We need to make it easier for mission-driven young people to explore public service. I’m often asked how to talk to young people to get them interested. But in my experience, the problem isn’t a lack of interest. Today’s students are looking for purpose-driven work ... What’s missing is the lack of a clear, easy pathway. This is the goal of the NobleReach Scholars Program.
In his first 100 days, President Donald Trump has pushed to remake the federal workforce in profound ways that have provoked strong reactions. He and many of his supporters say big change is necessary to build a government powered by entrepreneurial, patriotic, highly skilled Americans. Opponents, on the other hand, feel like the White House is undermining essential government functions and creating uncertainty and instability.
In this polarized environment, it can be tempting to fall into false binaries – right or left, public or private, profit or purpose. The reality is far more complex.
In truth, the private and public sectors have a lot to teach each other. A spoonful of the public sector’s focus on supporting the national interest could allow leaders in industry to better manage risk and to see opportunities for growth that traditional thinking might miss. And government leaders with commercial sensibilities who are mindful of how the private sector operates can make for a better balance of the national interest and prosperity.
But the two don’t always see eye to eye. A fundamental lack of trust between them can sometimes make it nearly impossible to collaborate in a way that taps into each side’s unique strengths.
Here’s where the right talent can build bridges. Spanning the divide between the public and private sectors requires individuals who feel at home in both, allowing them to use transferable skills and translate between mutually incomprehensible languages. In two decades in the venture capital and investing world, the most important lesson I learned was that without the right people, even the strongest technology or idea stood little chance of success.
That’s why we need to make it an urgent national priority to develop the next generation of what I like to call “dual citizens” of the private and public sectors. Dual citizens possess a unique blend of skills and perspectives that enable them to succeed in both public service and private enterprise. They understand the value of innovation and efficiency, and they know how to communicate effectively across barriers and build enduring trust.
So, how do we make more of them?
We start with spotlighting the leaders and role models already serving in government who have notable private sector backgrounds and skills they use every day to make a difference.
I’m talking about people like Nand Mulchandani, who spent more than 25 years in Silicon Valley. Mulchandani founded a string of startups bought by tech titans like Oracle and Cisco before becoming the first-ever chief technology officer of the CIA in 2022, where he found that public service and mission-driven entrepreneurship were more alike than different.
There’s also Brynt Parmeter, who might not have known at the time that his stint leading workforce development for Walmart from 2019 to 2023 was essential training for his role as the inaugural chief talent manager for the Department of Defense.
And Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, used his time in the venture capital ecosystem to build smart policies around emerging technologies, spearheading efforts like the American AI Initiative to position the United States to lead the artificial intelligence race.
All of these individuals share three key attributes: a clear lane to and from government, an openness to a nonlinear career and a willingness to be entrepreneurial in addressing big societal problems. For the class of 2025 and beyond to benefit from the dual-citizen approach, we must replicate these factors in our national talent infrastructure.
To start, we need to make it easier for mission-driven young people to explore public service. I’m often asked how to talk to young people to get them interested. But in my experience, the problem isn’t a lack of interest. Today’s students are looking for purpose-driven work, with more than 80% of millennials and members of Gen Z reporting that having a sense of purpose is important in their careers, according to a 2024 Deloitte study. What’s missing is the lack of a clear, easy pathway.
This is the goal of the NobleReach Scholars Program. Launched in 2024, the inaugural cohort of 19 college graduates from across the country was placed in innovation-focused roles in eight federal agencies and three mission-driven ventures focused on defense systems, biotech, and materials and manufacturing. These incredible young people range from a computational linguist and a business and computer science major redesigning business processes at the IRS to a 3D-printing enthusiast engineering materials to perform reliably in extreme conditions.
Through the program, the scholars grow their skills alongside a community of peers, industry partners and dual-citizen mentors and gain exposure to private sector leaders they wouldn’t encounter in a traditional government role. More than 1,200 candidates from 100-plus universities applied for our latest cohort, with this year’s finalists interviewing now for placements at the state, local and federal level and in the private sector.
These recent grads, most of whom have studied technology, science and business, are committed individuals – living proof that an untapped wealth of entrepreneurial talent is ready to rise to some of the biggest challenges our nation faces.
But how do we get there?
