Billy serves as board chairman of Palladion Signature Import (PSI), a global trade company, and was the founder of Nellis Edwards Associates, a government advisory firm. He served on active duty in Air Force space and special access programs leadership roles, followed by two decades serving federal missions from private industry in GM, COO, CFO, and staff roles across organizations with annual revenues spanning $32B, $2B, and $150M. He served in corporate development and M&A leadership roles involving two $100M acquisitions, a $1.5B divestiture, and a $6.2B spinoff, and spent several years as an executive-in-residence for a leading global private equity firm.
For the majority of his private industry time, Billy and his teams provided engineering and advisory support to Air Force Space Command, US Strategic Command, US Cyber Command, National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, and National Security Council, as well as classified testimonies support to the US Senate. Later, Billy and his contractor teams provided IT and cybersecurity programs support to the Dept of State, Dept of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Dept of Energy, US Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Reserve Board, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Dept of Homeland Security, and Immigrations & Customs Enforcement.
Billy is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy and is a graduate & former space instructor of the US Air Force Weapons School. He served as an Industry Fellow at National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington DC, and for several years was a guest lecturer at the Eisenhower School for National Security & Resource Strategy.
For six years, Billy served as an inaugural member of the Board of Advisors for the University of Nebraska College of Law for its Space Law & Cyber Law graduate programs. Billy is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and is a member of the ABA’s Space Law Committee, PACC (Cybercrimes & Cybersecurity) Committee, Public Contract Acquisition Reform Committee, and Battlespace & Contingency Procurement Committee.