Advisory Board

Colonel Gregory D. Gadson, a Chesapeake, VA, native, served our nation in the United States Army for more than 26 years. Gadson’s service culminated as the Garrison Commander of Fort Belvoir, where he oversaw the daily operations of the post, a strategic sustaining base where more than 50,000 military personnel and employees provide logistical, intelligence, medical, and administrative support, and command and control for a mix of more than 140 commands and agencies for the Department of Defense.

A 25-year career Army officer, Gadson’s life is a portrait of courage in the face of great adversity. In May 2007, as commander of the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery, Gadson’s greatest challenge came in Iraq, where an improvised explosive device (IED) attack cost him both legs above the knees and normal use of his right arm and hand. Despite this, Gadson remained on active duty in the Army and continued to inspire many with his message of courage, perseverance, determination, and teamwork. Refusing to be defined by the proverbial “hail of bullets,” he has since drawn upon the lessons of pride, poise, and team, learned as a West Point linebacker, and applied them to his life, career, and family.

Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant of Field Artillery in 1989 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Greg served in every major conflict of the past two decades, including Operations Desert Shield/Storm in Kuwait, Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Greg served in various assignments throughout the world. He dedicated himself to leading the soldiers, civilian employees, and family members in living the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. Greg is a passionate advocate for wounded warriors, veterans, and those with disabilities; on several occasions, he has testified before Congress on issues related to these groups.

Greg continues a very energetic and dynamic lifestyle where he continues to serve his nation as an entrepreneur and managing partner of Patriot Strategies, LLC, a government services company. He continues acting, currently in The Inspectors, a family television series on CBS. Greg is also an accomplished photographer/artist and remains active in cycling, skiing, and scuba.

Greg’s military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2), Bronze Stars (3), Purple Heart; the Meritorious Service Medal (3) and the Army Commendation Medal (3). He is a graduate of Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and holds masters’ degrees in Information Systems from Webster University, and Policy Management from Georgetown University. He holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Webster University.

Author, speaker, veteran, and in-demand international leadership expert, Tracey C. Jones is the President of Tremendous Leadership. She is passionate about lifelong learning and her career spans top positions in four major industries from the military to high tech to defense contracting and publishing. She is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a decorated veteran who served in the First Gulf War and Bosnian War, earned an MBA in Global Management, and is completing her doctoral dissertation in leadership. Tracey is also a faculty member of the prestigious Institute for Organization Management (IOM) and was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary PhD) from Central Penn College in 2017.

Tracey believes you’ll be the same person five years from now except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read. She is the author of eight books which teach character and proactive life skills to learners of all ages. She released Beyond Tremendous: Raising the Bar on Life to help others move beyond the ordinary to generate their best identity. Her latest book, A Message to Millennials, was released in 2017 and encourages the next generation of leaders by teaching the importance of followership. Her latest book, Spark: Five Steps to Igniting the Greatness Within, is due for release in late fall 2018.

She has also published five children’s books with her rescue dogs and is an active teacher in many of Central PAs schools and communities. The latest best seller from her Pups of Personality is called Pawsitive Purrsonlity Plus. She donates her time and talents traveling to other countries to teach emerging leaders entrepreneurship and character skills. She also conducts reading clubs in three State Correctional Institutes where men read transformative material and find renewed value in the life.

Tracey’s company has donated over $1.7M to local homeless shelters, recovery outreach and mission groups, disaster recovery organizations, and scholarships to local colleges in the past eight years. She is a trustee of Lancaster Bible College, and a board member of the Kosovo Leadership Academy. Tracey enjoys the outdoors, biking, traveling, spending time with her pack of rescue pets, and giving others the tools to live a tremendous life.

Heather Nauert served as Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and Spokesperson for The Department of State, from 2017 to 2019. In that dual role, she articulated U.S. foreign policy and coordinated public messaging for the Department, its leadership, and 294 U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.

She also helped plan, execute and manage messaging on overseas trips by Secretary Michael R. Pompeo, during travel to 26 countries. Nauert was the fourth-ranking senior official at State as Under Secretary, overseeing 952 staff and a $1.2 billion budget. She was also the Department’s highest-ranking woman – all while simultaneously serving as Department Spokesperson.

Her policy knowledge and interaction with thought leaders helped to generate international support for key diplomatic initiatives, including the “Maximum Pressure” sanctions campaign on North Korea, which produced a breakthrough agreement on negotiations. Nauert provided strategic counsel to Secretary Pompeo during five meetings with North Korean officials, including Chairman Kim Jong Un, and was in a select U.S. delegation that brought home three American prisoners from North Korea in 2018.

Nauert effectively advocated for the administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, arguing in her international visits that all nations must protect their sovereignty from economic coercion by other countries, particularly China. She was similarly an integral part of U.S. delegations who discussed directly with the Chinese their actions in the South China Sea, trade, forced technology transfer, and human rights.

She oversaw the U.S. effort to combat state-sponsored disinformation campaigns overseas and formed international coalitions to counter Russian propaganda. She secured $40 million in government funding for these programs and expanded the Department’s mission to include confronting propaganda from China and Iran.

While at State, Nauert served as board member of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which governs taxpayer-funded foreign news services, including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

Before joining State, Nauert spent nearly 20 years as an anchor and reporter at Fox News and ABC News, where she covered many of the world’s most consequential stories, including the September 11 attacks, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Nauert was born in Rockford, Ill., and spent much of her childhood in Wisconsin. She has an M.A. in Journalism from Columbia University and received her B.A. from Mount Vernon College. She lives with her husband and two young children in New York. Nauert serves as a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and on the board of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program.