OUR VISION
To build Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs to solve critical national security, civic, and social challenges.
From national security to natural disasters, from energy to the environment, the critical challenges we face today have common elements:
They cut across government, private, and non-profit sectors
Are constantly evolving in a fast moving world
Require a problem-based approach to ensure solutions are relevant, grounded, and implementable in the real-world.
No one can insulate themselves from the effects of these challenges — they impact all of us.
HISTORY
The Common Mission Project Australia is part of the global Common Mission Project network. The Common Mission Project formed following the successful pilot of the Hacking for Defense® course at Stanford University in 2016.
Since its inception, the Common Mission Project has demonstrated that students can tackle some of the toughest government problems and, in doing so, create vibrant and diverse ecosystems where government, academia and industry build partnerships around problems, prototypes, and solutions to urgent challenges facing our nation.
In the Common Mission Project, we realise the role that our methodology has a place in addressing the most challenging issues facing us.
LEADERSHIP
Jamie Watson
Executive Director, Common Mission Project AU
Jamie Watson is the Founding Director of the Common Mission Project Australia. Prior to joining the Common Mission Project, Jamie spent more than 30 years working with Defence. As an operator and a researcher, Jamie has gained unique insights into the application of novel solutions to complex problems. Having held strategic Defence science liaison roles within Australia and the United States he has extensive experience in translating problem statements into research and development activities. Jamie is an experienced innovation instructor, coach, and mentor. He is driven by an insatiable appetite to deliver meaningful outcomes to beneficiaries. He holds tertiary qualifications in Maritime Engineering, Technology, and Urban Planning.
COMMON MISSION PROJECT BOARD
Melissa Cabban
Director, Common Mission Project AU
Melissa is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience working with business and property owners as well as high-wealth individuals. Previously a Partner at Deloitte, she co-founded GENFOCUS in 2017, a business advisory firm, to support her local Canberra business community. Melissa has a breadth of experience in structuring options to support businesses and their goals, from buying property, building future wealth and implementing asset protection strategies to dealing with large or small companies both here and overseas. Melissa is also Chair of Assistance Beyond Crisis a sustainable micro finance facility which provides support to those in need who have left domestic violence situations.
Michael Smith, AM
Director, Common Mission Project AU
Mike’s experience, knowledge and awareness have evolved from over 40 years of naval service and working in the private sector with transformative senior roles in strategic workforce planning, project management, acquisition, financial management, risk management, governance and logistics. He has worked in collaboration with local and international partners leading the transformation of strategic workforce planning to be recognised as best practice by innovatively developing skilled teams, identifying and implementing leading edge modelling and simulation programs, and educating decision-makers by amplifying their challenges, constraints, options and risks while sharing scalable tools and enhancing data confidence. In doing so, Mike helped the Australian Defence Force and Navy frame how they thought about and addressed complex, multi-disciplined, strategic workforce challenges and potential effects on future capabilities.
Mike was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday honour’s list and awarded the Legion of Merit (Officer) from the US Secretary of Defense in 2018.
BOARD OF ADVISERS
Dr Shane Arnott
Dr. Shane Arnott is a Chief Engineer at Anduril Industries, a venture-backed defense technology company bringing cutting-edge artificial intelligence, sensor fusion, edge computing and more to the United States military and its allies. At Anduril, Dr. Arnott directs major engineering programs centered around autonomy, simulation, high performance user interfaces, and new product development.
Prior to joining Anduril, Dr. Arnott spent 23 years at The Boeing Company across Australia, United States and United Kingdom, most recently as Program Director of the Airpower Teaming System (“loyal wingman”) program and as a Senior Technical Fellow. As Program Director, he brought the loyal wingman from sketch to flight within 3 years to open up a multi-billion dollar market. In recognition of his work on this program, Dr. Arnott was awarded an Innovator of the Year and his team an Aviation Week Laureate for outstanding innovation in aerospace.
Dr. Arnott has worked as an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology since 2012 in the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Departments, is a GoFly Master Mentor and Lecturer on Model Based Engineering, a Techstars industry mentor, and a contributing author to the NATO Allied Capability Transformation Program.
Dr. Arnott received his Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering from La Trobe University and his PhD in Systems Engineering from the University of Queensland.
Richard Lennon, AM, CSC
Richard recently retired from full-time service as a senior leader within the Royal Australian Air Force after 39 years of service.
An accomplished pilot, Richard commanded the Air Mobility Group where he championed technical and cultural change as part of Air Force’s innovation program, Project Jericho.
In his last position, Richard produced the ideas and concepts needed by the Australian Defence Force to prepare for and adapt its operations in a world of accelerated change, technology and uncertainty. Richard has a passion for exploring future capability matched by an equal passion to link exceptional talent to defence and national security problems.
COMMON MISSION PROJECT
INTERNATIONAL
Pete Newell
Chairman of the Board, Common Mission Project US
Col. Pete Newell (Ret.) is the CEO of BMNT, an innovation consultancy and early-stage technology incubator that helps solve some of the hardest problems facing the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. Prior to joining BMNT, Pete served as the Director of the US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force (REF). Reporting directly to the senior leadership of the Army, he was charged with rapidly finding, integrating, and employing solutions to emerging problems faced by Soldiers on the battlefield. Pete’s experiences with the REF are the subject of case studies used in the classrooms at both the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School. As CEO of BMNT, Inc. he brings together innovators working at the intersection of business, government, academia and society. He is also a co-founder of the Common Mission Project.
Alex Gallo
Executive Director, Common Mission Project US
Alex Gallo is the Executive Director of the Common Mission Project. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University and has taught H4D at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Previously, Alex served as a Professional Staff Member with the House Armed Services Committee, as Deputy Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and as a professor in the Department of Social Science at West Point. He is a former Army officer with operational deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Dr. Alison Hawks
Executive Director, Common Mission Project UK
Alison Hawks is the Executive Director of the Common Mission Project UK. She was previously the Director of Research at the Section 809 Panel, a US congressionally mandated commission tasked with streamlining and codifying defense acquisition. She has been an Assistant Professor at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and is a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Security Studies, King’s College London. Previously, she was a lecturer at the Defence Studies Department, King’s College London, and has lectured in American politics at Brunel University, as well as numerous undergraduate courses in the Department of War Studies. Her doctorate thesis was in military sociology. She has published her research and given numerous presentations on her work in the UK, US and Sweden. She received her PhD from the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and her MA in Strategic Studies from the University of Leeds. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.
PARTNERS
