Mike Derrios grew up in poverty so severe he was once homeless as a teenager. But through the U.S. Air Force’s promise of a better life, through mentorship and a willingness to say “yes” to the right opportunities, he built a career around providing stability as one of his industry’s most respected acquisition professionals.
A strategic leader and expert in government acquisition, Derrios is the executive director for the Greg & Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University Costello College of Business where he oversees research, education, training and collaboration across government, industry and academia.
“I wanted an opportunity to leverage my 30 years of experience in a unique way that would help shape the workforce of the future, study and offer potential solutions for the challenges facing the acquisition community, and serve as a bridge between government and industry for the almost $800 billion government contracting sector,” Derrios said.
He’s no stranger to the stakes of the mission.
Derrios started his Air Force career as a contract specialist and quickly discovered he had an aptitude for streamlining processes. His reputation as a respected procurement expert brought other opportunities, too. As a senior business consultant at CACI, Derrios helped transform contract writing systems across the Defense Department, leading to stronger mission support and streamlined systems for 20,000 procurement professionals.
Derrios rejoined federal service as one of TSA’s first 100 employees, deploying passenger and carry-on screening equipment across 429 airports after Sept. 11. He later ran TSA PreCheck, expanding the public-private screening program nationwide.
At the Coast Guard, he led a $3.5 billion annual contracting portfolio, pulled a shipyard back from bankruptcy to save the $10 billion Offshore Patrol Cutter program, and partnered with the Navy to build the country’s first icebreaker in 40 years.
Most recently, he left his mark on the State Department where he overhauled an outdated system to streamline procurement. His term there ended in October 2025 after a period as deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and senior procurement executive leading acquisition strategy and contracting oversight within a department managing $15 billion in spending and a workforce of 1,500 across 270 embassies and consulates.
Derrios came to his position at the center earlier this year. Already holding a degree in Workforce Education & Development from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Derrios earned his MBA from George Mason University in 2006.
“I have a vested interest in helping George Mason students learn about and find opportunities in government contracting,” Derrios said. “And as a former federal employee, I still care deeply about the success of government missions, so I am highly committed to helping industry and government work better together.”
Bringing Talent and Research to Industry Shifts
At GMU, Derrios works to create greater value for stakeholders. He’s focused on expanding the center’s reach across the full government contracting ecosystem, building talent pipelines to address workforce gaps, growing strategic partnerships and establishing long-term financial viability.
The federal landscape is changing through a period of sweeping transformation, Derrios said.
“Major reforms, workforce constraints, and the introduction of disruptive technology are the major pain points facing all sides of the GovCon ecosystem,” he said. “Regulatory streamlining and executive orders are ushering in a new era of change at unprecedented levels.”
Against that backdrop, the industry also faces generational turnover in the short-staffed federal acquisition workforce, he said. Plus, data analytics, AI and automation are redefining acquisition processes with technology and policy implications.
Derrios said the center’s partnerships and talent networks are working together on these issues to bring research and thought leadership to the space. They’re expanding training and education offerings and partnerships with organizations that lend credibility to their efforts. And they’re working to establish flagship events to leverage their “unique neutral focus” on federal spending and market trends and the regulatory drivers that affect it, Derrios said.
He said he wouldn’t have risen to the top of his field without mentors who cared about his success and a strong network that supported him.
He credits senior enlisted military members in the Air Force for believing he had potential and encouraging him to stretch himself, previous executives he served under at TSA for modeling good leadership and showing him how to lead by example, and several former chief procurement officers and senior procurement executives at DHS for opening his eyes to ways he could create greater impacts at higher levels.
He also gives a nod to admirals and captains at the Coast Guard and ambassadors and Senior Foreign Service members at the State Department who taught him about the importance of building trust and leading through influence rather than leaning on positional authority to accomplish mission across organizational boundaries.
Derrios said he is “incredibly grateful” for a career he thought was improbable given his humble beginnings, and he noted those experiences have motivated him to want to share his knowledge and open doors for others now.
“My mentors challenged me to grow, and my network showed me access to opportunities,” he said. “I grew up in poverty and was once homeless as a teenager. God has been good to me.”
