Bill McKenna was 24 when he was elected to office in Dunellen, New Jersey, the youngest in the town’s history. He was 51 when he graduated with a master’s degree in homeland security from George Washington University, working full-time to finish the degree. In between, he watched the Sept. 11 attacks unfold from the New York City area, losing people he knew, and spent months as a full-time caregiver when both parents fell ill simultaneously.
That’s the context behind how McKenna approaches federal mission work and why he takes it personally.
Now vice president of strategic growth and government affairs at Trilogy Innovations, McKenna brings over two decades of experience across financial services and federal IT, including work with DHS, the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services and the FBI. In this Q&A, he talks about where federal agencies are most vulnerable, why AI has to be operationally grounded to matter and what two decades of mission work taught him about building solutions that last.
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
My career has been shaped by building mission-driven technology solutions across both the private sector and the federal space. I began in the financial services industry, where I spent over a decade supporting large-scale transformation and risk-driven modernization efforts at organizations such as ING (now Voya), T. Rowe Price, and OneAmerica. That experience gave me a strong foundation in regulatory environments, operational discipline, and aligning technology investments to measurable outcomes.
I later transitioned into federal IT and national security work, where I found my long-term professional purpose. Over the past decade, I’ve supported major initiatives across DHS, DOJ, FBI, and HHS, working at the intersection of cybersecurity, cloud modernization, mission delivery, and emerging technologies.
To deepen that mission focus, I returned to graduate school and earned my Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security from The George Washington University, which strengthened my understanding of interagency operations, emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, and national security policy.
That combination of industry experience, mission alignment, and academic grounding ultimately led me to my current role, where I focus on shaping strategy, partnerships, and growth across federal civilian and homeland security customers.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
I chose this path because federal mission work is one of the few environments where technology directly impacts national resilience, public safety, and trust. When you support homeland security or federal law enforcement, you’re not simply modernizing IT—you’re enabling the ability to respond faster, operate securely, and protect critical systems.
That mission-driven perspective has influenced every stage of my career and reinforced my focus on cybersecurity, modernization, and operationally relevant AI. My graduate work in homeland security further validated that the most effective solutions are those built with an understanding of both policy and real-world mission constraints.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support?
Yes. My commitment to the homeland security mission is both professional and deeply personal. I pursued my master’s degree in homeland security specifically to strengthen my ability to support real operational challenges—particularly those involving emergency response, critical infrastructure protection, and interagency coordination.
Earlier in my career, I worked in the New York City area during the September 11 attacks and personally knew individuals who were directly affected. That experience left a lasting impression on me and shaped how I think about preparedness, resilience, and the human impact of national security failures.
In addition, there was a period between my time in financial services and federal IT when both of my parents became seriously ill and required full-time care. That experience gave me a firsthand understanding of crisis response, system fragility, and the importance of coordinated support during high-stress, high-stakes situations.
Together, those experiences reinforced my desire to work in roles that contribute to public safety, infrastructure protection, and mission resilience. They also directly align with the work I support today, including cybersecurity resilience, modernization of federal systems, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies like AI in mission-critical environments.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?
My top priorities are helping teams grow responsibly in the federal market while ensuring we remain grounded in execution and mission outcomes. That includes identifying emerging requirements, shaping acquisition strategies early, building partnerships, and developing solution strategies aligned to customer needs.
A major part of my role is translating mission drivers and policy direction, such as Zero Trust, cloud modernization, AI adoption, cyber resilience, and post-quantum encryption, into actionable business development and delivery strategies. These responsibilities support the company’s broader growth goals by ensuring we pursue the right opportunities with credible, forward-looking solutions aligned to evolving federal security priorities.
Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in your current field or portfolio you support, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?
Federal agencies are under increasing pressure to modernize quickly while maintaining security, compliance, and mission continuity. Some of the biggest pain points include legacy systems, constrained workforces, slow acquisition cycles, and the growing complexity of cybersecurity requirements.
Growth opportunities are strongest in secure cloud transformation, DevSecOps modernization, AI-enabled automation, cryptographic modernization, and mission analytics. Agencies are also increasingly seeking integrated solutions that improve operational performance while meeting cybersecurity mandates.
How are you and your team planning to address/prepare for these opportunities?
We’re preparing by investing in strong partnerships, developing repeatable modernization approaches, and focusing heavily on mission-specific AI and automation use cases. A key part of that effort includes applied innovation work such as Radiant Expanse, which focuses on operational AI, edge analytics, and resilience for homeland security and defense missions, as well as VOICD, which emphasizes secure data, identity, and trust frameworks in complex mission environments.
Across these efforts, our goal is to ensure solutions are scalable, policy-aligned, and operationally relevant—not experimental or disconnected from real mission needs. We place a strong emphasis on early customer engagement and disciplined capture planning so we can help shape requirements and deliver solutions that agencies can adopt quickly, secure effectively, and sustain long term.
How important is mentorship & networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?
Mentorship and networking are essential in GovCon because this is an ecosystem built on trust, credibility, and long-term relationships. Some of the most meaningful progress in my career came from mentors and peers who offered guidance, challenged my thinking, and helped me navigate both the mission and business sides of the industry.
Equally important is giving back. I’m active in the Ascend WV program and the First Ascend initiative, where I mentor and support professionals building careers in West Virginia while engaging in national-level work. I’ve also been involved in community leadership efforts, including founding the Herndon Youth Advisory Council, which reflects my belief that leadership development should start early and be rooted in service.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
Most people don’t know that I’ve served in elected office twice. I was elected at 24 years old in Dunellen, New Jersey, in 1998, becoming the youngest elected official in the town’s history. Years later, in 2016, I was elected again in Herndon, Virginia, continuing my commitment to public service at the local level.
More recently, I returned to graduate school later in life and earned my master’s degree in homeland security, graduating at 51 while working full-time. Together, those experiences reinforced a belief I’ve carried throughout my career: leadership is grounded in service, accountability, and continuous learning—especially in a field as dynamic and consequential as national security.