Pamela J. Powers

Pamela is a Managing Director in KPMG’s Federal Transformation Delivery practice and has over 35 years of experience in executive-level management, large organization transformation, policy development, strategic planning and programming, congressional relations, and human capital management. She has proven expertise in developing holistic solutions to complex organizational challenges by leveraging data, technology, and business process improvement, while driving effective change management.

Prior to her current role in KPMG, she served as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Acting Deputy Secretary and Chief of Staff where she managed operations and led enterprise modernization of the federal government’s second-largest Cabinet department with a budget of more than $240 billion and over 400,000 employees serving in VA medical centers, clinics, benefits offices, and national cemeteries across the country. Before joining VA, Pamela was Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD P&R) where she was responsible for day-to-day operations for the Department of Defense’s Total Force Management as it relates to readiness, National Guard and Reserve components, health, training, and personnel requirements and management.

Pamela served over 28 years as an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF) in various roles to include: deployed Chief of Staff for the 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force (Levant); Congressional Liaison for the Chief of the Air Force Reserve; and Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. She was the first Air Force Reservist to serve as an Action Office in the Secretary and Chief of Staff’s Executive Action Group and also served on Capitol Hill as a DoD Congressional Fellow in the Office of Senator Susan Collins (ME). She retired from the USAF in 2018 and in her last role she served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (SAF/MR) where she developed and advocated for Total Force policy across the entire Department of the Air Force Personnel enterprise.