Willie Williams

Twenty-five years ago Willie Williams walked into the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society with a mandate that had never existed before – and built four enterprise technology platforms from scratch while simultaneously governing the technology strategy, financial controls, and cybersecurity posture for an organization serving 1.5 million service members worldwide. He operates at the intersection of enterprise strategy, platform architecture, and cybersecurity – owning both board-level accountability and end-to-end system delivery. He built Nightingale – the first clinical EHR on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, featured at HIMSS alongside Epic – and presented its business case to the Chief of Naval Operations. He eliminated $4M in financial discrepancies through system design and delivered $11.7M in federal cost avoidance presented to the Secretary of the Navy. He maintained IT spend at 4.6% of functional expenses while achieving dual DoD authorizations and deploying Mandiant and FireEye threat intelligence. He brings 18 years of direct board accountability to a governance body that included the Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps – combining platform engineering, enterprise architecture, and cybersecurity leadership to deliver transformation at scale within federally adjacent, mission-critical environments.

• 25+ years applied executive practice – CIO, CTO, and CISO-scope leadership; federally authorized (dual DoD ATOs), board-accountable (CNO/CMC governance), and independently benchmarked for efficiency and security across a globally distributed operation
• MIT Professional Education – CTO Certificate Program | In Progress, Expected 2027
• MIT Professional Education – Technology Leadership Program | In Progress, Expected 2027
• DoD Information Assurance Frameworks – DIACAP, NIST RMF, NIST SP 800-53, NIST CSF, Defense-in-Depth | Applied at practitioner level across dual DoD ATO authorizations in live production environments
• Microsoft Practitioner – Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics CRM | Deployed at global scale across 235+ locations

• Mission Impact – Nightingale: Led full-lifecycle development of the first clinical EHR built natively on Microsoft Dynamics CRM – integrated with the enterprise EMR system, deployed on Surface tablets to 55 visiting nurses across 52 global military installations, with HIPAA-compliant in-app faxing, secure digital forms, and built-in patient education modules. Eliminated 6–8 pages of paper documentation per visit; enabled real-time patient records globally. Selected by Microsoft as an official customer case study and featured at HIMSS alongside Epic and Seattle Children’s Hospital. [vimeo.com/132552718] Subsequently changed Nightingale Season II – a cloud-native, scalable modernization of the visiting nurse platform with enhanced HIPAA compliance and evidence-based nursing capabilities.
• Embedded the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) into all four custom platform builds – integrating security requirements, threat modeling, and secure coding standards from inception rather than as a post-deployment layer – operationalizing DevSecOps discipline across EHR, SaaS casework, fund management, and fundraising platforms years before it became industry standard practice.
• Transformed casework delivery: cloud-native SaaS case management platform built from inception, 5,000+ users at 52 global locations – $40M in annual financial assistance to military families processed and reconciled to the penny.
• Automated the Navy and Marine Corps annual fundraising campaign: custom fund management platform replacing a fully manual process – real-time command accountability, homeport transfers, multi-format reporting for senior military leadership.
• Full development cost recovered within 18 months of original platform launch – field financial operations staff reduced from 30+ distributed personnel to 2–3 HQ personnel, confirmed by RSM McGladrey independent audit.

• Presented technology strategy and cybersecurity posture to a Board jointly chaired by the CNO and Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) twice annually for 18 years – earning continued executive trust, sustained technology investment approval, and full board confidence in IT governance through four CEO transitions; one of the highest levels of governance accountability in the American nonprofit sector.
• Governed all technology decisions through an 11-principle IT framework anchored by User Experience, Accountability, and Stewardship – consistency across 235+ distributed locations, confirmed in formal Board presentations.
• Commissioned the Harvard Partners IT Assessment – an independent external review of the organization’s technology platforms, architecture, and strategic alignment – and led the development of the formal management response, translating external findings into an actionable technology roadmap aligned with organizational mission and board expectations.
• Delivered 76% first-call resolution within 30 minutes across 5,100 annual SLA-governed requests – 1-min-12-sec answer speed, 24/7/365 global IT service delivery coverage spanning APAC, Europe, and the Americas with less than a 2-hour daily transition window – a 6-person team outperforming enterprise benchmarks on a nonprofit budget.
• Drove NMCRS from a maintenance-only posture to aggressive digital transformation by introducing the Run/Grow/Transform financial model – formally approved by COO in the 2021 IT Business Plan as the governing framework for all IT investment.

