HENRY CALLAWAY ELLSWORTH 

GASTON Norfolk, VA ⸱ hgaston834@outlook.com ⸱ (757) 871-0186 ⸱ https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-gaston-5243011b1/  

STRATEGIC PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION | PROGRAM & PROJECT LEADERSHIP  

Strategic planning and performance management professional with proven success in driving enterprise-wide strategy planning and execution, business transformation, and operational efficiency within the cybersecurity and technology landscape. Recognized for advancing organizational outcomes, agility, and stakeholder engagement by leading high-impact initiatives, optimizing processes, and aligning multi-year business objectives with actionable roadmaps.  

Repeated success in leading projects and programs related to IT, vulnerability management, system modernization, staff empowerment, regulatory compliance, cost saving, logistics administration, resource planning, and communications improvement.  

“Henry’s strategic planning and project management acumen are irreplaceable. As a leader, he consistently positions himself as the frontrunner by taking the initiative, setting the pace, alleviating friction points, making sound decisions that hold up to scrutiny, and spearheading complex initiatives.” – Branch Chief, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Strategic Planning & Implementation 
• Program & Project Leadership 
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership 
• Process Redesign/Improvement 
• Enterprise Performance Management 
• Diverse Stakeholder Management 
• Organizational Change Management  
• Data-Driven Problem Solving

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY (CISA) – Norfolk, VA           2024 – Present 

As a strategic planner and thought leader, developed, executed, and managed strategies and operations with nationwide reach, leading to reductions in operational cybersecurity risk to America’s most vital networks.  

Strategy and Operations Planner | Vulnerability Management (VM) Subdivision | 2024 – Present 

• Cross-Functional Team Leadership: Facilitated the design, establishment, resourcing, and operationalization of the VM Plans Team to lead strategic and operational planning for a subdivision of ~250 employees spanning 8 organizational components. 
• Strategic Planning: Developed and executed ~7 strategic plans, including the CISA Strategic Plan, CISA Cybersecurity Strategic Plan, Cybersecurity Division (CSD) Tech Strategy, CSD Annual Operating Plan (AOP), National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan (NCSIP), and CISA People’s Republic of China (PRC) Strategic Action Plan.  
• Strategy Execution and Performance Management: Developed 2 AOPs by engaging stakeholders to codify strategic objectives, organizational goals, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Engaged with implementers throughout plan execution and delivered recurring status updates to executive leadership. Achieved ~80% strategic initiative success rate in 2024. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Oversaw execution of the NCSIP by engaging with plan implementers throughout execution and delivering monthly status updates to executives, including the White House and Office of the National Cyber Director.  
• Operational Efficiency: Led the development and implementation of the VM Crisis Action Plan, codifying the structures, functions, and processes leveraged to respond to cybersecurity incidents and threats to public and private stakeholders. 
• Modernized Delivery Models: Drove adoption of ServiceNow software by developing requirements, facilitating tool development and deployment sprints, and transferring plan execution and management functions to improve efficiency by ~50%. 
• Dashboard Creation: Built SharePoint and PowerApps-based dashboards embraced by 200+ personnel displaying the status of all plans and upcoming deadlines, enhancing executive leadership and action officer visibility into strategy and operations. 

IVA’AL SOLUTIONS, LLC – Arlington, VA                                                            2022 – 2024 As a project manager, led and executed a multi-million-dollar program alongside 15+ teammates, while providing services in strategic planning, business analytics, project management, DevOps, and vulnerability analysis. 

