Desiree Baccus, BSBM
Desiree Baccus, BSBM, is a mission driven program strategist and resilience leader whose 20-year career reflects the power of purpose in action. Spanning federal aerospace, public sector operations, nonprofit emergency radio frequency (RF) communications, and cross-agency collaboration, she has built a reputation for turning complexity into clarity and vision into measurable impact. With a strong foundation in business administration within high-stakes technical environments, her work centers on strengthening governance, improving operational processes, and building resilient communication infrastructures that serves our local communities when it matters most.
Her journey began at National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), where she supported the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and quickly grew into roles of increasing responsibility within the Information Technology (IT) organization. From there, she advanced to NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), managing the IT communications warehouse with large-scale asset management, before ultimately supporting the highest Senior Executive Service (SES) leadership within the Office of the Center Director. Even during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, Desiree remained a steady force, working remotely from Colorado for three years while continuing to drive critical coordination and communication across the agency.
In 2022, she led one of the agency's outreach efforts, NASA on the Air (NOTA). This global amateur radio initiative connected all ten NASA center amateur radio clubs, two facilities, and the International Space Station to bring NASA’s stories of past, present and future missions directly to ham radio operators around the world. To demonstrate how communication can bridge distance, inspire curiosity, and unite people through a shared global purpose.
Following her time at NASA, Desiree expanded her impact into nonprofit marketing, public relations, and community engagement, focusing on amplifying emergency radio frequency (RF) communications and public access to the inspiration of science and technology. Through her work with ARRL The National Association of Amateur Radio and Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), she helped connect Colorado students with astronauts during live orbital passes, creating unforgettable moments where young minds could ask real-time questions and see themselves as part of humanity’s future in space. Her commitment to service extends through various board roles with nonprofit organizations such as ARRL's Public Relations Council, the Colorado Federal Executive Board's Emergency Preparedness Council (CFEB EPC), Rocky Mountain Ham Radio (RMHAM), and the Deep Space Exploration Science (DSES), where she contributes to strengthening emergency communications and advancing humanity's connection for collaborative initiatives.
Across every chapter of her career, Desiree has remained focused on one core mission... connecting people, systems, and purpose. Whether improving processes, supporting executive leadership, or building bridges between space and humanity on Earth, she transforms strategy into action and collaboration into lasting impact to ensure that innovation not only advances, but reaches and empowers every community it is meant to serve.
• College Certification in Project Management
• Amateur Radio Extra Class License
• Champlain College - BASc, Business Administration, Management and Operations
• PMI (Project Management Institute)
• ARRL Public Relations Committee
• DSES (Deep Space Exploration Society)
• CFEB (Colorado Federal Executive Board)
• WARS (Lockheed Martin Amateur Radio Club)
• NPAM (National Procurement Aquisition Management)
• RMHAM (Rocky Mountain Ham Radio)
• Rocky Mountain Ham Radio emergency communications
• Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air
• Girl Scouts radio badge programs
• Colorado Federal Executive Board's Emergency Preparedness Council
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the best pieces of career advice I’ve ever received came while I was working toward a very challenging certification that I was genuinely afraid I wouldn’t pass. I was overwhelmed and convinced I wasn’t a “technical person,” coming from a business administration background, and I ended up barely passing my amateur radio general license exam. A mentor at the time told me, “Do you know what they call a doctor who graduated last in their class? Doctor. You passed own it, and now move on to the next one.” That perspective changed everything for me. Once I stopped overthinking and stressing about perfection, I approached the next, much more advanced license with a completely different mindset—and it felt significantly easier. Not because it was simple, but because I was no longer paralyzed by doubt. I learned that you don’t have to be perfect or earn an A to succeed; you grow through hands-on experience, mentorship, and continued effort. That experience opened an entirely new world for me and taught me to stop hesitating, trust the process, and just go after what I want without letting fear lead the way.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
What inspired me was really working in IT and around all these really intelligent people at NASA with our supercomputers and the creme de la creme of networking specialists and everything we had there, and working side-by-side with them with IT security and making sure that all of our systems were secure and supporting everyone in that. I was already doing that, and I was already around these people and talking their vernacular, and learning all this stuff. They kind of raised me in that environment, and they watched me grow up. I was never going to be a tech person - I was always going to be business administration, and I was always going to be doing presentations or education and outreach, because IT is constantly evolving, and so you have to get very comfortable with change, and you have to get very comfortable with adaptability and grit, and helping people get through that, and letting them see the potential that is before them and why this is good. That's where I really got into process improvement, because that's everything that IT is. Amateur radio really gave me a hands-on opportunity to connect people to passion and purpose and people. Connecting those connections together is vital in a society where we are constantly in our phones and less connected. Even with teenagers, they talk to each other through text all the time, but they rarely stop to put the phone down to look at each other in the eye, or have meaningful conversations, or really be there for one another. Amateur radio opens that world to everybody, and it's an equal opportunity thing for women, for men, for old, for young. You see all those intersections cross over and cross paths, and I think that's the uniqueness of amateur radio. It's not just the emergency side when communications go down, but the communication part - the connecting to other people and different age groups, and you get that cross-pollination that really brings out what humanity is best at.
Locations
Radiant Waves Consulting
Castle Rock, CO 80109