Draper Welcomes New Director of Strategic Outreach
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Draper today welcomed Andy Vanlandingham as director of Strategic Outreach. In this position, Andy joins Draper after serving in various roles in the United States government and the defense sector for 25 years.
Jennifer Santos, chief strategy officer and vice president of Strategic Initiatives at Draper, said, “Andy has a deep understanding of appropriations, acquisitions and government investment strategy from his experience on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. With his national security and legislative experience, he will be an excellent addition to Draper.”
Andy will lead key initiatives at Draper, including establishing and executing initiatives such as strategic communication guidance, engagement planning and outreach. “Andy’s mission is to lead strategic engagements across all levels of government and drive customer awareness of Draper as a nonprofit R&D institution dedicated to making an impact on the most challenging and important national security problems with original solutions,” Santos said.
Andy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Georgia.
Andy will support Draper from its campus in Reston, Va., which serves government, military, nonprofit and commercial customers and provides advanced R&D and rapid prototyping; development labs for solutions in cybersecurity, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning; and program support for military intelligence, warfighters, defense policymakers and force planners in the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.
With 60 employees, Draper’s Reston campus is among the fastest growing of the company’s nine campuses, according to Kevin Remillard, Reston campus site leader. Since 2021, Draper has built additional lab and office space and hired some of the company’s most senior executives to work at the Reston campus, including vice presidents for business winning and contracts, and its chief operating officer, chief of strategy and general counsel.
Draper celebrated its 50th anniversary as an independent nonprofit and 90 years as an innovation engineering organization on June 14, 2023.