Project Manager | Serving CISA, VM Subdivision | 2023 – 2024  

• Complex Program Execution: Developed individual project plans, monitored execution, evaluated and controlled work distributions, iteratively engaged and client stakeholders, and hired/onboarded new resources to meet shifting client demands. 
• Tailored Communication: Developed and delivered 14 Monthly Status Reports (MSRs), Program Management Reviews (PMRs), and recurring reports to clients and corporate executives to highlight project status, constraints, risks, and mitigations. Project and Business Analyst | Serving CISA, VM Subdivision | 2022 – 2023               
• Executive-Level Workshopping: Planned and convened an offsite with ~20 government executives to review portfolios, programs, and projects, map workstreams to strategic doctrine and policy, and establish organizational priorities in 2023. 
• Organizational Strategy & Transformation: Collaborated with a team of ~5 to reorganize and modernize the VM Subdivision’s 5 branches and ~250 employees in 8 months, resulting in 3 new organizational components, modernized delivery models, strategic alignment with Agency and national priorities, and enhanced cross-stream collaboration.  
• Gap Analysis: Led the design and proposal of a new organizational component within VM to oversee mission operations and planning, resulting in the establishment, resourcing, and operationalization of the VM Operations and Plans Branch.  

GUIDEHOUSE – Washington, DC                                           2021 – 2022  

As a consultant, provided leadership and expertise to navigate clients through complex issues concerning strategy, planning, operations, program and project management, and business process improvement. 

Senior Consultant | CISA Account, Defense and Security Segment | Serving CISA, VM Subdivision | 2022    

• Business Process Improvement: Led 2 process improvement initiatives to refine client mission and business operations by defining and measuring problem areas, analyzing root causes and impacts, and guiding the implementation of recommended changes, leading to the automation of 2 business processes and updated product management methodologies.  
• Agile Management: Modernized client project management methodologies through implementing both Agile and Waterfall practices, hosted weekly scrum meetings with ~30 clients to drive the successful completion of workstreams and sprints.  
• Integrated Operations Support: Managed client ticketing systems and fulfilled ~500 stakeholder requests via ServiceNow and Microsoft Office tools and provided on-time responses to requesters from across CISA and the broader government. 
• Automation: Built an automated application leveraging Power Automate, Power Apps, and PowerBI for CISA Account executives to monitor team and employee workstreams, onboarding and clearances, and equipment accountability.  
• Servant Leadership: Led a team of 4 to oversee the CISA Account’s Learning and Development and Wellness Programs to encourage the professional development and wellbeing of ~50 teammates.  
• Business Development Strategy: Developed and launched an updated Business Development Strategy for the CISA Account by gathering business intelligence, identifying client whitespace, and analyzing the contract and competitive landscape, contributing to 3 new proposals and successful capture of $12.1M in new contracts.  
• Pro-Bono Strategic Planning: Delivered pro-bono consulting services to WINNERS Lacrosse through conducting 10 interviews with 8 members of the WINNERS board. Delivered a short-term strategic plan to guide future direction and prioritization. 

Consultant | CISA Account, Defense and Security Segment | Serving CISA, Executive Front Office | 2021 – 2022       

• Front Office Strategist: Developed 2022 Strategic Plan for the Office of the Chief Learning Officer (OCLO), enabling the execution of new priorities for the Agency’s learning and development programs and academic partnerships. 
• Capability Delivery: Led the operationalization of the CISA Innovation Hub under the Office of Workforce Engagement (OWE), enabling ~6,500 federal employees to propose new internal innovations/projects through standardized procedures and tools. 

WELDON COOPER CENTER FOR PUBLIC SERVICE – Charlottesville, VA                       2020 

Led initiatives to enhance Virginia’s education strategies and approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Intern | 2020 

• Complex Problem-Solving: Partnered with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to analyze approaches to Career and Technical Education (CTE) instruction during COVID-19, resulting in updated remote and Virtual Reality (VR) learning pathways. 

CERTIFICATIONS & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

• Balanced Scorecard – Balanced Scorecard Institute  
• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt – IASSC  
• Business Fundamentals – McIntire Business Institute  
• Project Management Simplified – LinkedIn  Currently seeking Strategic Foresight and Scenario-Based Planning Certification (LBLStrategies), and Security+ (CompTIA) 

EDUCATION 

• University of Virginia – B.A. with Distinction, History GPA 4.0/4.0 
• New College, University of Oxford – Visiting Student, GPA 3.85/4.0 

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Expert in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint, Project, Forms) 
• Proficient in Microsoft Power Automate, Microsoft PowerBI, ServiceNow, JIRA, Qualtrics, Tableau