Leadership

Uniting passion and expertise in national security to guide our organization.

Leadership Team

Behind every community milestone, there's a story of leadership: discover some of the faces steering ONS and shaping the narrative of our collective success.

C-Suite
Lucas F. Schleusener
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Schleusener (he/him) is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Out in National Security and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served on the speechwriting staff of Secretaries of Defense Panetta, Hagel, and Carter from 2012 to 2017. Previous to which, he worked in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel from 2011 to 2012. He worked on President Obama’s campaign in 2008.

 

He previously served on the Board of No One Left Behind, a 501(c)3 that serves Special Immigration Visa holders. He holds an A.M. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.

 

He recieved the 2023 Knights Out Leadership Award at West Point in recognition of his service to the LGBTQIA+ community in national security and as a whole.

 

He was a Zemsky Scholar of Arabic at Hebrew University in 2010, and attended the American University of Cairo.

Denver Barrows
Chief Operating Officer

Denver Barrows is a Senior Manager at Amazon scaling electric vehicle infrastructure in last mile operations. He is passionate about developing a transportation and mobility network built for a green economy and supplied by a revitalized American industrial base.

 

Previously, Denver worked at Amazon Air where he led business-wide readiness efforts and new product/policy due diligence. Prior to Amazon, he served in active duty and reserve roles in the United States Air Force with assignments/deployments in Germany, Syria, Puerto Rico, Texas, and California. He continues to serve in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

 

Denver is an Atlantic Council Veteran Advanced Energy Project Fellow, has been recognized as a Center for New American Security Next Generation National Security Fellow, Out in National Security’s Out Leadership List, and is an alum of Globally’s Emerging as a Global Leader Experience. He was an AFROTC Distinguished Graduate at The University of Chicago where he earned a BA in Public Policy. Denver earned his MsC in Logistics from the Air Force Institute of Technology where his research focused on how FEMA could implement improved methodologies for selecting transportation service providers during disaster relief events.

Rusty Pickens
Chief Administrative Officer

Headshot for Rusty PickensMr. Pickens (he/him) is a Co-Founder Out in National Security. He served as Senior Advisor for Digital Platforms at the U.S. Department of State, and former Acting Director for New Media Technologies at the White House, where he led teams who operated cloud platforms for the Obama Administration to increase public engagement, improve user experience, enhance staff productivity, and heighten security posture. During this time, Rusty created new systems for and built new teams to lead Whitehouse.gov, the Presidential correspondence system, the We The People petitions system, the White House Appointment Center, and the U.S. Embassy contact management systems.

 

Rusty’s two decades of leadership experience aligning organizational vision with technology strategy across top federal agencies and start-up environments included the Federal Salesforce Community of Excellence, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee, Obama for America 2008, and the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Executive
Madison Strader Arcangeli
Vice President of Public Policy

Madison Strader Headshot

Ms. Strader-Arcangeli (she/her) is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Forza DC, LLC. She focuses on developing policy solutions and advocacy strategies for clients within the private and non-profit sectors involved in defense, Veterans’ affairs, and intelligence. She has also done work with philanthropic clients in the health and economic sectors, as well as non-profits focused on LGBTQ policy matters.

 

From 2013 to 2018, Madison served as the Senior Legislative Assistant for Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) when he was Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). She supported his work on the HASC, assisting in the advancement of legislation related to military personnel, readiness, and installation issues in addition to managing a large and diverse domestic policy portfolio.

 

Upon leaving the Hill, Madison trained as a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. She returned to DC to pursue her passion for sound and impactful public policy. Madison has honed her ability to develop and execute effective legislative strategies while working at two boutique multi-client government affairs firms, most recently at Sixkiller Consulting.

 

She is a board member of the Italian American Democratic Leadership Council. Madison is a graduate of the University of Washington, where she focused on international security, foreign policy, and social implications of the law and criminal justice system.