• Developed and executed a formal succession plan that proved itself under live conditions: groomed the Deputy CIO/Director of Information Technology for executive leadership continuity, and when a medical leave required a full-year absence in 2018, she assumed complete operational command of the IT function – sustaining all service levels, security posture, and DoD compliance requirements without interruption.
• Recognized by a 30-year field veteran as the first IT organization in their career where technology staff possessed both deep technical expertise and full mastery of business applications – a direct result of the process-before-technology discipline embedded in the 11-principle governance framework and the dual technical-strategic fluency Willie brought to every level of the operation.
• Established data as a core organizational asset by building the analytics infrastructure that gave field leadership – across 52 global locations – real-time visibility into casework patterns, financial disbursements, and program performance; Power BI dashboards and AI-generated budget analysis replaced manual reporting cycles and put decision-relevant intelligence directly in the hands of senior leadership and program directors.

• $4M in historical financial discrepancies eliminated; engineered the casework-to-ERP integration reconciling 200,000+ annual transactions to the penny – producing 20 consecutive clean audits across $40M in annual disbursements to military families.
• $11.7M in federal cost avoidance recovered; architected a $1.2M alternative to a $12.9M DoN program – resources redirected to mission; presented to the Secretary of the Navy and Vice Chief of Naval Operations.
• Commanded a $3.5M annual IT budget across 16 simultaneous initiatives with a $1.63M six-year capital plan – project portfolio management across all IT investment categories; security budget maintained at 12.5% of total IT spend; $3M cyber insurance secured at $11K annual premium.
• Proved IT efficiency at 4.6% of functional expenses – independently benchmarked as among the most resource-efficient in the military aid sector while sustaining dual DoD authorization and global scale.
• Pioneered a digital disbursements strategy replacing paper check processing with Hyperwallet and Zelle platforms – incorporating tokenization for payment security and regulatory compliance – generating at least $97,500 in annual transaction cost savings across 150,000 to 200,000 annual disbursements while improving client access and eliminating physical check vulnerabilities.
• Drove sustained business process improvement across every functional area – consolidating a 30+ person distributed field financial operations function to 2–3 HQ personnel through casework-to-ERP integration, eliminating paper from 55 visiting nurse clinical encounters through Nightingale, replacing manual check disbursement with digital platforms across 200,000+ annual transactions, and automating a fully manual military fundraising campaign – each transformation led by process reengineering before technology deployment.

• Compressed three years of transformation into three weeks during COVID-19: VDI deployment, Microsoft 365 migration, zero-trust security controls – 235+ global field offices continued serving military families without a single interruption.
• Directed an 8-phase Microsoft Azure cloud migration with Microsoft Corporation as named prime contractor – managed through SEABAG program, $260,100 total investment, delivering cloud-native SharePoint Online, Viva Engage, and Power Automate (RPA) governance across 52 FSO sites.
• Embedded AI/ML-enabled generative AI and business intelligence into the casework and Nightingale platforms using Azure OpenAI and Power BI – delivering automated Power BI dashboards, pattern analysis, AI-assisted note summarization, eligibility assessments, automated client letter generation, and AI-generated budget analysis. Governed adoption through a validated, governance-first framework protecting PII/PHI data across 1.5 million service member records.
• Executed an opportunistic cloud adoption strategy: modernized legacy systems to Azure while maintaining dual federal and commercial security compliance, including a 3-stage ERP evolution (legacy → Microsoft Dynamics GP → Dynamics 365 BC) integrated with DFAS and DEERS – delivering systems that actually changed how people worked, not just how data was stored.

