HTA Leadership

Michelle Chaudry, MIS, RHIA

President & CEO

Michelle Chaudry, MIS, RHIA –President & CEO, Co-Owner for HTA Technology Security Consulting (HTA)

Before founding HTA, Michelle had over 16 plus years of experience as Director of Health Information Management, including Transcription and Cancer Registry. She also served as Director of Utilization Management, Quality Assurance, and the Practice Manager for Michael Reese Medicine and Associates, a sizeable Multispecialty Physician Group in Chicago. Michelle then worked in a consulting capacity as an Interim Director and a Hospital Reimbursement Specialist with numerous healthcare facilities.

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Michelle was responsible for implementing the Electronic Medical records at various facilities and was a well-respected Coding and Reimbursement Specialist. She was responsible for teaching physicians how to “legally document for DRG’s maximum reimbursement.” Michelle’s HIPAA Privacy and Security compliance expert skills are recognized throughout the United States. Michelle has been the guiding force of HTA’s 21 years of success by leading daily operations and strategic planning. She is responsible for marketing, product development, customer relationship management, defining professional service offerings, and supporting business alliance creation and subcontractor relationships.

Michelle earned her Master’s in Information Systems from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. and is a recent graduate from the fall 2021 cohort 30 of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program.

Ferdinand “Butch” Leland, CISSP

Executive Director & Project Manager of Security

Butch is the Executive Director & Project Manager of Security and co-founder of HTA. He has over 25 years of cybersecurity experience and is a leading authority in the cybersecurity services industry. Butch has experience as a top-level manager, team lead, and executive project manager with various high-level cybersecurity and modernization projects. Butch began his career by enlisting in the U.S. Navy and then received his commission as a Naval Officer. He then transitioned to the Naval Reserves, retiring after 23 years of military service.

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Before establishing HTA, Butch worked in government and private sector environments. His extensive security experience includes conducting numerous compliances, vulnerability, and penetration testing for the Department of Defense (DoD), Federal Government Agencies, and Fortune 1000 companies.

Butch has developed cybersecurity programs for both commercial and government clients. He also participated in secure network design and implementation for multiple modernization programs to migrate applications and services to the cloud. He has also managed government and commercial organizations’ corporate information security operations, including the security operations of various classified networks. Butch has also developed and managed commercial and government (DoD and FBI) vulnerability assessment and penetration testing teams, supporting compliance and continuous monitoring programs.

Butch has supported the development of Government DevSecOps Programs, specifically leading efforts to implement CI/CD/CM Pipeline security overlay, automate security testing, and deploy software development projects.  He has also supported the deployment of vulnerability scanning and monitoring tools as part of an enterprise Continuous Monitoring Program and patch management support using the CI/CD/CM Pipeline to automate testing and deployment to production.

Butch has a BS degree in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota.

Doug Keeton

Director of Business Development

Douglas Keeton is a successful, connected government contracting and programs management leader. As Director of Business Development, his focus is on growing HTA Technology Security Consulting’s (HTA) business and establishing it as an industry leader.

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Before joining HTA, Keeton provided consulting services, creating winning strategies for small businesses seeking to become Federal contractors. Keeton served as the chief operating officer of WhiteOak Group. During his tenure, he played a crucial role in the company’s business, winning numerous Entrepreneur awards, including Inc Magazine’s Inc. 5000 list (3x) and Washington Technology. Among WOG’s customers were the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Early in his career, Keeton held senior positions in Oracle’s National Security Group and ManTech International, leading an extensive, multi-faceted IT program for the Department of Justice’s counter-terrorism group.

Throughout his career, Keeton has held several top-level clearances and has proven to be a trusted friend to government clients and subcontractors alike.

Keeton began his career as an Army Infantry Officer and transitioned to the Signal Corps. He led communications for a storied cavalry unit during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He went on to take company command of Charlie Company in the 13th Signal Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, that was consistently recognized as the top-performing company in the battalion.

Keeton has a strong foundation in business and finance, with a degree from Ouachita Baptist University.

JOSEPH COSTANTINI, PHD

Organizational Informatics and Cybersecurity Subject Matter Expert

Dr. Costantini has 40 years of experience with various U.S. Government Agencies in both supervisory and technical positions. As a U.S. Government employee, he was instrumental in establishing Information Security organizations, programs, and policies in four Agencies and was a member of a Department of Defense-sponsored team that developed the first U.S. Government Information Security Certification and Accreditation (C&A) program. He was also a member of the Intelligence Community team that developed the original Information System Security Manager (ISSM) program and has worked to help implement similar programs in other U.S. Government Agencies.

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Dr. Costantini has held positions as chief scientist, senior scientist, policy secretariat, and senior technical referent for information security. He also has experience in counterintelligence, communications, collection management, and information technology. Additionally, he was selected as one of the few U.S. Government representatives for the Secure Data Network Security (SDNS) and the IBM Security Customer Advisory Council. He has developed numerous U.S. Government security policies and procedures, including executive orders and national directives, enterprise policies, and component operating procedures.

In addition to a Doctorate in Information Technology with an emphasis in informatics, Dr. Costantini holds a Master’s Degree in software engineering and science education, a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, and an Associate Degree in Mathematics.

Since joining HTA Technology Security Consulting in 2004, he has worked as a security architect under a Lockheed Martin subcontract, an informaticist under a Man Tech subcontract, and a policy developer under a CSC subcontract. Dr. Costantini has also provided consulting support to contracts for the Social Security Administration, the Defense Security Service, and the Defense Information Systems Agency.

He is a recipient of the Director of Central Intelligence Career Intelligence Medal and the Central Intelligence Agency, Bronze Medal.

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