Jenn Gustetic is an enterprise technology and innovation executive with nearly 20 years of experience leading technology portfolios that bridge cross-sector research and development (R&D), industry partnerships, and commercialization.
Most recently, she served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Management for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, where she effectively served as COO of the 700-person organization. In this role, she led strategy, operations, and a major organizational restructuring during a period of significant budget cuts, workforce reductions, and political transitions.
Prior to this role, Jenn led over $2 billion in early-stage technology investments at NASA across a diverse portfolio of frontier technologies and investment mechanisms, including prizes, SBIR/STTR programs, and partnerships. Earlier in her career, she served at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she designed and launched open innovation programs for the entire Federal Government.
She is naturally curious across disciplines, completing a two-year research fellowship with Harvard Kennedy School in 2019 where she developed methods for organizations to envision and create a future of work with human-machine teaming.
Jenn applies systems thinking to translate between technical experts and decision-makers, design funding mechanisms that accelerate breakthrough technologies from lab to market and build coalitions across sectors to solve complex problems.
Jenn holds a master's degree in technology policy from MIT and a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida. She serves on the board of the Van Alen Institute and has spoken and published extensively on innovation, R&D management, and technology policy.
Previously, she served as an officer on the Advisory Board for the National Science Policy Network, founding co-chair of the Partnership for Public Service's Federal Innovation Council, and co-founder of Design Thinking DC.
Jenn is currently on sabbatical, taking time to rest, reflect and consult on a small number of projects through Shift Forward LLC, while exploring her next chapter at the intersection of technology and systems-level impact—ideally where she can help scale tough tech innovations that contribute to human and planetary flourishing.
See more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenngustetic/