Kristen is Vice President of Business Development and Capture for Seerist, the only augmented analytics solution for threat and risk intelligence professionals in the US Government. Previously, Kristen was the Federal Business Lead for a Silicon Valley-backed startup called Golden, a team building the world’s largest knowledge graph.

Kristen’s career includes over 15 years as a policy analyst and advisor in the Department of Defense (DoD), including as Deputy Director for the National Security Innovation Network, a new office within USD (R&E) where she activated academia and entrepreneurial communities across the nation to solve complex DoD challenges. She spent the majority of her experience in the Department focusing on Special Operations and Irregular Warfare policy and strategy development. Notably, Kristen successfully led the effort to create a new Congressional authority for Special Operations Forces to provide Irregular Warfare support and training to Eastern European special operators prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kristen was the Co-founder and Co-director of the No Exceptions, a coalition of post-9/11 military veterans and national security leaders who successfully supported full gender inclusion in the military, the last industry in American society where it had been legal to exclude women because of gender. Kristen is a fellow for organizations including the Center for New American Security Next Generation National Security Fellowship, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the German Marshall Memorial Fund, and the National Security Institute. Kristen serves on various boards including the Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association.

Kristen received her Master of Public Policy degree with a National Security concentration from the University of Chicago and is a native Texan.