We must prepare our students for a world in which having multiple careers is the rule, not the exception. In the classrooms where I’ve taught at Stanford and Georgetown, I’ve seen my students face enormous pressure to pick one career, usually focused on either purpose or profit, with the default assumption that they will stay in that career for several decades.
In reality, they’re much more likely to have four or five careers spanning disciplines and sectors. Our universities equip them with the tools they need to thrive throughout their career journeys, such as training in entrepreneurial methods and the safe and effective use of AI. But today’s students also need role models who have succeeded because of their nonlinear career path, not in spite of it.
Finally, today’s leaders must listen to and engage with this new generation of change-makers, who are entrepreneurial thinkers with skills in technology that barely existed when the previous generation started their careers. This will require investing in an ecosystem of collaboration based on shared goals for innovation. Just as students shouldn’t have to choose between a successful career and a meaningful one, the private sector can drive prosperity while working in tandem with government to take on the challenges that threaten our collective security.
To realize this vision, we need the infrastructure to support talent who can understand, communicate, and navigate the complexities of both public and private sectors. Implementing and supporting programs that allow experienced professionals to transition between government and the private sector can foster more effective cross-sector understanding and innovation for everyone involved. Spotlighting leaders like Mulchandani, Parmeter, and Kratsios can show our young people what’s possible when they explore pathways that allow them to use their skills to contribute to a larger mission.
And they’re just the tip of the iceberg. The next generation of dual citizens is out there. We just need to set them on the journey.
At NobleReach, we believe that securing our nation’s future depends on the strength of our talent and our ability to push the boundaries on innovation. Since launching the NobleReach Scholars Program in 2024, we’ve seen firsthand how emerging technologists—driven by purpose and equipped with cutting-edge skills—can make an immediate impact in federal agencies. Today, I’m proud to share that we are taking a bold next step: expanding the program to include placements in state and local governments across the country.
This expansion reflects our belief that innovation and service shouldn’t be confined to the federal level. Our Scholars have already been instrumental in shaping initiatives in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and business process innovation. Future scholars can now go where policy meets practice where communities are shaped, where public services are delivered, and where the most pressing challenges are often felt most acutely.
Meeting Urgent Needs Across America
State and local governments are the frontlines of public service. These institutions are responsible for the infrastructure we rely on, the health systems we depend on, and the economic development efforts that lift up entire regions. Yet many of these agencies face constraints in both resources and access to technical expertise. By embedding Scholars in these environments, we are answering that need—introducing fresh energy, critical skills, and entrepreneurial thinking into places that will benefit from these partnerships.
Our Scholars will continue to experience the strong foundation that defines this program. They will participate in our immersive two-week professional development bootcamp in Washington, D.C., before beginning their placements across the country. They will join a mission-aligned cohort that supports and challenges one another throughout the fellowship. And they will be matched with mentors who help guide them as they navigate the complexities of public service
Our Unchanging Mission
While the scope of the program is expanding, our purpose remains the same: to help emerging leaders find meaningful, impactful pathways to serve. For recent graduates in technical fields, this new opportunity offers a chance to work on real problems, in real communities, with real stakes. It also offers something rare—an up-close look at how decisions get made and policies get implemented outside the halls of Washington.
We are currently finalizing placements for our next cohort of Scholars, and we welcome interest from state and local officials eager to host this exceptional talent.
The Road Ahead
I couldn’t be more excited about what’s next. By expanding to all levels of government, we’re not just scaling—we’re deepening our impact. We’re building a nationwide network of changemakers committed to innovation, service, and the communities they represent. For recent graduates in technical fields, this is an opportunity to work on problems that matter in communities where the stakes are real and the impact is visible. We are currently finalizing placements for the next cohort of NobleReach Scholars and welcome interest from state and local leaders who are ready to bring this capacity into their institutions.
State and local agencies interested in hosting a Scholar can visit our website to learn more and connect with us.
Our inaugural cohort of 19 NobleReach Scholars are headed to their placements at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), U.S. Navy and U.S. Space Force.
Additional participants include Thermaquil, Anduril and Ozark, three industry partners at the forefront of public sector innovation.
These recent graduates in business, engineering, data science and more will start positions in AI, biotech, cyber, business process innovation and materials and manufacturing after completing a three-week orientation bootcamp, where they:
Dove into topics ranging from the federal procurement process to the CHIPS Act to human-centered design,
Learned to apply the Lean Startup methodology to government’s most pressing challenges,
Heard from leaders including the 40th U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the 66th U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, CISA Director Jen Easterly, the 1st U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, White House Special Advisor for AI Ben Buchanan and more.
