Amanda Harper is president of Gaeltek, LLC | Technology Solutions in Manassas, Virginia. She oversees day-today management of non-technical operations. She cofounded Gaeltek in 2004 and joined the company fulltime in 2009. Previously, Ms. Harper was a spokesperson and press officer in the Office of Press Relations at the United States Department of State from July 2005 through July 2009. She was responsible for explaining U.S. policy on international issues to U.S. and foreign media audiences. She also represented the U.S. Department of State in interagency meetings, planning sessions, and international exercises to test and strengthen the United States government’s response to cyber-attacks and other incidents of national significance. Before joining the Office of Press Relations, she served as Public Affairs Specialist in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (April 2004 – July 2005) where she designed and implemented press and public outreach strategies to enhance the public’s understanding of the United States Refugee Program. From May 2002 to April 2004, Ms. Harper was the Information Officer for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where she managed the public affairs outreach program, responded to media inquiries and maintained routine contact with foreign and domestic journalists on diverse issues affecting the Asia-Pacific region. From June 2000 to May 2002, Ms. Harper was a program analyst with the U. S. Department of the Navy. She served as the Deputy Director, Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, where she counseled and assisted small and disadvantaged businesses with procurement regulations and practices, determined the appropriate buying office for their product, and provided pertinent data on Department of Defense procurements. She was also the Assistant Lead for Earned Value Management Systems and evaluated contract status by analyzing contractors’ use of internal cost and schedule management control systems to ensure that actual work performed met technical cost and schedule requirements, resource planning, and operational schedules. Ms. Harper joined the United States government as a Presidential Management Fellow. Ms. Harper is the co-author of Business IT 101: A Business Owner’s Guide for Finding Hassle-Free Computer Support (2011). She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Bridgewater College; her M.P.A. in Public Administration is from Virginia Commonwealth University. Ms. Harper is the recipient of numerous United States Government awards and honors, including from the U. S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Navy, and from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security for her commitment and efforts to testing and strengthening the government’s response to cyber-attacks.