Jayna advises companies, transportation authorities, educational institutions, and other entities regarding their rights and obligations when doing business with or receiving financial assistance from the Federal Government and in litigating against (or with) it on contract disputes.

She helps clients recover money owed under Federal contracts, challenge adverse agency actions, and protest problematic contract awards or defend against competitors' protests. In doing so, she represents them before agencies, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Small Business Administration, Boards of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as necessary. She also represents contractors in prime/sub disputes before state courts or Federal district courts and in arbitration hearings.

Additionally, Jayna counsels and advises clients on contract- and grant-administration matters. This work includes analyzing and negotiating subcontractor and subrecipient agreements, following small-business requirements, and complying with domestic-preference policies, such as the Buy American Act, the Trade Agreements Act, and the Cargo Preference Acts. It also includes helping companies and grant recipients understand labor-and-employment obligations specific to their Federal funding, including those related to the Service Contract Act, Davis-Bacon Act, and Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. Jayna works with clients to prepare for and complete mergers, acquisitions, conversions, name changes, and other corporate transactions when government contracts are involved. Combining her work in both contract- and grant-administration matters, she also advises clients on developing and applying policies and procedures that meet 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (Uniform Grant Guidance) requirements and in preparing for and responding to investigations, audits, and Federal Transit Administration triennial reviews related to those obligations.

She serves clients in a variety of industries, including defense, pharmaceuticals, logistics, information technology (IT) services, hardware and software, healthcare, construction, financial services, private equity, insurance, utilities, higher education, and manufacturing.

A former middle school teacher and current professor of Government Contracts Advocacy at The George Washington University Law School, Jayna has been praised by clients and peers for her ability to take complex legal issues and make them interesting and understandable to others.

Alex Hastings advises companies of all sizes that interact with US federal, state, and local government agencies. He focuses his practice on counseling government contractors in the defense, technology, life sciences, and commercial sectors. Alex has a deep background advising clients in complex government contract M&A deals and routinely guides his clients in regulatory matters facing companies that provide goods or services to government agencies, accept government funding, or otherwise collaborate with government entities.

Dieera Fitzgerald currently serves in the Department of Labor as the Wage and Hour Division Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy.

The Office of Policy develops regulations, regulatory, and sub-regulatory guidance as well as develops training and outreach materials relative to the many laws enforced by the agency. The various teams within the Office of Policy are the: Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation; Division of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Child Labor; Division of the Family and Medical Leave Act, 14c, and Pump protections for nursing employees; Division of Immigration, Farm Labor, and Trade; and the Division of Government Contracts Enforcement.

Dieera began her career with Wage and Hour in 2003 as an Investigator and bilingual specialist (Spanish) in Milwaukee, WI. In 2010, Dieera joined the Boston, MA District Office as an Assistant District Director where she supervised a team of Wage and Hour Investigators and Technicians. Dieera then transitioned into the National Office’s former Division of Enforcement Strategy and Support as an Enforcement Specialist. In this role, Dieera and her team made site visits to Wage and Hour District Offices around the country and applied a National Accountability Review process with the purpose of advancing quality, consistency, and strategic enforcement across the agency. After a couple of years, Dieera then moved to Chicago to serve as the Deputy Regional Administrator in WHD’s Midwest Region where she oversaw enforcement and operations relative to the Regional Office and nine District Offices.

Throughout her time in Wage and Hour, Dieera has been an instructor at various trainings as well as the recipient of several Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Awards. She has also had the honor of working on a myriad of working groups, cross organizational teams, and projects of various types. Dieera is a proud member of Wage and Hour’s Career Development Program Advisory Board providing senior leadership in the development and implementation of the program. Dieera also currently serves on the Department of Labor Equity Board where representatives from each of the DOL sister agencies meet to

advance several of the Biden Administrations’ Executive Orders relating to Equity and where she serves as Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Worker Protection and Enforcement.

Dieera is a graduate of Marquette University and an alum of the INROADS program. Outside of work, Dieera and her husband enjoy spending time with their six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son.

Hailing from Atlanta, GA, Gabrielle Thomas (born December 7, 1996) is an American track-and-field athlete. She is the fourth-fastest woman of all time in the 200m, running 21.61 at the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials. Gabby went on to win an individual bronze medal and a relay silver medal at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. 

One year out from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gabby won the 2023 National Championship (200m), a 2023 World Championship Silver (200m) and 4 x 100m World Championship Gold. 

Gabby graduated from Harvard after turning pro in 2018, and in 2023 received her master's degree in Epidemiology at The University of Texas. She is also an advocate for diversity in STEM fields and uses her platform to encourage young people, especially young women of color, to pursue careers in science and technology. 
 
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gabby earned three gold medals in the 200m dash, 4x100m relay, and 4x400m relay, cementing her as one of the games' standout stars. 

Jonathan Njus is Director for Family Economic Security and Expanding Equity at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan.

As Director for Family Economic Security, Jonathan provides leadership and strategic oversight for the foundation’s investments aimed at building economic security for working families through sustained income and asset accumulation. In this role, he informs and guides initiatives and projects that increase workforce mobility and further family stability for low-income working parents. He is currently leading the Expanding Equity initiative for the foundation, which is focused on supporting private sector companies and leaders in transforming their workplaces to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. He actively guides the integration of family economic security and Expanding Equity into all aspects of the foundation’s national grantmaking strategy and placed-based efforts. 

Prior to joining the foundation, Jonathan served as a senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, DC. He was appointed to the Obama Administration to advance the Department of Labor’s initiatives around clean energy, job training and worker safety, and was detailed to the Domestic Policy Council at the White House to work on labor issues. 

Jonathan has a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Kalamazoo College, and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He and his family live in Michigan. 

Cornell focuses on expanding equity and inclusion strategies and policies across The Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) and its member companies. Cornell leads the strategy that positions CEWD to be a world class, benchmark company for sustainable diversity, equity, and inclusion and align these values with the enterprise’s business objectives. Cornell oversees the implementation of initiatives focused on change efforts to ensure the development of more diverse, equitable, and inclusive energy workplaces. CEWD’s commitment to advancing DEI is rooted in the belief that diversity of experience, backgrounds, and perspectives leads to better outcomes for our members, employees, and communities we serve. Cornell is responsible for the creation and implementation of CEWD’s internal and external diversity, equity, and inclusion global strategy and initiatives as well as expanding the Urban Energy Jobs Program, a joint initiative between The National Urban League and CEWD to increase diversity in the industry’s workforce.

Prior to joining CEWD, Cornell was the Head of DEI where he was instrumental in the growth of the DEI programs and initiatives for Centuri Group, Inc. While with Centuri, Cornell successfully launched programs that contributed to a sustainable more inclusive workforce, oversaw ERG initiatives and the DEI Council for the enterprise, and was a member of various councils that focused on industry diversification.

Cornell is also very passionate about philanthropy and grass root relationships. Powered by this passion, he currently serves on the board for KIPP DC, The L.E.A.D. Fund and development committee for The Appellate Project making a difference in the lives of tomorrow’s leaders!