2024 Veterans Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program

Christina Calloway is an attorney advisor for Trademarks Customer Outreach with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She began her career at the USPTO as a trademark examining attorney, where she served on a team dedicated to reviewing sound and motion trademark applications. Ms. Calloway has collaborated with numerous local and national organizations, educational institutions, and businesses to educate small business owners and creators about intellectual property. Throughout her career, Ms. Calloway has sought to merge her personal passion for the arts and professional pursuits in public service and has been awarded recognition for her service and leadership professionally and personally. A proud “Army brat,” Ms. Calloway obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law. She also received both her Master in Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgia Southern University.

In September 2022, Ed Carballo II joined the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as an Innovation Outreach Specialist – National Programs, working in the Office of the Chief Communications Officer. Carballo transferred to the USPTO from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where he was the Chief of the Financial Services Division for the Eastern and Mid-Atlantic Regions, leading a team responsible for several lending programs targeting the commercial fishing industry, fishing vessels, shore-side processing facilities, and aquaculture projects across 19 states.

Prior to his role at NOAA, Carballo was the Deputy District Director with the U.S. Small Business Administration in Georgia, where his leadership consistently placed Georgia in the “Top Five” nationally in SBA lending programs. Carballo has experience as an entrepreneur and has worked in the finance, service and utilities, technology, and healthcare sectors; he is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs connect with the resources they need in order to be fully successful. Carballo is a U.S. Army veteran, having served multiple tours overseas, and he is a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans and The American Legion.

Jason Lott is the Attorney Advisor for Trademarks Customer Outreach at the USPTO, where he specializes in helping small business owners understand trademarks and the federal trademark registration process through live presentations, creative videos, and other multimedia platforms. He has been with the USPTO since 2000, previously serving as an examining attorney, and is a recipient of multiple career service awards.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Schaefer is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces officer (Green Beret), diplomat, and senior international defense expert with over 28 years working with senior foreign defense and military officials. He is an author, a consultant to several U.S. Government agencies, and a frequent commentator for major media and seminars. He served in a variety of special units and participated in virtually every U.S. overseas operation since 1990.  Lieutenant Colonel Schaefer was a Special Forces Engineering and Demolitions Sergeant before earning his commission in 1993, when he was awarded the Abrams Award as the top non-scholarship ROTC cadet in the United States. Lieutenant Colonel Schaefer served in multiple diplomatic postings, most recently as the Military Attaché to Estonia, where he was instrumental in creating both the Estonian Special Forces and the Estonian Cyber Defense Command. 

Lieutenant Colonel Schaefer earned his Masters Degree from Harvard University’s Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia Program. He is a certified leadership instructor, member of the Editorial Board for the Caucasus Survey (a peer-reviewed professional journal) and has published numerous articles. His last military posting was Chief of Central and South Asia Branch, International Military Affairs for Army Central Command, where he worked closely with senior foreign government and military leaders and managed a team of military and civilian specialists to develop, coordinate and implement bi-lateral security cooperation plans, build partner capacity, and improve the overall regional security environment.

Misty Stutsman Fox is the Director of the Entrepreneurship and Small Business portfolio at the Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families. In this role, she is charged with building the Center of Excellence for Veteran Entrepreneurship as well as the Coalition for Veteran Owned Business. In addition, she oversees a broad portfolio of nearly a dozen programs and projects that advances and promotes veteran entrepreneurship nationwide through research, resources, supply chain opportunities and tools as well as training and program development.

Previously, Stutsman Fox served as the Manager of Programs and Outreach at the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, at Oklahoma State University. During her time there, she oversaw the expansion and relaunch of the new award-winning student incubator program, served on the planning board and positioned Riata as a founding member of 36 Degrees North, an 11,000-square foot entrepreneurial space in the heart of downtown Tulsa. She was also the consortium lead for the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program based out of Oklahoma State University, recruiting three universities to the consortium during her tenure at the Riata Center. Stutsman Fox graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and International Business and a Master of Business Administration, both from Oklahoma State University. Additionally, she is an alum of the second cohort of President George W. Bush’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program.

Kathi Vidal serves as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – America’s Innovation Agency. Kathi Vidal serves as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As chief executive, she leads one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world – a $4.2B operation with over 13,500 employees located across the 50 states and Puerto Rico – underpinning more than $8 trillion in IP-intensive economic activity annually in the United States. As a Senate-confirmed appointee, she is the principal IP advisor to the President and Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce.

Director Vidal has advanced an ambitious global agenda to bolster U.S. innovation and economic security by strengthening IP ecosystems. She successfully defends IP vigorously both nationally and through international initiatives and treaties, advocating for data-driven, balanced approaches to national and global challenges. Through her leadership, the USPTO has successfully impacted policies, regulations and legislation in other countries and multilaterally to support U.S. companies and innovation and to reduce barriers for global IP protection. She works with Congress and in the courts, including the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, to advance clear laws that incentivize and protect U.S. innovation.

Director Vidal holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Binghamton University, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Syracuse University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania where she was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.