Whitney Tallarico

About Whitney Tallarico

Whitney has built public-privatepartnerships and led innovation programs for the Navy, universities, andprivate industry for the last decade. Five of those years were spent at the Office of Naval Research, where she invested in emerging technology while building the Navy\'s innovation arm, NavalX. In this role, Under the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisitions, she launched and led the Navy\'s international network of innovation hubs (Tech Bridges). After leaving the Navy in 2022, Whitney launched GRIT LLC to continue building emerging tech partnerships. GRIT specializes in deploying emerging technology solutions paired with organizational process innovations to fill capability gaps. The firm focuses primarily on the blue economy, energy resilience, and national security. GRIT works directly with startups, universities, and government agencies like NATO’s Defense Innovation Accelerator for NATO Allies (DIANA). Whitney also serves as the EmergingTechnology Readiness Fellow for the Silicon Valley Defense Group. There she engages with military, private capital providers, private companies and congressional stakeholders to uncover the barriers to emerging technology development and adoption for national security purposes and drafts policy recommendations to address them. Whitney has a master’s degree in International Development Studies from the George Washington University and spends most of her time in DC, Rhode Island, and Silicon Valley where she enjoys fishing, hiking, and cooking.

Experience

1. Research Fellow

   Silicon Valley Defense Group

   Nov 2024 — Present · Washington, DC, US

Education

• University of Rhode Island

  Bachelor or Arts

  2008 — 2011

• The George Washington University

  Master's degree

  2013 — 2015