Pressroom > DII Names Angela B. Styles As Its New Coordinator

February 18, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC – The Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct (DII) today named prominent Washington, DC, lawyer Angela B. Styles as its new Coordinator. Styles will serve as the Coordinator, or Executive Director, of DII, the defense industry’s premier ethics organization.

“Angela Styles is widely respected as an ethics expert who understands the intricacies of federal contracting laws and the need for defense firms to always act with integrity and transparency,” said Laura Kennedy, the DII Working Group Chair. “With her skills as an attorney and her extensive background in the federal government, Angela is perfectly poised to guide the industry and to lead DII in this new decade,” said Kennedy, the Senior Vice President of Ethics and Compliance at the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Styles is a partner at the Crowell & Moring law firm in Washington, where she specializes in government contracts. Prior to joining the firm, she served as Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy within the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, a position requiring confirmation by the United States Senate. Previously she served in the U.S. General Services Administration, in state government and as a legislative aide to a Member of Congress.

“For nearly 25 years, DII has been helping our nation’s leading defense and security firms set up and run sophisticated ethics and compliance programs that safeguard taxpayer dollars and exceed the demanding requirements of federal contract law and regulations,” Styles said. “I am honored to join this vital organization and hope to build on its impressive track record.” Upon becoming DII Coordinator, Styles immediately commissioned a review of the most significant ethics and compliance issues affecting defense and security firms. She said DII will develop a series of new training programs, based on those results and input from senior DII officials, to help the defense industry avoid the most common ethics and compliance concerns.

“DII is launching a robust new training series that will enhance our members’ existing programs dealing with the new FAR mandatory disclosure rules, personal conflicts of interest, organizational conflicts of interest and revolving-door policies. We all have a duty to federal taxpayers to act honestly and with integrity. Our companies deliver goods and services to U.S. troops serving in harm’s way, so we need to get this right,” Styles said.

Styles is replacing Richard J. Bednar, the lawyer and former Army JAG Brigadier General who served as DII Coordinator for the last decade. “Dick did an amazing job running DII, and I look forward to working with him to build on his success,” Styles said. Bednar now becomes DII’s Senior Advisor.

DII is a nonpartisan, non-profit association of responsible U.S. defense companies committed to conducting business affairs at the highest ethical level and in full compliance with the letter and spirit of the law. Its members are the professional ethics officers, CEOs and senior officials of 85 top defense and security companies serving the United States military. DII is committed to ensuring a culture of ethical conduct within every company that provides products and services to the United States Armed Forces.