Meet Our Advisors
Our Board of Advisors will provide NPG with access to external expertise, offering insights and guidance to enhance our operations, bolster our reputation, and attract new opportunities. The Board will serve as strategic advisors to our leadership team, fostering professional connections and bringing a wealth of experience from both government and private sectors.
John Edwards
John Edwards is renowned for his leadership, corporate vision, and results-driven approach. He brings 41 years of experience and enterprise-level government/industry leadership, including his previous roles as the CIA’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Director of CIA’s Information Technology Enterprise along with 12 years of P&L experience with two successful startup companies.
His distinguished career has been recognized with numerous awards, including three Director’s Medals, the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Intelligence Commendation Medal, and the Presidential Rank Award, the nation’s highest honor for civilian service.
Today, John serves on multiple advisory boards and serves as President of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, reflecting his unwavering commitment to mission innovation and collaboration, as well as taking care of the families of fallen CIA officers
John Pereira
John Pereira’s career spans three decades in the Intelligence Community where he held multiple executive roles, including serving as the Deputy Director of CIA for Support for Directors Michael Hayden, Leon Panetta, and David Petraeus. His exemplary service earned him numerous accolades, including the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.
Following his retirement, John transitioned to the private sector. He spent five years as a Partner at IBM, managing a diverse portfolio of customized solutions for the Intelligence Community. Currently, as a Managing Director in the Government and Public Sector at EY, he ensures the U.S. Intelligence Community benefits from EY’s cutting-edge insights, technologies, and services. John notes:
“The complexities of our National Security framework demand speed, accuracy, innovation, and a seamless partnership between the government and industry. The future will be secured not just by technology, but by smart people working together, boldly integrating technology into tailored solutions. Collaboration is our true force multiplier."
Tom Sylvester
Tom Sylvester is a 34 year CIA and State Department veteran and an expert in risk management, strategic longterm planning, and developing and executing plans to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. His most recent position was CIA’s Deputy Director of Operations (DDO). In this role, he wasresponsible for all of CIA's clandestine operations, managing a multi-billion dollar budget and directly overseeing all human intelligence collection and covert action operations. He served, for a short time, as acting director of CIA during the presidential transition. With multiple senior leadership roles at CIA, he has a proven record of leading transformational change, building strong teams and relationships, and delivering results.
Under his leadership, CIA’s Directorate of Operations pivoted toward developing intelligence collection capabilities for the future to include AI, data analytics, and other innovative technology applications. He successfully positioned CIA to meet the most pressing current and future threats. As Assistant Director for Europe and Eurasia, he was responsible for all operations in CIA’s largest mission area. He has significant experience as a negotiator with Russia on highly sensitive issues. He oversaw and drove all of CIA’s support to wartime Ukraine. Prior to that he was responsible for all of CIA’s counterterrorism operations. He has served as CIA station chief in multiple countries and is a fluent Arabic, German and Norwegian speaker. He also has familiarity with Chinese, French and Turkish.
He received nearly all of CIA's most prestigious awards, including the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, and multiple CIA Directors’ awards. He was recognized by the White House with both a Presidential Rank Award and the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award. Tom earned his B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy and spent almost six years as a Navy SEAL before joining CIA in 1991.