Employee Spotlight: Meet Karen Goodson

What are you responsible for as vice president, Department of the Army submarket, at LMI?  

I am responsible for our support to the Army across the business lifecycle, from identification of needs and opportunities to delivery and execution. I’m privileged to lead a team that offers innovative solutions to solve the Army’s toughest challenges.   

How long did you serve in the United States Army and what was your role?  

I served for 8.5 years as an ordnance officer. Highlights of my time in the Army include commanding a company in South Korea and serving in the Human Resources Command, ensuring that we met the Army’s needs for commissioned officers across the service. 

What synergies do you find between LMI and its capabilities and the way the Army operates?  

Like the Army, LMI has undergone significant transformation to develop a digitally enabled and data-driven workforce. In addition, our culture of leadership, mission focus, and innovation complement the Army as it digitally transforms to meet its mission. 

How is LMI supporting the Army as it moves to a data-centric approach? 

Our most notable support is to Army Data and Analytics Platforms (ARDAP) as it modernizes data and decision support tools and platforms. We investigate and execute pilot projects to prove out capabilities for data governance and management, data sharing, and multiple authoritative data source captures. ARDAP leverages our insights to implement solutions for the Army. Our data scientists, data engineers, and data analytics professionals are in demand across the Army for our advanced analytics services for data stakeholder communities. We are transforming our approaches into agile, data-centric, highly technical solutions to prevent vendor lock as the Army fields new platforms and capabilities.   

We are drawing top talent with experience in implementing the solutions that the Army wants to field, such as data mesh, and partnering across the industry to find the most innovative solutions for our warfighters to accomplish their missions. Our support is transformative for the Army and incredibly exciting and fulfilling. We are seeking great talent to join our team! 

In your experience, what makes LMI different from other government consultancies? 

The overarching spirit of service. We have a proud legacy of starting as a federally funded research and development center and nonprofit organization. This culture of service and problem-solving remains core to our organization. Our employees serve our customers to advance the government mission.  

Of your many accomplishments as a leader in the United States Army, what makes you the proudest?  

My military journey started at Virginia Tech in the Corps of Cadets and Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Our motto at Tech is ut prosim (that I may serve). I am proud to have served my country and of the leadership and care I gave my soldiers as well as the relationships I made with my peers and the leaders above me who shaped much of who I am today. 

We are transforming our approaches into agile, data-centric, highly technical solutions to prevent vendor lock as the Army fields new platforms and capabilities.