Leadership Team
Daniel V. Berkon
Dan Berkon is the Founder and CEO of Culmen International. He is an international expert in WMD nonproliferation, counter-illicit trafficking, and international procurement and logistics. Dan has served as an advisor on international security programs to the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, Energy, Justice and Homeland Security. His contributions have included nuclear security initiatives in the former Soviet Union, maritime security programs in Africa, border security around the world, and counterterrorism in the U.S.
Prior to founding Culmen International in 2004, Dan spent 11 years at SASI, another U.S. Government contractor. There Dan rose from Director of International Programs to the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. In 1992, he worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the East Europe Business Information Center.
Dan holds a MBA in International Business from Georgetown University, and a BA in International Relations from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Additionally, he is fluent in German. Dan is a personal recipient of the DoD David Packard Award for Acquisition and Logistics, the Admiral Stark Award for Innovation, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Outstanding Team Award, and the NAVAIR Award for Acquisition Excellence.
Myron Thomas
Myron Thomas serves dual roles as Culmen International’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), leading efforts to optimize operations and guide capital deployment to maximize organic and inorganic growth. As a member of the executive leadership team, Myron has an integral role in executing the Culmen’s strategic plan, developing and implementing its financial strategy, and providing servant leadership to ensure Culmen’s Divisions and Programs are well supported to exceed client expectations.
Prior to joining Culmen, Myron led multiple high-growth, private equity-backed companies as President, COO, and/or CFO. Most recently, he served as COO at Melwood, a mission-driven Federal contractor utilizing the AbilityOne program to employ individuals of differing abilities. Myron began his career in the audit and transaction services divisions at PwC and KPMG, respectively. After serving as an international ex-pat for Corning Incorporated, and after obtaining his MBA, he served as CFO for Corning’s corporate venture capital division, focused on fiber optic and photonics innovations. Throughout his 25-year career in Finance and Operations, Myron has established a reputation for building high-performing teams and aligning operating and financial metrics to support business strategy and high-growth. Myron has led multiple equity and debt financings and raised in excess of $1.2 Billion.
Myron holds a Master’s Degree in Public/Private Economic Policy (MPA) from Harvard University, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor’s of Science (BS) Degree in Accounting from Florida A&M University. He is certified as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Global Management Accountant (GCMA), and Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) and has earned a Six Sigma certification. Myron is a member of the Washington, DC/Baltimore Chapters of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and Leadership Greater Washington (LGW).
Mark Dumas
Mark Dumas is Culmen International's Chief Strategy Officer, leading the company’s efforts around analytics, strategic technical planning and thought leadership, partnership and channel development, and mergers and acquisitions. Mark is a well-respected entrepreneur, geospatial scientist and technology innovator with more than 20 years of experience.
Prior to joining Culmen, Mark was the Chief Strategy Officer for PlanetRisk where he tackled new ideas and concepts around global big-data and risk analytics. He was also the successful founder and CEO of SPADAC, a leader in geo-spatial intelligence that in 2010 became a part of publicly-traded GeoEye. As a senior executive with GeoEye until 2013, he played a key role in the organization’s continuing mergers and acquisitions activities. As part of GeoEye, SPADAC became an essential contributor in the area of geospatial predictive analytics for the US government.
Mark graduated from Mississippi State University with an electrical engineering degree and volunteers as a Cubmaster with Boy Scouts of America as well as coaching youth basketball. He was first exposed to geospatial technologies while completing an internship with Florida Power & Light.
Simon Limage
Simon Limage is Culmen International’s Vice President of Nonproliferation and International Security. In this role he is leading program teams executing a range of contracts at federal agencies including equipment procurement and sustainment, training, logistics, and Advisory and Assistance Services. Simon also provide senior subject matter expertise and is involved with business development and strategic planning.
Prior to joining Culmen, Simon served in a variety of capacities in Congress and at the State Department (DOS), most recently as the DOS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation Programs. In this role he managed 120 staff and $200 million in global programs that reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. Simon was the United States Representative to the Boards of the International Science Centers based in Kazakhstan and Ukraine and served as the U.S. co-chair of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. Also, within the DOS he served as chief of staff for the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
Simon holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Service and a Master’s in History from Georgetown University as well as a B.S. in International Relations and a B.A. in History from Tufts University. He is a non-resident scholar at George Washington University’s Elliott School in the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies. Throughout his career he has received several awards for superior management and for his role in the removal of chemical weapons from Syria and Libya and for ratification of the New START Agreement.
Louis Meier
Louis Meier serves as Culmen International's Vice President of Global Security, Intelligence & Logistics.
