The NCMA Washington DC and Pentagon Chapters are excited to announce a joint program on the ins and outs of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Mentor-Protégé Program. This event will be held virtually via Zoom on Thursday, May 26 and will feature an exceptional panel. 2.0 CPE hours.
The Honorable Allie Coetzee Leslie - former Deputy Administrator, SBA
Kanika Perkins - Deputy Director, SBA
Devon Hewitt - Partner at Protorae Law, PLLC
The Honorable Althea (“Allie”) Coetzee Leslie graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985 and retired from the Navy in 2017 as a 2-Star Rear Admiral. She received her MBA from National University, where she was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award. Allie transitioned into the Navy Reserve and the private sector in 1993 and was a small business owner from 2005-2010. In 2011, Allie was recalled to active duty and from 2011 until her retirement in 2017, she served in a variety of acquisition leadership positions at the Pentagon. These included Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Expeditionary Programs and Logistics Management); Executive Director, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Acquisition & Procurement); Acting Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy; Commander, U.S. Central Command Theater Support Contracting Command; and Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L).
After serving in uniform for over 36 years, Allie was confirmed by the Senate in 2017 and served as Deputy Administrator in the SBA until 2018. In this capacity, she championed the causes of entrepreneurs and small business owners to optimize the SBA’s resources to start and grow small businesses. In 2018, Allie started a consulting firm to deliver strategic solutions with the highest levels of integrity, accountability, and competence. In addition to her consulting activities, Allie joined Health Supply US, a minority owned small business dedicated to reshoring U.S. manufacturing in critical supply chains, as Chief Operating Officer / Chief Contracting Officer in 2021.
Kanika “K.A.” Perkins is currently the Deputy Director of the All Small Mentor Protégé Program (ASMPP) for the SBA. Housed in Washington DC, she leads a team of Analysts for one of SBA’s newest programs. K.A. oversees the operations of the program – ensuring every decision is in the best interest of building small business capacity, whether through business development or contracting.
Before joining ASMPP, K.A. was a Business Management Specialist with SBA. She served as a subject matter expert in 8(a) regulations and federal procurement, and worked directly with 8(a) firms, federal agencies, and SBA District Offices to resolve federal contracting actions in the best interest of the 8(a) portfolio. Before coming to DC, K.A. managed, advised, and advocated for a portfolio of more than 30 8(a) contractors as a Business Opportunity Specialist with the SBA’s San Antonio District Office.
K.A. brings to the SBA nearly seven years of federal procurement experience as a Contract Specialist specializing in construction, architecture-engineer, and construction management contracts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with the minor in Spanish from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Master of Arts degree in Marketing from Webster University.
Devon E. Hewitt, a partner at Protorae Law, has over 25 years’ experience in the field of Government Contracts and represents emerging, small, mid-size and large government contractors located across the United States and abroad. Ms. Hewitt leads the firm’s Government Contracts practice, and is best known as a bid protest attorney, having participated in well over 100 bid protests lodged at various federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration and the Government Accountability Office. She also has participated in bid protests filed at the United States Court of Federal Claims and is one of the few bid protest attorneys that has argued bid protest decisions on appeal at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She has significant experience with the Small Business Administration’s small business preferential programs and has twice served as a trial expert on this topic.
Ms. Hewitt received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was an editor of the Journal of Law and Politics and a member of the school’s National Moot Court team. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Jose A. Fusté of the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico. Ms. Hewitt graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College.