Darlene Coen, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) deputy program director, will retire from government service in January 2023, the agency told MeriTalk.
During her 14 years of service to the program, Coen has been hailed as a trailblazer for NASA’s government-wide acquisition contract, and was described as SEWP’s “secret weapon” during the 2021 Fed100 awards.
“Darlene Coen is planning to retire in January,” NASA SEWP Program Manager Joanne Woytek told MeriTalk. Woytek launched the contract vehicle over 30 years ago and has continued to work alongside Coen in its daily operation.
“The SEWP Program Office as well as government acquisition in general will lose a strong, intelligent leader who has built a great career focused on working for the benefit of the government customers, industry partners, and all those involved in the acquisition environment,” Woytek said.
SEWP – an Office of Management and Budget designated contract – leverages industry partnerships to provide Federal agencies with access to the latest in information and communication technology products and solutions.
The contract vehicle ended fiscal year 2022 with $10.5 billion in sales – a three percent increase over the previous year.
The deputy director was the recipient of NASA’s 2015 Innovation Excellence Award and 2017 Small Business Partnership Award, and the Coalition for Government Procurement’s 2020 Lifetime Acquisition Excellence Award.
“We celebrate the time we have been fortunate to have her working and leading us,” Woytek said.
