Government layoffs don’t just cut budgets—they cut belief. Talented, mission-driven professionals - some who left lucrative private-sector careers, others tracking life-long roads of public service - to serve are now being pushed out of the very institutions they fought to improve. These weren’t side projects or token hires. They were seasoned professionals, some with decades of experience, brought in to modernize critical systems, close digital equity gaps, and help rebuild trust in institutions that have too often failed the people they serve. When we lay them off, it sends a clear message: innovation is expendable. And people feel it.

In high school, I remember sitting at the back of the refectory at Lakeside during lunch—what we all quietly called the “minority table.” There wasn’t a sign, and no one assigned us seats. But still, somehow, we ended up there. Black, Asian, Latino—it didn’t matter where exactly you came from, just that you weren’t part of the majority. It wasn’t enforced. It was inherited.

In a recent interview, I was asked about my experience managing Profit and Loss (P&L) statements. It was a familiar question from my time in the private sector—but it made me pause. Not because I lacked the experience, but because the P&L isn’t a standard tool in the Department of Defense. That got me thinking: How can a leader from industry transition into the DoD and still apply the same drivers that a P&L would sharpen in a commercial context?