Each scholar was selected from among hundreds of candidates across over 90 universities nationwide.
The application for our 2025 cohort opens on September 30. If you’re interested in applying to become a scholar, register here.
I would challenge you at every point in your careers to ask yourself: what impact am I delivering?
Sec. Raimondo shared her journey to public service, her thoughts on the race for semiconductors and how to encourage the private sector to think in the long term.
Bootcamp speakers shared their stories, their advice and their thoughts on challenges facing the federal government, from the global AI race to the war in Ukraine.
Five Takeaways
Government has plenty of technologists, but not enough translators. When he transitioned to government after a career in Silicon Valley, U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Nathaniel Fick was pleasantly surprised to find deep technology talent in government. What was really missing, he said, was fluency in the language of the private sector.
To navigate today’s digital landscape, as a nation, we need people in government with commercial sensibility to help forge sustainable private-public partnerships that benefit the public good and make commercial sense at the same time.
Ambassador Nathaniel Fick
People don’t trust institutions – they trust people.
Director Easterly encouraged the scholars to hone their imaginations as force multipliers for everything they do during their time in government.
2. The United States is leading on AI – but first doesn’t always mean strongest, said Luke Murry, former National Security Advisor to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Marvel Technologies head of government affairs.
It doesn’t matter who’s first to technology. It matters who understands the applications of AI and can efficiently integrate it into existing systems. Getting the right people in government will determine whether the U.S. can stay ahead of China on AI.
Luke Murry
Never forget that you’re contributing to a broader mission – whether you’re taking notes in a meeting or helping set our national AI policy – that transcends any individual activity
White House Special Advisor for AI Ben Buchanan during the scholars’ visit to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
3. Military readiness will look fundamentally different post-Ukraine. The defense innovations that have proved most successful in Ukraine nimbly adapt off-the-shelf technologies to practical applications from the battlefield, said Matt Pottinger, Former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor.
The Pentagon isn’t used to being downstream of innovation. Especially in the context of the war in Ukraine, experience supporting our national security interests in both government and the private sector is a value add and a differentiator because it allows you to learn both languages.
Matt Pottinger
4. Public service is bipartisan. Throughout the bootcamp, the scholars connected with cabinet members, generals, academics, business leaders – Democrats, Republicans and everyone in between – all united in their commitment to public service.
Every single speaker who met with the scholars and saw firsthand their energy and enthusiasm for mission-driven work said, how can I help?
NobleReach CEO Arun Gupta
This experience has been incredible. Each cohort member, speaker and member of NobleReach has inspired me through their personal stories and their passion for service. I’ve learned so much these three weeks that I know I will carry with me as I go throughout my career.
Scholar Grayson Lawrence (left)
5. Public service is cool. Don’t underestimate the role early-career talent can play in policy from the bottom up, said former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl.
If you can write and argue well and in good faith, if you put in the work, you have an opportunity to be a translator across industry and government and help ensure innovation happens safely and sustainably.
Dr. Colin Kahl
Be an extra pair of hands. Wherever you go, be someone who steps up and gets the work done.
Sec. Rice during a remote session with the scholars
Looking forward, my career mission is to improve others’ quality of life with my technical background.
Scholar Patrick Dunnington (right) joined his peers in toasting successfully completing the bootcamp at a celebration during the final week.
What truly made this experience unforgettable was the camaraderie I shared with my fellow cohort members. From the moment we met, a genuine bond formed among us, making it feel as though we had known each other for years, despite our diverse backgrounds. We found joy not only in our collective growth but also in the laughter and fun we had along the way.”
Scholar Jessica Nunez (left)
Coming next: The scholars will reunite in Washington, D.C. in November to reflect on their first few months, share ideas, renew friendships forged during the bootcamp and recommit to their public service journeys.
Subscribe now for the latest on the Scholars Program and NobleReach’s work to strengthen the security and prosperity of our nation through talent and innovation.
The NobleReach Scholars represent 15 universities, including Arizona State University, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Stanford University, Tufts University, University of Maryland, University of Oxford (UK), University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas-Austin, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.
