Executive in Residence Program
Experience the Trachtenberg Difference. Our Executive in Residence (EIR) program offers exclusive access for our Trachtenberg community to engage with accomplished alumni and gain practical, real-world insights.
Each semester, three esteemed Trachtenberg School alumni will serve as Executives in Residence to provide guidance on:
- Industry insights
- Networking strategies
- Career roadmap
- Leadership development
Interested in connecting with this year’s Executives in Residence?
- Attend Meet & Greet virtual programs to hear about their expertise and valuable insights. Each session will include Q&A with participants.
- Interested students and alumni will be able to fill out a brief form (link will be active here in mid September) to receive more details for scheduling a 30-minute informational meeting. As there are a limited number of meeting spots, it will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Chad Davis, MPP '01
Vice President for Government Affairs, Cato Institute
- Government Relations and Communications Strategy
- Personnel Management and Recruitment
- Congressional and Agency Process
- Banking and Housing Policy
Cathy Helm, MPA '80
Former Inspector General, Smithsonian Institution
- Government Oversight and Accountability
- Mindful Leadership
- Performance Auditing
Omar Woodard, MPA '07
Executive Director, HRS Management; Founder, Woodard Impact; Philanthropy & Impact Investing Professional, 26North
- Government Relations at the Local, State, and Federal levels
- Philanthropy and Impact Investing
- Nonprofit Management and Governance
- Cross-sector collaboration
- Role of strategic foresight in government
Executive in Residence Bios
- Chad Davis, MPP '01
Chad Davis is vice president for government affairs at the Cato Institute. He leads both federal and state government affairs, with responsibility for strategically engaging government officials throughout all levels and branches of government.
Prior to joining the Cato Institute, Davis was the senior adviser for policy and regulation to the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Before that, he served as deputy to the chairman for external affairs at the FDIC, where he led several teams, including the Congressional Affairs Office and the Office of Communications. Davis has also worked at the Federal Reserve and in several roles for the US Congress, including seven years at the Senate Banking Committee.
Davis holds a BA in economics from Monmouth College and an MPP from the George Washington University.
- Cathy Helm, MPA '80
Cathy L. Helm served as the Inspector General for the Smithsonian Institution from July 2014 through August 2023 when she retired. As the Inspector General, she oversaw an office of auditors, special agents, and other staff; and she reported directly to the Smithsonian Board of Regents and Congress. The office conducts audits and investigations relating to Smithsonian programs and operations; keeps the Board of Regents and Congress informed about problems and deficiencies; promotes efficiency and effectiveness within the Smithsonian; and prevents and detects cases of fraud, waste, and abuse.
In addition, Ms. Helm served as the Vice Chair of the Audit Committee for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and the Chair of CIGIE’s working group of inspectors general for small Offices of Inspectors General (OIG). She serves on the George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration’s Advisory Board and the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards.
Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Ms. Helm worked at GAO where she served in various roles in Washington, D.C., and Frankfurt, Germany. In her last position as deputy inspector general, she helped lead the audit and investigative programs as well as the office’s transition from an administrative to a statutory OIG. During her GAO career, she managed multi-disciplinary audit teams that evaluated a variety of government programs, including agriculture, defense, energy, environmental protection, federal land management, international affairs, procurement, and transportation.
Ms. Helm graduated from George Washington University with a master’s in public administration and was a Wolcott Fellow. She earned her bachelor’s degree with magna cum laude honors at Western Kentucky University.
- Omar Woodard, MPA '07
Omar Woodard is executive director at HRS Management, a single family office and private investment platform of Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, founder of 26North, and managing general partner of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE).
Prior to joining HRS, Omar was Vice President of Solutions at Results for America (RFA), where he advised government leaders on using data and evidence in policymaking, and supported collaborative, community-led efforts across the U.S. to accelerate economic mobility. He also founded Woodard Impact, an global philanthropy advisory firm that prepares leaders – and the people that advise them – for the future of philanthropy, corporate responsibility, and social justice.
Omar spent nearly ten years as a social impact investor in roles as executive director of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia, and principal at Venture Philanthropy Partners. He spent his early career in global, federal, state, and local government affairs across a range of roles: registered federal lobbyist at the Whitaker Group, policy director for the PA State Senate Minority Whip, policy director for a Philadelphia mayoral campaign, and urban policy aide to a U.S. Congressman and appropriator.
A North Philadelphia native and resident, Omar serves on the boards of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), and the Independence Public Media Foundation, where he chairs the Investments committee. He was a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and held fellowships with the Institute for Emerging Health Professions at Thomas Jefferson University, the Association of Black Foundation Executives, and the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.
Omar received a M.P.A. in Nonprofit Management, and a B.A. in International Affairs (Economics, Arabic) and a minor in public policy, both from George Washington University, where he was a Presidential Fellow. He completed executive education in philanthropy at Penn, and in nonprofit governance at Harvard Business School where he received the Hansjoerg Wyss Award for Social Enterprise.