2025 Speakers

The Honorable Thomas B. Modly served as the Acting Secretary of the Navy from November 2019 to April 2020 and the 33rd Under Secretary of the Navy from December 2017 to July 2019. In these roles, he led efforts on naval modernization, global operations, and strategic reform. Prior to his government service, he was Managing Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, advising on defense strategy and business transformation. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Navy helicopter pilot, Modly also holds a Master’s in Government from Georgetown and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jose W. Fernandez is the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, where he leads diplomatic and strategic efforts on global supply chains, energy security, climate resilience, and emerging technologies—key pillars of U.S. economic statecraft and national security. He also represents the United States as Alternate Governor to the World Bank, EBRD, and IDB, shaping global economic development priorities that intersect with geopolitical competition and critical resource access. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs.

Prior to public service, he was a partner at Gibson Dunn, specializing in international mergers and finance in high-stakes sectors including energy, water, and telecommunications. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has held leadership roles on nonprofit and academic boards. Fernandez holds a JD from Columbia Law School and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Jimmy Goodrich is a Senior Advisor for Technology Analysis at the RAND Corporation and a Nonresident Fellow at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). Previously, he served as the Vice President for Global Policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), where he led initiatives on supply chain management, international trade, export controls, global market research, and China policy. Jimmy holds a bachelor's degree in Comparative Politics and East Asian Studies from Ohio University and is professionally fluent in Mandarin.

Nick Myers is the CEO and Co-founder of Phoenix Tailings, a Massachusetts-based company revolutionizing metals production by extracting value from mining waste. Under his leadership, Phoenix Tailings has developed processes to produce metals, including rare earth elements, with zero direct carbon emissions or toxic byproducts. Nick holds a bachelor's degree in Physics from Saint Michael's College and an MBA from Northeastern University. Prior to co-founding Phoenix Tailings, he was a C-Level executive at a genomics sequencing company and an EV charging startup, where he gained extensive experience in scaling deep-tech companies and navigating complex regulatory and commercial landscapes.

Dr. Cvic Innocent is ex-NASA and brings extensive expertise in deep tech, hard tech, and prototype development for technologies deemed nationally critical, spanning over 16 years. As the General Partner of Frankenbuild Ventures, or F(v) for short, Cvic invests in hard tech (& hardware-enabled AI), focusing on deep tech sectors with high barriers to entry, including space dual-use, blue economy, infrastructure, and green energy. She is an EiR at Blue Institute Labs, a member of Syndicate 708, and prior to establishing F(v), she served as an Investment Chair for Erez Capital, and as a Venture Partner with a focus on secondaries in 1435 Capital. Notably, Dr. Innocent recently gave a technical opinion at the United Nations (Feb 2025), is listed as 1 of 25 national, women-led firms by Recast Capital & Pivotal Ventures, was runner-up for the 2024 Boston Investor-of-the-Year (StartupBoston), was a 2022 Woman of Optics (SPIE), and is a 2019 Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative Awardee.

Sahar Hafeez is a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she advises clients in the minerals, semiconductor, nuclear energy, and manufacturing sectors on international trade and national security issues, including export controls, investment security, data privacy, and OFAC sanctions. She previously served as Director for International Economics at the White House National Security Council and as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration and Bureau of Industry and Security. Sahar holds a J.D. and a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.

Perri Adams is a Program Manager at DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O), where she leads research in vulnerability discovery, secure software development, and cyberspace automation. Prior to this role, she served as a technical advisor within DARPA and supported R&D initiatives at Boeing and Two Six Technologies. A long-time participant and organizer of cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions, including DEF CON CTF, she is also a frequent speaker and contributor to organizations like Lawfare, the Carnegie Endowment, and Georgetown’s CSET. Perri holds a BS in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

PJ Maykish is a Senior Advisor at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), where he focuses on great power competition, emerging technologies, and national security strategy. He previously served as Director for Technology Competition at the National Security Council and led classified research for the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. From 2015 to 2017, he developed “Third Offset” deterrence technologies in the Pentagon’s Strategy Office. A retired U.S. Air Force colonel, PJ commanded U.S. Central Command’s Combined Air Operations Center and held a TS/SCI clearance for over two decades during his 24-year military career.