NobleReach expands the adoption of new tech by helping start-ups scale—work that often entails bolstering the case for sales to government agencies and other companies. Dive Technologies is a great example.
Back in 2018, the Quincy, Massachusetts, company was founded to develop the Dive-LD—a large autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for defense and commercial customers. What some might call an “underwater drone,” Dive-LD makes it easier to conduct offshore and deep-water surveys and inspections and pursue intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. We interviewed Sam Russo, Co-Founder of Dive and General Manager of Maritime, U.S., at Anduril and Matthew Matthew DePetro, Embedded Entrepreneur at Anduril, the defense contractor that acquired Dive in 2022.
First off, tell us about the challenges that Dive was designed to solve.
SAM RUSSO: Dive-LD is the most flexible AUV on the market, capable of carrying complex payloads or multi-sensor suites. It can be used for defense missions such as undersea ISR and mine countermeasures. We’re also working with customers to perform faster, lower cost, seabed surveys for offshore wind farms on both U.S. coasts, with less impact on the environment. And we’re working with owners of oil pipelines and telecom cables to inspect those assets. We believe this technology will ensure the safety of American electrical-, telecommunications-, and oil infrastructure.
What role did NobleReach play in this project?
MATTHEW DEPETRO: NobleReach identified me as a possible Embedded Entrepreneur, and I joined Dive Technologies in November 2022. I started off by evaluating the subcomponents of the Dive-LD AUV for commercial applicability, identifying competitive advantages, and exploring the commercial markets that we could apply the technology to, then I crafted and executed a go-to-market plan for the organization. One example: Based on my findings, the team focused more on the Robot as a Service (RaaS) model for the first few years, rather than prioritizing outright sales; NobleReach’s guidance was instrumental in our first three commercial contracts.
In much of NobleReach’s work with start-ups, there’s a promising technology and a clear problem, and a gap that needs to be closed. What were some of the gaps you were trying to close?
RUSSO: Our main challenge has been scaling the program and changing the status quo within the industry: Challenges in the maritime domain are usually solved with big vessels with big crews—but crewed vessels are very expensive, require a long time to build, and expose humans to inherently unsafe offshore environments. Anduril’s solution leverages uncrewed vessels and autonomy to solve critical needs and allow service members to focus on higher-level decision making. The challenge has been persuading “customers” using crewed vessels to accept some risk with a new approach while recognizing that the current approach to gathering data or performing subsea inspections is inadequate.
DEPETRO: Our biggest challenge has been building up a track record and body of work that we can share with our non-government customers. Breaking the status quo in any industry is challenging, so convincing one innovative organization to buy in on our solution has been the priority. To get there, we have performed missions with our own funding to prove out the performance of Dive-LD and to gather data to share with prospective customers.
What hurdles and surprises came up along the way?
RUSSO: We’ve been surprised most by the absolute tidal wave of demand for autonomous underwater vehicles. We’ve spoken with multiple offshore wind developers and many have expressed interest in Dive-LD. We’ve also seen interest from a few potential customers who want evidence of success in the field, but we’re not able to share the details of our defense work.
That hurdle led us to search more broadly, which led us to our initial customer—the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium. NOWRDC, which evaluates and fosters new technologies for its members, has asked Anduril to perform automated inspections of offshore power cables in Rhode Island, a project that’s helping us build out a body of data to share with more potential clients.
Are there competitors in this space? What separates Dive from them?
DEPETRO: The immense size, capability, and manufacturability of the Dive-LD immediately jumped out at me as differentiators. For the first time, I could envision a robot, Dive-LD, doing what an expensive, manned surface vessel is doing today for commercial surveys. And as someone who’d come from another maritime robotics company, I was surprised at the speed with which such a large device could be manufactured—it’s truly a game changer.
RUSSO: With Matt’s guidance, we produced a competitive assessment of the world of subsea data collection and monitoring, a rapidly evolving space. Many players are trying to solve the problem from the top down: They’re using innovative uncrewed surface vessels that sit on the ocean’s surface and look down, whereas Dive-LD allows us to work closer to the seafloor, providing some unique advantages. Dive-LD is also offered as a service, meaning we collect the data, and customers benefit from having a talented, humble, and very responsive team carry out the mission and deliver them the desired data set. We’re able to implement novel technology advances and new solutions in days rather than months or years.
