Secure access to critical minerals and rare earth elements are foundational to achieving broad national security objectives and the manufacturing of Department of Defense weapons systems. There are many unique challenges and opportunities for the companies to be aware of as the DoD works to implement White House direction on defense related issues.  These issues include industrial base policy, supply chain security, requirements definition, and Service-specific programmatic acquisition. 

This course will explore the national, departmental, and industrial base considerations for companies trying to navigate the critical mineral and rare earth element ecosystem with specific emphasis on practical non-plussed discussions from real practitioners that know how to balance policy with a profit and loss statement.  This course will be led by an esteemed set of instructors with considerable experience in this field.  Our instructors will help participants understand the importance of critical minerals and rare earth elements as they relate to national security. 

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies invites early to mid-career professionals with an interest in understanding the importance of the challenges and opportunities as they relate to critical minerals and rare earth elements.  This course is perfect for industry, government, and academic professionals alike with a shared goal of understanding the intersection of policy, science and technology. 

Ms. Halimah Najieb-Locke currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience at the U.S. Department of Defense. In this role, Ms. Najieb-Locke is responsible for assessing the health of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and recommending key policies, investments and actions designed to strengthen the capacity and resilience of the DIB. She is also responsible for advising on actions to safeguard the DIB from potential adverse actions domestically, as well as foreign interventions. Ms. Najieb-Locke oversees the Office of Research and Analytics, the Office of Global Investment Review, and the Office of Industrial Base Support. Ms. Najieb-Locke was most recently in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense as the Senior Advisor of Industrial Base and Innovation for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense where she advised on complex and high priority special assignments and strategies in areas such as federal procurement acceleration, joint experimentation, and critical technology areas. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, she served as the Senior Procurement Counsel for the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis in the U.S. House of Representatives where she conducted investigations and issued findings as they related to the health specific response to the coronavirus crisis, with a focus on procurement activities from companies that are government contractors and federal agencies. Previously, Ms. Najieb-Locke was Counsel for the House Armed Services Committee where she handled all acquisition related policy issues and legislative development, including Title XIII, acquisition workforce, industrial base policy, foreign military sales (FMS)/export controls and technology transfer. Ahead of this, she served as senior professional staff for the House Small Business Committee handling contracting, entrepreneurial development, veteran’s issues and the SBIR/STTR programs. Ms. Najieb-Locke is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and the George Washington University Law School, where she specialized in public procurement law and how procurement systems operate, both in the United States and abroad. Sarah Mineiro is a Principal at Potomac Advocates, a premier defense, intelligence, space, science and technology research and consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Sarah has worked within the national security and defense sector for over 15 years. Over her career Sarah has worked in private industry, the Executive, and Legislative branches of government. Previously, Sarah was the Senior Director of Space Strategy for Anduril Industries, a hypergrowth VC-backed defense unicorn specializing in AI/ML enabled defense technologies. Sarah was responsible for developing the company’s space strategy, aligning internal company resources to product development, and business development. Sarah was the Staff Lead for the Strategic Forces Subcommittee for the House Armed Service Committee (HASC). She led the Subcommittee’s legislative and oversight activities of all Department of Defense and Military Intelligence Program space programs, U.S. nuclear weapons, missile defense, directed energy, and hypersonic systems. Sarah was the senior legislative advisor to Ranking Member Mac Thornberry on all strategic forces issues. In this role she was the primary drafter and negotiator of the Space Force and Space Command legislation for the House Republicans. Prior to joining the HASC, Sarah served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSDP) in Nuclear and Missile Defense, Koreas, Brazil, and Space Policy offices. At OSDP she was responsible for the development and implementation of several international strategies, negotiation of international agreements, as well as planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of Defense of Defense programs. She previously served in the Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs (SAF/IA) as an international affairs specialist. At SAF/IA she was responsible for the development and implementation of the Air Force’s international engagement strategy for space.Sarah started her career as an intelligence analyst for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Dayton, Ohio. She was the lead employment analyst on foreign counterspace systems including space situational awareness sensors, directed energy, and kinetic kill vehicle systems. Sarah holds a Master’s in Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Alexis Lasselle Ross is the President of Apex Defense Strategies, LLC, a strategic advisory firm that guides companies as they navigate the defense market. Ross founded Apex following a two-decade career as an executive in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, Ross performed strategic planning at General Dynamics, advising corporate leadership on managing critical issues and navigating government business. Prior to entering the private sector, Ross served in a variety of senior positions in both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. She served as the deputy chief of staff to Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, advising the secretary and ensuring execution of Department of Defense policy, programs, organizational restructuring, and external communications. During her tenure, she performed the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, leading the department’s healthcare and human resources systems during the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Ross served as the deputy assistant secretary of the army for strategy and acquisition reform, where she designed and implemented improvements to the Army acquisition system, including new policies on intellectual property and advanced manufacturing. Prior to her appointments to the Department of Defense, Ross served on the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives as a professional staff member specializing in government acquisition policy and acquisition reform. Ross also worked at the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission as a deputy director responsible for designing alternatives to the DOD healthcare system. Prior to her work on the Commission, Ross served for seven years as a civil servant advising senior Army leadership in the Pentagon. Ross began her career at the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives where she served in several capacities, including as a professional staff member on the Readiness Subcommittee. Ross is active in both the public policy and business communities by contributing her expertise on the Department of Defense’s acquisition system, the U.S. defense industrial base, and the planning and execution of large-scale change within complex organizations. She is a subject matter expert supporting the Army Science Board, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a senior fellow at the National Defense Industrial Association, a member of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS), and a principal at Pallas Advisors. Ross received a doctorate in public policy from George Mason University. She is a graduate of the Naval War College with a Master of Science degree in national security and strategic studies. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Bucknell University.

