Charlie Bolden quoted in CNN article, “Meet the Space Trailblazers of Color Who Empowered Others to Dream”

"Eventually, NASA selected [Charlie Bolden] in 1980 for the second group of space shuttle astronauts. Around 10 minutes into his first space flight, which he piloted, the crew was orbiting Earth when he saw a big island — which turned out to be Africa, he said. 'Being of African descent, I had spent a lot of time studying the geography of the planet so I’d be able to try to find, perhaps, one or more of the countries from which my [...]

2021-07-20T23:56:11-04:00June 11, 2021|Social Impact|

Charlie Bolden quoted in Space article, “60 Years of Human Spaceflight Brings In Tech Changes and Emphasis on Diversity”

"In an exclusive interview with Space.com in 2020, Charles 'Charlie' Bolden — a former astronaut who served as NASA administrator from 2009 to 2017 — reflected on his experiences as a Black man and leader of space exploration, along with his feelings about racism and violence against people of color today, which he said are ubiquitous in American society because 'this is what our nation was founded on…'" Read the full article here: Full Article

2021-04-12T00:00:28-04:00April 12, 2021|Social Impact|

Charlie Bolden quoted in Aviation Week article, “Removing Blindfolds is Key to Building More Diverse Workforce”

"Born in 1946 and raised in segregated South Carolina, Bolden, an African American, set his sights on the U.S. Naval Academy, despite legislators from his district withholding their recommendations. "Bolden finally made it to the Naval Academy—and hated it. 'I thought it was tough. I thought it was unfair. I faced discrimination,' Bolden recalls. 'I cried to my mom and dad every weekend during my [freshman] year, saying I wanted to come home. My dad told me to just hang in there [...]

2021-03-29T00:59:32-04:00January 22, 2021|Social Impact|

WestExec Advisors and Schmidt Futures partner on a new publication, “A Playbook for the Department of Defense: Recruiting and Hiring Tech Talent”

“This playbook is a blueprint for organizational leaders and human resource professionals at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on how to recruit and hire an exceptional technical workforce.” “The task of leading Department of Defense organizations to be more forward leaning on recruiting and hiring technical talent involves navigating among three main constituency groups: 1.) human resource professionals; 2.) organizational leaders; and 3.) subject matter experts. All three of these groups should be allies in the effort to recruit and [...]

2021-05-20T01:55:30-04:00December 19, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Social Impact|

Vince Brooks participates in CNAS roundtable, “A Conversation on Race in the Military”

"On October 21, 2020, the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted the second event in a multi-part discussion series on race in the military... Moderators Bishop Garrison and CNAS Adjunct Senior Fellow Dr. Jason Dempsey hosted a conversation with General (Ret.) Vincent K. Brooks and Colonel (Ret.) John Tien. It focused on the journeys of two officers who entered military service as the first African American and first Asian American, respectively, to [...]

2020-10-23T17:16:37-04:00October 21, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Social Impact|

Michèle Flournoy interviewed on McChrystal Group podcast No Turning Back

"In our twenty-first episode, Stan McChrystal and Chris Fussell are joined by former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy. Michèle has also served as CEO of the Center for a New American Security, and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors. Together, they discuss the lessons Michèle has brought with her in her transition from government to private sector work, how leaders should be thinking through their first 100 days in a new role, and where leaders need to invite [...]

2020-10-23T17:18:43-04:00October 18, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Social Impact|

Michèle Flournoy signs “Aspen Strategy Group Statement on National Service”

"As our nation faces an unprecedented set of crises—pandemic, recession, racial injustice—Americans must respond with bold measures that will unite our country, expand economic opportunity, and help our country recover. We in the Aspen Strategy Group believe a new National Service mission must be part of that response. Our group of Republican and Democratic foreign policy professionals calls upon Congress and the White House to commit to a major initiative to make national service a reality..." Read the full statement here: [...]

2020-10-20T16:26:15-04:00October 15, 2020|Social Impact|

Michèle Flournoy writes with Camille Stewart in CNN: “Where We Need the Most Diverse Team of Advisers for US Safety”

"Joe Biden's selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate is a powerful statement of his commitment to ensuring that all Americans feel part of our democracy -- that government of the people, by the people and for the people applies to all Americans, be they men or women, White or Black, Asian or Latino, gay or straight, recent immigrants or descendants of families who have been here for generations. The Biden-Harris ticket is the first in US history to [...]

2020-09-18T15:38:14-04:00September 2, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Social Impact|

Bob Work quoted in Defense Systems article, “Could A New Academy Solve the AI Talent Problem?”

"'We think we have a lot of talent inside the military that we just aren't aware of,' Work said. "To remedy that, Work said the commission recommends a grading, via a programming proficiency test, to identify government and military workers that have software development experience. The recommendations also include a computational thinking component to the armed services' vocational aptitude battery to better identify incoming talent..." Read the full article here: Full Article

2020-08-07T08:26:47-04:00August 5, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Social Impact|
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