Susan Kidd

Chief Executive Officer

Susan M. Kidd is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DRT Strategies, Inc. Susan has more than 31 years of consulting experience across a diverse set of markets and industries including Federal, state, commercial, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial.

During her tenure as DRT’s CEO, Susan spearheaded the company’s growth, landing DRT on the Inc. 500|5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America for 10 consecutive years. Under her leadership, DRT earned a place on Washington Technology’s Fast 50 list of the fastest-growing small businesses in the federal government market for five consecutive years; and was named one of the Top 25 8(a) businesses. Additionally, DRT has been honored with the Stevie Awards for Women in Business for “Company of the Year – Gold Winner,” “Fastest-Growing Company of the Year,” and “Employer of the Year.”

Susan has been featured as a Brava! Award winner, honoring the 25 top female CEOs by SmartCEO magazine. Additionally, CRN Channel named her as one of the Top 5 Female Executives of their Fast Growth 100. She has also been recognized as one of the “Fifty Influential Entrepreneurs in Business” by the Minority Enterprise Executive Council.

Susan holds a master’s degree in business from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics from the University of Maryland.

Valinder Mangat

Chief Innovation Officer

• Developed and launched next generation GRC platform leveraging OSCAL for continuous ATO.

• Successfully delivered a complete ATO package in OSCAL to FedRAMP.

• Launched Idea Lab, a research center for our customers to be able to evaluate emerging technologies and conduct proof of concepts.

• Provided advisory services to various US Federal Agencies on technology modernization, ML Ops adoption and Continuous ATO adoption.

Sonja Risner

Chief Financial Officer

Sonja Risner is DRT’s Chief Financial Officer. Sonja’s responsibilities include financial planning and reporting, corporate accounting and compliance, cash delivery, program control, and pricing strategy. She also provides leadership and oversight to DRT’s Accounting, HR, and Facilities departments.

Sonja joined DRT in 2007, and over the years has developed and executed financial growth strategies to lead DRT’s expansion. Sonja has over 20 years of experience in accounting, finance, banking, capital deployment strategy, and business operations.

Prior to joining DRT, Sonja worked with small businesses in the investment banking, legal, and nonprofit industries in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.

Sonja holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from the Robert G. Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore.

Kathy Taylor

SVP Growth & Strategic Alliances

Kathy Taylor is DRT’s Senior Vice President (SVP) of Growth & Strategic Alliances. Kathy leads DRT’s business development efforts by providing strategic direction to capture and proposal teams and identifying new markets for expansion. Kathy also serves as the principal strategic liaison for the company’s joint ventures, mentor-protégé relationships, contract vehicles, and government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs).

Kathy has a long history as a DRT senior leader, previously serving as SVP of the Health IT business unit and VP of Account Development. Her responsibilities have included client delivery and satisfaction, financial management for a $45+ million portfolio, organic and new business growth within the Health and Human Services sector, and building DRT’s business development organization and processes.

An executive leader with over 25 years of experience in information technology management, Kathy’s broad experience spans multiple industries including commercial consulting, software product manufacturing, and federal consulting.

Kathy is an active participant with the Professional Services Council (PSC) and was recognized by the organization for her outstanding contributions to the Vision Federal Market Forecast Program. Additionally, Kathy was recognized with the 2021 Women in Leadership Impact Award by G2Xchange.

Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a Project Management Professional (PMP) ®.

Paul Shatlock

VP Delivery

Paul Shatlock is DRT’s Vice President of Delivery. Paul is responsible for developing and managing the overall service delivery strategy for the company’s accounts, ensuring profitability, delivering high-value solutions, and exceeding performance benchmarks.

Paul has more than 18 years of experience in both the public and private sectors at multiple $10 billion+ corporations. His highly technical background and exceptional communication skills help to bridge the gap between business leaders and IT professionals. Paul’s areas of experience include team leadership, program management, application development, systems support, and strategic roadmap planning.

Prior to joining DRT, Paul led a high-performing and globally-dispersed IT organization at Highmark Health, delivering solutions across the Salesforce and Tableau platforms for the company and its partners. His experience also includes stints at Eaton Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton, and CGI Federal.

Paul resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife and son. Outside of the office, his interests include ice hockey, classic rock music, and classic American cars and motorcycles.

Paul holds a bachelor’s degree in information systems from Carnegie Mellon University.