I am honored to speak to all of you today as the Deputy Director of NGA, knowing that we have so many friends, partners, and innovators – leaders – who make up this community. 

GEOINT professionals, like all of you, are incredibly unique and integral to the entire ecosystem that we work across. The effort, dedication and will to support each other is what makes this part of the IC so satisfying to work in, and lead. And we cannot do it, or sustain it, without a strategy to inject fresh talent and skill. As you may have heard from the CIA’s Jennifer Ewbank earlier today, the choice is simple: innovate or be left behind.

It’s fitting that we are here today on April 24, which happens to be the anniversary of a famous scientific achievement. On April 24, 1990, a new era in space exploration was born when the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit. It marked a new era of space exploration, and opened the door to new ideas about capturing imagery.

So today, 32 years later to the day, I am excited to talk with all of you about how much we at NGA are deeply involved in several key aspects of STEM education and its advancement – for all of our future GEOINT leaders who will come from so many different diverse backgrounds.

NGA is at the intersection of all things STEM. Our research scientists, technology innovators, engineering experts, and math whizzes all collaborate to provide the world’s best GEOINT to our partners, decision-makers, and warfighters – those who need the information to be sound, reliable, and available when they need it.

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Read more of the deputy's remarks in the attached document.