Speakers
2026 Federal Acquisition Conference Speakers
Congressman James R. Walkinshaw is serving his first term in Congress representing Virginia’s 11th Congressional District. The district includes most of Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the towns of Vienna and Herndon.
Congressman Walkinshaw serves on the influential House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which oversees the federal workforce, government operations, and federal IT management—areas that are critical to Northern Virginia’s economy. He also serves on the Military and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. In these roles, Congressman Walkinshaw is focused on protecting the nonpartisan civil service, supporting fair pay, benefits, and treatment for federal employees, strengthening oversight of federal procurement and information technology, and holding the Administration accountable.
He also serves on the powerful Committee on Homeland Security, which has broad jurisdiction over national security policy, overseeing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components, covering areas like border/port security, cybersecurity, transportation security, counterterrorism, emergency management (FEMA), and customs, handling legislation and conducting oversight for the nation's security.
He is the Founder and Co-Chair of the Federal Workforce Caucus, launched alongside Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), to defend a merit-based civil service and ensure federal workers can serve the American people free from political interference. The caucus is advancing policies to strengthen recruitment and retention, boost morale, modernize pay and professional development, and reinforce the good-government values that keep public service strong.
Walkinshaw is also engaged on other critical issue areas, including protecting Social Security and Medicare, expanding investment in transportation and infrastructure, addressing the climate crisis, expanding access to affordable housing, defending reproductive freedom, and strengthening democracy at home and abroad.
In addition to his Committee assignments, Walkinshaw is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. A full list of Walkinshaw’s Caucus memberships are here.
Prior to his election to Congress, Walkinshaw served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 2020 to September 2025, representing the Braddock District. He chaired the Board’s Legislative Committee, where he successfully secured state funding for local schools, expanded local authority to protect the environment, and advanced common-sense gun safety reforms. He also chaired the Board’s Environmental Committee, where he helped lead efforts to install solar panels on county facilities and support residents and businesses to reduce their emissions and utility bills.
At the regional level, he represented Fairfax County on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and chaired the Regional Transportation Planning Board, where he helped align regional transportation planning with environmental goals and expanded transportation options across our region. In 2023, he served as Chair of the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board, helping lead the system’s historic plan to grow service and ridership.
Walkinshaw also helped lead county efforts to implement collective bargaining for employees, reduce plastic waste, expand affordable housing, strengthen protections against gun violence, and provide tax relief for the spouses of fallen service members.
Before serving in elected office, Walkinshaw spent more than a decade working in Congress as Chief of Staff to Congressman Gerry Connolly. In that role, he advised Congressman Connolly on federal policy, constituent services, and regional priorities such as Metro funding and federal workforce protections.
Walkinshaw graduated from New York University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics. He lives in Fairfax with his wife, Yvette, and their son, Mateo.
Ms. Carbone is a Director of Procurement Service C and a warranted Contracting Officer (CO) for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Technology Acquisition Center (TAC) where she leads a division of acquisition professionals responsible for delivering mission-critical information technology contracting solutions in support of the Agency. Ms. Carbone has 19 years of federal acquisition experience. Ms. Carbone started her career in the intern program at the Department of Defense (DoD), Army Contracting Command, CECOM Contracting Center and then moved to VA in 2010 where she has served as a Contract Specialist, CO, and most recently, since 2018, a Division Director. She specializes in cradle-to-grave contracting, strategic procurement, and leadership of complex information technology acquisitions. Throughout her career, Ms. Carbone has managed major VA programs, including the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) and Financial Management Business Transformation (FMBT) programs, as well as large scale enterprise agreements. She is recognized for her ability to lead high-performing teams, ensure regulatory compliance, and deliver acquisition outcomes that support the VA’s mission to serve Veterans.
Ms. Carbone holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management, a Master's in Business Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Management, and a Post Graduate Degree in Accounting - all from Monmouth University. Ms. Carbone has also completed leadership training at VA, including Federal Executive Institute training.
Clients who do business with the federal, state, and local governments trust John Prairie to help them navigate complex procurement issues. John has extensive experience in high-stakes bid protests, claims litigation, and civil and criminal investigations involving government contracts. He represents some of the world’s largest aerospace and defense, logistics, information technology, healthcare, and professional services contractors. Emerging technology firms, as well as financial institutions and international companies with a limited footprint in the U.S. government market, trust John for his counsel on understanding and complying with the unique regulatory requirements of government contracts.
John has experience in a broad range of litigation, counseling, and transactional matters for clients who work with federal, state, and local governments. John represents government contractors in bid protests; contract claims, disputes and terminations; teaming, subcontracting and joint ventures; mergers and acquisitions; government investigations and False Claims Act matters; and suspension and debarment proceedings. He also counsels contractors on regulatory requirements under government contracts, including ethics and compliance matters, labor and employment requirements, supply chain integrity, intellectual property rights, and cost and pricing issues.
Past Featured Speakers
Frank Kendall, Secretary, U.S. Air Force
Nicole Evans, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Katrina Brisbon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Honorable Gabe Camarillo, Under Secretary of the Army
Nathan Tash, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Acquisition and Business Services and Acquisition Executive, Federal Aviation Administration
Mathew Blum, Associate Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Federal Procurement Policy


