Employee Bios
TJ Sullivan: tjsullivan@ethicsmadeeasy.com
TJ is the Founder and President of Ethos. With over 30 years of focused ethics experience, when we say TJ wrote the book on ethics, we mean it.
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TJ started Ethos as a favor to a friend who needed support for an upcoming audit of his Ethics Office. Since 2003, the company has grown tremendously and TJ has organized a highly-skilled team of Ethics Specialists who are able to offer exceptional expertise in the federal ethics process, business process re-engineering, training and technical assistance for organizations and agencies of all sizes. TJ came to Ethos with over three decades of management and leadership experience in the development and administration of federal ethics and human resources policy and programs at the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of the Interior. In her career at the Department of the Interior, she initiated a successful Ethics Program that became the model for many other agencies. She established implementation procedures for the Ethics Office, penned the manual, "How to Run an Ethics Program," and developed training materials for federal filers and reviewers. The ethics training TJ developed extends beyond the scope of the federal government: it was even broadcast on Japanese TV! She has won awards for her ethics programs from the Office of Government Ethics and the General Accounting Office. Ms. Sullivan holds a Master’s degree.
Lydia B. Bickford: lbbickford@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Lydia possesses an exquisite understanding of the potential nexus between the appearance of a conflict of interest and an actual conflict of interest.
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Ms. Bickford has enjoyed a long and varied career in both the public and private sectors. She has been a small business owner for more than twenty years and is extraordinarily skilled in strategic planning, implementation and program management. She has worked for a wide variety of clients who were attracted by her writing, planning (including timelines and tasklines), public and media relations, analysis, event production, fundraising, reports, management, and goal-setting and achieving abilities. She served as a presidential appointee at the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Small Business Administration and understanding the nominee and appointment process first hand. She has been an integral part of fulfilling Ethos contracts at the Department of the Interior, U.S. Navy, and National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Ms. Bickford holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors.
James S. Green: jimgreen@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Jim had extensive ethics experience as a Federal attorney, having served as a Designated Agency Ethics Official and supervising the ethics functions for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He is a gifted public speaker, and his jokes are often funny.
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Jim Green joined Ethos upon his retirement, after a career of over 37 years with the Federal government, where he served as an attorney and Senior Executive. He has extensive litigation experience in the federal courts as well as a variety of management issues. After he retired from the Office of personnel Management as an associate general counsel, he returned to become special counsel to the general counsel at the agency performing complex process re-engineering and aligning agency procedures with its strategic goals. Mr. Green was the first deputy general counsel at the Office of Personnel Management and frequently acted as general counsel. He was responsible for the day-to-day management of the agency’s legal operations; managed the legal staff; developed and implemented a multi-million dollar budget; ran the legal and non-legal training programs; and was responsible for staff performance evaluations and any disciplinary actions. Jim received a Senior Executive Service Rank Award from President George Bush in 2005. He holds a BS degree (cum laude) from Boston University and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Raymond J. Sheehan: rsheehan@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Mr. Raymond J. Sheehan brings considerable Federal ethics, legal and program management experience and expertise to Ethos.
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Mr. Sheehan started out as the Senior Ethics Specialist at the Office of Ethics (OE), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and served as Director from 2002 until his retirement in 2010. Commencing in January 2006, he also assumed responsibilities as Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO)--the Chief Federal ethics advisor at USDA. As OE Director, he conceived, initiated, and led successful effort to centralize the previously ineffective USDA ethics program. He directed and managed the resulting 30-person, Department-level office with $3.4 million budget providing Government ethics services for 90,000-employee, Cabinet-level, Federal agency. Office of Ethics clients include: 16 Senate-confirmed presidential appointees; 250 lower political appointees; 600 career senior executives and 13,000+ lower employees also filing financial disclosure reports. During his 7-year tenure, the USDA Ethics Program rose from a program deemed “deficient” by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to a model program that received OGE’s Program Excellence Award in 2008, as well as OGE Ethics Training Awards in 2007 and 2008 [nomination for award for 2010 pending. From 1989 through 1999, Mr. Sheehan served in the General Law Division of USDA’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC). Prior to moving to USDA, Mr. Sheehan served, from 1980 to 1989, as a civilian attorney with the Department of the Navy. Mr. Sheehan obtained his undergraduate degree from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island, and he earned his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University in Boston. Mr. Sheehan has received numerous awards, including Distinguished Service Award from Food Safety Inspection Service for leadership of the USDA Ethics Program; Secretary’s Excellence Award as a member of the USDA Ethics Training Task Force, 1994; “Outstanding” performance awards and Certificates of Merit; Departmental Administration Team Awards, “Unsung Hero” Award from Organization of Professional Employees at Department of Agriculture; and a personal letter of appreciation from the President of the United States. In his free time, Mr. Sheehan performs in two bands, Celtic Marc and Random Neural Firings.