Sarah Bystran-Pruski
Vice President of Information Technology & Cybersecurity

Sarah (she/her) serves as the Director of Security Operations at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she leads the oversight, execution, and monitoring of all tactical, operational, and strategic aspects of the school’s enterprise security and data privacy program. Beyond her role at Harvard, Sarah also serves as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

 

Prior to her work in higher-education and the military, Sarah served as Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Security Unit where her caseload included investigations involving terrorism, crimes against humanity, and child exploitation.

 

Sarah also owns Niemożliwe!, a small design studio specializing in web, print, and branding designs, and is a volunteer with Team Rubicon to provide disaster relief to those affected by domestic or international natural disasters.

 

She is a proud Buffalo, NY, native, considers herself a corn syrup connoisseur, and proudly fought in the November 2022 Ticketmaster Battle for Eras Tour tickets (and won). Sarah holds an M.A. from the Harvard University Extension School in Anthropology and Archaeology, and a B.A. from Syracuse University in International Relations.

Gennie W. Minzyk
Vice President of Professional Development

Gennie (they/them) is the founder of Second Star Solutions, which takes organizations and people to the next level of performance and growth by aligning business strategy, workforce development, and organizational structure. Prior to this, they were a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

 

Previous to that, they served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, in numerous leadership positions with a focus on missiles, space, and cyber, culminating in service at the Pentagon leading space policy international engagement efforts across Europe, NATO & Canada. They orchestrated 15 senior-level DoD and interagency exchanges with 10 differing partner nations; drove alignment between U.S. and partner space policy & strategy priorities.

 

They hold a B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, an M.S. from Troy University, an M.S. from the National Intelligence University, and an M.A. from National Defense University.

Jezel Huston
Chief of Staff

Jezel Huston Headshot

Jezel was born in Guam and raised in San Diego, CA. She has a B.A. in History, MS in Aviation Administration, and is currently serving as an Officer in the US Coast Guard.

 

Her passions include working with folks on Diversity & Inclusion, travel, understanding people’s stories, and woodworking.

 

She has an amazing wife of 17 years, two adorable boys, and one fuzzy cat/dog- respectively.

James Osyf

James Osyf Headshot

Mr. Osyf (he/him) currently serves as Chief of Staff, Corporate Strategy and Development at Lockheed Martin and is a member of the U. S. Navy Reserve. He spent more than eight years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, working as both a submarine officer and advisor on the Navy Staff.

 

James holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government, a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy, and was a 2016 Shawn Brimley Fellow at the Center for New American Security.

Lead Volunteers
Matt Snow
Communications Associate

Matt Snow (he/him) is a first-year global communications graduate student at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.

 

He received his Bachelor of Science in political science with a minor in communications from Arizona State University in the fall of 2021. Matt was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, and spent eight years post-high school touring and playing in a rock band called The Apprehended, where he developed a sense of wanderlust and a love for building connections with people of diverse backgrounds.

 

As a graduate student and aspiring public diplomacy FSO, he wants to work in the intersection of intercultural communications, human rights advocacy—particularly those of the LGBTQ+ community—and diplomacy. He is a loving partner, a dog dad to three pit mixes, and enjoys Star Wars, TTRPGs, and hiking. Matt identifies as a cisgender, bisexual male.

 

They hold a B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, an M.S. from Troy University, an M.S. from the National Intelligence University, and an M.A. from National Defense University.

Eli Walz
Technology Associate

Eli Walz is a Midshipman in the USNA class of 2023. Eli is the first nonbinary person to transition at USNA. Eli is a Weapons, Robotics, and Controls Engineering major hoping to service select Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer.

 

Eli is on the USNA Triathlon Team as the third place overall female in national collegiate club triathlon, and is the president of Navy Spectrum.

Advisors
Jesse Salazar Headshot
Jesse Salazar
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy

U.S. Department of Defense

Brian Hale Headshot
Brian Hale
Former Assistant Director for the Office of Public Engagement

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Kayla M. Williams
Kayla M. Williams
Former Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Joe Vealencis
Principal

Potomac Advocates

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