Head of VA Acquisition Academy to step down

Lisa Doyle, chancellor of the Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy, is leaving her position in June, she said May 17.

Doyle will be the new vice president of learning and development at Lowe’s Company, the home improvement store. She begins June 4. Her last day at VAAA is June 1, she told FCW.

Doyle opened the academy in 2008 as a school focused specifically on acquisition interns. It has grown to a school of multiple courses of training, including program management.

Doyle has worked in the government contracting field for years. She spent more than 20 years in federal acquisition, capped by working at the Commerce Department as a deputy senior procurement executive and director of acquisition policy and programs, among other positions there. She spent the first 16 years of her career with the Defense Department, where she began as a procurement intern. Doyle is a 2012 Federal 100 winner.

With her new job, she will be moving to Mooresville, N.C., where Lowe's is headquartered.

“I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to stand up the VA Acquisition Academy. The academy’s current and continued success can be directly attributed to the tremendous support I have received from my team and VA senior leadership. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our nation’s veterans,” Doyle said.

Jan Frye, VA's deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, complimented Doyle for her work in creating and developing the academy. 

“Her departure will be a great loss for the VA, but her legacy is the outstanding VAAA staff she hired, the extremely successful programs she put in place, and most importantly, the improvements in the VA acquisition workforce leading to better care for our nation’s veterans,” he said.