Marc C. Owen: mowen@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Marc brings his complete understanding of federal ethics statues, regulations, and procedures to the Ethos team. Marc earned his JD from University of Maine and has the accent to prove it.
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Marc has an extensive government ethics background. He personally planned, designed, and implemented the U.S. Coast Guard's Ethics and Employee Conduct Program. He subsequently was appointed the Deputy Ethics Official for the Department of Transportation, and developed and managed an ethics program for the Department. During that time, he was invited to be a member of the inter-agency advisory group to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics and was the recipient of numerous Secretary of Transportation Awards for his work. Marc served as the Chief Counsel of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation where his ethics program earned consistent A+ ratings in OGE audits and an OGE Outstanding Ethics Program Award. Marc has a history of providing sound ethics advice. He has experience dealing with sensitive, and possibly criminal, matters in a professional and evenhanded manner. His legal analysis has been relied upon by OGE, DOT Inspectors General, and the Department of Justice in addressing ethics issues involving agency officials. Marc holds a JD.
Alice C. Hewitt: alicehewitt@ethicsmadeeasy.com
With all her experience and her Masters in Public Administration, Alice is convinced nothing is more fun than ethics work.
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Ms. Hewitt retired from federal service after thirty-five years, starting as a management intern in the Department of Defense. She held managerial positions at the Department of the Interior and the Office of Personnel Management. She is thoroughly versed in federal personnel and ethics process and procedures. Ms. Hewitt is also an innovator, having established the first Career Resources Center at the Department of the Interior and Office of Personnel Management. Her experience encompasses training, career development, policy evaluation, reorganization, and downsizing. At OPM, her successful completion of an A-76 study resulted in winning a Nationwide Testing Program for the government. Alice has provided consulting services to the Transportation Security Administration at the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Logistics Agency at the Department of Defense, the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Ms. Hewitt holds a Master’s degree.
Charity Pomeroy: charitypomeroy@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Even though her business card may indicate otherwise, some of Charity's co-workers are convinced that she is their company's IT Specialist.
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Charity has reorganized and modernized office systems and procedures for corporations on both coasts of the United States, helping them to clear the clutter and move closer to a paper-free environment. She is an expert on integrating complex record-keeping processes into new electronic systems. Since coming to Ethos, Ms. Pomeroy has created process visualization products for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and has provided expert review and analysis of financial disclosure forms, preparing them for certification by the Deputy Ethics Counselor, for the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Before joining Ethos, Ms. Pomeroy served as a Public Relations Representative for an International Tourism Corporation, an Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Advertising for a National Fashion Magazine, and the Executive Assistant to the CEO of a West Coast non-profit serving the area’s homeless mentally ill. In those positions, she exercised creativity, organizational skills and independent judgment, helping to establish best practices, create electronic systems to manage corporate data, and interface with the public in a productive manner. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree.
Patrice Moore: patricemoore@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Since developing our Marketing Plan, Patrice is happy to talk to anyone about Ethics- just ask her dry cleaners!
