Airman selected for White House Leadership Development Program

By Tech. Sgt. Torri Hendrix, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs Command Information / Published September 15, 2015

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Darbi Dillon, contracting operations division deputy, will represent the Air Force as a member of the first White House Leadership Development Program next month.

The year-long program is geared toward idea sharing and cross-utilization of skillsets to work on the government’s 15 cross-agency priority goals.

“This will give us a government-wide perspective and get support for the president’s priority goals,” Dillon said.

She said she was surprised when she was selected for the job, but happy for the opportunity and the benefits it will bring to the Air Force when she returns.

“They really try to match you with a cross-agency priority to benefit the agency where you’re assigned,” Dillon said. The priority she’s been assigned is the next-generation strategic sourcing category.

According to the website, this priority’s goal is to expand the use of high-quality, high-value strategic sourcing in order to improve the government’s buying power and reduce contract duplication.

Dillon will not only be the Air Force representative working in this group, but also the only Department of Defense member on the team.

Only 10 members were selected across the federal government to participate in the program for its first year, and only three of those members came from the DOD.

“I’m very excited for this opportunity,” Dillon said. “Any time you’re given an opportunity to do your job better, you need to do it.”