Meet the NSSA Team
Our team is comprised of dedicated professionals and subject matter experts with extensive experience across a broad spectrum of issue areas, including national security space policy, legislative and budgetary components, workforce development, and more.
Mr. James J. Frelk has 30 years of experience as a leader in government and industry, shaping commercial and government programs on national security space, commercial satellite earth imaging, ISR, cybersecurity, and other fields. He is currently a Partner in Global Continuity Group, LLC and the Vice Chair of NSSA’s Moorman center for space studies. Prior to this, Mr. Frelk served as national security affairs analyst in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was also the Founding Executive Director and Treasurer of the George C. Marshall Institute and later served as Director of the Office of Space Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He represented the Department at the National Space Council and led efforts on legislation and regulatory changes for the licensing of US commercial satellite remote sensing systems. In addition, he led the first multi-Agency/Department and industry mission to Russia to facilitate cooperation on the international space station and other defense related programs. James has also served as Director of Headquarters Operations (SES) and Deputy Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation at NASA.
Mr. Frelk has also held numerous leadership positions in industry. He previously co-founded Lockheed/Space Imaging, WorldView Inc., and EarthWatch/Digital Globe (now known as MAXAR). His service also includes Vice President for Geospatial Information Systems for ERIM/Veridian, Senior Vice President for Government Services at TerreStar Networks, and Senior Vice President at Integral Systems.
Jim Frelk
Danica orchestrates the marketing and communications efforts of NSSA. With over ten years of nonprofit experience, she has assisted some of the largest charities in the world raise millions of dollars through social media advertising, email communication, and digital campaign management. Most recently, Danica worked with the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation to create their updated website as well as with Juniper Systems Limited to help build a more targeted international social strategy. She earned her Bachelor’s of Biology and English from Washington State University.
Danica Giermann
Steve Jacques, Executive Director and Founder of the National Security Space Association, brings to his role decades of experience in and intimate knowledge of the National Security Space and Intelligence communities. A retired Air Force officer, Mr. Jacques supported DoD and Intelligence Community space programs, served as the Secretary of the Air Force’s Congressional Liaison for Space and S&T programs and policies, and served as the Secretary of Defense’s Legislative Liaison for Intelligence, Space, and Airborne Reconnaissance policies and programs. Mr. Jacques is currently a Managing Partner at Velos, where he routinely interacts with space and intelligence leadership in the Executive branch, industry, and Congress. In 2004, Mr. Jacques co-founded the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation, preparing him for his role in leading the National Security Space Association as Executive Director.
Steve Jacques
A graduate student at The Catholic University of America, Maggie joined the National Security Space Association in April 2023. Having worked at British Parliament and the Office of Management and Budget, Maggie has worked with global leaders to strengthen and highlight the Special Relationship between the US and the UK. Maggie’s previous experience also includes the Republican National Committee, where she assisted the Chairwoman’s Office in the preparation for the 2022 Midterm Elections. Maggie recently graduated with a BA in Politics from The Catholic University of America, where she is also pursuing her master’s degree in international relations.
Margaret Kelly
Jeffrey T. Ley, CEM, CMM, brings decades of experience building best in class programs to drive growth and member engagement for non-profits to the National Security Space Association. Most recently, he helped build the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) into the premier organization supporting the Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Community.
Prior to his time at USGIF, Jeff worked for PGI, Inc. where he led the production of industry leading events in myriad industries globally. Some clients of note included the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), Peoplesoft, and Oracle. Jeff has earned multiple professional certifications to include his CEM (Certified in Exhibition Management) and CMM (Certified in Meeting Management). Mr. Ley has taught courses in a multiple aspects of event planning and is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Jeffrey T. Ley, CEM, CMM
Matt McNitt, Director of Operations, brings a passion for space and a broad understanding of the National Security apparatus to NSSA. Matt oversees day-to-day operations as well as strategic initiatives at NSSA. McNitt brings years of Executive Branch and space experience to NSSA. Most recently, McNitt served as a Special Advisor to the NASA Administrator where he managed strategic communications and advised NASA leadership on a range of topics and priorities. Matt is a graduate of American University's School of Public Affairs. Previously, Mr. McNitt served in the White House, managing personnel at National Security agencies including DOD, DHS, State Department and the Intelligence Community.
Matt McNitt
Kayla is currently the Manager of Association Development at NSSA. She previously served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HQ), where she worked closely with high-level foreign partners and domestic stakeholders to advance U.S. strategic objectives in areas of shared security interests including counterterrorism, enhanced cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, and maritime domain awareness. Kayla holds a Master of Letters in Middle East, Caucasus, and Central Asian Security Studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
Kayla Miller
Mike Tierney, trusted by senior executives in industry, government and media, provides timely and objective analysis of U.S. military investments in space capabilities.
A graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A., 2003) and the Catholic University School of Law (J.D., 2006), Mike joined Velos in January of 2011. Mike performs rigorous analysis for both public and private sector organizations on legislative, regulatory, budget and acquisition policies affecting the federal market. His analysis has been featured in SpaceNews, Aviation Week, The Denver Post, Breaking Defense and many other media outlets covering the space industry.
Organizations leverage Mike's legislative expertise and unique knowledge of the U.S. military space budget to inform and execute effective strategic engagement plans for the federal market. A talented and prolific writer, he is routinely relied upon for technical assistance in legislative drafting and persuasive writing. He is the co-founder and organizer of the annual Strategic National Security Space Budget & Policy Forum in Washington D.C., and he previously served in the 111th Congress as Military Legislative Assistant and lead legislative advisor on Defense, Intelligence, and National Security policy to U.S. Representative Frank Kratovil (MD-1), then a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
An entrepreneur with demonstrated success, Mike also has a passion for developing solutions that leverage analytics and visualization to efficiently distill value from complex, big data.
Mike Tierney
Mandy Vaughn, Chair of the NSSA Education and Workforce Development Center, brings profound expertise to NSSA. Mrs. Vaughn originally joined Virgin Orbit, VOX Space’s parent company, in 2015, but then led the way to create VOX Space, which provides the national security community of the USA and allied nations with responsive, dedicated, and affordable launch services for small satellites. She also currently serves as a member of the National Space Council’s User Advisory Group. Vaughn, who is an Air Force ROTC graduate, has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mandy Vaughn
Chris Williams, Vice President and Chair of the NSSA Moorman Center for Space Studies, provides expert analysis and insight to NSSA. Mr. Williams has held senior positions in the Executive and Legislative branches of government. At the Department of Defense, Mr. Williams served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense, and as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Mr. Williams also served on various Government advisory boards that advised the Secretary of Defense on national security policy and military strategy matters. Mr. Williams held a series of Leadership and Committee professional staff positions in the United States Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, including National Security Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader, Deputy Staff Director and Budget Director on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Professional Staff Member on the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Williams will bring to his position great dedication and knowledge of the National Security Space Community.