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Patrice began her federal career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture; passed through the Office of the Secretary, Department of Defense; and worked for the U.S. House of Representatives House Armed Services Committee. While on the Hill, Patrice was recruited to join EDS. She quickly advanced from a Programmer Analyst to various management positions. After exposure to telecoms, Patrice chose this evolving field as her career path. Subsequently, she worked in escalating management roles at AT&T, MCI International, and British Telecommunications. Patrice is an expert on business processes and their impact on various organizations. She has managed projects that encompassed U.S.- Europe planning and implementation teams, interfaced with all organizational levels, authored several functional and technical requirements analysis, authored and presented training programs across the U.S. and created extensive strategy and marketing plans for her employers. While at Ethos, Patrice has worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture reviewing OGE 450's. She has also been instrumental in developing Ethos' Management Plan and Employee Handbook. Patrice remains a life-long student in several disciplines.
Rachel Frank: rfrank@ethicsmadeeasy.com
For the past 10 years, Rachel has been in the business of building relationships. From working in Artist Management and Artistic Administration to Resource Development, Rachel has extensive experience working for high-caliber and distinct non-profit organizations.
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Rachel Frank is the Director of Communications for Ethos. Her broad experience working and volunteering in the non-profit sector has given her tremendous insight into how non-profit organizations make our world a better place to live. Ms. Frank’s professional contributions include raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to support SafePlace, a non-profit working to end sexual and domestic violence in Austin, Texas, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art/College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C.
Elmaria Jordan: ejordan@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Elmaria (pronounced L-Maria) is especially excited when working with filers, helping them to navigate the reporting process.
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Elmaria (pronounced L-Maria) was the first Ethics Specialist to join TJ on the Ethos team. Together, they performed a blitz review and organization of an agency ethics office. Their support helped earn that office an award for its ethics program. Ms. Jordan retired from a career in the United States Air Force before she came to work for Ethos. She also has extensive experience managing a legal office, exercising independent judgment concerning administrative, scheduling, database creation and management, project tracking systems, and coordinating and verifying information for mandated reports. Ms. Jordan was solely responsible for pre-reviewing, consolidating and distributing forms for the confidential and public financial disclosure cycles. She was further responsible for collecting and performing the initial technical and conflict review of financial disclosure forms before final review by subject matter experts. She is a veteran of of Desert Storm, Joint Forge, Joint Guard and the Gulf War. While serving in the U.S. Air Force Elmaria earned several medals to include the Air Force Meritorious Service and NATO medals. Elmaria's review of financial disclosure reports spans several years, during many stages of the executive branch agencies' conversion from paper to electronic filing. Since coming to Ethos, Ms. Jordan has performed consulting tasks at the National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Navy and the Department of Agriculture. Elmaria holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ethics and Management as well as a degree in Paralegal Studies.
Jill Tjossem: jtjossem@ethicsmadeeasy.com
Jill's attention to detail is a great asset to the team. Her specialty is unearthing conflicts of interest that look harmless to the untrained eye.
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Jill comes to Ethos with broad experience stemming from her background in state and local governments as well as the non-profit sector. She served as a senior policy analyst, a tax specialist, and a financial analyst for the State of Idaho. She has written legislation and policy documents, contributed to policy development, and is very comfortable with statutes and regulations and their interpretation and application. Ms. Tjossem has an uncanny ability to explain and interpret complex information in a comprehensible manner. While at Ethos, Ms. Tjossem has worked on contracts at the U.S. Navy, National Cancer Institute and National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ms. Tjossem holds a Bachelor’s degree.
Cindy Gaddis
Cindy is currently working toward a Juris Doctor degree from Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law, where she is a Teaching Assistant in legal writing. Her goal is to encourage young law students to write directly and concisely. She hopes that someday one of her students will be responsible for writing a new batch of ethics forms for the Federal government.
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Joining the Ethos team in March 2008, Cindy Gaddis is our junior Ethics Specialist. Since coming to Ethos, she has tackled a backlog of 450 and 278 forms at four different agencies. Cindy earned her BA from the University of Washington and her MA from the University of Texas.