Rita Martinez Solon

Rita has served in three Presidential Administrations, twice as a Presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she worked on tech transfer issues at the National Labs. She has also served as a Cabinet-level speechwriter; a White House staffer; and a Congressional aide. Rita has served on the board of the Junior League of Seattle, the Internet Business Alliance, and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Technology Alliance Council (serving with founder Bill Gates, Senior). She was a Visiting Scholar for the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HITL) at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she was involved in numerous high tech spin-off and start-ups, some of which joined the Seattle-based Washington Research Foundation, one of the foremost technology transfer organizations in the nation. Rita graduated from Hollins College, the oldest women’s college in Virginia; and completed graduate work in International Transactions at George Mason University. She is a Certified Emerging Company Analyst (CECA).