Space, The Final Frontier....

Dean Acosta has learned the value of several attributes during his thirty year career path from being a sportscaster in Texas to leading a 500-person team of communications professionals at Lockheed Martin.

DEAN ACOSTA

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER LOCKHEED MARTIN

THESE ASSETS include a willingness to go beyond his comfort zone, the ability to make decisions and the value of competence and composed leadership during challenging times. And as he relates how a "corporate athlete" became vice president and chief communications officer at the $65.4 billion global aerospace and security company, he has a preference for how his success is portrayed.

Acosta wants his Mexican-American background recognized but as "the comma at the end" and not the lead of a story which includes winning an Emmy and being chief spokesman for NASA during a difficult period. "I want to insure that people see me as somebody that is incredibly talented, incredibly smart and that happens to be Hispanic," Acosta said. While he said he is unaware that being Hispanic ever got him a job, he credits his upbringing in a Mexican family and community for much of his success. He is proud of his current employer. "Lockheed Martin stands for so many amazing technologies and solutions that we provide for the U.S. government and its allies," Acosta said, ticking off programs such as the CH-53K (King Stallion) helicopter, missile defense systems and Mars missions.

Before Acosta left San Antonio to become a weekend sportscaster in Laredo, much of the groundwork was laid for his career. Acosta said that it is a village that raises you and in his case he was "very blessed to be born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, one of the first minority, majority cities in the United States. So I didn't know any difference than growing up around a lot of Hispanics" he said. His family encouraged him to not be afraid to take risks, and that even if failed, he would learn from that. He also was reminded to work hard, to be the best and to take pride and ownership in everything. Acosta's father, a firefighter, emphasized that in the United States if you don't succeed the only person that you can blame is the person in the mirror. His mother was the first of his family to graduate from college. "Seeing that when I was 11 years old was incredibly impactful," he said. Her accomplishment also raised the bar for Acosta and his brother and his brother both had advanced degrees which are a tribute to their mother.

Acosta said his grandfather also was very influential. The World War II veteran espoused education as the road to success and was very gregarious, encouraging the future NASA spokesperson to not be afraid to put himself in front of a group. Competitiveness was a hallmark of Acosta's career as a high school quarterback. "I always wanted to win," he said, "whether it was working hard, staying after practice or trying to inspire my teammates to work harder for a common vision." His coach, Danny Padron, was a great mentor, he re- calls, and would talk to him about attributes that are now the cornerstone of who he is.. He learned that people are drawn to leaders who exhibit composure during moments of crisis. "Fast forward," he said, "the ability to stay cool calm and collected are essential" not only in his work but to what he stress to his team.

Becoming a journalist were not part of Acosta's game plan in college. He got a degree in political science and history, and planned to attend law school. But he loved sports and "out of the blue "he called a San Antonio sports caster who offered an unpaid internship where he would teach Acosta everything he needed to know about his craft. "I loved it and I had a passion for it," Acosta said. About four months into his internship, Acosta was alone in the newsroom when a call came from a news director in Laredo who needed a weekend sportscaster. Acosta told him about this amazing intern named Dean Acosta who he needed to hire, but not revealing it was him. This lead to an interview where Acosta admitted his ruse, got the job and put off law school.

His thirteen year career as a broadcaster took him to different markets, including Phoenix, Arizona where he made the transition to investigative reporter and won an Emmy. Acosta was working for a company called Energy News Live and was traveling all over the world doing stories around the energy industry when another leap of fate occurred.

He got his opportunity to work at NASA thanks to a call from a cousin who worked at the White House and was friends with the chief of NASA who looking for a press secre- tary to handle public affairs. "I was blessed to get that opportunity and that really opened the door to aerospace." He knew little about the space agency when he found himself in the middle of a huge crisis with lives lost – the Space Shuttle Columbia accident on Feb. 1, 2003. Acosta said this tragedy was a case study of how to lead during a crisis and how to integrate into a team. It also opened his eyes to an industry he now loves.

At Lockheed Martin, Acosta's job includes leading all communications internal and external, advertising and brand positioning. As senior vice president he has a world class communications team "with leaders that demonstrate the skills and the intelligence and the intellectual curiosity and the continuance of improvement." This is Acosta's second stint at Lockheed Martin. He was director of communications in 2011 before moving to similar roles at Phillips 66, Honeywell and Resideo. In 2019 when he had the opportunity to return to Lockheed Martin what resonated with him were the company's values and mission. "The way we do it is incredibly important, which is do the right thing, respect others and perform with excellence," he said.

Looking to the future, he wants to continue to excel in a job he loves and to build a legacy of talented, diverse communications leaders. Acosta is on NASA's board and is open to similar posts at publicly traded companies. He also wants to see more Latinos and Latinas represented in the board room.

A big part of the advice he gives to Latinos is "don't be afraid of chasing a dream, don't be afraid of taking a risk."- Doors will open up that you never thought were going to open up," he said.

Then there are the very personal lenses through which he views his career "What can I do to make sure that my four daughters can have a world where they can thrive and succeed and what better way to do that than to be part of a company like Lockheed Martin."