Our Team
Erin Neal, Partner
Erin Neal is a space geek, a policy wonk, and a Washington insider. She helps Velocity’s aerospace/defense and space tech clients influence key decision makers and conduct successful business development with the federal government.
Erin leverages two significant advantages as she deftly navigates the Washington policy landscape on behalf of publicly traded and privately held companies, nonprofits, trade associations, and coalitions. First is her unique background in both science and policy. Erin can translate technical language into policy speak, and vice versa. She crafts effective messaging and delivers it to the right person at the right time for maximum impact.
Her second advantage is her reputation as a trusted advisor. Erin has cultivated strong bipartisan relationships for two decades with senior officials in the national security, space, and intelligence communities throughout the Executive Branch, Congress, and industry. Highlights include:
Single-handily developed a space policy practice from scratch for SIGNAL Group, a respected Washington advocacy and communications firm. She advanced the lawmaking, regulatory, and business development interests of the aerospace/defense industry’s most established players (Boeing, Raytheon) as well as entrepreneurial entrants (Ligado, Planet Labs, Virgin Galactic).
Directed government relations for Orbital ATK (now Northrup Grumman Innovation Systems). Erin led successful industry efforts to pass watershed legislation that modernized export controls on commercial U.S. satellites.
Served as Ball Aerospace corporate liaison to NASA and NOAA. She directed all legislative initiatives for civilian and commercial satellite programs. Erin also coordinated industry efforts to run a final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy.
Served on the staff of Sen. Bill Nelson and two members of the US House of Representatives. Erin directed Sen. Nelson’s legislative strategy for all issues before the Budget Committee and the Commerce Subcommittees on Aviation and Science, Space, and Technology.
Served as policy analyst for the biggest players in the aerospace field, including the Congressional Research Service, National Academy of Sciences, NASA headquarters, and Space Policy Institute.
Conducted original space research at the University of Texas at Dallas, Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and at the Lunar and Planetary Institute adjacent to Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Erin holds an M.A. in International Science, Technology and Public Policy from The George Washington University and a B.S. in physics from Centenary College of Louisiana.
Giving back is part of her ethos. Erin is the Washington Space Business Roundtable president and serves on the Board of Directors for the Planetary Sciences Institute, Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance, and National Institute for Lobbying Ethics. She served on the American Astronautical Society board and was past president of both the National Space Club and Women in Aerospace, which recognized her for her dedication to the organization’s interests.
Erin taught math and science as a Peace Corp volunteer in Cameroon, Central Africa. She leads a Girl Scout troop focused on STEM, community service, and the great outdoors. She also serves on the STEM steering committee for Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. When not engaged in concerns beyond the atmosphere, Erin enjoys her West Virginia hideaway with her husband and two children.
Jo-Anne Sears, Partner
Jo-Anne Sears is a master communicator at the highest levels of policymaking in Washington. She wields her subject matter expertise and access to decision makers on behalf of Velocity’s aerospace/defense, intelligence, and space tech clients to influence laws and regulations and conduct successful business development with federal agencies.
Jo-Anne’s impeccable timing means that clients get their voices heard at crucial policymaking stages, using the communications tools that will make the strongest impact—from private face-to-face meetings to domestic and foreign media outlets, digital and social media technologies, media training, talking points, speeches, and harnessing the 24-hour news cycle to augment messaging goals.
Jo-Anne’s strategic instincts developed over 20+ years as a trusted communications and public affairs advisor in the national security community. She crafted effective policy messaging and crisis communications for the White House, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Air Force, real-world intelligence and military operations, and entrepreneurial defense and space tech companies, among others. Highlights include:
Served as senior strategic communications advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Principal Space Advisor. Jo-Anne ensured that strategic engagements, policy, and messaging supported the Air Force mission through interactions with Congress, the White House, National Space Council, Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, NOAA, intelligence agencies, think tanks, and the media.
Learned the culture and language of Congress and the value of a bipartisan approach by advocating for defense and intelligence agency and private industry positions before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Senate and House Select Committees on Intelligence, and the House and Senate appropriations defense subcommittees (funding).
Earned a meritorious service award in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks for her support of the White House and Secretary of State Colin Powell as State Department press secretary and spokesperson with expertise in counter terrorism, diplomatic security, and Central Asia.
Served as intelligence subject matter expert for Project Liberty, the fixed-wing ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) platform directed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Drafted and edited the security agreement to ensure the MC-12 could fly in contested air space.
Jo-Anne holds an MA in Organizational Change Management, with Distinction, from Hawaii Pacific University and a BA in Communications and English, Cum Laude, from Marist College.
Her upbringing in a military family instilled in Jo-Anne the importance of public service. She is a member of the Intelligence and National Security, Women in Aerospace, and a colonel in the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels Inc., the highest title of honor bestowed by the Governor of Kentucky in recognition of an individual's outstanding service to community, state, and nation.
Jo-Anne leads a STEM-focused Girl Scout troop. She is a member of the Junior League of Hampton Roads and a board member of the McLean Ladies Development Association, which mentors women leaders. Jo-Anne seeks to preserve the great outdoors for future generations through her membership in the Isaak Walton League of America.
Robyn Arnould, Senior Associate
Robyn joined the Velocity team in April 2021. As a Senior Associate, she leverages her training and experience in policy development, non-profit organization, and political campaigns to support Velocity’s clients. Her prior experience as an intern in the U.S. Senate provides her insight into the legislative process and federal government culture, while also igniting in her a passion for supporting programs that improve the daily lives of Americans. Her previous work in the Senate has cultivated in Robyn an eye for effective messaging and legislative research.
While working on her undergraduate degree, she also volunteered on several local political campaigns which further developed her desire to contribute to the political process. After graduation, Robyn honed her communication and organizational skills while completing an Ambassadorship at the United Way. She is passionate about leveraging technology to solve today’s challenges and translating issues encountered in the space and defense arenas for broad application.
Robyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an H.A.B in Philosophy, Politics and the Public and a B.A. in History.
Nicholas Julian, Senior Associate
Nick joined Velocity full-time in January 2023, In his role as a Senior Associate, he has tailored, submitted, and tracked numerous Congressional requests to the House and Senate on behalf of VGR clients for inclusion in the NDAA and Appropriations (Defense, CJS) bills during the FY24 legislative cycle.
Nick graduated from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs with an M.A. in Security Policy Studies, focusing on the nexus between emerging technologies and great power competition. Before GWU, he earned his B.A. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where he gained valuable knowledge of Chinese politics, the Mandarin language, and U.S.-China security relations. While at Syracuse, he studied abroad at Tsinghua University in Beijing, gaining additional Mandarin proficiency.
Before VGR, Nick interned at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) in Arlington, Virginia, where he provided in-house notes and research for communications outreach programs.