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Speakers
 General Wesley K. Clark
Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor, James Lee Witt Associates
General Wesley K. Clark (ret.) is one of the nation's most distinguished retired military officers.
During his thirty-three years of service in the United States Army, he held numerous staff and command
positions and rose to the rank of 4-star general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander. A candidate for the
presidency in 2003, General Clark is now chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic
advisory and consulting firm, serves on the boards of several private corporations and non-profit
organizations and comments regularly on politics, diplomacy and public affairs.
From 1997 through May of 2000, General Clark was NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Commander in Chief of
the United States European Command. In this position, General Clark commanded Operation Allied Force,
NATO's first major combat action, which saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
From 1996 to 1997 General Clark served as Commander in Chief of the United States Southern Command,
Panama, where he was responsible for the direction of U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
From 1994 to 1996, he served as Director for Strategic Plans and Policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff with
responsibilities for worldwide U.S. military strategic planning.
General Clark is a 1966 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated first in
his class. He holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University where he was
a Rhodes Scholar.
General Clark is a recipient of numerous U.S. and foreign military awards, including the Silver Star, Bronze Star
and Purple Heart. He has received honorary Knighthoods from the British and Dutch governments and was made a
commander of the French Legion of Honor. In August 2000, General Clark was awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
General Clark is also an investment banker. He joined Stephens Inc. as a consultant in July of 2000 and was named
Managing Director – Merchant Banking of Stephens Group, Inc. from March 2001 through February 2003.
An acclaimed public speaker and commentator, General Clark is the author of the best-selling Waging Modern War:
Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat (Public Affairs, New York, NY, 2001) and Winning Modern Wars: Iraq,
Terrorism and the American Empire (Public Affairs, New York, NY, 2003).
He and his wife Gert live in Little Rock, Arkansas where he grew up and graduated from high school. They have
one son, Wesley, who is married and lives in Los Angeles.
 Matthew Foosaner, MA, CBCP, CHS-III
Director, Emergency Response Team, Sprint Nextel Corporation
Matt Foosaner is the director of the
Emergency Response Team (ERT) for Sprint
Nextel. In this role, he is responsible for
the creation and direction of the Sprint ERT,
a one-of-a-kind elite rapid response
communications organization that provides
interoperability and augmentation for
Federal, State and Local Public Safety, Law
Enforcement and Military agencies, the same
role he held at Nextel Communications Inc.
In addition to his ERT responsibilities, Mr.
Foosaner is a primary member of the Sprint
Nextel enterprise-wide Business Continuity
Program.
Under Mr. Foosaner’s oversight, the Sprint
ERT was created to offer a unique
combination of patented deployable
infrastructure, highly experienced personnel
with extensive military and public safety
backgrounds and equipment to meet the
requirements of any mission. Since its
founding in the summer of 2002, the Sprint
ERT has been deployed on 22 presidential
declared disasters and support more than 95
Field Training Exercises, six National
Special Security Events and scores of
pre-planned agency events, including
elections at the federal, state and local
level and international and military
operations.
Mr. Foosaner has more than 13 years of
wireless communications experience across
various functions including Engineering,
Operations/Technical Support and Government
Sales. As a Subject Matter Expert in
Emergency Communications, he provides
technical briefings at venues like the
National Press Club, National Conference on
Emergency Communications, National Defense
University, regional and state Public Safety
forums and association meetings. Prior to
joining Nextel in 1993, Mr. Foosaner was a
Federal Investigator responsible for
conducting national security and suitability
background investigations for Presidential
appointees, Congressional appointees and
federal employees.
Mr. Foosaner earned a Bachelor of Arts
Degree from the University of Maryland and a
Masters of Arts Degree from Webster
University in St. Louis, Mo. He is a
Certified Business Continuity Professional
as a member of the Disaster Recovery
Institute International, and is Certified
Homeland Security – Level III as a member
American College of Forensic Examiners
International. Mr. Foosaner serves on the
Law Enforcement Committee for the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children. He
holds professional memberships in the
International Association of Emergency
Managers (IAEM), International Association
of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).
Mr. Foosaner is an Honorary Deputy Sheriff
for both the Orange County and Lake County
Sheriff’s Departments in Florida and has
been publicly recognized with a Certificate
of Appreciation from the United States
Secret Service, a governor’s citation from
the State of Tennessee and a Community
Service Award from Orange County, Fla. Matt
Foosaner is a recipient of the prestigious
Federal Computer Week “FEDERAL 100” award
for 2006.
Chris Hackett
Vice President, Public Sector Programs, Sprint Nextel Corporation
Chris Hackett is a Vice President for
Public Sector Programs at the Sprint Nextel
Corporation. He is responsible for the
organization that sets Sprints strategic
direction for its customer base in State and
Local Government, Healthcare, Education and
Utilities. His organization is also at the
forefront of Spint’s efforts to bring more
diverse sales channel partners into the
Sprint family. In addition, he has
responsibility for Sprints Associations,
Partners and Consortiums as well as its
Alternative Sales Channel Strategy for
Public Sector.
Mr. Hackett spent 15 years working at IBM in
a variety of Sales and Management positions.
