[00:00:00] Threats to ournation grow. The world's most powerful naval fleet must remain mission ready.That's why the United States Navy relies on Johnson Controls for the criticalcooling technology used aboard its warships. The equipment we manufacture atour state-of-the-art climate controlled facility in York, Pennsylvania, plays acrucial role in the Navy's ability to defend our freedom.

[00:00:34] Our team is veryproud to be a strategic supplier to the US Navy since 1917. Johnson ControlsNavy Systems is a place for those who want to make a difference and be part ofsomething bigger My name is John Washabaugh, and I'm the director of plantoperations. We have heavy fabrication, we have assembly, and we have machineshop [00:01:00] atmospheres all co-mingled.

[00:01:02] We're looking forpeople who have the training in trades, and we're also looking for folks thatwant to come in at an entry level. The opportunity for advancement here is, ishuge. We try to talk to our employees to understand what career paths they'd liketo have. Folks want to learn new things. They want to be adaptable and continueto meet the demand of the United States Navy.

[00:01:27] We value our people.I, as the director of operations, know just about every employee here. I knowwho their children are. I know what they like to do. We have a very goodrelationship with the Department of Defense and the United States Navy. Theyare here often, so you can feel that sense of belonging that we have here.

[00:01:46] We are helping thewar fighter keep the United States free.

[00:01:52] There is only oneJohnson Controls Navy Systems. What we do here is meaningful. Join us in [00:02:00] forging products for the sea, for thoseforged by the sea.

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[00:00:00] A whole newneighborhood is being created here at Hill East. It's the largest undevelopedparcel in the district. This is a blank canvas. We can create an oasis on thisside of the river. We get to help a neighborhood to grow, to get moreenergetic. We gonna make sure that the whole Washington, DC is incorporated.

[00:00:23] It's the right thingfor the city. It's the right thing to do. And really, it's just gettingstarted.

[00:00:36] DonatelliDevelopment has had a long history in partnering and working with the districtgovernment, and we also have great partners. We work with Blue Sky Development,GTM Architects, McCullough Construction. As a company, we've really focused ontransit-oriented development. We have a great working relationship and a lot ofexperience working together, implementing what are very complex projects abovemetro stations in the city.

[00:00:59] I [00:01:00] think the key to our success as a team ishow soon we come on board. Chris usually calls us about 12 to 18 months beforehe's ready to break ground. We work with all the consultants from schematicdrawings through design development, up through the construction drawings. BlueSky and Scotty, they have, uh, a lot of experience working with the leadershipof the city and are really adept at getting us a lot of local workers toimplement our projects.

[00:01:27] I look to make surethat we have small local minority businesses involved in all the projects thatwe do. Development in DC is a multi-billion dollar game, so if we can continueto spend millions of dollars employing individuals and putting them dollarsback into our community, we have done a significant job.

[00:01:44] We have learned togive them the best product that we can do with the budget that we have. We wantour buildings to be built, and we know to do that we need to collaborate withthe general contractor and with the developer. Over the past 21 years, we've [00:02:00] completed every project we've started, andwhen we work with people like Donatelli and GTM, it's a slam dunk in terms ofwhat we can accomplish.

[00:02:09] Hill East is a 68acre parcel called Reservation 13. It's the largest undeveloped parcel inWashington, DC. The projects here were a long time coming. We worked veryclosely with the neighborhood groups in implementing this, these first twobuildings here. So in this building, Park Kennedy, the neighborhood has beenoverwhelmed when they walk into this building and see what we've done with aplot of land that was just sitting here for 20 or thir- 30 some odd years.

[00:02:34] Park Kennedy is thejewel of 7F. You have a builder that's saying that I wanna build something forall Washingtonians, so the influent and the less influent can live harmoniouslytogether. The Park Kennedy has 262 units, and it has a lot of amenity spaces,from the atrium to roof lounges, to game rooms, and a [00:03:00]wonderful looking courtyard.

[00:03:01] In the past, whenyou build affordable buildings, it was just a straight up and down building.Now they have the outdoor space, they have the gyms, they have entertainment inthe building. This building is LEED Silver. This building has a green roof, themechanical system is very efficient, and our envelope is very tight.

