Mr. Niewenhous brings 41 years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. A retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel infantry officer, he transitioned to the private sector as the Information Technology (IT) Director for a 100-year-old recycling business and then as a contractor with Lockheed Martin Information Services. Recruited by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), he served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the agency, then the largest state agency in Florida. He then served as the Technical Director and eventually the Executive Director of the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center in New Orleans. SPAWAR New Orleans is responsible, among other programs, for the maintenance and development of the Navy’s personnel management IT systems.
Beyond IT’s technical aspects, Mr. Niewenhous is primarily focused on the business value that technology affords; specifically, how derived data can enable business leaders to improve and better inform their decision-making processes. In addition, his decades long experience leading large, complex groups has provided the opportunities to confront and overcome the associated human and organizational challenges inherent in all such entities.
His leadership philosophy, born in the Marine Corps, is “listening to the troops.” It is imperative that leaders not only know their people but that they also regularly solicit and act on, when appropriate, the advice and feedback of those on the front lines, whatever the effort.
