Steven Wolfe is Beyond Earth Institute President and Co-Founder. He is also Deputy Executive Director for Global Spaceport Alliance and partner at CWSP International. He serves as the Space and Board of Editors for the Journal of Space Philosophy. Steve served in Washington as the executive director of the Congressional Space Caucus and drafted the Space Settlement Act of 1988. The bill was signed into law as part of the NASA Authorization bill. Steve is the author of The Obligation: A Journey to Discover Human Purpose on Earth and in the Cosmos.

Sean W. Hadley, Esq. is Beyond Earth Institute co-founder and Chief Operating Officer. He is an Attorney, Lecturer and Legislative Policy Advisor with over two decades of experience helping organizations reach their public policy goals.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Hadley’s background includes frequent work on Capitol Hill, where he is regularly called upon by Members of Congress to review legislation and provide timely policy input. He also serves as Associate Faculty at Rutgers University, where he teaches law, public policy and international affairs. Mr. Hadley holds a Masters of Science Degree in Public Policy from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, where he was a fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

Courtney Stadd is Founder/President, Capitol Alliance Solutions, LLC, a Washington, DC based management consulting firm whose clients include a wide range of pioneering commercial space actors. For nearly 40 years, Stadd’s career path has been a mix of senior government leadership and corporate executive jobs – primarily focused on encouraging the removal of policy and regulatory barriers to the emergence of a competitive American-led commercial space marketplace.

Courtney has held multiple senior positions at the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Transportation, the White House, and worked directly for three NASA Administrators, including as Chief of Staff/White House Liaison. As Senior Director of the White House National Space Council, he helped draft numerous Presidential directives encouraging a competitive commercial space industry, including commercial space guidelines which have governed executive agency use of commercial space products and services for over 30 years.

Jan Hanson has over 25 years’ business experience. As a Partner in a premier consulting firm and in Director, VP, and COO and CFO corporate executive roles, Jan has established financial and business operations for startups like Cranium and The Body Shop, designed complex software logic for Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike and the US Army, and improved supply chain and production processes and performance visibility for Microsoft’s Xbox and Wal-mart among many other strategic initiatives.

Jan has lived and worked in the US, UK, Germany, Canada and Ghana, with additional experience in
Mexico, China, Viet Nam, Australia, South Africa and Malaysia. With a diverse business and cultural
background, she recognizes which business success guidelines are universal and those that are unique to each business’s environment, team dynamic and leadership style.

In short, Jan Hanson is an all-around learner and do-er who raced sled dogs, caught an alligator, canoed solo 32 miles through a swamp and can navigate business and project complexity. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research and has received advanced training in Financial Analysis, Change Management and Developing Organizational
Resilience.

Matthew Harris is the Director of Strategy and Governance for Beyond Earth Institute. He is also Space Focus Area Lead for Avantus Federal, LLC – a mission-focused space services and solutions company. His current work focuses on the policy, technical, and financial aspects of inner solar system communications, navigation, and data transmission infrastructure.

Lauren is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Beyond Earth Institute. In addition to her work with BE, she is an associate at Hive Group. Lauren received her JD from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is an LLM Candidate in Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi.

Steve is a Senior Space Systems Engineer, Architect, Space Habitat and Reusable Launch Systems subject matter expert.  He is currently has applied his 40+ years of space and launch systems experience to leverage and expand human commercial and exploration activities in space. 

Formerly the Director of Business Development and Washington Operations for Gravitics, Inc. Gravitics, he helped define use cases for both micro-gravity and artificial gravity space habitat modules forming the building blocks for creating a sustainable human presence in space.

Before joining Gravitics, he supported the Office of the National Reconnaissance Office’s Chief Architect as an employee of Science Applications International Corporation.

As the first Chief Architect for Airbus U.S. he helped exploit Airbus One-Web Satellite technologies and products to help the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Blackjack program seeking to leverage growing commercial satellite development and high rate production to emplace advanced National Security space mission capabilities.

Steve has also acted as Director of Business Strategy and Market Engineering for Cislunar Space Development Company helping to establish in-space transport and propellant depot system infrastructure to allow Cis-Lunar commercial operations and future solar system space exploration.

As a Senior Technical Project Lead Engineer with the Boeing Company Advanced Space group he supported multiple research and aerospace programs. Examples included Boeing’s 787 FAA certification testing, the Army’s Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance & Surveillance System, the Ground-based Missile Defense system, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Air Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) and XS-1 launch programs. 

Steve was also a Boeing Phantom Works designated Subject Matter Expert for reusable, advanced launch vehicles and other space transport systems. In this position he advised on space propulsion and transport activities, was on the Phantom Works business process for rapid prototyping guide revision team and was a technical member for a Boeing advanced space business development team conducting market analysis and developing strategic business concepts for emerging space product lines and customers.

From 1997 until 2003 Steve was the National Missile Defense and Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Program SE&I System Design Lead, Special Projects & Program Support Engineer, and the Battle Manager, Command (Fire) Control & Communications IPT lead for Boeing’s Washington operations. He was later recalled in the summer of 2016 to the GMD program as a Lead Verification Engineer to help assure the deployment of the Enhanced GMD capability.