What’s next?
RUSSO: Growth and expansion. Our goal with Dive-LD has always been to provide an AUV platform at scale. That means driving more usage in our existing core commercial markets within the United States, including offshore wind, oil and gas, and telecommunications. It also means leveraging Anduril’s global footprint to expand Dive-LD use with key partners and allies of the United States.
Although the federal government faces some challenges in recruiting the nation’s top college grads, programs like Hacking for Defense are revealing GenZ’s interest in solving the nation’s biggest problems.
Recent research reveals that millennials and Gen Zers are most likely to define themselves and their identities through their professional and educational achievements. But how does this create a barrier for government in orchestrating human capital around mission? While agencies such as NASA and the FBI have always been perceived as “prestigious” government positions, this distinction is waning. And it likely has to do with deteriorating trust in government and growing trust in business. For example, as SpaceX and Blue Origin increasingly penetrate the commercial space market and dominate the low- and far-earth-orbit initiatives of the United States, students too are considering these roles over similar positions at NASA. In addition, Google, Apple, and other technology companies are bolstering their role in U.S. cybersecurity defense, signaling that work similar to that of the government’s is available in the private sector. With the decay of trust in government and growth of private-sector organizations performing various government functions and often providing larger compensation, the perceived achievement of working for the government is fading. And without a perception of public service or mission-driven work as a professional achievement, the generational gap in the government—one in which younger workers are less likely to join the government—will continue to increase.
Bridging the Recruitment Gap While some areas of the government have proven highly successful in their marketing campaigns, the federal government’s approach to hiring does not consist of large-scale marketing campaigns. Think of contemporary examples such as “The Few, The Proud, The Marines” or historical examples such as NASA’s marketing to students during the space race. In fact, it is rare to see government recruiting on college campuses the way the private-sector tech, finance, and consulting firms recruit. These firms show up with alumni painting their respective employers in the most positive light possible. They make students feel important and wanted, while also highlighting the firm’s culture and values. This social dynamic goes underappreciated by government during recruitment and contributes to the lack of generational enthusiasm. Without these engagements, it is growing difficult for the government to attract private-sector employees and even recruit college graduates. With massive retirements of baby boomers looming and a hollow pool of mid-career candidates remaining in government, there’s an urgent need to replace that talent.
Simply put, we need to make working in government cool again. Even amplifying awareness of existing opportunities would make it easy for prospects to find information in a user-friendly manner. As a standalone website, the USAJOBS site is unlikely to create any generational inspiration. Of course, trust in government has implications for how young Americans make decisions to pursue a professional career in government. The primary trust-building initiatives detailed above should be considered paramount to enabling and orchestrating the Venture Meets Mission ecosystem. By highlighting public service impact, public-sector skill development, and transferability to the private sector, the perception of public service shifts from a resume checklist item to a stepping stone in a lifelong career.
Hacking for Defense: A Solution in Action Hacking for Defense (H4D) is a university course which is confronting these challenges head-on. H4D was co-created by Steve Blank, an entrepreneur, author, and educator at Stanford University; Joe Felter, founding director of Stanford’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation and former deputy assistant secretary of defense; and Pete Newell, a retired U.S. army colonel and former director of the army’s Rapid Equipping Force. The class provides students with the opportunity to work on real-world DoD and Intelligence Community challenges. In this quarter- or semester-long course, students with diverse skills and expertise form into teams and mirror the experience of a startup. These interdisciplinary teams apply “lean” problem-solving methods requiring them to “get out of the building” and interview scores of experts, end-users, and other relevant stakeholders in order to better understand their problems and iteratively develop deployable solutions. The class advances a practical approach to government work as well as applied, experiential education. It was developed and first taught at Stanford University in 2016 and continues to be pedagogically supported through the Gordian Knot Center at Stanford. Students can also introduce their own ideas about DoD/IC problems that need to be solved.
