Kelli Bell
This Rising Star leads the team that is in charge of conducting risk assessments for the Navy's IT systems.
Eight years after coming to work for the federal government as a contractor, Kelli Bell now leads a team of about 10 people who are in charge of conducting risk assessments for the Navy's IT systems. It's a crucial role, but she always remembers that she was once in the same shoes as the people she now oversees.
"In the role that I'm in today, I lead a group of analysts supporting that same function that I started out in in 2006," said Bell, an information assurance validator in the Crane, Ind., division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
Part of Bell's job is to advise and train her staff on any new technical guidance that the Navy or Defense Department issues related to the certification and accreditation of IT systems. She said her technical background, which includes a bachelor's degree in finance and business information systems, has grown even sharper with the help of a tech-savvy team and on-the-job training.
"My team definitely challenges me," she said, when asked how she stays current on the latest IT advances. "I have an outstanding team that stays current on the technologies as well. So it's a constant communication in challenging each other in the technology arena."