{"id":5803,"date":"2013-12-28T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-28T17:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markdjacobsen.com\/?post_type=portfolio&p=5803"},"modified":"2020-12-28T17:18:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T17:18:04","slug":"defense-entrepreneurs-forum","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/markdjacobsen.com\/portfolio\/defense-entrepreneurs-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense Entrepreneurs Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In 2013 Navy LT Ben Kohlmann wrote an article titled Why The Military Needs More Disruptive Thinkers<\/a> that launched a vibrant online exchange about innovation and talent management within DoD. I contributed my own article<\/a> to the discussion, which led to a phone call with Ben. He was standing up a new organization called the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum<\/a> (DEF) to grow a network of military innovators and connect with private sector innovators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I joined DEF’s founding board as the Director of Strategic Communications and helped plan the organization’s first national conference in Boston, MA. The event was a tremendous success, launching a grassroots innovation movement within DoD that Lt. Gen. David Barno, USA (Ret.) and Dr. Nora Bensahel later called a virtuous insurgency<\/a>. DEF helped spark a culture change within the DoD, which now recognizes the urgent need for innovation, better talent management, and more mutual learning with the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEF members have gone on to fill critical roles within organizations like the Navy CNO’s Rapid Innovation Cell, the Defense Innovation Unit: Experimental (DIUx, now DIU), AFWERX, and the Navy Athena Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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