JMU Federal Dukes Spotlight: Kevin Wince
Profile by Rachel Abella, a rising senior of James Madison University. She is a Management major with a concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a minor in Global Supply Chain Management.
Kevin Wince graduated from JMU in 2006 with a major in Finance. When he graduated, he worked as a defense contractor for 7 years in DC for firms such as BearingPoint, RNB Technologies and QinetiQ North America. In 2012, he decided he wanted to work from within government and became the Chief Architect of Operational Intelligence for the Office of Naval Intelligence. Kevin continued his success at General Services Administration, as the Chief Enterprise Architect, and at the Department of Homeland in a variety of roles — Executive Director, Chief Enterprise Architect and Deputy Chief Technology Officer. He also acted as the Chief Technology Officer at DHS HQ where he led technology decisions for the Department across the approximately 450,000 person organization that includes government agencies such as FEMA, Secret Service, Coast Guard, ICE and many more. After seven years working inside of government, Kevin wanted to refocus his career on what he’s always been really passionate about, finance and technology. This is why he now works for Navy Federal Credit Union as the Vice President of Technology Strategy and Planning. In my interview with Kevin, we talked about his experience in the federal government, his role now working for Navy Federal and his time at JMU.
Working for the Federal Government
Kevin cherished his time working in the federal government because of the amazing people and the roles he’s had. For instance, he described his time at the DHS as rewarding because he felt honored to be a part of an organization that’s mission is to protect our homeland. While he works in private industry now, he still feels connected to the federal government mission since his role is to support people in that industry as well as their families. Kevin believes the biggest challenges of the government mission are budgeting and resources. The funding is never as much as you desire to be able to accomplish everything, but you always have to try your hardest to achieve the mission.
Working in the Private Industry to Provide Services for Public Servants
Navy Federal is not a federal organization, but they focus on providing financial services to military personnel, veterans, Department of Defense civilians and their families. What made him want to work there is their hyper focused mission to their members. To put it simply, their mission is find ways to provide better financial products and services to the military community than most traditional banks. In this capacity, he works with the Chief Information Officer in the Information Services Department and the business department to help them strategically implement their products and services, such as credit cards, savings and consumer loans. They are also currently working with their digital group to help them improve the mobile app and website to provide better service to their members.
His Time at JMU
Before becoming a finance major, he was an accounting major. He switched after his first year because finance had a more forward-thinking approach. Looking back to his experience in COB 300, he felt he really improved his interpersonal and time management skills. He learned the value of trust and teamwork. He also mentioned COB 300 made him realize all these branches of business, like finance, marketing, management and operations, are interconnected and it is very vital to learn them. Above all, Kevin is very proud to be a Duke. In his time at JMU, he met a lot of amazing people and when he left, he always feels an undeniable and unique bond every time he meets with other JMU alumni.
His Number One Career Advice
When I asked Kevin about one piece of advice he wanted to give to people career-wise, he said to never stop working hard and continue learning. In his first job, he always asked his supervisor for more tasks and responsibilities. He believes when you’re working hard, you’re learning more. Even if the task doesn’t align with your career, it’s always good to learn to grow in different areas, because as you move up in your career, the breadth of knowledge and information you’re expected to have, grows. Also, when you get a glimpse of other areas, you may realize a different passion and may want to change your career. After all, your career path is never linear.
