Our Leadership

Mr. Clayton Hinchman took over as Chairman and CEO of Ignite in May of 2020.

Prior to taking over Ignite, Clayton served in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer. He medically retired as a Captain due to wounds sustained during an improvised explosive attack while conducting a night raid to kill or capture Al Qaeda in Iraq. During his Army career, he was assigned to 10th Mountain Division and Special Operations Task Force 17. He earned his Airborne and Air Assault wings, and also graduated as the Honor Graduate from the US Army Ranger School. His military decorations include the Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Meritorious Service Medal.

Clayton earned his undergraduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Masters from Georgetown University, continuing executive education at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program at Babson College.

Trent brings over 20 years of professional experience to the Ignite executive team and has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2016. In his role as CFO and Vice Chairman, Mr. Poff is responsible for financial strategy, reporting, compliance, and risk management for the corporation. He joined Ignite in 2014 as an accountant and was promoted to Controller in 2015. During this time, he performed each function of the accounting cycle, from entering costs to closing the monthly financial statements.

Prior to joining Ignite, Trent worked in corporate finance and program controls for Camber Corporation, a Huntsville-based Employee-Owned small business defense contractor.

Trent earned an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Athens State University, in addition to completing Stanford University’s rigorous CFO Strategic Financial Leadership Program. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Forensic Accountant, and Chartered Global Management Accountant.

Trent lives in Athens, AL with his wife Jenea, son Lakin, and daughter Juliette.

Jessica joined Ignite as Vice President in June 2023. Her team supports The Research & Analysis Center (TRAC) at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), the Program Executive Office (PEO) Missiles and Space, and US Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC).

Prior to joining Ignite, Ms. Wilkerson served as an Army civilian for 17 years. Most recently, she served as the Program Operations Director for the Integrated Fires Mission Command Project Office at PEO Missiles and Space, responsible for program acquisition activities, integration, and coordination. In this role, she led the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense ACAT 1D program through successful Milestone decisions at the OSD level. Prior to this, she served as a Business Management Director at PEO Aviation, responsible for a $1B Foreign Military Sales portfolio of programs to support our allies. She served as a member of the US Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) Command Group and Executive Officer to the Deputy to the Commanding General. Prior to this assignment, Ms. Wilkerson held a Contracting Officer warrant as part of Army Contracting Command, supporting both PEO Aviation and PEO Missiles and Space and was responsible for negotiating and managing multi-million dollar weapon system and acquisition support contracts.

Ms. Wilkerson is an Ignite-certified Program Manager and holds Level III DAWIA certifications in Program Management, Contracting, and Business-Financial Management, with additional certifications in DoD Financial Management, Federal Financial Management, and International Affairs. Her awards include the Air Defense Artillery Order of St. Barbara, Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, and Commander’s Award for Civilian Service.

She lives in Madison, AL with her husband, Andy, and three children, Abigail, Riley, and Jacob.

Stephen Mitchell joined Ignite as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in January 2024. In this role, he leads corporate IT operations and oversees the Army IT portfolio. This portfolio includes two significant contracts with the Army Materiel Command: the LDAC Lites III contract, focused on IT modernization and support, and the USASAC IT Modernization contract, which encompasses IT modernization, support, cybersecurity, and analytics.

Stephen Mitchell has over 22 years of IT experience, with notable roles at InterFuze Corporation and HII Technical Solutions (formally Camber Corporation). As Vice President of IT Operations at InterFuze, he provided strategic direction, managed IT risk and compliance, and led significant infrastructure migrations and implementations. At HII Technical Solutions and Camber Corporation, he integrated multiple companies’ systems, developed IT compliance plans, and managed business systems. His career highlights include leading IT projects, improving process efficiencies, and maintaining high standards of compliance and security. Prior to his tenure at HII Technical Solutions, Stephen gained valuable experience in various IT roles, including positions at Auburn University and several private companies.

Julie Praino joined Ignite as Senior Vice President in August 2026. In this role, she leads business development, capture, and proposal development initiatives, identifying new opportunities, cultivating strategic client relationships, developing winning capture strategies, and driving competitive proposals that advance Ignite’s growth and long-term business objectives.

Prior to joining Ignite, Ms. Praino built her career across engineering, program leadership, business development, and consulting, with a focus on defense and advanced technology. She primarily supported Air and Missile Defense programs, including UEWR, THAAD, AN/TPY-2, and PATRIOT, through roles with industry partners including Raytheon. Her experience spans domestic programs, Foreign Military Sales (FMS), and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS).

As a program and business leader, Ms. Praino has held Profit and Loss responsibility for a portfolio exceeding $600 million and has helped secure more than $1 billion in new contracts. She has also worked as a consultant supporting startups and emerging technology companies with research and development, commercialization, growth strategy, and applications development.

In addition to her leadership and business development experience, Ms. Praino is a co-inventor on a patent and has co-authored several academic publications, bringing a strong foundation in technology innovation and applied research to her work.

Ms. Praino holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Bates College, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, and an MBA from Boston College.

Dr. Logan Grumbach joined Ignite as a Strategic Threat Capabilities Analyst in 2023 and was promoted to Vice President in May 2024. He leads the Space Force and Intelligence portfolios, and his team currently supports the Space Security and Defense Program of the United States Space Force and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s full-motion GEOINT mission. He also leads the partnership with Virgin Galactic to establish Spaceflight as a Service for government missions.