Anjana Rajan is the Assistant National Cyber Director for Technology Security at the White House, where she leads implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy across areas like AI, open-source software, and space systems. She previously served as CTO of Polaris and Callisto, developing secure technologies to combat human trafficking and sexual assault. Earlier in her career, she led forward-deployed engineering efforts at Palantir across Europe and the Middle East. An MIT Tech Review 35 Under 35 honoree and Marshall Scholar, Anjana holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell in Operations Research & Information Engineering.

Jason Syversen is the founder and CEO of SportsVisio, an AI and computer vision startup delivering real-time sports analytics. He is also Managing Partner at 10X Venture Partners and has invested in over 40 early-stage startups. Previously, he founded and led Siege Technologies, a cybersecurity R&D firm supporting both defense and commercial clients. Jason served as a program manager at DARPA, overseeing $100M in national security tech programs. He holds multiple cybersecurity patents, maintained a TS/SCI clearance for over 20 years, and has advised major defense and intelligence agencies.

Dr. Marla Dowell is the Executive Director of the EDGE Consortium, a coalition led by Dartmouth and Indiana University dedicated to expanding and diversifying the American semiconductor workforce. Prior to this role, she directed the CHIPS Metrology Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), enhancing measurement science foundations for the semiconductor industry. Dr. Dowell holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder. She also serves as a visiting professor at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering, mentoring students and fostering academic-industry partnerships.

Mario R. Palacios is Senior Director of Government Affairs and Head of International Trade Policy for Applied Materials, the world’s leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Based in Washington, D.C., he is responsible for Applied Material’s policy and advocacy related to worldwide supply chain, international trade, market access, and national security. In this role, Mario is also responsible for coordinating global advocacy efforts focused on reducing policy and regulatory barriers that may impact Applied Material’s global supply chain.

Prior to his current role, Mario served as Senior Managing Director, International Trade and Technology Policy at Intel Corporation. In this capacity, he was responsible for leading Intel’s global government advocacy efforts in areas of national security, supply chain resilience, and global trade in support of Intel’s international network of research and development, manufacturing, and sales locations.

Mario holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Southern California and an MA in International Economic Policy from Columbia University. He is also a licensed U.S. Customs Broker.

Mr. O. Sami Saydjari has been a visionary thought-leader in cybersecurity for over three decades, working for elite organizations, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Security Agency, and NASA, among others. He has published more than a dozen landmark papers in the field, provided consultation to national leadership on cybersecurity policy, and educated the public through interviews with major media such as CNN, PBS, ABC, the New York Times, Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine.

Dr. Ronald Ross is a Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he has served for over 25 years as a senior leader in cybersecurity and risk management. During his time at NIST, he led the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) Implementation Project and was the principal architect of the Risk Management Framework, helping shape the foundational security policies used by federal agencies, the Department of Defense, and the Intelligence Community. He also chaired an interagency partnership aligning cybersecurity guidance across civilian, defense, and intelligence organizations.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Ross served as a technical advisor at the White House and directed the National Information Assurance Partnership, a joint initiative between NIST and the NSA. A retired U.S. Army officer, he holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School and is a graduate of West Point. His contributions have earned him multiple national awards and hall of fame honors.

Dr. Emily Blanchard is a leading expert on international economic policy, associate professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, research fellow with the Centre for Economic Policy Research, and a member of the CESifo research network. She served as chief economist of the US Department of State from January 2022 to November 2023. Blanchard’s research lies at the intersection of international economics and public policy. Her work explores how foreign investment and global value chains are changing the role of trade and international economic cooperation in the 21st century, and how globalization and education shape political outcomes and the distribution of income within and across countries. An award-winning teacher, Blanchard offers courses on global economics, international economic policy, and cooperation and competition in the global economy. She graduated with honors in economics from Wellesley College and earned MSc and PhD degrees in economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Charles Wheelan is the faculty director for Tuck’s Center for Business, Government & Society. Prior to joining the Tuck faculty, he was a senior lecturer and policy fellow at Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center for Public Policy. He teaches courses related to business and public policy. Wheelan is the author of the “naked books”: Naked Money, Naked Statistics, and Naked Economics. Wheelan is also the author of The Centrist Manifesto and the founder and chair of Unite America, a movement of Democrats, Republicans, and independents working to foster a more representative and functional government.