During the mid-1990s Steve was recruited to be the President & CEO of Vela Technology Development, Inc., a space tourism and space systems technology development company. His concepts, strategies, and activities in this company were instrumental in stimulating today’s space adventure tourism ventures including Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures and in influencing the formative policies and regulations of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

Earlier in his career, Steve was one of a small core group that helped craft the program strategy, garnered the support to activate and then advocated with congressional representatives to maintain the Pentagon’s single-stage-to-orbit launcher program.  These activities were central to his selection as the Chief Technical Advisor to the Strategic Defense Initiative program Office (SDIO) program office where he helped structure their strategic plans and strategies leading to the world’s first reusable rocket, the Delta Clipper-eXperimental (DC-X). The DC-X design and operational legacy is seen in both SpaceX and Blue Origin launchers.

In his career, Steve also acted as the first Chief Technical Advisor and later as Executive Director of STA (Space Transportation Association). He was also selected as a High Frontier Inc. Senior Technical Advisor in support of advancement of reusable launch and development of missile defense capabilities.

As an active member of the Citizen’s Advisory Council on National Space Policy he helped produced space policy papers and recommendations submitted directly to then President Ronald Reagan.  This group was instrumental in activating programs like the Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense program and the Single Stage to Orbit program which lead to the DC-X.

As a U.S. Air Force Officer at the Space Division Office of Advanced Plans he was the program manager for several classified advanced space concept developments, worked with operational commands to create advanced space system requirements, was the designated Air Force NASA advanced systems interface and was the Deputy Director for Surveillance Systems Applications.  Among his efforts were the first studies and analysis of showing the viability of using GPS for launch and satellite navigation and timing, the military utility of man in space and the development of the military operational requirements for reusable launch vehicles.

Arnie Christianson is Sr. Director of Program Management for Inmarsat Government, where he manages multiple government-oriented satellite communications projects. Prior to his time at Inmarsat, Arnie was VP of Aero Service Delivery for SES, managing SES’s commercial aeronautical satellite mobility data portfolio.

Before joining SES, Arnie was Sr. Manager of Technical Systems for CNN, where he executed satellite and terrestrial transmission plans for major news stories including the Second Gulf War, the 9/11 attacks, The Afghan War, The Israel/Hezbollah conflict, and the Syrian Civil War, in the process winning numerous industry awards for technology innovation, including a Technology and Engineering Emmy for his work on remote mobile IP satellite video delivery as well as two IBC awards and a Peabody award.

During his 25-year career in the satellite industry, Arnie has constantly pushed the envelope for what satellites and space communications can do, and participated in the technologies and developments that transformed satellite from a large, unwieldy way to move video over high bandwidths to the nimble, fast, multi-orbit IP transport system it has become. Arnie is a member of the Board of Directors for Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) as well as Manager of Communications and Programs for the Beyond Earth Foundation.

Bram Wolfe recently graduated from Brooklyn College with a BS in Computer and Information Science. At Brooklyn College, Bram worked under Dr. Huey Chen as a research assistant, creating a program to cross-reference multiple censorship detection databases for more accurate results. Bram worked for three years as a docent at the New York Hall of Science and an intern for SpaceCom, helping with database management and website development.

Tyler Bender is a Policy Analyst for the Beyond Earth Institute, and a federal contractor supporting the policy division of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. His current work with Beyond Earth is focused on the potential long-term impact of NASA’s Artemis program. He is a Marine Corps veteran and has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, with concentrations in political economy and international security.

Tyler is also a former independent candidate for the U.S. Congress. During his brief, but inspired, 2018 campaign to represent Indiana’s 3rd district, he advocated for an end to partisan gridlock and stronger U.S. leadership in expanding humanity’s presence in outer space. Prior to transitioning to a career in the space domain, Tyler worked for a decade in broadband telecommunications.

In his “day job,” Cody Knipfer works as the Director of Government Engagement for GXO, Inc, where he supports clients in the commercial aerospace sector. Prior to joining the GXO team, Cody worked for several years with Virgin Orbit, a small satellite launch company, in their Government Affairs office. In this role, he was an advocate for the company’s national security-related legislative and programmatic priorities with the United States Congress.

Cody has also spent time on Capitol Hill, has worked in space and defense policy and communications roles for two leading aerospace trade associations and has past experience in policy advising and consulting roles. 

He holds a Master’s Degree in International Science and Technology Policy, with a specialization in space policy, from the George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Affairs from McDaniel College.

Elena Graham is a Research Associate at the Beyond Earth Institute as well as a current JD/LLM candidate at the Duke University School of Law. Beyond mitigating risk as a Conflicts Research Assistant at Covington and Burling LLP, Elena has worked as a Emerging Technologies Researcher at the Institute for the Study of War and Congressional Policy Intern for the House Committe on Science, Space, and Technology. Focusing on the intersection of technology and law, Elena graduated from the George Washington University with a BA in International Affairs, specializing in Security Policy. She is currently focusing her LLM in International and Comparative Law on Space Law and International Transactions.

Born and raised in Colorado to a family of lawyers, Jonathan has been immersed in discussions surrounding business, policy, and law for his entire life. Similarly, a family flush with hot air balloon pilots inspired his love of all things flight. Growing up in this environment provided him with an affinity for business and law related topics, while nurturing his true passion, the final frontier. Coupling his love of all things space-related with his heavily law, policy, and business centered upbringing, Jonathan has earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, as well as a MS in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota.  Jonathan plans to utilize all that he has learned, and will continue to learn, in order to help advance the space industry in any way he can. Regardless of career, space is Jonathan’s calling.

Ian Ching is a Masters Candidate in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University. He joined Beyond Earth in November 2021. Ian has published articles and backgrounders in support of BE’s annual symposiums. He is excited to further the mission of this organization.