Melinda K. Woods

Melinda K. Woods is a dynamic national security technology and policy strategist with extensive expertise in technology security, government acquisition, and defense industrial base analysis. Drawing on over a decade of experience in the Department of Defense (DoD) as a senior Industrial Policy staff member, Melinda provides invaluable guidance on cybersecurity compliance, supply chain analysis, government grants and contracts, technology development and integration, and program support.  

 

Melinda is a recognized expert on Foreign Investments in the U.S., having served as the first DoD lead for the mandatory Declarations process under the Foreign Investment and Risk Reduction Act (FIRRMA). In her role as the Office of Secretary of Defense Industrial Policy principal advisor on strategy and integration, she reviewed and reported on critical defense technologies, developed pathways for small and medium companies in the industrial base, and supported the creation of integrated strategies within the DoD.  

 

Previously, Melinda was the Director of the DPA Title III Office, where she standardized $300 million in operations and oversaw the Presidential authority to mitigate domestic industrial base shortfalls. She also served as a technical advisor on export licenses for electronics and information technology at the Defense Technology Security Administration and held various roles at the Defense Intelligence Agency, including managing a team during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  

 

Before her tenure at the DoD, Melinda worked in the commercial semiconductor and telecommunications sectors. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively, and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.