On this episode of Leaders and Legends in Government, host Aileen Black welcomes the Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar, former assistant secretary at Commerce’s International Trade Administration, and former acting under secretary at the Bureau of Industry and Security. She is now a partner at Wiley Rein.

Known for her ability to bridge national security, economic policy, and global trade, Nikakhtar shares her inspiring journey from immigrating to the United States as a child to shaping U.S. policy at the highest levels.

In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on early career lessons, leading under pressure, balancing innovation with national security, and navigating the challenges of public service, private practice, and motherhood—all while offering practical leadership insights for the next generation.

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Young Bang, former principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, joins Aileen Black on this week's Leaders and Legends.

He will discuss the leadership principles needed to take on the challenges and opportunities for Army innovation that will shape the future of defense IT.

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Technology executive and former federal CIO Clare Martorana joins host Aileen Black on this week's Leaders and Legends program.

Martorana served as federal chief information officer in the Biden Administration from March 2021 until January 2025.

She was the fifth person to hold the job which was created by the E-Government Act of 2002.

During the program, Martorana gives some valuable advice to executives who are leading during changing times.

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Alexis Bonnell, chief information officer and director of the Digital Capabilities Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, joins host Aileen Black on this week's Leaders and Legends program.

Bonnell will discuss leadership, innovation, and the challenges faced by federal

government leaders today.

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Tyler Sweatt , CEO of Second Front Systems, joins host Aileen Black

on Leaders and Legends to discuss leadership, innovation, and the challenges

faced by national security leaders in today's rapidly changing environment.

As the chief executive officer of Second Front Systems, Sweatt works to bridge

the gap between innovative technologies and national security organizations.

In addition, he serves as a technical advisor at Pallas Advisors and a partner at

the non-profit Silicon Valley Defense Group.

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The honorable Dan Goldin joins host Aileen Black on Leaders and Legends.

Goldin is an entrepreneurial and scientific visionary, with the distinction of serving as NASA’s longest-tenured Administrator from April 1992 to November 2001. He reported to three U.S. Presidents: George H.W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, and George W. Bush.

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Former California Congressman Jerry McNerney joins host Aileen Black on this week's Leaders and Legends.

McNerney served for 16 years in Congress has an extensive technical knowledge of energy, technology, and environmental policy to position clients for growth opportunities.

He is widely regarded as an accomplished leader in Washington and in his home state of California, and has achieved bipartisan successes working with officials in the House, Senate and the White House.

Through his experience in the private sector, academia and national laboratories, McNerney has also forged industry relationships in energy, fusion, utilities and technology.

Today he is a senior policy advisor at Pillsbury Law.

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Bogomil Balkansky, partner at Sequoia, joins Leaders and Legends to talk about leadership and the keys to building a successful technology startup. Balkansky joined Sequoia as a partner in 2020 and was previously vice president of Cloud Recruiting Solutions at Google and a senior vice president at VMware.

Balkansky describes his leadership style as "very approachable but fearless". He believes that great leaders are "great listeners. They listen to their team members' ideas, concerns, and feedback, and act on them."

Finally Balkansky said “I’m a very intuitive person. If I try to be overly rational and put all the pros and cons in a spreadsheet, I get myself into trouble. But if I follow my gut, I rarely make mistakes.”

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