Lt Col Alex “STOIKY” Goldberg

Lt Col Goldberg is the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) lead for Strategic, Defense, and Commercial Engagement for the Texas Regional hub. He comes to DIU from the Texas National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, where he served as the Chief Innovation Officer and Managing Director of TMDx. Alex lead the Texas Military Department Joint Innovation unit (TMDx) and a portfolio of over 30 companies, which received more than $150M in innovation contracts. As an Air Force aviator in the F-16 and MQ1/9, Alex has more than 2,000 combat hours in IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, NEW DAWN, and NOMAD SHADOW. He is a former Defense Advanced Project Agency (DARPA) and National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) fellow, Stanford Ignite Graduate School of Business alumni, and a previous winner of the Chief National Guard Bureau Innovation Competition, Geospatial Intelligence Award, and USAF Innovator of the Year. Currently, Alex is responsible for implementing the innovation strategy of the Office of the Secretary of Defense throughout the southwest region of the U.S, as well as acting as the primary liaison between the DoD and venture capital, private equity, and startup communities. His passion is in solving the toughest problems that face our nation, empowering others to have an impact, and in changing the culture of the Department of Defense to move at the speed of relevance!