Joe Felter recalls the H4D evolution. “When we developed H4D in 2016, we were unsure whether a course like this would appeal to Stanford students—whether they would want to work with the DoD and help them solve their problems. Encouragingly, students showed up in droves—we had three times the number of applicants that we could accommodate in class. In the first H4D cohort, eight teams worked on priority problems from a range of defense sponsors from Navy Special Warfare Group to the Intelligence Community. The teams all conducted over one hundred interviews in the ten-week class as part of their intense effort to develop solutions. All the teams helped their sponsors better understand the real nature of their problem, and many teams made extraordinary progress in actually solving their chosen problems. Officials from across the DoD and IC were impressed by the results of this new and disruptive class. And this created a positive feedback loop which helped us secure government funding to scale the class beyond Stanford. Hacking for Defense provided students the opportunity to engage in meaningful public service while helping the government tap into a wellspring of talent committed to developing solutions to its most challenging problems. In our end-of-course surveys, nearly every student attested that the course had a significant and positive impact on their views toward those serving in the DoD and broader USG and were inspired to seek ways to serve and contribute to their important missions. It was really amazing—and gratifying—to see this transformation.”
To further advance the mission, course materials are open sourced to other universities—an initiative that has brought this Stanford University class to over fifty colleges and universities through partnership between the Gordian Knot Center and the Common Mission Project, a 501c3 nonprofit. Alex Gallo, a former House Armed Services Committee senior staffer who led the Common Mission Project before becoming Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Policy at NobleReach, said, “The H4D experience has spawned similar classes across sectors such as “Hacking for Climate,” “Hacking for Oceans,” “Hacking for Environment,” and “Hacking for Local”—among others—and is now taught in Australia and the United Kingdom with plans to expand further. [They] are working with the Gordian Knot Center at Stanford and other collaborators—like the NobleReach Foundation—to continue to create opportunities for our best and brightest young people to serve and help solve our most pressing problems.”
Ask most Americans to identify the country’s innovation hot spots, and they’ll probably name New York, San Francisco, or a budding tech town like Austin. But if you’re measuring brilliant ideas per square mile, Washington, D.C., should be at the top of that list. From radar to electric cars, the federal government is responsible for more world-changing inventions than you might expect.
“Most people see July 1969 as ‘Peak Innovation’ for the United States,” says Tom Fewer, NobleReach’s VP for Talent Programs and Partnerships, and co-author of the book Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society. “The government was able to align dozens of stakeholders around one huge mission: Putting a man on the moon. To do that, NASA had to collaborate with a number of federal contractors and forge close relationships with researchers at academic institutions, all while generating a pipeline of talent to do the work. You might call it the ‘Golden Age of American Innovation,’ but I think we’re headed to an even better age, because we’re now seeing the value of decentralized innovation. Innovation is happening in every corner of all sectors—corporations and ventures, nonprofits and social enterprises, and academic institutions—and there never have been as many players working toward change. And the American public now stands to benefit. With the government as the orchestrator of this innovation, we are headed towards real impact.”
Fewer points out how the government was able to mobilize the venture community around commercial space exploration, altering its approach to innovation to fit this new decentralized landscape. “Instead of the ‘supply-side’ funding approach of awarding numerous small contracts in the hopes of one or two scientific breakthroughs, the government started pursuing ‘demand-side’ moonshot funding,” he says,” Now, the government says, ‘If a company can produce a spacecraft that can withstand certain conditions, we’ll pay XX millions.” That shift has moved the financing risk to the private sector, which has mobilized companies and partnerships—big and small—around those larger goals. It’s an approach that’s leading the private sector and venture community to innovate, and mobilizing top talent from academia to meet even more of these “moonshot” objectives.
If you doubt that promise or the government’s commitment to innovation, here are some inventions that wouldn’t have been possible without it, adapted from Stacker.
1945: Doppler radar
The critical tool for weather forecasts is courtesy of funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
1945: The flu shot
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) developed the first flu vaccination.
1946: MRIs
Magnetic resonance was first used to study atomic nuclei in 1946, with the help of grants from the NSF, before being used for medical diagnoses.
1958: Microchips
Invented to help the military target missiles, microchips are now found in just about every electronic device.
1971: Closed captioning
Workers at the National Bureau of Standards identified part of a TV broadcasting spectrum that was large enough to transmit text, which led the agency to caption a 1971 TV episode.
1974: Barcodes
The NSF funded the development of barcodes starting in 1974, when engineer George Laurer created the very first one.
1977: Modern Goodyear tires
The material used to make Goodyear’s tires came out of a partnership with NASA, which first used the material in parachutes to land objects on Mars.
1980: Modern wind energy
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) created the gas-turbine engines used by many wind farms.