His primary area of focus was in the
Telecommunications Industry. His area of
focus was on the convergence of the Computer
and Telecommunications industries and how to
implement solutions that capitalized on the
advantages of emerging technologies.
Mr. Hackett is currently earning his PhD
from Pace University. His prior educational
background includes a B.S. and M.B.A. both
from New York University Stern School of
Business. He also attended the IBM Client
Executive training program through the
Harvard Business School.
He has done extensive volunteer work
including the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day
events, and New York Special Olympics.
 Fred Harran
Director of Public Safety
Bensalem Township, PA
Fred Harran, originally from New York,
came to Pennsylvania in 1982 to attend
college and earned a Bachelors Degree in
Political Science. He has a Masters
Degree from St. Joseph’s University in
Criminal Justice Administration.
Fred has been in law enforcement for
over nineteen years with the Bensalem
Township Police Department in Bucks
County, Pennsylvania. Fred is currently
the Director of Public Safety for
Bensalem Township. As Director, he is
responsible for the management and
operation of the police department and
for the coordination of the Townships
Fire and Rescue departments.
Fred is also the Emergency Management
Coordinator of the township, responsible
for Mitigation, Preparedness, Response
and Recovery for critical incident in
the township
Fred has written and managed grants in
excess of 4 million dollars for Bensalem
Township and assists in a variety of
committees that oversees many of the
grants and initiatives in the Township.
Fred serves on a variety of County
boards which include chairing the Bucks
County Juvenile Crime Enforcement
Coalition and Chairman of the County
Emergency Response Team Board.
Fred lectures nationally on a variety of
issues including current drug trends,
youth violence, gang awareness, school
based prevention programs, domestic
violence, internet issues, grant writing
and funding sources.
Fred has received numerous recognitions
and citations for both his work in law
enforcement and in the community and has
received the Bucks County Law
Enforcement Educator Award and Bensalem
Township Officer of the Year.
Fred is an active member of the Bensalem
Kiwanis. He is married and lives in
Bensalem with his wife and daughter.
 William Pessemier
Executive Communications Systems Advisor, International Association of Fire Chiefs
Chief Bill Pessemier spent twenty five years in the fire service serving in a number of positions throughout
his career, from firefighter to training officer to fire chief.
Prior to his retirement as the fire chief in Littleton, Colorado, Bill was the incident commander for the
fire and emergency medical response to the shootings at Columbine High School.
Bill was appointed by James Lee Witt, past Director of FEMA, as a member of the America Burning Recommissioned Panel.
In his role with the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Bill has recently written a handbook on
interoperability titled: Top Priority: A Fire Service Guide to Interoperable Communications.
Bill is an Affiliate Faculty member at Colorado State University teaching in the Fire Sciences Management degree program.
Bill holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois and is currently working on a
Doctoral Degree in Public Affairs at the University of Colorado at Denver.
 Rodney Slater
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Rodney E. Slater helps clients integrate
their interests in the overall vision
for the transportation system of the
21st Century—a vision he set as
transportation secretary to promote a
safer, more efficient, environmentally
sound and sustainable worldwide
transportation infrastructure. Mr.
Slater also helps state and local
government clients address the vexing
challenge of closing the gap between
transportation demand and capacity by
employing public/private strategies and
innovative financing solutions. Mr.
Slater's practice focuses on many of the
policy and transportation objectives
that were set under his leadership,
including aviation competition and
congestion mitigation, maritime
initiatives, high-speed rail corridor
development, and overall transportation
safety and funding. He continues to
embrace the framework he established as
secretary for making transportation
decisions that called for more open,
collaborative and flexible decision
making across the transportation
enterprise here and abroad.
Mr. Slater’s bipartisan and inclusive
approach to problem solving has earned
him tremendous respect and admiration on
both sides of the aisle, enabling him to
have one of the best relationships with
the White House, Congress, and business,
labor and political leaders worldwide in
the history of the Department of
Transportation (DOT). His work at DOT
forever altered America’s and the
world’s appreciation of transportation
as more than just concrete, asphalt and
steel. Mr. Slater brings the same
strategic, results-oriented and
collaborative approach to his public
policy practice.
As secretary of transportation under
President Bill Clinton, Mr. Slater
passed several historic legislative
initiatives over his tenure, including
the Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century (TEA-21), which guaranteed
a record $200 billion in surface
transportation investment though 2003,
and the Wendell H. Ford Aviation
Investment Reform Act for the 21st
Century (AIR-21), which provides a
record $46 billion to improve the safety
and security of the nation’s aviation
system. Under his leadership, the
federal transportation budget doubled
and in the department’s "best in
government" strategic and performance
plans, the scope and definition of
transportation was expanded to include a
focus on safety, mobility and access,
economic development and trade, the
environment and national security.
Previous to his tenure as transportation
secretary, Mr. Slater served as director
of the Federal Highway Administration,
where—as the agency’s first
African-American Administrator in its
century-long history—he oversaw the
development of an innovative financing
program that resulted in hundreds of
transportation projects being completed
two to three years ahead of schedule
with greater cost efficiencies. Over
that time, the federal transportation
budget increased an unprecedented 104
percent. Additionally, the department’s
FY2001 budget of nearly $60 billion is
the largest ever.
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