Geoff Hill
Geoff Hill serves as Culmen International’s Vice President of Business Development overseeing all business development activities for the company. In leading Culmen International’s growth initiatives, Geoff focuses on opportunity identification through tactical prospecting and market research, capture and customer positioning, as well as proposal development.
With over 15 years’ experience in business development, Geoff is a specialist in leading Business Development teams securing government awards in defense and civilian agencies. Having worked for mid-size and small businesses throughout his career, Geoff brings a blend of business acumen, marketing, business operations, contract administration and client relationship management to companies that contract products and services across different market sectors.
Geoff is a graduate of West Virginia University holding a bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies. A life-long Alexandrian, he is very active in the community supporting charitable organizations such as the Campagna Center and the Seaport Foundation. He has volunteered as the former Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach at West Potomac High School and is engaged with the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, and George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Laura Gosneigh
Laura Gosneigh serves as Culmen International's Vice President of Human Resources (HR) and Talent Management. In this role, Laura works with a fantastic team of professionals to execute in the areas of Payroll, Human Resources, and Talent Acquisition.
Laura received her undergraduate degree from Georgia State University (Atlanta, Georgia) in Political Science with a concentration in International Affairs. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law (Newark, New Jersey). Laura has spent the last 20 years of her career working in various HR roles, including HR Generalist, Payroll Specialist, Recruiter, HR Business Partner, HR Manager, and HR Director.
Phuong Benfield
Phuong Benfield serves as Culmen International’s Vice President, Controller and Treasury, responsible for financial management operations and spearheading strategic and financial initiatives across the organization. In this role, Phuong leads all Culmen financial efforts, performs lead role across Deltek Costpoint, Unanet, and other financial systems, and ensures corporate financial and reporting systems meet regulatory, statutory, and financial and ethical standards, as well as cyber security needs. Phuong also serves as a key leader in Culmen’s Executive Leadership Team.
Prior to joining Culmen, Phuong led finance, accounting, treasury, and payroll efforts performing roles as a Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Accounting with previous government contracting entities. With over 30 years of experience, Phuong possesses deep expertise and far-reaching proficiency within finance and accounting operations, strategic financial planning, program control, risk management, treasury management, purchase accounting and system integration for company acquisitions, and taxation. Phuong successfully streamlined reconciliation and closing procedures eliminating weeks off of closing efforts and modernized revenue and margin review process to ensure accurate and complete
financial monthly.
Phuong holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in both Finance and Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. Phuong is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a Master’s Certificate in Government Contracting from George Washington University and is a Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP). Phuong is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Diane Cooper
Diane Cooper is Culmen International's Corporate Director of Quality Management. She has 25+ years’ experience managing Quality, Compliance, and Risk for large and small businesses in an efficacious manner. Her streamlined procedures for thorough and effective (yet practical) Risk, Compliance, and Program Management have been rated as best practices in formal CMM-Based Assessments and CMMI Appraisals. Diane has also managed several DoD Mentor-Protégé programs for government contractors, U.S. Army, and U.S. Air Force, including an outstanding Mentor-Protégé Program nominated for the 2018 Nunn-Perry Award.
Prior to joining Culmen, Diane led Business Process Solutions as CEO and Principal Consultant where she provided SME and consulting support to many commercial and government organizations including the National Weather Service, U.S. Army Recruiting Command Electronic Data Systems, and British Petroleum. Diane led the effort for concurrent implementation of SW-CMM and ISO 9000:2000 procedures within a large partnered (government & industry) organization. The organization was the first in the Army Personnel Command to achieve CMM Level 3. That achievement was part of a five-point nomination to the Pentagon for the 2001 Department of Defense CIO Award, which it won. As Senior Process Engineer of the Global Process Improvement team for General Motors, Diane defined and documented the role of the Process & Quality Assurance Engineers within the GM Software (SW) & Controls organization and then played a significant role in the merged SW & Controls/Powertrain organization to create a common set of processes across the many divisions and vehicle programs of GM to help facilitate the organizational turnaround.
Diane holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems (CIS), a Master of Business Administration (MBA), and is a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidate for Business Management with a Focus on Leadership and Organizational Change. As author of three top-selling books on the Capability Maturity Models (CMM/CMMI) under her previous name (Diane M. Burwick), she is recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field of process improvement and her considerable expertise in CMMI and the ISO standards. She is also a Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) from the American Society of Quality and is trained and experienced as an ISO Lead Auditor, FedRAMP Assessor, A2LA Accreditation Council Member, and CMMI Appraiser.