Our Team

Dr. Dena Walton

Dr. Dena Walton has 30 years of experience in Grants and Federal Contract Acquisition, Management, Compliance, Business Development, Marketing, and Strategy. She has served as Sr. Director of Federal Data Management and Contract Compliance for the past four years. Prior to that she managed compliance and subcontractors for a $25 billion CMS healthcare quality improvement contract and developed the successful proposal for the CMS Qualified Entity Certification Program for Medicare Data Acquisition, a certification held by only 25 companies nationwide.

Dr. Walton served as Director of Sponsored Programs at a Tier One Biomedical Research University where she managed a $30 million funding portfolio. She also worked as a Sr. Consultant for a University Administration Information Systems and Services Department and spent 10 years as an Adjunct Associate Faculty member teaching marketing, technology and capstone courses.

As a Sr. Business Development Manager for four years, she helped secure over $3 billion in state and federal grants, bonds, and contracts for higher education, healthcare, tribal, and non-profit entities. She led funding strategies for state and local governments and higher education in Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, acquiring funds from FCC, US Dept of Educ., NIH, NSF, USDA, and others.

Dr. Walton spent 15 years at a large technology company, developing go-to-market strategies for new products and services. She also led market research intelligence teams. Her work identified new market industries, generating over $4 billion in net new revenue. For the past 20 years, Dr. Walton has served as a state, federal, and international peer grant reviewer. She is an “invited reviewer” for the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Labor. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Education, an MBA in Marketing and International Business, and a Doctorate in Business Administration.