Speakers

Halimah Najieb-Locke is the CEO of Locke Strategies LLC where she helps clients improve their acquisition processes and strategic approaches to expand their customer base, while actively engaging with government personnel and systems. She is also a Senior Advisor with DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, an Advisor at the Washington Office, and an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service.

In May 2024 Ms. Najieb-Locke completed a distinguished career within the Department of Defense as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Resilience where she led the drafting and publishing of the DoD’s first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS) and establishment of the first Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC) which will guide the Department’s engagement, policy development and investment in the industrial base over the next 3-5 years. She also established a broader strategic focus for the investment screening review boards DoD participates in to protect against adversarial encroachment in foundational technologies through wider market analysis.

Previously, she served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on innovation and the industrial base where she advised on complex and high priority special assignments and strategies in areas such as federal procurement acceleration, joint experimentation, and critical technology areas. Ms. Najieb-Locke also held positions within the House of Representatives, serving as the Senior Procurement Counsel for the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Counsel for the House Armed Services Committee handling all acquisition related policy issues, foreign military sales (FMS)/export controls and technology transfer and a senior Professional Staff Member for the House Small Business Committee overseeing the small business contracting, entrepreneurial development, and innovation programs SBIR/STTR.

She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of San Francisco and a law degree from George Washington University Law School.