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Leadership Team
Julie Myers Wood, President (julie@iandcsolutions.com)
Prior to founding these companies, Ms. Wood served as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for nearly three years. In this role, she led the largest investigative component of the Department of Homeland Security and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government, with more than 17,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $5 billion. During her tenure, ICE had five integrated divisions (Detention and Removal Operations, Investigations, Federal Protective Service, Intelligence, and International Affairs). Under her leadership, the agency set new enforcement records with respect to immigration enforcement, export enforcement, and intellectual property rights. Her tenure is best known for building efficiency and breaking the mold of traditional enforcement. Ms. Wood is a frequent speaker and commentator on immigration and law enforcement issues. She has appeared on FOX, CNN, C-SPAN, ABC, CNBC, MSNBC, NPR, and numerous other television and radio stations. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration and the Constitution Project’s Immigration Committee. Her previous leadership positions in the federal government include service as Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce, Chief of Staff for the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice, and Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Treasury Department. Ms. Wood also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where she prosecuted a variety of criminal cases, including financial crimes, immigration violations, securities fraud, and other white collar criminal cases. Before entering government service, Ms. Wood was an associate at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago, Ill. She also clerked for the Honorable C. Arlen Beam of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Ms. Wood earned a bachelor's degree at Baylor University and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. She is a native of Shawnee, Kansas.
Nicholas J. Smith, Managing Principal (nick@iandcsolutions.com)
Nicholas J. Smith is a partner and the managing principal of ICS Consulting. Utilizing his extensive leadership background both within the Department of Homeland Security and in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Smith helps clients build effective “win” strategies for federal contracts. He serves as a liaison for clients between key federal government decision makers in an effort to build new business opportunities and/or expand business. Additionally his understanding of federal immigration and customs requirements enables him to work with clients large and small to build custom compliance programs. Mr. Smith is a co-developer of ICS Consulting’s proprietary audit software, “ICSEval” used in all audits, EZcertorigin and SecureID. Mr. Smith served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) where he oversaw the day-to-day activities of the nation’s second largest federal investigative agency with more than 17,000 employees and a budget of $5 billion. Mr. Smith was responsible for coordinating the agency’s activities with the White House and the Department of Homeland Security and it’s associated agencies. Prior to joining ICE, Mr. Smith spent nearly 10 years working in the U.S Senate in various leadership positions. Most of his time on the Hill he served as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s press secretary and deputy chief of staff. While working with Senator Frist, Mr. Smith acted as the key communications coordinator for Senator Frist on all of his major legislative initiatives including health care, education and foreign affairs. In this role, Mr. Smith also served as a communications liaison between the Senate Republican Leadership and the White House. He also served as treasurer in 2000 and president in 2001 of the United States Senate Press Secretaries Association. Before his work with Senator Frist, Mr. Smith produced policy briefings and worked in investor relations for a public policy organization, did media relations for Senator Arlen Specter, and worked in sales and marketing for a multi-national publishing company. Mr. Smith is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. Bill Riley, Business Development and Worksite Program Manager (bill@iandcsolutions.com)Bill Riley is the Business Development and Worksite Program Manager for ICS Consulting, LLC. Prior to joining ICS Consulting LLC, Mr. Riley was an Assistant Special Agent in Charge at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Philadelphia office. Mr. Riley was a Special Agent for 20 years with both ICE and the Immigration and Naturalization Service having worked in New York City, Washington, DC and Chicago. Over his 20 years as a Special Agent, Mr. Riley conducted and supervised investigations focused on immigration benefit and document fraud, counter-terrorism, human smuggling and trafficking, worksite enforcement, and student/school compliance. During his time as an investigative agent, Mr. Riley served as the Acting Executive Director for ICE’s Office of State and Local Coordination. He implemented the expansion of the 287(g) program and testified before the House Homeland Security Committee regarding the improvements being made to the 287(g) program. Mr. Riley also served as ICE’s first national Unit Chief for Worksite Enforcement. While in this role, Mr. Riley developed the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE), created the current ICE auditing program and helped develop the worksite enforcement Special Agent advanced training program. Mr. Riley holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Philadelphia University. Philip CrawfordPhilip Crawford joins the ICS Partner Network after 29 years of service at U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, Mr. Crawford held the position of the Field Office Director (FOD) of Detention & Removal Operations for Arizona and was the acting FOD in Seattle Washington. In these roles, Mr. Crawford was responsible for all detention and removal operations in the states of Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Mr. Crawford began his career with the agency serving as an Immigration Inspector at the Port of San Ysidro in California. During his career, Mr. Crawford served in many roles critical to the missions of ICE and the INS. He has significant experience with ICE criminal alien removal and fugitive operations programs, fraud investigations of immigrant visa applications, an extensive knowledge of the detention and removal process more generally, as well as detention alternatives and Secure Communities among many other agency initiatives. Mr. Crawford is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. Michael J. Vanacore joins the ICS Partner Network after 28 years of government service. Most recently, Mr. Vanacore served the Department of Homeland security (DHS) as the Director of the Office of International Affairs for U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the largest investigative agency in DHS. As the Director of the Office of International Affairs from 2004 until retirement in 2007, Michael Vanacore managed more than 50 foreign offices in over 40 countries encompassing over 430 employees and including 254 investigators internationally. Mr. Vanacore reorganized the global footprint of the office and realigned much of the wok to ensure maximum efficiency. In January of 2003, Mr. Vanacore was transferred to the then newly forming ICE as a key member of the DHS Transition Team. In this position, Mr. Vanacore played an essential part in ensuring the foundation of ICE came together seamlessly as 22 agencies were merged under the DHS umbrella. Under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Michael J. Garcia, Mr. Vanacore served in several key roles and reported directly to the Assistant Secretary. In March of 2003, Mr. Vanacore was selected as Deputy Chief of Staff and served in that position until December of 2003 when he was named as Acting Chief of Staff. In May 2004, he became the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary and held that position until October 2004. Mr. Vanacore began his career as a Customs Service Inspector in the New York City area in 1979. He was selected as a Special Agent in 1983 and served as both a Special Agent and supervisor in Newark, New Jersey, JFK Airport and New York City before being transferred to Washington, DC in 1992. From 1992 through 1996, Mr. Vanacore served in the U.S. Customs Service Headquarters Office of Domestic Operations, Smuggling Investigations Division and the Office of Internal Affairs. From 1996 through 2000, Mike Vanacore served as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Atlanta, GA. In July of 2000, Mr. Vanacore returned to Customs Headquarters as the Director of Strategic Investigations, having programmatic oversight over the Customs export control program. In his time with the Customs Service, Mr. Vanacore worked on a number of major cases, initiatives, and managed several long-term undercover operations. He played an integral role in the development of Project Shield America and the revitalization of the Strategic Investigations program, post September 11, 2001. Mr. Vanacore was involved in several major ICE initiatives and deployments, most notably leading DHS law enforcement efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Since retirement from the government, Mr. Vanacore has been consulting with the Independent Monitor/SCO for a major multi-national Defense contractor under a Department of State compliance agreement and a Deferred Prosecution Agreement for the Department of Justice. Mr. Vanacore is a New York City native, and is a graduate of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a degree in criminal justice. |
Julie Myers Wood is the President of ICS Consulting, LLC (ICS) and Immigration and Customs Solutions, LLC. In these capacities, Ms. Wood brings her extensive background to help build business solutions for companies, large and small. Ms. Wood has been instrumental in developing proprietary software products that assist employers with compliance issues, including SecureID.