U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo Reestablishes the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship (NACIE)

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced the appointment of 32 leaders and experts to the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship (NACIE). NACIE will be charged with developing a National Entrepreneurship Strategy that strengthens America’s ability to compete and win as the world’s leading startup nation and as the world’s leading innovator in critical emerging technologies.

 “We must invest further in our entrepreneurs and innovators so that America continues to lead the world in discovering and commercializing critical technologies. At the same time, we must better ensure that more communities throughout the country are included in the ecosystems that will generate these critical innovations. The Biden Administration looks forward to tapping the expertise of the new NACIE members to build a better America and further strengthen our competitiveness on the global stage,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “I applaud these individuals – leaders in their respective fields of industry, workforce development, academia, technology and innovation – for their commitment to serve.”

 “The new NACIE members are an impressive group of individuals from diverse backgrounds, regions and industries,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo, who will serve as one of NACIE’s two federal ex-officio co-chairs. “We have plenty of challenges and opportunities to tackle. I'm eager to get to work to ensure our tech and innovation economy prospers equitably for everyone across the nation.”

 “The technological, societal and economic challenges that we face as a Nation today require even stronger bridges between discovery, innovation, and commercialization,” said National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, who will serve as a federal ex-officio co-chair. “I’m excited to work with the NACIE to help advance the highly integrated research and innovation ecosystem, with a particular focus on expanding the geography of innovation by engaging with diverse communities all across the country.”

 NACIE is charged with identifying and recommending solutions to drive the innovation economy, including growing a skilled STEM workforce and removing barriers for entrepreneurs ushering innovative technologies into the market. The council also facilitates federal dialogue with the innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce development communities.

 NACIE is a federal advisory committee managed by the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. More than 260 nominees were received.  Members will serve two-year terms.

 The newly appointed NACIE members are:

 Non-Voting Federal Ex-Officio Co-Chairs

• Alejandra Y. Castillo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration
• Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, National Science Foundation

Voting Non-Federal Co-Chairs

• Steve Case, Chairman/CEO, Revolution; Chairman, Case Foundation; Chairman, Startup American Partnership
• Kristina Johnson, President, The Ohio State University

Voting Members

•  Byron G. Auguste, Co-Founder/CEO, Opportunity@Work
• Patricia Beckmann, Founder/Managing Director, BioStrategy
• Melissa Bradley, Founder/Managing Partner/General Partner, 1863 Ventures
• Allie Burns, CEO, Village Capital
• Christopher Chung, CEO, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina 
• Sherrese Clarke Soares, Founder/Managing Partner, HarbourView
• Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University
• Lisa Feria, Managing Partner/CEO, Stray Dog Capital
• Annette Finsterbusch, President/CEO, EnPower, Inc.
• Brit Fitzpatrick, Chief of Staff, Stark
• Aziz Gilani, General Partner/Managing Director, Mercury Fund
• Orin Herskowitz, Executive Director, Senior VP of Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer, Columbia Technology Ventures
• Neil Kane, Director, Curriculum and Capstone Advising, ESTEEM (Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship Excellence Master's) Graduate Program, University of Notre Dame
• David Kenney, President/Executive Director, VertueLab
• Wendy Lea, Co-Founder/CEO, Energize Colorado
• Ian McClure, Associate VP for Research, Innovation & Economic Impact, University of Kentucky
• Senofer Mendoza, Founder/General Partner, Mendoza Ventures
• Rachel Meyers, Chief Science Officer, Faze Medicines
• Nate Mook, CEO, World Central Kitchen
• Bill Provine, CEO Delaware Innovation Space
• Ryan Ramkhelawan, Co-Founder/Managing Partner, Lasting Machine Ventures
• Aimee Rose, Executive Managing Director, Activate Boston
• Laura Sachar, Co-Founder/Managing Partner, StarVest Partners
• Peter Scher, Vice Chairman, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Liz Shuler, President, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
• Grace Simrall, Chief of Civic Innovation & Technology, Louisville Metro Government
• Dug Song, Chief Strategy Officer, Cisco Security
• Tamara Steffens, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters Venture Fund

Find out more about the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship (NACIE).

 Throughout its history, NACIE has presented recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce along the research-to-jobs continuum, such as increasing access to capital, growing and connecting entrepreneurial communities, fostering small business-driven research and development, supporting the commercialization of key technologies, and developing the workforce of the future. Several of these recommendations have been implemented through legislative action, federal grant programs, or Commerce-led research and have spurred action and collaboration between the public and private sector.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA invests in communities and supports regional collaboration in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.