Tracking Trends While Looking Ahead: Federal Software Factories

In this episode of the Highlight Cast, host Ashley Nichols, VP of Corporate Strategy and Development at Highlight, sits down with Mandy Graham, Director for National Security Solutions, to explore the often-overlooked art of stakeholder management—especially in the context of government change initiatives and continuous delivery.Fresh from co-leading a session at the Prodacity Conference, Mandy shares practical insights on:Defining stakeholder management and why it’s critical to successful changeThe four foundational pillars of effective stakeholder engagementStrategies for navigating resistance and building trustHow to tailor messaging to resonate with diverse stakeholder groupsThe role of data in building credibility and alignmentCommon pitfalls—like assumptions—and how to avoid themWhether you're managing a federal program or leading a team through transformation, this episode offers a blueprint for building strong, aligned, and engaged stakeholder relationships.🔗 Plus, don’t miss the downloadable stakeholder management template here: https://highlighttech.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/StakeholderManagementWorksheet.pdf

Tune in as Ryan Haywood, alongside Kerry Trahan from Pioneer CX and Ryan McCarthy from Highlight, dives deep into the evolving world of federal contact centers. This episode explores the challenges and innovations shaping how government interacts with its citizens, providing valuable takeaways and strategies for federal agencies and the contractors who support them.

On today's episode of HighlightCast, we have two special guests: Ashley Nichols, Highlight's VP of Corporate Strategy and Development, and James Eselgroth, Director of Technology and Innovation. James will be sharing his insights on the ever-evolving landscape of technology, which continues to transform the capabilities of the federal sector.   As the federal sector is going through a digital transformation, there is a lot of discussion about how to leverage technology to expand its capabilities. In this episode, we will be exploring the ways in which organizations and individuals can use technology to boost their performance and discussing whether there is a better definition for digital transformation.

Today, we are led by CEO Aarish Gokaldas and VP of Corporate Strategy and Growth Ashley Nichols on a journey of retrospection for 2023 and a look into the future and hopes for 2024 at Highlight.

Our VP, Ashley Nichols, sits down with VP, Kevin Long to discuss Rise8’s Prodacity, all things development and procurement, and how to push the envelope in development, software factories, and innovation in the federal sector.

Highlight CEO Aarish Gokaldas takes the reigns of the HighlightCast today, joined by Senior Vice President of Venn Strategies Matt Pearce to discuss the fantastic work being done in Congress to advocate for employee-owned companies and broaden the horizons of ESOPs in the Government space.

Today, we are joined by Highlight's Director of People and Culture, Fiona Sityar, and Recruiting Manager Matt Dotson to discuss all things recruiting. From breaking into the Government Contracting Industry, outlining the preferred qualifications, certifications, and classes of Government Clearances to how to engage with Highlight and what makes Highlight unique.

In this episode of the Highlightcast, VP Ashley Nichols sits down for an in-depth interview with our new Highlight CEO Aarish Gokaldas. They discuss his background, trends within GovCon, and advice for career development. We invite you to tag along and get to know him!

We welcome Ashley Nichols, VP for Corporate Strategy & Development, for her first time hosting today's episode of the HighlightCast discussing Software Asset Management in the federal sector. Today, Ashley is joined by Procurement Manager - Sarah Dryer, Program Manager & Cybersecurity Engineer - Kevin Milner, and Emilie Scantlebury - Director of Corporate Portfolio Development.  In this episode, we take an in-depth look at the current state of Software Asset Management, the biggest challenges, solutions, security impacts and implications, and the best practices in managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within the Federal sector.

Listen to Highlight's Director of Corporate Portfolio Development Emilie Scantlebury discuss the best practices of Federal Communication, joined by Communications Program Manager Barry Lawrence, and our Mission Solutions BD Portfolio Director, Tom Perkins. In this episode, we discuss the core differences between Federal and Commercial Communications, Managing & Targeting a wide demographic across locations, cultures, and generations. And we were able to dive into accessibility and how comms have been affected by the pandemic.