Prior to joining Ignite, he worked as an engineer and manager focused on Missile Defense for 15 years, working for various industry partners including Lockheed Martin, Boeing. Logan has contributed to multiple Missile Defense programs including Next Generation Interceptor, Glide Phase Interceptor, Multi-Object Kill Vehicle, Redesigned Kill Vehicle, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, Long Range Discrimination Radar, and the Missile Defense National Team. Logan is also a part-time instructor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and an Associate Director with the International Council of Systems Engineers.

Dr. Logan Grumbach is certified as a Project Management Professional and a Professional Business Analyst through the Project Management Institute and a member of the Association of Professional Futurists. Additionally, he holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Aerospace Systems Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Systems Engineering.

Logan lives in Athens, AL with his wife and son, Christina and Ronan.

JD joined Ignite as a Vice President in August 2025. His team supports a variety of Defense, Acquisition, and Software Programs for the US Air Force and US Army.

Prior to joining Ignite, Mr. Dickson served in the US Army retiring after 20 years of service including multiple deployments in support of contingency operations worldwide. Most recently, he served as the Product Manager for PATRIOT Ground Support Equipment for the Integrated Fires Mission Command Project Office at PEO Missiles and Space. In this role, he led the PATRIOT Product office to field the latest technological solutions to the US Army and 18 Foreign Military Sales partners. This included fielding new software based on the latest threat, replacing 1970s technologies to reduce obsolescence and improve radar performance and adapting components for use in the US Army’s Integrated Battle Command System.

His military awards and decorations include the Combat Action Badge, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Order of St. George, and Order of St. Barbara.

JD earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, and his Master of Science from Central Michigan University.

Lonnie brings over 25 years of Information Technology, Telecommunications, and Army Space experience to the Ignite executive team. In his role as Vice President, Mr. Dunbar is responsible for managing a portfolio consisting of IT, space, electronic warfare, programmatic, and facility efforts supporting a vast array of customers to include the Space and Missile Defense Command, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, Air Force’s 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing and Special Operations Command, and others. He joined Ignite in 2024 as a Program Manager and was promoted to Vice President in 2025.

Prior to joining Ignite, Lonnie served in the United States Army as a Soldier in the Signal Corps for over 24 years. He completed multiple deployments, served in the White House Communications Agency, and achieved the rank of Sergeant Major. As his last Army assignment, he served as the Senior Enlisted Leader of the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence where he oversaw the capability development for the space, high altitude, and strategic missile defense mission areas.

Lonnie earned a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from Webster University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Technology from the University of Arkansas Grantham, in addition to completing all phases the Army Noncommissioned Officer professional leadership and development courses. He holds the following technical certifications, Cisco Certified Network Associate, Network +, Security +, and the Federal Communications Commission General Radiotelephone Operator License. Lonnie lives in Madison, AL with his wife Tosha and their sons Lonnie and Elijah.

Mrs. Nancy Koger joined Ignite as a Program Manager in May 2014. She eventually had responsibility for all of Ignite’s contracts serving DoD and NASA. Currently, Nancy runs the NASA portfolio which includes software development and sustainment support for NASA Agency applications and provides integrated logistics for the International Space Station working with Boeing. She runs our Proposal Management efforts and ensures we follow our quality processes and maintaining Ignite’s quality certifications.

Prior to joining Ignite, Nancy was a consultant for ConEdison based in New York City. She previously worked at a local Huntsville company, Intergraph, for 18 years serving the Utilities and Communications industry completing her tenure as Vice President of Professional Services for all US based customers and programs.

Prior to joining Ignite, Nancy began her career with Boeing after graduating from Auburn University in Computer Engineering. She served as a Software Engineer on both the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs.

Nancy is an Ignite-certified Program Manager and holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Clarence brings over 12 years of professional experience to the Ignite executive team and has operated the Contracts Department since 2017. In his role as VP of Contracts, Mr. Morris leads all aspects of contract management and administration across the organization, overseeing contract compliance, agreement development, procurement activities, risk mitigation, and regulatory adherence. Clarence is responsible for negotiating and executing complex contractual instruments, maintaining contract management systems, advising executive leadership on contractual matters and ensuring successful performance and compliance throughout the contract lifecycle.

Prior to joining Ignite, Clarence worked as a Program Controller for System Studies & Simulations (s3), a Huntsville-based Woman-Owned defense contractor, providing financial analysis on a variety of contract types for various DOD customers.

Clarence earned an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Alabama A&M University. Clarence holds a Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM) certification from the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) as well as a Professional Designation in Federal Contract Management from University of Alabama in Huntsville College of Professional & Continuing Studies.

Hailing from Prattville, AL, Clarence is a resident of Huntsville, AL.

Mr. Tom Cobb currently serves as the Growth and Strategy Executive at Ignite. Tom drives corporate strategy to explore new government business domains based on the changing battle space. He also leads mergers & acquisitions and marketing.

Previously, Tom was the Program Director for Government Subsidy Programs at AT&T, overseeing the company’s largest government-subsidized broadband deployment. He successfully managed a $3B capital project over 7 years, bringing broadband to over 1 million unserved homes. In addition, he secured over $300M in contracts across various government subsidy programs. An experienced marketer Tom’s other roles included broadband product marketing, corporate strategy, and Profit and Loss ownership of a $350M voice product portfolio. Tom holds a Bachelor of Science in Weapons Systems Engineering from West Point as well as an MBA from Emory University’s Goizeuta Business School. He spent 7 years on active duty as an Army Aviator and retired from the Georgia Army National Guard.