National Security Speaker Series

Description

Colorado Springs is home to nationally recognized national security leaders in private industry, retired Department of Defense Executives, and academia. The National Security Speaker Series is designed to provide a forum to connect our community to these experts to create an environment of shared understanding of global threats, industry trends, and innovation in the region. Held Quarterly.  

Meet the Speakers

Bryan Wilson - Director of Global Partnerships, Defense Innovation Unit

Bryan is the Director of Global Partnerships at the Defense Innovation Unit, where he leads engagements with U.S. allies and partners with the goal of leveraging leading edge commercially derived technologies to accelerate the transformation of our armed forces’ capabilities. Formerly the Combatant Command Engagement Lead at DIU, he came to DIU via the non-profit organization The Patuxent Partnership.

Bryan is a retired Marine Corps officer. He served in the Defense Attaché Service twice, where he built and maintained defense relationships with the host nation, allies, and partners.  His first assignment was to the U.S. Embassy in Liberia, where he coordinated military support during a major regional Ebola outbreak. His second Attaché assignment was in Senegal, a regional post where he also conducted defense diplomacy in The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Cabo Verde.

He deployed operationally several times, including two combat tours of duty in Iraq, and sea-service deployments with the 11^th and 31^st Marine Expeditionary Units. He also served as Intelligence Plans and Exercises Branch Chief at the U.S. European Command.

Bryan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The Citadel. A Middle East / North Africa Foreign Area Officer, he completed a master’s degree in National Security Studies at the Naval Post-Graduate School. He speaks both Arabic and French.

He lives in Colorado Springs, home of the U.S. Space Command, U.S. Northern Command, and a thriving tech community. 

Tracey Manor - Regional Engagement Principal, National Security Innovation Network 

Tracey Manor is the Regional Engagement Principal for Colorado at NSIN (National Security Innovation Network). NSIN is an unrivaled problem-solving network in the U.S. Department of Defense that adapts to the emerging needs of those who serve in the defense of our national security. NSIN is dedicated to the work of bringing together defense, academic and entrepreneurial innovators to solve national security problems in new ways. NSIN is part of DIU (Defense Innovation Unit) and Tracey is also part of their Space Portfolio.

Prior to her position with NSIN and DIU, Tracey was a Capture Manager at RevaComm, a mission-driven digital transformation firm. She has held a variety of other positions within the DOD ecosystem and beyond. Program Director for DOD Platform One, Space CAMP and the FORGE, a member of the Platform One Customer Success Team, Cloud One POC and she led the build out of The FORGE – the Navy’s first combat weapons systems software factory. Prior to this role she was a college counselor at Grand Canyon University, on the marketing team at PBS (PBS Kids and Education Team), negotiated contracts for a PPO network and was an intern for a United States Senator.

Tracey is also a military spouse (USAF/USSF) and has been a Key Spouse and a Key Spouse Mentor. Most recently serving as a Key Spouse for the Commander of U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command.

**Where we understand issues come up, we unfortunately can not offer refunds for event attendance. You are welcome to send someone in your place for attendance. Thank you for your understanding.**