[00:03:20] All of that helps usto create a LEED building. The Ethel, which is just across the street, is 100permanent support housing units. What The Ethel does is not only is itproviding with the number one thing that people need in DC, which is housing,but in addition to housing, we're talking about vocational training, we'retalking about mental health support.

[00:03:46] Game changingThere's a general excitement to having new development in a historicneighborhood that is underserved in retail space, in restaurants, uh, grocerystores. All these things are much needed in the neighborhood and [00:04:00] they're things that we plan on deliveringfor the neighborhood. So the neighborhood will see three or four or five morebuildings going up.

[00:04:06] It gives us theopportunity to tie them together with streetscapes and have them reallycommunicate when you're on the street. To be again partnered up with DonatelliDevelopment and to build these other five parcels is really wonderful becausewe get to help a neighborhood to grow, to get more energetic.

[00:04:28] A whole newneighborhood is being created here at Hill East, and really it's just gettingstarted. We look forward to developing additional award-winning buildings andproviding great returns to our investor partners, while at the same timedelivering great product to the community

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[00:00:00] For me, what is sospecial about Akin are the people. I have been here for almost 30 years, andfrom the day I got here, what I have felt is that sense of connection to eachother, that sense of connection to our clients, and that sense of connection toour community. One thing that's really great about Akin and that they pridethemselves in is really leanly staffing their teams.

[00:00:27] When I was a firstyear, I got to second chair deposition with a partner, which I thought was, atthe time, crazy. And then as a third year, I got to take my own deposition witha partner guiding me through. So those are really substantive experiences thatI don't think every firm offers you. I came to Akin as a first-year lawstudent.

[00:00:44] I knew I wanted tobe at a sophisticated institution to start my career, but I also knew I wantedpublic service and pro bono work to be a meaningful component of thatexperience. The relationships that I started building during my first summerwere so strong and impactful that it [00:01:00]brought me back the next summer and eventually brought me back as a first-year.

[00:01:04] I had theopportunity to help out with a pro bono case that we had here at the firmrepresenting a gentleman who testified before the January 6th committee, andthat actually really was the project that planted the seed in my desire to kindof work in that space in, in white collar and congressional investigations.

[00:01:21] I came here as aStrauss Diversity and Inclusion Scholar with the intention of trying to do workin the LGBT rights space. From day one, you know, I got here, was having lunchwith my mentors, and they let me know that I would take the first shot at draftingan amicus brief to the Supreme Court. To be trusted with that project and getto see it kind of all the way through, this was somewhere where the work thatwe did was actually gonna be valued.

[00:01:42] I came to Akin as apro bono scholar my 1L year, and then came back as a second year in the SummerAssociate program. I was leading discovery. I was writing and doing the initialdrafts of all the briefs. I was defending and taking depositions, and that was,you know, all as a second year. The summer associate [00:02:00]experience is about personal discovery as much as it is about discovering yourcareer.

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[00:00:00] Cornerstone wasfounded in 2002. In 2016, it was clear that we needed to take a look at thelong term. And what we came to realize was that the one option that allowed usto stay true to our mission, and most importantly allowed us to maintain theculture that we felt was critical to our success, was an ESOP.

[00:00:23] Everybody that ishere and part of this ESOP receives, if you will, additional compensation fromthe profits of the business rather than it going to some corporate entity oronly to a group of founders or partners. We did have 10 former partners, and itsays a lot about them to entrust all of their colleagues to take over theownership of the firm.

[00:00:44] Whereas another firmmight be holding to shareholders, we're beholden only to ourselves. Our ESOPreally is the foundation for building our team culture, and our team culture isthe mechanics that make things work for our clients. [00:01:00]To be an employee owner at Cornerstone I think means that you've got skin inthe game.

[00:01:04] You have a say inwhere we can go. Everything that I do now is based upon what would I do as anowner at Cornerstone, or what would my colleagues do as an owner atCornerstone. The fact that we're an ESOP, it means that I have a vestedinterest in the continued success of this organization. The ESOP is a financialway of ensuring that we take care of each other and we look out for eachother's needs.

