Leadership

Prachee J. Devadas has a career marked by more than two decades of success in federal contracting. Since 1994, she has provided oversight for contracts totaling more than $600 million. Under her leadership, Synergy has expanded its reach from assisting one federal agency to assisting 12 federal agencies as they fulfill their missions, primarily in the public health and public education arenas. Ms. Devadas ensures that Synergy is implementing innovative technologies and practices that connect and serve people, programs, and communities. Under her leadership, the company was ranked 14th on Washington Technology's 2008 List of Top 25 Nationwide 8(a) Firms.

Ms. Devadas was honored as the 2009 Washington Metropolitan Area District Small Business “Person of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2009, she was awarded a Proclamation from the Montgomery County Council in Maryland, where Synergy resides. As a result of her insight into federal contract management and her reputation for conducting business with integrity, Ms. Devadas was named one of the top five “Executives of the Year” by GovCon in 2010. Synergy was named the 2010 “Contractor of the Year” by GovCon—one of only five firms to achieve this honor. In January 2016, Ms. Devadas was also honored as a Minority Business Leader by the Washington Business Journal.

Her consistent drive and unfailing commitment to ensuring client goals was recognized in 2011 by President Obama during a press conference in the Rose Garden, where he singled out Synergy’s success as representative of the promise of opportunity in America. Ms. Devadas was also one of 15 business owners invited to the White House on September 27, 2011, to meet with President Barack Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, and members of Congress when the President signed the Small Business Jobs Act, designed to help small businesses hire new workers. Following the signing, Ms. Devadas was interviewed about small business concerns in a press conference at the White House.

In addition to memberships in several professional associations, Ms. Devadas is a speaker for the National Association of Professional Asian Women. She has been featured several times on Executive Leaders Radio, serves on the Board of Directors for So Others Might Eat (S.O.M.E.), and is on the Advisory Board of BB&T Bank. Ms. Devadas is active with the NIH Children’s Inn, which provides residential respite for terminally ill children and their families.

Ms. Herzog brings more than 25 years of public health experience to Synergy. As Chief Operating Officer, she manages a national staff across five divisions while providing counsel to the President/CEO on building strategic partnerships, spearheading new business development efforts, and managing brand reputation. She is responsible for overseeing the full spectrum of Synergy’s corporate operations, including process and IT system optimization, staff development, talent acquisition, benefits, recruitment, and retention policies. Ms. Herzog is a renowned social marketer who has presented at industry events hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Public Health Association.

Ms. Herzog’s campaigns have reached millions of Americans and won more than 50 national awards. Prior to joining Synergy, she served for 8 years as a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton, where she was responsible for more than $85 million in contracts and 120 full-time employees. While at Booz Allen, Ms. Herzog directed numerous high-profile campaigns and projects for clients such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense, Food and Drug Administration, Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Public Health Service, and the Veterans Health Administration. Ms. Herzog is a former Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences as well as an Executive Vice President of Sensis, where she developed internal policies, standard operating procedures, and strategic business plans in addition to significantly expanding the company’s communications, social marketing, creative, and video production services.

She is actively committed to several community organizations, including serving as the Board President of Young Artists at Strathmore and as a volunteer for Adoptions Together, a nonprofit organization which supports children and families formed through foster care.

Christine Hartley has more than 25 years of federal contract management experience. She leads a staff of meeting professionals and grant review specialists that support more than 100 meetings annually. During the past 15 years, she has served as project director or corporate monitor for public health projects with a combined value of more than $40 million for federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She developed and implemented cost-saving international grant review programs within the Department of State and has streamlined activities and increased cost efficiency on all of Synergy’s conference and grant review contracts.

Ms. Hartley is well-versed in both the technical and financial administration of contracts. She has managed multiyear, multimillion-dollar contracts covering a broad range of services, including technical assistance, training, evaluation, publications, and conference management. She has managed high-profile, Cabinet-level activities in the United States and internationally. These projects include conferences related to the NIH Roadmap, Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Initiative meetings in Jordan and Morocco, and the 2012 G8-BMENA Initiative 9th Forum for the Future in Tunisia. Ms. Hartley has received numerous commendations for her expertise in contracts and fiscal management from project officers, contract officers, and task leaders.

Rob Levenberry, M.S., PMP, leads a technically diverse team of information technology (IT) professionals. He is responsible for aligning technology development and corporate strategy so that Synergy can provide tailored technical solutions for each client. He supports the development of strategic partnerships and incorporates new and emerging technologies. Mr. Levenberry has served as an advisor to numerous senior executives and has successfully managed over $60 million in IT projects across the federal sector. During his 15 years of experience in government contracting and consulting, Mr. Levenberry has led major IT initiatives for federal clients such as the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Justice, and Treasury.

In addition, Mr. Levenberry is responsible for staffing and budget projections for both IT projects and the company overall. He advises project directors on IT requirements for each contract, including timelines and necessary technology. He develops and maintains policies, guidelines, standards, and procedures for IT operations—from system security to disaster recovery, risk mitigation, security test plans, quality assurance, and configuration management. As a consultant, he designed several proprietary Project Management and Application Development Solutions (Enhanced PMO Delivery System [EPMODS] and the Rapid Assessment and Application Development Solutions (RAADS) that were leveraged to increase application development and deployment velocity. Mr. Levenberry is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and is actively engaged in community and family activities.

Elaine Rahbar is a seasoned communications strategist and project manager, with nearly 20 years of experience in projects that enhance public health through federal programs, such as the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start; National Institutes of Health, National Children’s Study; the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Real Warriors Campaign; the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention; and a range of programs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ms. Rahbar is a senior editor and publications manager, with a specific focus on communications strategy and communications support for health education and outreach projects in both English and Spanish. As a project manager for the National Children’s Study, Ms. Rahbar guided a team of eight FTEs who conducted stakeholder research and engagement, content development, media and message training, social media platform strategy, and evaluation to help investigate the influence of biological, environmental, genetic, and social factors on the health and development of our nation’s children. She has more than a decade of project management experience providing strategic guidance, resource needs and allocation, problem solving, and budget management for complex, multimillion-dollar projects and for diverse teams of employees located around the country. Her areas of subject matter expertise include child health and development, substance abuse, mental health, tobacco and smoking cessation, vaccination programs, and safe schools.

Mr. Walker serves as the Director of Synergy’s Division of Assessment and Evaluation Services, providing management oversight to multiple federal projects with combined, cumulative revenue of more than $25 million. For the last 10 years, Mr. Walker has overseen technical assistance/training (TA/T) staff who have successfully developed and implemented TA/T and developed culturally relevant materials for diverse audiences. He has overseen research and evaluation staff who have successfully analyzed complex data and created substantive reports for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Department of Education (ED). With his over 35 years of working in the substance misuse prevention and treatment fields, he has been instrumental in guiding Synergy’s staff to create maximally useful products and services for SAMHSA constituents and consumers.

Mr. Walker has managed and provided technical support for public health and behavioral health contracts for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Center for Mental Health Services, NIDA, Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute on Aging (NIA), and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). He has also worked in similar capacities on projects for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Over the span of his career, he has developed hundreds of TA plans, materials, and tools to increase TA users' implementation of substance misuse and HIV prevention and treatment strategies. He has presented on numerous health and education topics, including effective models for cultural approaches to prevent substance abuse and HIV at national conferences.

Mr. Walker’s expertise in education is grounded in his experience as a high school science teacher and encompasses early childhood; students with disabilities; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); afterschool and education of homeless children; and emergency management planning and response.