McClinton was raised in the Seattle area and is passionate about the crossroads of space and entrepreneurship . He has held a variety of business roles , from startup founder to working at Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft and Paccar . He transitioned to the business of space via luxury travel , including space , and the founding of Space Entrepreneurs . The desire to catalyze the growth of the commercial space industry led him to meet Mike and James and to founding Space Northwest .
Kelly Maloney is a board member for Space Northwest , with deep roots in the commercial aerospace system in the region . She most notably and publicly led the Aerospace Futures Alliance ( AFA ), a trade organization in Seattle .
Maloney also ran the Washington State Space Coalition and co-authored the Washington State Space Strategy . She has deep experience in marketing . She said , “ Space Northwest is the platform for us to move the region ’ s space industry forward .”
Space Northwest incorporated in July 2022 . Some of their big projects at launch include continuing to run programs they ’ ve been conducting for years — under the new Space Northwest banner — such as the NASA International Space Apps Challenge hackathon , Techstars Startup Weekend - Space , and entrepreneurially-focused monthly meetings through their Space Entrepreneurs group .
The organization has the four board members mentioned above , plus an advisor , Stan Shull .
Stan Shull , advisor
Stan ’ s history includes work with Boeing , Lockheed Martin , and market and business development consulting for space and software companies . He has a keen interest in space commercialization and actively promotes the space ecosystem in Washington State .
Their goals are lofty , as pioneers in creating a non-profit space trade organization like Space Northwest . But they have the depth of experience and the contacts to take flight .
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