Carolyn Harvey: Saving money for HUD at GSA

Rising Star Carolyn Harvey is already working with big money. As a senior project manager for the General Services Administration's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center, Harvey manages a Department of Housing and Urban Development portfolio valued at more than $100 million.

Chris Hamm, deputy director of FEDSIM, said Harvey was asked to step up from her junior project manager role on short notice and has managed the portfolio with "skill and grit."

Harvey said she not only thrives in the face of challenges, but also seeks them out.

"No day is the same!" she responded when asked about her favorite part of the job. "In the Office of Assisted Acquisition Services, we seek to meet a client agency's IT needs within the restrictions of acquisition regulations. With both factors constantly changing, we face new challenges and analyze creative solutions every day."

In the first six months in her new role, Harvey was able to secure six IT contracts for HUD and saved the agency $7 million through careful financial and contract management.

"If we did not get these certain contracts awarded in a very small time frame, it would've resulted in a loss of funds at Housing and Urban Development, as well as an end of services that are really mission-critical services," she told FCW.

Harvey, who joined GSA in 2009 after a short stint in the private sector, said FEDSIM offers a special challenge because it entails working on pre-contract work, contract management and all the steps in between.

"My key to success was relying on the experience of others and having the confidence and the hard work to learn quickly," she said.