Navigating your North Star
Downing Street Strategies supports the business development and capture needs of those defense technology start-ups and small businesses looking to partner with the Department of Defense and more broadly across the federal government.
Built upon decades of experience across the executive and legislative branches of government, Downing Street Strategies stands ready to amplify and accelerate your business' activities to enhance resonance, capture funding, and create opportunities to scale through the direct alignment of client capabilities and services to congressional funding, government policies, and regulatory updates.
About Downing Street Strategies
About the Founder, Jessica Carroll
Downing Street Strategies President and Founder, Jessica Carroll, followed the Nation's call to action and joined civil service in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. With nearly two decades in the executive branch, Jessica traversed the spectrum of operational and strategic missions across the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, while also expanding critical intelligence tradecraft across allies and partners abroad. From there, Jessica transitioned into the legislative branch where she conducted congressional oversight of special operations forces and intelligence activities across the breadth of the defense ecosystem. Upon departing the federal government, Jessica established and enhanced government affairs functions at a number of different venture capital-backed defense technology start-up companies and small business where she enabled a series of successful congressional appropriations and policy outcomes, expanded relationships into new federal agencies, and developed a deep bench of advocates in the executive and legislative branches of government.
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In addition to serving as Founder and President of Downing Street Strategies, Jessica also serves as the Vice Chair for the Software in Defense Coalition. In both capacities, she is building upon her most recent experience as guiding, developing, and leading the establishment of government affairs functions across multiple venture capital-backed startup companies. Positioned at the nexus of venture capital and technology, Jessica can identify trends and opportunities to shape policies, regulations, and funding mechanisms to accelerate the integration of technology into the national security ecosystem. As such, Jessica prioritizes her firm’s philanthropic contributions to mentorship and career development activities with such efforts as the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) internship program, in collaboration with the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation, and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group’s mentorship program.
Prior to joining the private sector, Jessica served as a professional staff member (PSM) on the House Armed Services Committee, the Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee. In this role, Jessica provided oversight of the policy, programs, and resources related to U.S. Special Operations Command, Special Operations Forces, irregular warfare, comprehensive health and performance of the formation, and information operations. Previous to her tenure on the HASC, Jessica served in the Joint Chiefs of Staff J2, developing the strategic intelligence narrative supporting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to proactively shape the security environment and posture the Joint Force for strategic competition. Additional prior experience includes more than a decade of intelligence community service, working with Silicon Valley equities, reestablishing the FVEY intelligence-sharing partnership with New Zealand at the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, and numerous positions supporting sensitive defense and intelligence community missions overseas and domestically.
Jessica previously held such roles as the Vice Chair on the board of directors for the NDIA, Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SOLIC) Division, and through the corporate partnership with the Global Special Operations Forces (GSOF) Foundation, Jessica also served as the Chair for GSOF’s Small Business Committee. She is an active term member on the Council on Foreign Relations in areas particular to national security, intelligence, and defense.
But perhaps most importantly, as a mother, Jessica spends most of her time juggling the social calendars of her three children, but when not shuttling tiny demanding humans between events, Jessica enjoys ultra-marathoning, surfing, and general adventuring.
Downing Street Strategies was established upon a foundation of service, commitment, and wisdom, enabling insight to action for any company endeavoring to partner and conduct business across the national security enterprise.
Represented by the Statue of Freedom, Downing Street Strategies acts as a sentinel for your company at the edges of the Potomac: diligently scanning the horizon for opportunities while standing watch for any disturbances that could affect success. Like the Minerva herself, the Statue of Freedom sits atop the Capitol Building as a beacon of hope, representing possibility and protection, a trusted guide along an uncertain path.
Services
Strategy Development
Achieving your North Star depends upon proactive and intentional alignment of corporate functions and objectives with government goals, priorities, and funding cycles. Downing Street specializes in providing tailored approach strategies to ensure your company achieves a competitive edge in the federal market through meticulous sequencing of internal milestones to match – and preempt – external evolutions of the federal government.
Brand Positioning
Whether located in the National Capital Region or further afield, the opportunities to participate in government-related activities can seem overwhelming. Employing exhaustive research and close partnerships, Downing Street Strategies can identify opportunities internal and adjacent to the federal government to position your company for visibility, access, and opportunity.
Consulting
The dynamic nature of the federal government ensures a singular constant: change. Whether personnel or politics, a once accessible agency can appear unfamiliar. With a deep familiarity of federal networks and thorough understanding of federal agency roles and responsibilities, Downing Street Strategies will guide your company to your North Star through meticulous illustration and wayfinding for relevant personalities and opportunities while helping your company navigate the undulations of the policy and regulatory environments.
Government Relations
Whether a new entrant in the defense technology ecosystem or an established business looking to expand market access, Downing Street Strategies can support the full spectrum of corporate needs when engaging across the federal government. Particularly for smaller or geographically dispersed companies, Downing Street Strategies stands ready to be your company’s emissary at the forefront of the national security enterprise.
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