Julie S. Lee,

President and CEO

Julie S. Lee is the owner, President, and CEO of Reston, Virginia-based Access Systems, Inc. (ACCESS), a nationally recognized, high-quality provider of IT services to the Federal Government. ACCESS has been in business since 1992. Ms. Lee has been the President and owner since 1999. Today, ACCESS has over 300 employees nationwide.

Under the leadership of Ms. Lee, and as a direct result of sustained service excellence, ACCESS has achieved a contract backlog of $100 million. ACCESS has also achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification. In addition, Ms. Lee has received several awards including the following:

• 2007 – ACCESS President Julie Lee selected among Washingtonian magazine's 40 People Under 40 to Watch
• 2007 – Ms. Lee received Washington SmartCEO Bravo Award
• 2006 – Ms. Lee selected by Washington Business Journal among Women Who Mean Business
• 2006 – Small Business Administration – Ms. Lee named Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• 2006 – Greater Washington Government Contractors Awards, Ms. Lee named Finalist, Executive of the Year
• 2005 – Ms. Lee recognized as a Trailblazing Young Entrepreneur by the International Leadership Foundation
• 2004 – Ms. Lee named Outstanding Minority Small Business Advocate by the Asian American Business Roundtable
• 2004, 2002 – Ms. Lee named by the Minority Business and Professionals Network to Fifty Influential Minorities in Business

Ms. Lee is a quality-driven entrepreneur whose commitments to business growth, professional excellence, and the community are helping to shape the economic future of the Greater Washington region. Her success in delivering service excellence to the Federal market is directly attributable to the time and attention she devotes to sustaining customer satisfaction and retaining proven performers with visible rewards and recognition. Ms. Lee holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Information Systems from James Madison University. She holds a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the George Washington University and is pursing a Doctorate of Science degree in Engineering Management.

Business History

Ms. Lee began her professional career in 1993 as a software engineer.  She directed a systems development team responsible for designing and implementing eCommerce business solutions. She was responsible for pioneering the development of a Cyber Mall application, which was leading-edge work at a time when the Internet and eCommerce technologies had not yet been fully embraced.

In 1998, Ms. Lee left her position as a consultant for a rapidly growing software firm to form her own company, one that would be a great place to work and great to work with. She started ATECH Corporation in her apartment using income she had earned as a consultant. In less than a year, she grew ATECH into a highly respected 58-person IT services firm serving Federal law enforcement agencies nationwide.

On August 30, 1999, Ms. Lee bought seven-year-old Access Systems, Inc. and merged it with ATECH, making ATECH a wholly owned subsidiary of ACCESS. She quickly grew the ACCESS business base, and by December 1999 she gained U.S. Small Business Administration certification as an 8(a) company.

In December 2002, she dissolved ATECH and, in March 2003, acquired her third firm—OASAS Learning Solutions, Inc., an IT company. With the acquisition, Ms. Lee added strong credentials in software development, Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V), training, and website development to ACCESS’ core competencies and expanded the firm’s client base to include the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Interior, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and the Federal Communications Commission.

Commitment to the Community

Ms. Lee strongly believes that in order to be a good company for which to work, ACCESS must contribute value to the community. For this reason, she devotes considerable time and energy to community organizations and encourages her staff to do so as well.

Ms. Lee believes strongly in fostering the ability of girls and young women to develop to their fullest potential as citizens of the world and is an active Girl Scout volunteer. She participates in the girlsandwomen.connect program, where business leaders mentor girls by engaging them in real world activities. She is also a member of the organization’s Programs, Policies, and Goals Committee; Nominating Committee to the Officers and Board; and Council Performance Assessment Committee.

Ms. Lee also is a member of the Junior League of Washington (JLW), an organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The JLW is committed to honoring and celebrating diversity while focusing on shared values. As an active JLW participant, she has focused her energy on the complex issues of literacy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In this capacity, she represents a vibrant presence in the lives of women and children and serves as a powerful resource in the community to effect positive change, seek common ground, and inspire hope.

In 2003, Ms. Lee was named by Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner to the Director’s Advisory Council on Women’s Business of the Virginia Department of Business Assistance (DBA). The work group was charged with evaluating the needs and challenges facing Virginia women-business owners. The Advisory Council’s goal was to make recommendations to DBA as to future initiatives that would best promote the growth and success of this fast-growing sector of the Virginia economy. The Council’s work plan presented its exploration summary and made key recommendations to DBA and the Warner administration. The DBA is Virginia’s central business information resource, providing access to capital, incentives for workforce development, and business counseling to promote the growth and success of businesses in the Commonwealth.

She also supports the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s annual MS Walk, the American Philharmonic Youth Foundation, and the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Lee is an active member of numerous industry organizations, including the Industry Advisory Council (IAC), the Armed Forces Communications-Electronics Association (AFCEA), the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), and the Northern Virginia Technology Council. She is also a member of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of Young Entrepreneurs Organization International.