Chris O'Donnell is Chief Government Affairs Officer at Lila Sciences. He brings operational rigor and ecosystem-building expertise forged across a career spanning military service, defense manufacturing, and venture investment.
Prior to LILA, Chris served as a Director and Head of Operations at Franklin Venture Partners, an alternative investment arm of Franklin Templeton, where he spent seven years as an investment partner focused on dual-use industrial technology investments. Earlier, he held product and business development roles at Leupold & Stevens and The O'Gara Group, and founded Northstar Defense, a startup advisory firm.
Chris is a co-founder and board member of the Silicon Valley Defense Group, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring allied democracies retain a durable techno-security advantage. He is a former U.S. Navy SEAL with 13 years of service, including multiple deployments and a posting as a Requirements Officer in the Pentagon supporting Navy and SOCOM programs.
He holds an MS from the University of Colorado Boulder and a BA from San Diego State University.
