Year-Long Program Designed To Help Government's 'High Performers' Grow In Their Careers

Kevin McGhaw, deputy director of the Office of Strategic Analysis and Communications at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, has been selected to participate in the White House Leadership Development Program Fellowship.

The yearlong program is part of President Barack Obama's commitment to training and developing the government's high performers. It is designed to strengthen the next generation of leaders who comprise the Senior Executive Service, the personnel system covering top managerial positions in federal agencies. Top civil servants and SES candidates participate in rotational assignments across agencies, gaining experience by working on the federal government's highest priority, highest-impact challenges.

In its second year, the White House Leadership Development Program includes 15 fellows who will each be assigned one of the president's Cross-Agency Priority Goals -- goals designed to make the government work more efficiently by addressing the challenge of tackling horizontal problems across vertical organizational silos.

McGhaw and the other fellows will spend approximately 80 percent of their time in the rotational assignment gaining on-the-job experience, and approximately 20 percent of their time in leadership development.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity," said McGhaw. "I hope to gain a broader perspective on how to solve the challenges we face at NASA and Marshall by building a diverse network across many different government agencies while learning from a variety of leadership styles."

The fellowship will be a homecoming of sorts for McGhaw, who grew up in the Washington area, graduated from nearby Morgan State University in Baltimore, and served as a presidential appointee in the White House after graduation. During his 22-year career, he has held various government affairs positions within the federal government, the non-profit sector and private industry.

"I'm excited about going back, but I'm careful not to call it home. My wife, children and I have been in Alabama for eight years now," said McGhaw. "We've made Marshall and North Alabama our new home."

Since 1950, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, one of the agency's largest centers, has developed many of the engines, vehicles, space systems, instruments and science payloads that make the unprecedented missions of science and discovery throughout our solar system possible.

Marshall designed, built, tested and helped launch the Saturn V rockets that carried astronauts on the Apollo missions to the moon; developed new rocket engines and tanks for the Space Shuttle Program; built sections of the International Space Station; and now manages all the science work of the astronauts aboard the space station 24/7.

Today, Marshall manages the development of NASA's Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever designed that will enable the Journey to Mars -- carrying human explorers, their equipment and science payloads deeper into space than ever before.

As deputy director of Marshall's Office of Strategic Analysis and Communications, McGhaw assists the office director in overseeing Marshall's strategic development, public and employee communications, external relations, performance and capabilities management, and engineering cost estimating.

McGhaw previously was manager of Marshall's External Relations Office, which serves as Marshall's liaison with local, state and federal government officials, industry, civic and community leaders, and other opinion leaders to educate and inform stakeholders of the importance of Marshall programs and projects to NASA's missions and goals. He joined Marshall in 2008 as a legislative affairs specialist, a position he held until 2012.

A graduate of NASA's LASER Supervisory Development Program, Mid-Level Leadership Program and Marshall's Leadership Development Series, McGhaw has received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and the Silver Achievement Medal for his service to NASA.

(Source: NASA news release)

FMI: www.nasa.gov