# Rosemarie Truman

> Rosemarie Truman is the Bethesda-based founder and CEO of the Center for Advancing Innovation, a nonprofit she founded in 2012 to help turn research inventions into companies. Her career spans Goldman Sachs, Oracle and corporate innovation strategy at IBM; her public work also includes startup mentorship, advisory roles, writing and the Dragons, Gazelles, & Unicorns podcast.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at The Center for Advancing Innovation Inc.
- **Organizations:** The Center for Advancing Innovation Inc., Ignite Social Impact, IBM, Goldman Sachs, Oracle, PRTM, RHT Consulting, Marsh & McLennan, Booz Allen Hamilton, Ernst & Young, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Founder Institute, Relatus
- **Education:** Undergraduate studies in mathematics, economics, and industrial engineering and operations research; graduated with high honors, Smith College, Software engineering studies, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Founded CAI in 2012 and developed its challenge-based approach to startup formation., Led IBM’s global innovation strategy practice., Partnered with NASA on Space Race, linking entrepreneurs to NASA technologies and business training.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Began in investment banking at Goldman Sachs; subsequently worked at Oracle and in consulting.
- **Before 2008** — Led innovation strategy at IBM and held strategy leadership roles at other firms.
- **2008** — Established RHT Consulting.
- **2012** — Founded the Center for Advancing Innovation.
- **2016** — Worked with NASA on the Space Race startup challenge; appointed director of innovation impact at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
- **2019** — Promoted SCALE, a supply-chain and logistics startup challenge supported by the Walton Family Foundation.
- **2021** — Named chair of the advisory board of Relatus.
- **2023** — Hosted the Spicy Innovation restaurant networking series in Washington, DC.
- **2026** — Continued hosting Dragons, Gazelles, & Unicorns; listed as speaker for an October 28 consulting-careers workshop.

## Achievements

- Founded CAI in 2012 and developed its challenge-based approach to startup formation.
- Led IBM’s global innovation strategy practice.
- Partnered with NASA on Space Race, linking entrepreneurs to NASA technologies and business training.
- PNNL’s September 2016 appointment announcement credited her CAI initiatives with more than 33 startups and 21 partnership or collaboration agreements.
- In August 2026, CAI reported more than 480 startups, over $3.3 billion raised by its startups, and more than 4,000 entrepreneurs trained; these are organization-reported cumulative figures.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Scheduled to speak on consulting careers at an October 28 virtual Science Based Non-Academic Careers workshop.
- **2026-08** — The August 21 Dragons, Gazelles, & Unicorns episode featured Grant Anderson discussing resilient companies, operations and leadership.
- **2026-08** — CAI reported cumulative results exceeding 480 startups, $3.3 billion in startup fundraising and 4,000 entrepreneurs trained.
- **2026-07** — Published a LinkedIn article titled Engineering Peace - Launched on July 22.

## Links

- Website: https://www.centerforadvancinginnovation.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosemarietruman/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rosemarietruman

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/rosemarie-truman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26