After more than 10 years of service, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) CEO Keith J. Masback has departed the organization. Keith has for many been known as the face of USGIF, speaking at countless events across the country and internationally as well as sharing thoughtful content in his trajectory magazine column and via social media.
Under Keith’s decade of leadership USGIF has:
- Grown from 120 to 240 Organizational Members and built an Individual Membership program that is 1,700 strong.
- Matured the GEOINT Accreditation program from 3 to 16 accredited universities, which to date have awarded 900 GEOINT Certificates.
- Expanded the USGIF Scholarship program, with an award tally currently at $1.2 million.
- Established a K-12 educational program, creating a pipeline for future practitioners by introducing GEOINT to thousands of students nationwide.
- Created a Young Professionals Group, offering junior GEOINTers a variety of avenues to learn, build their network, and hone their tradecraft.
- Fostered Working Groups to address problems in areas such as activity-based intelligence, machine learning, small sats, and beyond.
- Published a GEOINT Essential Body of Knowledge and developed a corresponding Certified GEOINT Professional program.
- Enhanced the GEOINT Symposium with additional programming such as GEOINTForeword, a Government Pavilion, an Innovation Corner, and training courses.
- Introduced or elevated several new events, including GEOINTeraction Tuesday, Tech Showcase West, first-of-their-kind workshops in various regions, and a GEOINTCommunity Job Fair.
- Launched an award-winning magazine, trajectory, in addition to a Vimeo channel, Show Daily, and annual State & Future of GEOINT Report.
While USGIF conducts a search for the new CEO, USGIF Board Member Steve Oswald has volunteered as interim CEO.
Already on the agenda for USGIF’s 2019 are its Job Fair, Small Sats Workshop, and annual GEOINT Symposium. In addition, it will soon open a new, Herndon-based USGIF Headquarters with integrated event space that will be a resource for the entire GEOINTCommunity.
Meanwhile, USGIF introduces Karin Soyster Fitzgerald, a seasoned trade association and meetings professional, as the Foundation’s new Chief Operating Officer. Fitzgerald, a Certified Association Executive and Certified Meeting Professional, brings nearly 30 years of membership, meetings, and operations experience to USGIF.
Most recently, Fitzgerald served as Chief Operations Officer and Deputy Executive Director of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) from 2012 to 2017, where she helped grow the organization to a $20 million budget, a 75-person staff, and more than 11,000 members. She streamlined IAFC’s data collection processes and finances as well as led a staff reorganization in 2014..
In her new role at USGIF, Fitzgerald will contribute to the development of USGIF’s strategic goals, implement new processes to achieve success, identify opportunities for USGIF to leverage cross-program strengths, and provide the Foundation’s staff with day-to-day leadership.
