Joy is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boone Group—a firm driving advancement and adoption of superior technologies within the national security, energy, and infrastructure markets. A specialist in defense acquisition and cybersecurity, Joy is frequently sought after for her ability to turn strategic theory into successful, detailed tactical approaches that move the needle for Boone’s clients.  With offices in Washington, D.C. and Austin, Texas, Boone is actively redefining the defense technology and procurement process; as Founder and CEO, she is responsible for overseeing company growth (both in revenue and process) and providing senior tactical oversight to clients.  Prior to founding Boone, Joy worked in a variety of roles spanning federal and local governments and the private sector. Most recently, she served as a Senior Strategist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where she was responsible for communications as it applied to the defense industrial base and international weapons program development. Joy also served as the primary speechwriter for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics (AT&L) and was routinely sought after by communications teams for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense for assistance on communications within the AT&L domain.   Joy received her M.B.A with a specialization in Cybersecurity from the George Washington School of Business in 2015 and is a graduate of Columbia College, Chicago, where she earned a B.A. in Marketing Communications and Political Science. She also studied program management at Defense Acquisition University.   In addition to leading growth and execution for Boone, Joy is a Board Member for the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, a certified yoga instructor, mentor for transitioning servicemen and women and their families, and spends much of her free time training as a USA boxing amateur for an annual charity boxing match benefiting the military and veteran communities.

Kristen R. Hajduk works with Federal Partnerships at Golden, where she leverages AI and NLP to build the world’s first self-constructing knowledge database.  Previously, Kristen was the Director of Operations for National Security Innovation Network (NSIN). Kristen lead a nation-wide team that enabled communities of innovators to solve national security challenges.  Prior to joining NSIN, Kristen served as a Senior Advisor for Special Operations and Unconventional Warfare and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she provided technical oversight and guidance to U.S. Special Operations Command, advocated for Special Operations policies within the Department of Defense, the interagency, and the Legislature. She also served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, advising on all issues relating to special operations, strategy, force development, and planning. Prior to this, she was the Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, consulting on executive management and strategic-level issues. During this time, Kristen served as the Co-Founder and Co-Director of No Exceptions, a successful advocacy initiative to open all military positions to women, removing the last legal professional barrier to women in the United States. Kristen spent the first five years of her career as a researcher, authoring over 20 reports on counterterrorism, nuclear verification, and homeland defense issues.  Kristen is a National Security Institute Fellow, a Center for New American Security Next Generation National Security Leader alum, a German Marshall Fund Fellow, and a Truman National Security Project Defense Council member. Kristen received her Master of Public Policy degree in National Security Policy from the University of Chicago. During this time, she interned for the Chicago Policy Review and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Kristen holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) with dual majors of International Relations and English Literature from Ohio Wesleyan University.

Major Lauren Serrano (formerly Reisinger) is currently serving as the Aide-De-Camp to the Chief of Naval Operations. Maj Serrano is from San Francisco, California. She commissioned in June 2009 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program and graduated from Drexel University with a Major in Middle Eastern Studies and dual Minors in Arabic and World Politics. She has studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt and Amman, Jordan.  Maj Serrano’s military occupational specialties include: Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence (CI/HUMINT) officer, Middle Eastern Foreign Area Officer and Weapons and Tactics Instructor. Her first assignment was to CI/HUMINT Company, 3d Intelligence Battalion in Okinawa, Japan from October 2010 to May 2014.  From August 2012 – July 2013 Maj Serrano deployed to the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I), Department of State Embassy - Baghdad. At OSC-I, Maj Serrano first served as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff, then as an Intelligence Analyst in the J-2 shop and Collector with the Defense Attaché Office. She spent part of her deployment in Erbil, Iraq providing security assistance to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.  From 2014 – 2017 Maj Serrano completed a fellowship in the Junior Officer’s Strategic Intelligence Program (JOSIP). Her assignments included fellowships at the Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and as a resident master’s student at the National Intelligence University (NIU).  From 2017 – 2019 Maj Serrano served as the Intelligence Fusion officer on the I Marine Expeditionary Force staff in Camp Pendleton, California. From June 2019 – 2020 she served a Company Commander and subsequently the Battalion Operations Officer at the Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland.  Maj Serrano is the recipient of the 2014 Chase writing award and the 2020 Hogaboom Leadership writing award from the Marine Corps Association, and the 2015 LtCol Kuszewski NIU writing award recipient for the best Master’s Thesis on the Operations-Intelligence Relationship. She is published in the Marine Corps Gazette, Small Wars Journal, and Foreign Area Officer Association Journal. Maj Serrano is also an elected member and secretary for the FAO Association Board of Governors.  Maj Lauren Serrano is married to Maj David Serrano, who is currently serving as the USMC Cyber Instructor at the United States Naval Academy. Together they have two children, Alexander (5) and Christine (4).

Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric's legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism. Operating in the shadows, Ric and his fellow CIA officers fought a little-seen and virtually unknown war to keep USA safe from those who would do it harm. After duty stations in Central, South America, and the Philippines, Black Ops follows Ric into the highest echelons of the CIA's headquarters at Langley, Virginia. In late 1995, he became Deputy Chief of Station and co-founding member of the Bin Laden Task Force. Three years later, after serving as head of Korean Operations, Ric took on one of the most dangerous missions of his career: re-establish a once-abandoned CIA station inside a hostile nation long since considered a front line of the fight against Islamic terrorism. He and his team carried out covert operations and developed assets that proved pivotal in the coming War on Terror. A harrowing memoir of life in the shadowy world of assassins, terrorists, spies and revolutionaries, Black Ops is a testament to the courage, creativity and dedication of the Agency's Special Activities Group and its elite shadow warriors. TESTIMONIALS "Ric Prado is a legendary CIA Operations Officer who gave almost three decades of exceptional service to his country in the most challenging foreign assignments, including the potential risk of immediate physical danger. He has lived his personal and professional life exhibiting the highest standards of character, ethics, principle, courage, and heroism. Ric and I served together in CTC, where he was my Chief of Operations, Chief of Station, REDACTED. He achieved the CIA rank equivalent of military general. No stay-at-home bureaucrat, Ric always sought out and served in harm's way with exceptional dedication and courage." Cofer Black, Former Director, CIA Counterterrorist Center "Enrique 'Ric' Prado is an American hero, having served his country loyally for decades in tough places, spying and fighting against tough enemies, from North Korean subversives to al Qaeda terrorists. He entered the CIA's Clandestine Service as an operations officer in the early 1980s—and immediately joined the front lines in the hot battles of the Cold War. Working his way through the ranks, he recruited and ran spies throughout the globe. He designed and led some of the Agency's most creative and successful operations against the hardest targets. When I departed the CIA's Counterterrorist Center, responsible for all worldwide operations, I sought out Ric as the one and only candidate to replace me. The CIA's leadership enthusiastically endorsed my recommendation. Ric did not disappoint, rallying and directing the Center's resources after the 9/11 attacks and soon thereafter embracing some of the most risky leadership challenges, both operationally and politically, in recent history. He stands alone in many respects, for his daring and his dedication to the mission. His story is an operational adventure, but more, an example of a young immigrant who embraces America and devotes his life to making his new country even better. A man of towering integrity and determination, he bears honest witness to his trials, successes, failures, and his great, enduring love for America." Ambassador Henry A. Crumpton, Former Director of Operations, CIA Counterterrorist Center, bestselling author of THE ART OF INTELLIGENCE "Ric Prado is an American original, a shadow warrior whose combat and street skills actually live up to Hollywood's spy movie fantasies. Any story of his life and his C.I.A. career will stand out in the genre of such memoirs and biographies, not only bec

CAPT Van Buskirk was born and raised in Menlo Park, CA. He attended the University of Arizona, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance in 1998 and his commission in January, 1999. He attended naval flight training in Pensacola, Florida, graduating with distinction in September, 2000. After advanced training in Coronado, CA he was qualified as an SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawk pilot.  At sea, CAPT Van Buskirk served as Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of the “World Famous Golden Falcons” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12 in Atsugi, Japan. During this tour, his command earned his 3rd “Battle E” and the  Secretary of Defense Phoenix award for the best maintenance practices in the Department of  Defense. Prior to HSC-12, he served with the “Chargers” of HS-14 in Atsugi, Japan. During this tour he earned his second “Battle E” and participated in OPERATION TOMODACHI relief  operations. Prior to arriving at HS-14, he served with Expeditionary Sea Combat Unit ONE as  Director of Operations, where he flew multiple combat missions in support of JOINT SPECIAL  OPERATIONS TASK FORCE - PHILIPPINES. Prior to arriving at HS-14, he served with the  “Dusty Dogs” of HS-7 in Jacksonville. During this tour he deployed in support of OPERATION  IRAQI FREEDOM, where his squadron earned the “Battle E”.   Ashore, he served as a Secretary of Defense Executive Fellow at VMware, Inc. in Palo Alto, CA,  where he worked with senior executives on business strategy and technology innovation. He  also served on the Joint Staff, J-3 Directorate at the National Military Command Center,  Washington D.C. as Presidential Strike Advisor, and Assistant Deputy Director for Operations. Prior to arriving at the NMCC, he served as Aide to Commander, Navy Region Hawaii in Pearl  Harbor, Hawaii. Prior to that, he served as an FRS Instructor Pilot in Coronado, CA.   Prior to assuming his role as Director of NavalX, CAPT Van Buskirk served as a founding  member of the Strategic Warfighting Innovation Cell, OPNAV N7 Warfighting Development  Directorate, Washington, D.C.   He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Defense Focus) from Naval  Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, and has completed executive programs at Harvard  Business School (Entrepreneurship) and University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business (Finance, Marketing, and Business Strategy). CAPT Van Buskirk has over 3,000 flight hours in  the SH/MH/HH-60 and holds numerous personal and unit level awards.