1990: Genetic tracing services
DNA services like 23andMe and Ancestry.com rely on science that was funded by the Department of Energy and NIH, building on the work of the Human Genome Project, led by the same agencies.
1992: Smartphones
An offshoot of mini cameras used in NASA spacecraft, the image sensors are used in smartphones, webcams and digital single-lens reflex cameras; University of Delaware researchers made touch screens with funding from the Central Intelligence Agency and NSF.
1993: GPS
The idea for global positioning systems began as a defense tool, and evolved into a 24-satellite system used for commercial GPS services.
1993: The Internet
Starting in 1973, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) experimented with ways to link computers, which led to the ARPANET in 1977. By the 1980s, the NSF took over most internet-related funding, eventually allowing public access to the network in 1993.
1998: Google
The NSF funded the Digital Library Initiative to index websites in the early days of the Internet; the NSF and CIA went on to fund the research of Stanford graduates Sergey Brin and Larry Page, whose algorithm became Google.
2004: Self-driving cars
The first self-driving cars were used in 2004, after DARPA director Anthony Tether offered a $1 million prize to anyone who could create a driverless car that could navigate a 142-mile course.
2011: Siri
Digital voice assistants owe a debt to DARPA, which gave $22 million to SRI in the 2000s, the earliest blueprint for a startup called Siri, which was later purchased by Apple.
2020: The Moderna coronavirus vaccine
Previous DARPA awardee Moderna created the vaccine in collaboration with the government’s Operation Warp Speed program, part of an incredible effort to develop, manufacture, and distribute hundreds of millions of doses within a year.
In late 2021, three experts at the juncture of tech, government, and entrepreneurship came together at Georgetown University: Arun Gupta, a long-time venture capitalist excited by the ways entrepreneurs could solve societal problems; Gerry George a professor who had spent 25 years teaching entrepreneurship in the world’s top business schools; and Tom Fewer, a postdoctoral fellow who had studied the challenges facing businesses as they navigate shifting political landscapes. All three had seen the ways that venture and government can come together to address society’s most pressing problems, and the difficulties in making these partnerships work. To identify some solutions and inspire the next generation of changemakers, they conducted interviews with successful entrepreneurs and government officials and captured the results in a series of case studies. The result is their forthcoming book, Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society (Stanford University Press, January 2024).. Gupta and Fewer went on to help found NobleReach Foundation, an organization dedicated to putting those lessons into practice.
We asked Tom Fewer to share the genesis of the idea and explain the team’s approach to connecting government, academia, and industry to fuel innovation.
You’ve spent much of your career focused on the connections among the corporate world, government, and academia. Why is that intersection so important to you?
As a PhD Candidate at Drexel University, I wrote my dissertation on the ways that political polarization hurts businesses, adding layers of complexity and inefficiency to organizations as Americans move to opposite ends of the political spectrum. I became very passionate about how businesses interface with political institutions. But when I started my postdoc work at Georgetown University, I pivoted from the negative to the positive, asking: How can the private sector and the public sector come together to solve big problems?
In the course of writing the book, we spoke to dozens of people doing phenomenal work with one foot in both worlds—stories that you just don’t hear about in the polarized news environment. Rahul Singhvi, for example, cut his teeth in biomanufacturing and found himself transforming the vaccine manufacturing process in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: He was able to dissect critical inefficiencies and vulnerabilities in the manufacturing of vaccines and completely revolutionize the supply chain, making it easier to get shots into arms faster. We also spoke to Nate Mook, who was CEO of World Central Kitchen—a nonprofit that goes into disaster areas and war zones to make the food supply more resilient; when we spoke, he was on the front lines of Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian invasion. Both of these people were doing transformative work at the intersection of the public and private sectors, and we felt like their stories had to be shared with more people.
The ideas in the book speak to liberal thinkers and conservative thinkers, who have different views of government. Talk about that dichotomy.
At NobleReach, we see the desire for greater innovation and stronger national security as completely bipartisan: Americans’ support for cybersecurity and a strong corporate sector aren’t limited to one political party—we’re giving voice to both sides. We’re all for more mission-driven capitalism, which allows the private-sector to innovate, while the government sets goals and coordinates critical work. By taking promising government technology to the private sector, where it can be turned into commercial ventures, we’re creating more resilient partnerships, and ultimately leveraging the strengths of each sector.