• Engineered and maintained a dual-domain compliance framework rare for any nonprofit: achieved and sustained DoD network authorization to operate on NIPRNet through the DIACAP-to-RMF transition – managing full re-accreditation under NIST RMF while maintaining continuity of operations – while simultaneously maintaining PCI DSS compliance across 50+ thrift shop POS locations, HIPAA/PHI compliance for the Nightingale visiting nurse program, and PII protections for 1.5 million service member records; subject to annual DoD system audits and active oversight by FLTCYBERCOM, Marine Corps Cyber Command, and DISA concurrently.
• Architected a modern layered enterprise security framework combining Arctic Wolf MDR/SOC (24/7), Zscaler zero-trust network access, and CrowdStrike endpoint detection & response – strengthening threat visibility, reducing attack surface, and enabling secure operations across 235+ global locations.
• Achieved and maintained dual federal ATOs protecting 1.5 million service member PII/PHI records through rigorous data protection and privacy compliance – rare for a non-DoD organization – spanning two framework generations: DoD DIACAP Certification & Accreditation passed, then full transition to NIST RMF/SP 800-53.
• Built a hybrid security framework integrating NIST RMF, NIST CSF, PCI DSS, and HIPAA/PHI – enabling a nonprofit to achieve federal ATOs alongside commercial compliance standards simultaneously.
• Forged advanced threat intelligence partnerships with Mandiant and FireEye, complementing Arctic Wolf MDR/SOC 24/7 monitoring and FLTCYBERCOM EXORD compliance – confirmed at 686/850 FICO Cyber Risk Score.

• 52 global locations standardized on a single network architecture: Palo Alto NGFW, Cisco switching, ADFS federated identity, zero-trust remote access – CONUS and OCONUS military installations including Japan, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, and Guam – enabling consistent security enforcement, centralized management, and rapid incident response across every installation from a team of six.
• Governed federal system interface agreements with DFAS, DEERS, and NP2 controlling active-duty pay and benefits data for 1.5 million service members; authored the business continuity and DRBC Plan (SunGard-contracted alternate site, 34-priority recovery framework, 2-day Critical Time Frame for financial operations).
• Authored and maintained a federally mandated Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) as a condition of Authorization to Operate on DoD networks – distinct from and complementary to the SunGard-contracted DRBC alternate site plan – satisfying annual DoD audit requirements and ensuring organizational resilience across financial operations, clinical programs, and 235+ global locations.
• Negotiated and structured strategic vendor partnerships across the full technology portfolio – Microsoft Corporation (Azure migration prime contractor, SEABAG program), Arctic Wolf (MDR/SOC 24/7 coverage), Mandiant & FireEye (advanced threat intelligence), Defense Cybersecurity Group (federal authorization support), SunGard (DRBC alternate site), Susan Hanley LLC (SharePoint governance), Tenable, HP, Cisco, Zscaler, CrowdStrike (security, networking, and endpoint protection) – transforming each from transactional procurement to mission-aligned, performance-accountable partnerships.
• Named by RADM Chris Weaver, Commander Naval Installations Command (CNIC), in official Navy memoranda as direct IT architecture counterpart – following direct engagement with Secretary of the Navy, VCNO, and CNI on the $12.9M NMCI alternative that saved $11.7M in federal cost.

• Cloud & AI: Azure PaaS/SaaS, Azure OpenAI, Microsoft 365, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Teams, Viva Engage, Power Automate, Power BI, Copilot, ADFS, Azure AD
• Cybersecurity: Arctic Wolf MDR/SOC, Zscaler zero-trust network access, CrowdStrike endpoint detection & response, Mandiant, FireEye, Palo Alto NGFW, Tenable Nessus, ACAS, Forescout NAC, WAF, BitLocker, DLP, MFA
• ERP & Finance: Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Dynamics 365 BC, Dynamics CRM, DFAS, DEERS, NP2, Concur, ADP, Positive Pay
• Networking: Cisco switching & routing, ADFS federated identity, DirectAccess, IPSec VPN, zero-trust remote access
• Platforms Built: Cloud-native SaaS casework system with generative AI, Mobile EHR – Nightingale (Dynamics CRM) with GenAI enhancements, Fund management platform, LMS, Scholarship management
• AI & Analytics: AI/ML strategy and governance, Advanced data analytics, Generative AI (casework BI), Azure OpenAI, Power BI, LLM-enabled workflows, responsible AI governance, third-party ML integration
• Frameworks: NIST CSF, SP 800-53/RMF, DoD RMF, DIACAP, Defense-in-Depth, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ITIL, FLTCYBERCOM, Agile/DevSecOps
• Microsoft Dynamics: Dynamics CRM, Dynamics ERP, Dynamics 365 BC, DFAS, DEERS, NP2, Concur, ADP, Positive Pay