Our Culture, Commitment, and Collaboration

Ricky Boyd is President and Co-Founder of Northstrat. When founding Northstrat, Rick envisioned an employee-centric company focused on delivering the highest quality products and services at a reasonable price to our Federal Government. Through years of experience in federal contracting and the military, Rick surveyed the landscape to understand the pros and cons being displayed in the industry. Choosing a high quality of life for employees and efficient, effective solutions as goals for the company, drive Rick’s decisions to ensure Northstrat lives up to this simple strategy: Say what you can do, how long it’ll take, how much it will cost – then execute for our customers!

Leading Northstrat is the highlight of Rick’s career. Rick has enormous pride in the people at Northstrat as well as the track record Northstrat has created. Rick draws on his past of serving in the US Army and working around the globe in the Intelligence Community to guide Northstrat.

Outside of the office, Rick enjoys spending time with his family and supporting his grandchildren’s endeavors. He frequently attends live performances including opera, symphony, plays, and musicals, as well as volunteering as a Board Member of the Loudoun Symphony Association. Traveling the World with his wife, Sue, is a passion, with near-term plans to visit more US National Parks!

Patrick Callis is Northstrat’s Vice President. With over 20 years of leadership experience in government contracting, Patrick specializes in supporting clients in the US Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. He began his career as a software engineer and diligently served in leadership positions at all levels of the federal services industry. From organizing large engineering teams, to overseeing all aspects of federal services contractors, Patrick is a champion for process improvement.

Patrick had the opportunity to join Northstrat just before the world shut down in March 2020. After surviving the challenges of coordinating contract execution during a pandemic, he continued to exercise his passion for working with talented engineers to provide specialized National Security services to Federal customers. Patrick was particularly drawn to Northstrat’s employee-focused culture that gives him the freedom to find effective solutions to business requirements while also supporting the career needs of employees.

During his free time, Patrick enjoys exploring the outdoors with his wife and three children. He loves hiking, backpacking, skiing, trail running, and any activity in the mountains. When the weather is uncooperative, he enjoys reading, strategy and simulation games, or brewing beer in the garage.

Patrick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park and is a proud supporter and fan of Maryland athletics. Go Terps!

Olivia Diehl is Northstrat’s Director of Contracts, leading Contracts, Procurement, Subcontracts, Pricing, Proposal Management, and opportunity pipeline generation. Prior to Northstrat, Olivia served as contracts manager at several different large businesses. Her experience at a wholly owned subsidiary, that still functioned somewhat like a small business, gave her a taste of the small business culture and genuine care for employees that a small business can represent. These values, along with the dedication to excellence for the mission, are what attracted her to Northstrat.  

Olivia’s range of experience across companies of various sizes, provides a much-appreciated perspective on how to be compliant while also striving for efficiency, responsiveness, and customer and mission focus. She loves collaborating with our talented engineers and helping customers achieve their goals.

In addition to about 15 years of experience in contracts, Olivia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.

Outside of work, Olivia enjoys time with her husband, daughter, and goldendoodle. Recent weekends typically consist of walks around the neighborhood, parks, swim lessons for their daughter, and catching up with family and friends. They enjoy traveling to the beach or mountains and visiting family in nearby states.

James Boyd is the Director of IT Operations as well as the Facilities Manager here at Northstrat. Driven, innovative, and determined, James excels in providing operational support to the employees of Northstrat with a personalized approach. This continues in his ability to provide effective support to help organizations and customers meet their IT business needs. James has experience in Governance Risk Compliance (GRC) for small businesses in the IT sphere and he is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). With over twenty years of experience supporting the intelligence community, fifteen of those years specialized in IT, James exudes the leadership qualities, knowledge, and expertise needed for supporting a small business and guiding a successful IT Department.

Prior to his position with Northstrat, James was a Systems Administrator at Zeta Associates and a Logistics Specialist at Technology Management Associates. He joined Northstrat in 2014 and recently celebrated his ten-year work anniversary. James is passionate about supporting the mission and vision of Northstrat and can often be found wearing Northstrat gear around our Dulles Headquarters.

An avid sports fan and baseball enthusiast, James’ grit and determination transfers to the pitcher’s mound, where he instills those values while coaching his kids’ baseball teams in the local community. James enjoys hanging out with his kids and wife, Marian, taking his dog for walks around the neighborhood, and listening to music. He has an interest in history, exploring new places and countries through travel, all while making memories with his family.

Deb Schauer is Northstrat’s Director of Business Operations, managing Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, and Security. The lean team believes strongly in customer service, whether it be internal employee customers or external customers and partners. The customer comes first! Deb works to maintain compliance with all the various external entities while keeping the bureaucracy at Northstrat to a minimum.  