Can you say more about how NobleReach hopes to help the government with hiring and recruitment?
The government is facing an uphill battle in recruiting the next generation of changemakers. On the one hand, we are facing historic distrust in government, which is preventing many people from considering a career in government. On the other hand, the government lacks a real presence on college campuses. NobleReach just hosted its first group of interns, and they told us, ‘We went to job fairs in our first year of school, and there’s always one government agency with a booth, and it’s the ROTC.’ Students are seeing big banks and consulting firms that are willing to pay them a bunch of money, but they’re not seeing the innovative work of the government. Some amazing projects are being pursued within government agencies that people may not expect to be at the cutting edge of innovation, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Defense. NobleReach is trying to expand that talent pipeline with our focus on placing Interns within agencies and by identifying early career professionals who want government experience as NobleReach Scholars.
And we’re also working with more experienced professionals, recruiting Embedded Entrepreneurs, who can help government agencies scale tech within the public sector, and identifying Fellows who take their experience in fields like quantum computing, cybersecurity, and biotech, to turn government-funded research into products scaled in the private sector.
Some amazing projects are being pursued within government agencies that people may not expect to be at the cutting edge of innovation, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Defense.
Tom Fewer
As you reimagine the relationship between government, industry, and academia, one of the biggest challenges is establishing trust. Can you talk about that?
It’s been scary to see how much trust in some of our most critical institutions, like government, has deteriorated over time, and it’s dangerous to the fabric of our country. But a lot of it comes down to fundamental misconceptions about the government itself: Americans generally are unsure of how the government operates, think that the government is incredibly wasteful, and conflate political discourse with government functioning.
We see trust as the cornerstone of a working relationship among sectors, and that comes down to people. We don’t see a 40-year career in the public sector as the only solution to resolve the government’s talent needs and reestablish trust in government—if we can carve out pathways and give the next generation a one- or two-year ‘tour of duty’ within government, that creates some understanding and empathy for the mission of government, and greater willingness to support and partner with the government after their tour of duty is over. We see a lot of parallels between NobleReach’s talent approach and programs like the Peace Corps and Teach for America, where young people can not only improve their resumes, but get a deeper understanding of their own connections to government and public service.
Let’s go international: Many people believe that big-scale innovation is easier for autocratic governments that wield enormous power. Are you optimistic about America’s chances of keeping up, and leading once again?
It’s true that autocracies have accelerated advancements, mainly in in artificial intelligence, by putting the power of the regime behind those efforts, because they derive enormous benefits from it—entrenching their power by monitoring their own citizens, and by preventing certain information from reaching the public. So it makes sense that Western nations are starting to wonder if democracy can keep up with autocracy in this grand innovation race.
But I believe democracies actually have the advantage, and it lies in entrepreneurship. Citizens in these autocracies aren’t creating businesses at the rate that they used to, because they’re scared that their governments will steal their intellectual property—which means there’s practically no incentive for them to innovate. Even though Americans have lost some trust in government, no one is concerned that their ideas will be stolen by Washington, D.C. The true superpower of democracy is private industry and specifically, the venture community, and that’s why I’m optimistic that in the larger geopolitical context, democracies will ultimately prevail.
Never forget that you’re contributing to a broader mission – whether you’re taking notes in a meeting or helping set our national AI policy – that transcends any individual activity
This experience has been incredible. Each cohort member, speaker and member of NobleReach has inspired me through their personal stories and their passion for service. I’ve learned so much these three weeks that I know I will carry with me as I go throughout my career.
Looking forward, my career mission is to improve others’ quality of life with my technical background.
What truly made this experience unforgettable was the camaraderie I shared with my fellow cohort members. From the moment we met, a genuine bond formed among us, making it feel as though we had known each other for years, despite our diverse backgrounds. We found joy not only in our collective growth but also in the laughter and fun we had along the way.”
At NobleReach, we see the desire for greater innovation and stronger national security as completely bipartisan: Americans’ support for cybersecurity and a strong corporate sector aren’t limited to one political party—we’re giving voice to both sides. We’re all for more mission-driven capitalism, which allows the private-sector to innovate, while the government sets goals and coordinates critical work. By taking promising government technology to the private sector, where it can be turned into commercial ventures, we’re creating more resilient partnerships, and ultimately leveraging the strengths of each sector.