Cohort

Alex Bertelli is CEO of HavenLock, an access control technology company. He is a Shark Tank Season 10 alum who worked at Asurion and Amazon and served in Tennessee's Economic Cabinet. A former US Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment aviator with nine deployments, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the George C. Marshall Leadership Award. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, where he is also an adjunct professor. He is pursuing a master's in Applied AI. His capstone project focuses on workforce development and the AI and quantum training pipeline in Tennessee.

Lindsey Chrismon is the cofounder and CEO of Oply, an AI-powered home maintenance platform serving homeowners nationwide. A 2014 West Point graduate and First Captain, she spent nine years as an Army aviator, flying Apaches before becoming the first woman in Army history to pilot the AH-6M Little Bird with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Her capstone project focuses on preserving residential housing stock condition and value.

Rachel Costello is a national security architect and ecosystem builder dedicated to accelerating dual-use innovation. As executive director of the FORGE at the University of California, San Diego—a mission-driven initiative launched in 2025—she bridges academia, industry, and government to strengthen the regional defense industrial base and prepare mission-ready talent. She brings her experience as a thirty-year Navy veteran and tech executive at Tesla Motors. Her capstone project focuses on defense innovation and commercialization improvements that  minimize bureaucratic friction.

Ted Delicath is the fortunate product of a mother who made the best of a bad situation, enabling him to help those with good intent drive impact. As of 2026, he's regularly helping Unite America and the start-up Parallax. He is a former active-duty military officer and currently serves in the US Army Reserve. He's most proud of the Andrew Weishar Foundation community that he and his friends started after their best friend (Andrew) passed away from colon cancer. He is pursuing an executive MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His capstone project focuses on civic reform through online platform development.

Sham Firdausi is a healthcare executive, entrepreneur, and US Army veteran. His experience includes finance leadership within a nearly $5 billion public health system, serving as a hospital CFO, and leading financial planning and analysis for a $12 billion health plan. He also founded an artificial intelligence healthcare start-up. His interests connect healthcare financing, technology, and public policy to improve access and strengthen safety-net systems. He holds executive master's degrees from Yale University and Brown University and an MBA from DePaul University. His capstone project focuses on these issues for   populations in need in Santa Clara County, California.

Giselle Sterling Futrell is executive director of the National Veterans Art Museum, the only US museum dedicated to art by artists who have served. A first-generation American, she deployed to Afghanistan as a Marine. She was the first woman and first Latina named Boston’s Commissioner of Veterans’ Services. She holds an MA in art education from the School of the Art Institute Chicago. Her capstone project and her current work seek to amplify the cultural contributions of veterans and remind all citizens that democracy asks something of each of us.

Caleb Presmy is a Marine Corps veteran and healthcare operations leader at Ascension, where he leads organizational readiness for an enterprise resource planning transformation across 118 care sites. A Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, he is pursuing an MBA and MS in business analytics at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. His capstone project focuses on building pathways for veterans into rural healthcare leadership.

Dakota Robinson is a senior associate at Squadra Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on national security and cyber. He graduated from the US Military Academy and served as a US Army military intelligence officer. He previously worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and was cofounder and CFO of NOMADX, a deep-tech start-up. His capstone project focuses on private capital investment for tribal communities.

Natasha Ryan is director of strategic operations at Xtreme Solutions, Inc., an Atlanta-based cybersecurity and national security firm. A retired US Army chief warrant officer 4 and Black Hawk pilot, she brings mission-focused leadership to every challenge she takes on. She is a Pat Tillman Scholar and cofounder of the Lunch Ladies, a nonprofit that pays off school lunch debt and advocates for school meal funding reform across Georgia. Her capstone project focuses on reducing food insecurity for children in Georgia public schools.

Craig Starcher builds systems and teams that help organizations serve their communities better. He served eight years as a Marine Corps finance officer, overseeing budgets up to $4 billion and leading financial software development. At Front Line Advisory Group, he improves government operations through clearer communication, better data, and staff training. Through Black Cadoodle, he helps nonprofits strengthen operations, develop leaders, and build fundraising capacity. He holds an MBA from East Texas A&M University and a master's in human resources management from Liberty University. His capstone project focuses on modernizing permitting for small and rural jurisdictions.