White House Author

Jonah J. Czerwinski is Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and leads the VA Center for Innovation (formerly VA Innovation Initiative, or VAi2). As Director of the Center, he is responsible for designing, launching, and leading the program's implementation across VA. The VA Center for Innovation identifies, prioritizes, funds, tests, and deploys the most promising solutions to VA's most important challenges. The Center taps the talent and expertise of individuals both inside and outside government by funding new, innovative solutions that increase Veterans' access to VA services, improve the quality of services delivered, enhance the performance of VA operations, and reduce or control the cost of delivering those services that Veterans and their families receive. The Center’s portfolio currently includes 135 innovation projects with a total funding of $108 million. In his role of senior advisor, Jonah assists the Secretary on a range of strategy and policy issues regarding VA budget, management, and transformation. He advises senior VA leadership in identifying, articulating, and disseminating strategic guidance and management priorities. He represents VA on the steering committee of the White House Business Council. Prior to joining VA, Jonah was Managing Consultant at IBM Global Business Services and was a Senior Fellow in IBM's Global Leadership Initiative. He is the co-author of IBM’s "Global Movement Management: Strengthening Commerce, Security, and Resiliency In Today's Networked World." From 2001-2006, Jonah served as Director of Homeland Security Projects at the Center for the Study of the Presidency. He was appointed Senior Fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute of the George Washington University and Director on the Board of the Partnership for a Secure America. He was a member the Task Force on Leveraging National Laboratory S&T Assets for 21st Century Security. Jonah began his career at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Jonah’s media appearances include interviews on CNN and CNN-International, in addition to interviews for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and other major news outlets. In addition to authoring, editing, or co-authoring a number of publications, Jonah has testified before the U.S. Congress on efforts to combat the threat of smuggled nuclear weapons. Jonah earned his A.B. in Philosophy from Salve Regina University and M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.