I have observed Darnell Billups in various leadership roles in the past four years. I have been impressed by his commitment to continuous learning and his steadfast results- orientation. His training and experience in the U.S. Naval Academy as well as the firm foundations in leadership he has gained through his doctoral work make him stand apart as a leader. In addition to the impact he is currently making in his organization, he manifests his vision for growing the manufacturing sector in multiple ways. He has made a mark in the Frederick community as a thought leader, spearheading discussions on strengthening the manufacturing sector. He revitalized the SME National Capital Region chapter, inspiring and mentoring fresh and mid-career engineering and manufacturing professionals in the region through his leadership for the chapter. I see Darnell poised for exemplary achievements in a C-suite role!

Darnell Billups served as my executive officer and operations officer in the U.S. Marines. As the commander of a unit with approximately 200 personnel, I relied heavily on Darnell—my second-in-command—to use his skills and initiative to translate decisions and policy into action. He excelled in this demanding role. Darnell is an exemplary professional with sound judgment, great initiative, and a decisive mindset. He possesses excellent organizational skills and thoroughly thinks through very complex problems to ensure the best possible solution is developed and employed. While working with Darnell, I observed him skillfully strategize initiatives to propel our organization to greatness. He effectively plans, tasks, and supervises to ensure the organization’s goals are fully achieved. As a leader, Darnell invested much time mentoring and developing our junior officers and enlisted leaders. Darnell’s contributions to our unit in the Marine Corps were substantial and directly resulted in our success during multiple large-scale training events. Darnell’s exemplary performance, compassionate leadership, and dedication to duty resulted in him being hand-selected to lead a communications detachment in Afghanistan as the Officer-in-Charge—another role in which he was supremely successful.

Darnell is a dynamic leader who is heavily invested both in the development of his reports and in driving positive organizational change. He continually pushed me to improve and excel while championing organizational goals and objectives through the lens of an optimized employee experience. Darnell is a committed leader who strives every day for continued improvement. Darnell will put anyone in his charge on the fast track to growth and be a driving force within your organization towards a continued pursuit of excellence.