Laurie brings a uniquely vital perspective to the Datoc Witten Group with a background establishing highly successful public/private partnerships, community relations, comprehensive marketing communications, and a focus on high-growth execution in the corporate world.

For more than 30 years Laurie Powers has worked for – and with – preeminent Global 1000 companies, the “Big 3”, government agencies, senior officials, and nonprofit entities.  Laurie has gained a unique 360° understanding of complex organizations and markets which enables her to provide expertise in the areas of strategic planning, integrated communications, branding, partnerships, events, public relations (PR), sponsorships, outreach programs, and stakeholder management.  She is passionate about initiatives that provide tangible benefit to our communities, veterans, and young people.

Laurie began her career with Price Waterhouse, LLP as a senior financial management systems consultant on projects for the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the State of Oregon, as well as other Federal agencies and the U.S. military.  She made the leap into business transformation, corporate positioning, PR, and enterprise marketing for MCI Communications (acquired by Verizon) where she led Consumer Product Marketing and then Corporate Community Relations for seven years. She is recognized for her work on the game-changing MCI Friends and Family marketing program that forever altered the telecommunications landscape with AT&T.

Laurie has held senior marketing communications and alliances positions at PwC, the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), SoftwareAG, and Deltek.  She also served on the Boards of both the Government Business Executive Forum (GBEF) and Consumer Electronics Show Government (CESG) from 2013-2017. Laurie was the GBEF’s Executive Director in 2017.  In that role, she assisted in the creation of event forums with the industry sector leaders, CEOs, government executives, and senior subject matter experts on critical technology and infrastructure issues.

Most recently, Laurie helped launch a high-tech solar company as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and was the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at NeoSystems, a leading provider of technology-driven systems integration, hosting, and managed services for nonprofits, government contractors, and commercial enterprises.  She also helped produce the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation’s (MCSF) first-ever benefit concert in December 2018.

An Honors graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in International Relations, Laurie is married to a U.S. Navy Veteran who provides legal assistance to the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP).  Her husband served on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and amassed nearly 3,000 hours in various aircraft as a naval flight officer.  Their family consists of two daughters, one golden retriever, a rescue cat, and a betta fish with 9 lives.