[00:01:30] There's nothing moreteam than being an employee owner. I think the ESOP benefits our clients byencouraging everyone to be an active participant in the business. The best wayto ensure the success of a lobbying service company is to serve its clients well.We work tirelessly irregardless of office, political disposition, or region toensure the success of all of our clients.

[00:01:57] When our clients seethat we're an [00:02:00] employee-owned firm,they see us as a whole firm approach that each one of us is able to contributeon whatever issue. Everybody here has the opportunity to have a role in thecompany. There's not pressure to do things, and I think that's been key to theway that we've done our work and to continue to do our work well.

[00:02:18] For people thinkingof, "Do I come to Cornerstone? Is this the right place to work?" It'ssuch a selling point to say to a prospective employee that when you come in,you're gonna be an employee owner on day one. While I have lots of ideas andthoughts about where we might go in the next five, 10, or 15 years, it's reallyincumbent upon our next generation of leaders to think through what that is.

[00:02:38] Keeping the culturethat's worked so well for 20 years probably needs to stay at the top of thelist

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[00:00:00] I see Chainalysis asvery critical infrastructure for the entire crypto ecosystem. We're ablockchain data platform. We're gonna help these crypto businesses grow theirown business by understanding where transactions are coming from, where they'regoing to. What we do is we work with primarily public sector customers and someglobal organizations to enable them to fight crime associated with theblockchain.

[00:00:28] Government agenciesaround the world reach out to us. They wanna be trained in cryptocurrency. Theywanna know why cryptocurrency is a national security implication. We arehelping governments understand what cryptocurrency is, helping them toregulate, educating them. A lot of scams and frauds on blockchain.

[00:00:47] We work onconnecting to the blockchain nodes, getting the data from the nodes, and makingsense out of that data so that it can be helped for investigative purposes. Wehave so many investigations under us that we've been able to, [00:01:00] you know, help people get money back thatthey were scammed from or, you know, bring back funds that were used forillicit activity to the people that were victims of that illicit activity.

[00:01:09] That, at the end ofthe day, it just makes you feel good at night.

[00:01:17] What drew me ontothe team was how smart everyone was, how knowledgeable everyone was. We are atthe very beginning of our hyper-growth stage, and it's allowed me to kind oflevel up my career in a way that I don't think I would have had the opportunityto do elsewhere. So when this opportunity came across and I thought, "Thisis perfect," because I have the skills to do what I need to do.

[00:01:38] I can bring it to anew industry, fight crime, and make it a better place. Chainalysis is a trulyglobal and diverse company, and that's what I like the most. As far asdiversity, it's part of the fabric of Chainalysis. We have a very diverse teamin Singapore made up of people from all over the APAC regions.

[00:01:57] I'm based inDenmark, and we have an [00:02:00] office witha somewhat Danish work culture, and then we have the bigger Chainalysis, whichis definitely a US company. So the culture is very much care about each otherto make each other better. That's a big part of the culture for me. That'sthere all the time. So for me, working at Chainalysis and being a leader in thefinance team, it was very big for me to be able to interview as many women as Iinterviewed men and making sure POCs were part of the interview process.

[00:02:29] So we have folks whohave extensive crypto experience and then others who don't, and they come fromall different backgrounds. We have folks coming from traditional finance. Wehave folks that were in PR for crypto businesses. Folks who have experience inthe private sector. Being able to collaborate with genuinely smart,interesting, intelligent people who have both diversity of thought, diversityof background, and being able to kind of bring that all together makes usbetter.

[00:02:59] Candidates do [00:03:00] not need to know about crypto. I had verylittle crypto knowledge before I joined the team, so don't let that deter youfrom applying. Everything I learnt was during my interview process, but I knewwhat Chainalysis' core value was, and therefore I wanted to learn. I joinedChainalysis more than I joined crypto, and then Chainalysis got me excitedabout crypto.

[00:03:22] But I just... I knewa few people in Chainalysis and, and got drawn by, by wanting to work with thembecause they're, they're brilliant. Do you wanna learn about crypto? If theanswer is yes, then I would say join us. Chainalysis is innovative, resourceful,and thought-provoking. Chainalysis is the future.

[00:03:41] Chainalysis is thebest decision that I've made in my career.

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