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.

Lisa Wood is a seasoned aerospace executive with more than 35 years of experience leading and shaping civil space programs across NASA, industry, and academia. Renowned for her strategic vision and deep technical expertise, Lisa has consistently delivered results at the intersection of science, innovation, and public policy.
Throughout her career, Lisa has held senior leadership roles at NASA and industry, most recently serving as Senior Director of Strategic Operations at BAE Systems’ Space & Mission Systems sector. In this role, she led the growth of the company’s civil space portfolio and cultivated key partnerships with NASA and NOAA to advance high-impact space missions and technology development.

Prior to BAE Systems, Lisa held multiple leadership positions at Ball Aerospace, where she guided strategic implementation efforts and secured major roles on NASA science missions in astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics, and planetary exploration. Her ability to unite government, industry, and academic stakeholders has been a hallmark of her success, enabling her to build coalitions that drive innovation and shape national science priorities. In addition to her career in industry Lisa spent over thirty years at NASA with responsibilities that included international program implementation, space systems technology development and mission formulation.

Lisa is the founder of Sophon Consulting, a science and technology advisory firm focused on helping organizations navigate complex aerospace challenges and accelerate innovation through strategic leadership, science-policy integration, and mission-driven collaboration.

Ms. Wood has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, a M.A. in Science, Technology and Public Policy from the Space Policy Institute at the George Washington University and attended the International Space University in 1989. Passionate about advancing exploration and Earth sciences, Lisa brings a unique blend of technical insight, executive leadership, and policy acumen to every endeavor.

Stephan Reckie is the Executive Director of Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Space, a universal network of ecosystems for Astropreneurs. He is the co-founder of Angelus Funding, a trust-based global angel network actively investing in innovative and meaningful opportunities. Stephan is a member of the EBAN Space Executive Committee and the Global Business Angels Network. He is a co-founding partner at Edge of Space, a company enabling STEM access to space. As the CEO of Transform Poverty Global, he is focused on aligning entrepreneurs to address global poverty along with climate change. Stephan serves on the board of directors of numerous impactful companies, including Spring Health India, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and has personally made 39 investments since He is an adjunct professor at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Stephan holds Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University. He is a second-generation Armenian Russian and a true native New Yorker, fluent in 5 languages.

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.

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

Claudine is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Beyond Earth Initiative, having spent nearly 10 years as a programs and partnerships professional in the international development sector working across a wide breadth of initiatives, including emerging technologies for pandemic preparedness, workforce development, education, and agriculture. In addition to her work at Beyond Earth, she provides organizational management, communications, and creative content services to small businesses and non-profits. Claudine holds a M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a M.S. in Global Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications from Syracuse University.

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.

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.

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.