Belkis Leong-Hong


Ms Belkis Leong-Hong is the Founder, President, and CEO of Knowledge Advantage Inc., a woman-owned, 8(a)-certified company specializing in delivery of Information Technology and Knowledge Management solutions, strategic planning, policy and program analysis, strategic business initiatives, leadership development, change management, and workforce modernization. Her clients include Government agencies, Fortune-500 companies, and small IT companies.

She left Government service with the rank of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, after 30 years of public service. During her tenure at DOD, Mrs. Leong-Hong held a number of high-level positions, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) where she managed a multi-billion dollars portfolio in C4I programs, congressional relations, policies, and strategic planning. She also held the position of Principal Deputy Director and CIO at the Defense Security Service (DSS). At the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) she held positions as Deputy Commander of the Joint Interoperability and Engineering Organization (JIEO), with responsibility for over 1500 computer scientists and engineers. She also served as the Director for Center for Information Management, and as Director for Information Engineering at DISA. In these positions she provided engineering and technical services, tools, and support to other DOD offices. She established and ran the first DOD-wide Data Administration function for the Department of Defense, and created the first Center of Software Excellence in DISA. At the OSD, she led the implementation of the first DOD-wide Corporate Information Management initiative; established and managed eight DOD-wide BPR efforts; created a process manual for business process improvement; and, was actively involved in architecture and standards development. She was the Vice Chair of an ANSI/ISO standards development committee. A mathematician and computer scientist by training, she holds a BS degree from Hunter College and an MPA in Executive Management from American University, and certificates from Harvard’s Kennedy’s School of Government.

Mrs. Leong-Hong is an acknowledged expert in database management, data administration, knowledge management, business transformation and strategies, and software engineering. John Wiley and Sons published her earliest technical reference book on the subject of Data Dictionary/Directory Systems. She has also published extensively in the areas of data administration, data dictionary systems, and software engineering. In 2002, her chapter on “Critical Success Factors for Knowledge Management” was published by Management Concepts. Her team created and has taught a foundational course on Knowledge Management to more than 1000 Army personnel, and is currently developing a distributive learning module of this foundational course for use throughout the Army. She has written extensively on leadership development and management issues, and is a frequent keynote speaker on the above subjects. She created, and her company has been managing for the last four years, a premiere leadership development program, the AKL program. Most recently, she was invited to create an Executive Leadership development program for a US Military command, and trained over 500 mid level to senior level US military and civilian leaders in Europe.

Mrs. Leong-Hong sits on corporate boards as well as several non-profit boards. She is very active in her professional community. She serves as a member of the Military Academy Admission Review Board. She is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, Past President of the NOVA Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA-NOVA), past President of the DC Chapter of OCA (OCA-DC), past President of Women in Technology, and a former member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Expanding Training Opportunities.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the very prestigious Presidential Rank Meritorious Service Award, the DOD Distinguished Service Medal, the DOD Meritorious Service Medals, Oak Leaf clusters, the GSA Excellence in Management and Administration, the Professional Woman of the Year Award from NAPAW, the Governor of Maryland’s Citation for Outstanding Service, and the 2003 AFCEA International Leadership Award.