Darren is the Cofounder of ACE - a Web3 social network designed for creators with crypto solutions woven deep into the fabric of the network.

Jim Hunt began his career in Washington in the mid 70’s as a U.S. Government scientist. After eight years with the government, he founded “BDS, Incorporated” where he served as CEO for ten years. In 1991, BDS was merged with BTG, Incorporated and Jim assisted in the integration of the two companies. In 1992, BTG was taken public in a successful offering. Jim also served on the BTG board of directors. Subsequent to his tenure at BDS/BTG, Jim went to Price Waterhouse where he started and ran the firm’s system integration practice. After two years at PW, Jim was recruited away with 17 PW colleagues and founded “Ernst & Young Technologies” (EYT), where he was CEO for eight years. EYT was subsequently sold to Cap Gemini and Jim served as President of Cap Gemini Technologies for two years, leaving Cap Gemini in 2006. After leaving Cap Gemini Technologies, with two colleagues, Jim founded “The MITA Group” a Washington-based consultancy focused on public affairs and business strategy. Jim began his angel investing activities in the mid 1990’s after the successful BTG IPO, with five investments in area companies. After over 25 years of seed stage investing, he expanded his portfolio since the early 2000’s to the present over 120 early stage investment. Jim sits on numerous corporate boards. He has exited over 30 investments over the past ten years, the last of which was January of 2019. Jim’s investments are in the area of cyber and physical security, Internet-of-Things, data center management, social media, analytics, and mobile applications. As an active member of multiple angel groups and managing partner of “Lavrock Ventures”, a recently formed early stage venture capital firm, Jim spends a significant amount of his time scouting for world-class, game changing technology. In addition to his investing activities, Jim serves as a consultant to both government and corporate organizations in the area of overall strategy, product commercialization, channel strategies and M&A strategies. Jim has been an Adjunct Professor at the McDonough School at Georgetown for the past 20 years as well as at Notre Dame and teaches cornerstone courses in business planning and start-up business management and investing. He has also created and taught courses to international angels and entrepreneurs and has successfully launched four overseas ventures in the past several years, with particular emphasis on technology incubation in developing countries. Jim is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Rochester Institute of Technology and sits on the Notre Dame Engineering College Advisory Council. Additionally, Jim is a past president of the Computing Industry Technology Association.

Gordon Sumner, PhD, is the President & CEO of Veterans Moving forward, a nonprofit providing service and emotional support dogs to veterans at no cost. He is also the founder of Gordon Sumner Consulting, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business and American Indian Small Business. A member of the Santee Tribe, Dr. Sumner has supported various veteran supportive nonprofits, small veteran owned, and service-disabled veteran owned small businesses. Dr. Sumner previously served as the National Director for the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). As a presidential appointee and member of the Senior Executive Service serving at the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense level, he provided executive leadership to the largest volunteer organization within the Department of Defense comprised of over 5000 uniformed military, government civilians, defense contractors and volunteers. During his military career, Dr. Sumner served in a variety of Infantry and Aviation command and staff positions around the world. After retiring from the US Army as a Colonel select in 1997 as the Division Chief, Army Training, Pentagon, Washington, DC, Gordon served as Managing Director, SYColeman. Gordon currently serves as a Member, Graduate School Advisory Council, Auburn University; a Senior Fellow and Affiliate Faculty, George Mason University; Scholar, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and, Senior Fellow, George Mason University. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Adult Education from Madison University, MBA from Auburn University, a Master of Education from Boston University and a BS, Music Performance and Music Education, Jacksonville State University. He is also a Graduate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Dr. Sumner, a decorated combat veteran, is the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal (V), Purple Heart Medal, and Air Medal. He also holds the Army Master Aviator badge, the Master Parachutist badge and the Ranger Tab.

Karl is Co-Founder of NeedCapial.AI. He also led a media company from launch to the Inc. 500 as Chairman in 2015. While holding positions within venture capital and family offices, Karl has advised projects across a multi-billion-dollar portfolio.

TSgt James Pitcher (USAF) is a Contracting officer, formerly assigned to the 21st Contracting Squadron, supporting the newly established U.S. Space Force, Peterson-Schriever Garrison, Colorado. He was selected for the Defense Ventures Fellow program and supported Harpoon Ventures, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley.  He has served as Team Lead of the Business Intelligence Competency Cell (BICC), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Shoutout to The Merge newsletter by Mike Benitez and Eric Lofgren's Acquisition Talk Podcast