Deb began her career at Northstrat in late 2014, when there were only around 45 employees. Northstrat’s growth has been an exciting journey and Deb is looking forward to celebrating her ten-year work anniversary in late 2024. Previously, Deb’s career spanned many fields including accounting, financial planning, marketing, and human resources. She has experience working for companies including The Iams Company, REHAU, and Pro Football Inc. Deb holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. 

In her free time, Deb enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking and biking. A fitness enthusiast, Deb also finds satisfaction in good, old fashion gym workouts. She likes to cook and read, and Deb loves to travel with her husband and friends. Her most recent travels have included Ireland, Hawaii, and Costa Rica. 

For Deb, being with Northstrat for almost a decade and having the opportunity to be a part of something bigger has been the experience of a lifetime.

Gian A. Alvarez Blanes is the Director of the Advanced Data Solutions (ADS) department at Northstrat. With over 16 years of professional experience, Gian has served in numerous technical and leadership roles supporting both the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DoD). As the director of ADS, Gian guides his team of software developers, systems engineers, and data engineers to craft, integrate, and automate software solutions, including data analytics, data management, data visualization, custom software application development, empowering DoD and IC agencies to achieve their data transformation and data management goals in support of their critical mission.

Gian holds a Masters of Science degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University, with a focus in Software Engineering. He also holds a bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (Antes, ahora y siempre… Colegio). During his college years, he had the opportunity to intern with the Defense Intelligence Agency, supporting the National Military Command Center (NMCC) as part of the J2 staff. There, he developed a passion for supporting the critical mission of both the IC and the DoD. He was hired by a major defense contractor as part of their Leadership Development Program, where he led software teams and served as a data architect providing software solutions for the DoD for almost 6 years. He joined Northstrat in May 2013, looking to work for an employee and mission focused company that empowered their employees to make a difference in support of the critical DoD and IC missions. For the past 11 years, Gian has supported Northstrat in a variety of projects and roles, as a senior software engineer, program lead, and now as the director of ADS.

As a father of 2 young girls, his time off is usually spent with his family, taking them to after-school activities, sports, or just playing at home with them. Gian is also involved with his local church community and enjoys supporting charity events through his parish. During the weekends, he loves to spend time in the kitchen, barbecuing or cooking some of his favorite Puerto Rican or Asian inspired dishes. He greatly enjoys being outdoors, and riding motorcycles (although that has been put aside for a while).

Patricia Flynn is the Director of National Mission Solutions at Northstrat. Patricia’s department supports the Intelligence Community providing software applications using best practices for development, security, and operations (DevSecOps). She has experience in Agile Project Management and a strong interest in ground applications, end-to-end engineering, and integrated mission solutions. This year will mark Patricia’s fifteenth anniversary working at Northstrat, where the people and amazing team inspire her to engage, grow, and achieve more every day.

Determined and always intrigued by a challenge, Patricia pursued electrical engineering after being told that it was the hardest type of engineering. Undaunted by her female minority status in a male-dominated STEM environment, Patricia started her career in EE 101. She designed her first circuit and was immediately hooked, graduating with a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California (Go Trojans!). Naturally inquisitive with a passion for continuous learning, Patricia earned her Postgraduate Diploma in Business from the University of Leeds while living in the United Kingdom. She began her Northstrat career as a Senior Systems Engineer, quickly advancing to a leadership position.

In her spare time, Patricia regularly volunteers for her children’s PTA and youth sports leagues, and she can often be found cheering her children on at their various sporting events. Patricia’s oldest daughter is a VT grad and civil engineer, and she has a son majoring in Business at the other USC (University of South Carolina), while the two youngest teenagers are still active at home. Born and raised in California, Patricia enjoys relaxing at the beach or the lake, making wonderful memories with her husband and family.

Tom Foley is the Director of Northstrat’s Integrated Intelligence Solutions department. Having programs supporting both the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DoD), IIS closes the gap between these disparate acquisition channels with best of breed solutions, processes, and technologies.

Tom has an MSEE from the University of Southern California, with emphasis in Satellite Communications, and has spent the majority of his 21-year career supporting overhead operations, SATOPS ground systems for National assets, and Space Electronic Warfare (SEW) systems for the DoD. Tom will celebrate his ten-year anniversary with Northstrat in September 2024. He is proud to be a part of this amazing organization that truly values its people and the mission over all else.

When not working, Tom stays very active with his four elementary boys, tinkering with 3D printing and house projects, traveling with family and friends, and snowboarding. Tom has been to over 60 ski resorts in 7 countries and makes a point to visit a new mountain every year! Summers are dedicated to kids’ sports and enjoying family weekends on nearby Lake Anna.

“The last ten years have been the best of my career and I can’t imagine working anywhere else!”