Alisa D. Sheard is a Business Opportunity Specialist (BOS) with the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office (WMADO) of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).  This office serves the District of Columbia; the Maryland counties of Prince George’s and Montgomery; and the Virginia counties of Arlington and Fairfax, as well as the cities of Alexandria and Fairfax.  WMADO services a portfolio of close to 1,000 firms in SBA’s 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program.   In her capacity as a BOS, Ms. Sheard is responsible for ensuring program compliance, evaluating firms for contracting opportunities and especially enjoys advising firms on their business development and government contracting. Ms. Sheard is viewed as a senior BOS and serves as a trainer and advisor for federal agencies on using the 8(a) BD Program for the acquisition needs.  Before joining SBA, Ms. Sheard explored entrepreneurship and endeavored into partnering and franchise ownership.  Prior to that, she served as a management analyst with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she served on the agency’s Departmental Web Team as a content manager for various program offices.   She holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Maryland University College.