Michele Edmondson

Michele Edmondson is a retired U.S. Air Force Major General and enterprise executive with more than 30 years of experience leading large, complex, global mission-critical organizations impacting the Air Force and Department of Defense in cyber, space, national security, and education arenas. She most recently served as the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighter Communications and Cyber Systems, serving as the Air Force’s senior leader responsible for policy, oversight, resourcing, and strategy to deliver critical freedom of action in cyberspace, advancing Joint warfighting missions to ensure the Service maintains technological superiority and operational resilience across all domains of conflict. 

A proven leader in complex, high-stakes, and public-facing environments, Michele has led organizations ranging from real-time space-based operational threat warning to national-level SIGINT programs to future USAF warfighter network and AI architecture development. She has managed budgets exceeding 17 billion dollars and led organizations of more than 30,000 people, making decisions requiring operational agility, accountability, and strategic risk mitigation. She is widely recognized for her ability to build high-functioning teams, create frameworks to drive transformational goals, and achieve organizational alignment.

At the strategic national level, Michele served at the White House as the Director for Space Policy on the National Security Council, where she became a principal architect of the modern U.S. space enterprise. In this critical role, she was directly responsible for the historic creation of the U.S. Space Force—the first new military service in over 70 years. Her leadership also drove the establishment of U.S. Space Command, shaped new national priorities for NASA, and guided international engagements to establish norms of behavior in space, ensuring the strategic alignment of all U.S. authorities across the domain.