WOMEN LEADERS ISSUE
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Jeanne A. Travis
A work enthusiast, a thought challenger, an enterprise security maven Jeanne A. Travis is the President of Industrial Security Integrators (IsI). It is headquartered in Herndon, VA. Ever since founded in 2010, IsI is a forerunner in "Providing Sound Security Solutions to Government & Industry”.
Jeanne is responsible for providing strategic leadership for the company by working with the Executive Management Team to establish short and long-term goals and objectives. She is also responsible for communicating and implementing IsI’s vision, mission, and overall direction. Additionally, Jeanne guides the direction on a level that includes and ensures that every member of IsI is a part of something bigger than their role and that their role is strategically important. Jeanne achieves this by providing professional and personal growth with emphasis on individual opportunities. According to her, the single most important thing for an employer to do is to listen to their employees. “If the employee feels that their voice is heard, generally speaking, they will give the world,” she says. “Each employee needs to feel like a valued piece of the puzzle.”
Leadership through Inspiration
It all began when two former colleagues and industry professionals got interested in building something more. Back then Jeanne was working as a Government Defense Contractor with Defense Information System Agency (DISA) that was based out of Columbia Pike, Virginia. Her two small daughters needed her to be near them at any moment. With traffic and commuting becoming more and more stressful in the country, Jeanne found a colleague, Paul J. Cella, CEO, IsI, who was working on implementing a Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) that would allow employees to work remotely. Paul and his predecessor had already spent three years working on the project. With Jeanne’s dedication and focus, the project was successfully completed in four months. It was at that point that Paul asked her to come and work with him for IsI. Jeanne and Paul began supporting a handful of clients, ranging in services from initiating the Facility Clearance (FCL) process to supporting day to day personnel security (PERSEC). Both would work their full-time jobs during the day and develop IsI in the evenings. The venture that started out in Paul’s basement soon witnessed both its pioneers completely dedicating themselves to growing Industrial Security Integrators into the company it is today. The duo addressed vulnerabilities in the industry and the company instantly, perfecting it along the way.
Apart from work, Jeanne enjoys activities with her two daughters. From coaching basketball teams to acting as the Head Timer at the swim meets, she is actively participating around her community and her children’s interests. Jeanne tries to stay active but in order to balance work and family, you’ll usually find her exercising around 5 AM.
Winning the security turf
Industrial Security Integrators (IsI) provides Government and Industry clients with cost-effective and comprehensive options for full-service infrastructure solutions. IsI streamlines the entire security needs of the U.S Government and Contractor Community into a single platform—facilitating the management of their day-to-day National Industrial Security Program (NISP).
IsI specializes in Managed Security Services where IsI’s team of Certified Facility Security Officers (FSOs) are well-versed in all aspects of Industrial Security, compliance, and management of day-to-day security operations.
Over the past few years, IsI has been creating a security software called Security Control (Sec-Con) to increase efficiency and accuracy of those day-to-day operations while implementing systems to protect the United States. This software encompasses many different programs and duties in one platform and ensures complete compliance for their clients. Also, IsI’s Secure Web Fingerprint Transmission (SWFT) fingerprinting services are well recognized in the industry. It has resulted in a 99% success rate with all fingerprint submissions to the Department of Defense (DoD) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). IsI provides more than sixty percent (60%) of all digital fingerprints being submitted to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
From its humble beginnings, IsI has grown to manage the complete security needs of its clients while providing confidence that they will be in full compliance. They accomplish this while providing their services at a reasonable cost. It is also one of the few companies in existence to be approved by the Federal Government to support all Cleared Defense Contractors across the globe. Continuous market research, regulation analysis, and Government trends tracking are all perfected by Paul, Jeanne, and the IsI Executive Management Team.
Being an achiever
Jeanne is a born problem solver by nature and is very competitive herself. She asserts, “A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins”. Hunting obstacles down and working to make ‘self’ proud comes naturally to her. “When I face a challenge, I work incessantly identifying as many solutions as I can. I call any and every one that I think would add to my thought process and I don’t stop until I am satisfied with the result”.
“A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins”
This quality is in her DNA. Her mother Barbara Burleson holds a double degree in Mathematics and History from Baylor University where she started her career as an educator and mentor to teenage children. Barbara served as a High School Mathematics teacher and a Hall of Fame High School Track Coach. She was a dedicated and devoted mother of two daughters, continuously worked three jobs, along while earning a master’s degree in Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia. Jeanne recalls learning from her mother to “Never stop learning; searching, and discovering, it gives you objectivity, clarity, and confidence”.
Her step-mother, Dr. Aldona Robbins holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. She has held economic policy positions in the Offices of the Secretary at the U.S. Treasury and Labor departments throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. In the mid-1980’s, Aldona, along with her husband, Gary Robbins, founded Fiscal Associates an economic consulting firm. In the late 1990’s, she started working with Intra-Mail Network, Inc. and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer.
“Identify your unique talents, understand what they bring to the work environment to best enable success, and then, make sure that their voice is heard. Speak up, speak out, and contribute”, elaborates Jeanne. That’s what she learned from her two mentors. She urges all women leaders to stay true, act from their innate strengths, be creative, collaborate, break outdated paradigms, and rely on their emotional intelligence in order to create a style of work best suited to their personalities. Wise words and worth paying heed to.
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