Equivalence Diploma upon graduation from the Graduate Course at the Army Judge Advocate General’s School. He has been admitted to practice law in Virginia, Alabama, the District of Columbia, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the United States Court of Military Appeals.
At the University, Judge Armstrong was in the Army ROTC program, and was named as the Brigade Commander (Cadet Colonel) for the entire Alabama ROTC brigade for his senior year. In addition, he obtained his pilot’s license upon completing the ROTC Flight Training Program. On graduation, he was honored as a Distinguished Military Graduate, where he served a 20-year career in the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where he retired upon attaining the grade of Colonel. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, and the Overseas Service Ribbon.
Judge Armstrong was subsequently appointed as a United States Immigration Judge and served as the Acting Chief Immigration Judge, in the United States Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review, and formerly was appointed Deputy Chief Immigration Judge for the United States. Judge Armstrong was awarded the Director’s Award by the Executive Office for Immigration Review in 2002 and retired from the Court after second 20-year career in public service.
He is a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management of the National Center for State Courts; a former faculty member of the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada, Reno; and a former member of the Advisory Board, National Foreign Language Center, Johns Hopkins University. Judge Armstrong is a member of the Alabama State Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and a former member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Judge Advocates Association (Board of Directors).
Judge Armstrong enjoys time with his wife of more than 60 years and his grandchildren, time with friends, relaxing at the beach and reading page-turning novels.
With two decades of corporate experience in her background, Ms. McLoughlin helps organizations and systems hum with an incredible warmth and caring that is rare to find. She provides executive support to clients and programs, while always keeping one eye in and on the future, where she reaches through the fabric of the universe to know what is needed and lines everything up before it is needed. Ms. McLoughlin is also an acclaimed copy editor and served as an editor for Ms. Armstrong’s #1 best-selling book The Day One Executive, for which Publisher Weekly’s BookLife team of editors assigned a grade of “A” for editing quality.
When Ms. McLoughlin isn’t creating magic inside the company, she is creating it with clients outside the company as an editor and life resilience coach.