Mr. Alan R. Shaffer served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S) from January 2019 to January 20, 2021. Senate confirmed in January 2019, he was responsible to the Under Secretary of Defense (A&S) for all matters pertaining to acquisition; contract administration; logistics and materiel readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Shaffer served as the Director, NATO Collaboration Support Office in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. In this role, he was responsible for coordinating and synchronizing the Science and Technology (S&T) collaboration between NATO member and partner Nations, comprising a network of about 5,000 scientists. Previous to his role at NATO, Mr. Shaffer served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD(R&E)) from 2007-2015. In this position, Mr. Shaffer was responsible for formulating, planning and reviewing the DoD Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) programs, plans, strategy, priorities, and execution of the DoD RDT&E budget that totals roughly $25 billion per year. He also served twice as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering from 2007-2009 and 2012-2015. In 2009, he was appointed as the first Director, Operational Energy, Plans and Programs (Acting). Mr. Shaffer has also served as the Executive Director for several senior DoD Task Forces, including review of all research, acquisition and test activities during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure. In 2007, he was the Executive Director for the DoD Energy Security Task Force and, and from 2007-2012, he served as the Executive Director of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protection (MRAP) Task Force, where he was responsible for oversight, fielding and employment of 27,000 MRAPs across the Department of Defense. Before entering the federal government, Mr. Shaffer served 24 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force and retired in the grade of Colonel. While serving, he held positions in command, weather, intelligence and acquisition oversight with assignments in Utah, California, Ohio, Honduras, Germany, Virginia and Nebraska. His military career included deployments to Honduras in the mid-1980s and direct support of the United States Army, 3rd Armored Division in Hanau, Germany. During Operation DESERT STORM, he was responsible for deployment of the 500-person theater weather force and upon retirement from the Air Force in 2000, Mr. Shaffer was appointed to the Senior Executive Service. In 2001, he assumed the position as Director, Plans and Programs, Defense Research and Engineering. Mr. Shaffer earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Vermont in 1976, a second Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from the University of Utah, a Master of Science in Meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was awarded the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award in 2004, the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award in 2007 and 2015.