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Leadership

Our leadership team is laser-focused on helping customers like you gain insights from drone-acquired data to better inform business decisions.

Our leadership team brings decades of experience in aviation, drones, software development and data analytics to solve your biggest challenges in this space. We are light on our feet and stay ready to pivot as the tides change within the industry. Get to know our leadership team below.

Meet Our Leadership Team

Michael Dalley

Chief Executive Officer
Bio

Michael Dalley | Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining Aerial Vantage, Michael was the Chief Revenue Officer at Denim Social, a social media management software provider. Mr. Dalley spent 25 years in various senior sales leadership roles resulting in four successful exits. Mr. Dalley graduated from the University of Maryland and is a veteran of the United States Air Force.

Tom Davis

Chief Operating Officer
Bio

Tom Davis | Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Davis comes to Aerial Vantage following five years as the Vice President of Science and Research Programs at Crown Consulting Inc. Mr. Davis successfully transformed Crown into a world leader in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concepts, implementation and market studies including support for state DOTs implementation of groundbreaking UAS and AAM concepts. In North Carolina, Mr. Davis was a key contributor for the state DOT’s initiation of several UAS ‘firsts in flight’ including flights crossing busy surface traffic, commercial routine package delivery operations of over 10,000 medical tests to date, statewide UAS Traffic Management concepts and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) statewide bridge inspections.

Meet Our Board of Directors

Chris Brinton

Chairman of the Board
Bio

Chris Brinton | Chairman of the Board

More than two decades of R&D experience in logistics. Founded Mosaic Data Science in 2014 and Mosaic ATM in 2004. Leads numerous analytics projects focused on improving the efficiency and safety of the National Airspace system. MS Electrical Engineering, Stanford | BSE Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton

Tom Davis

Chief Operating Officer
Bio

Tom Davis | Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Davis comes to Aerial Vantage following five years as the Vice President of Science and Research Programs at Crown Consulting Inc. Mr. Davis successfully transformed Crown into a world leader in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) concepts, implementation and market studies including support for state DOTs implementation of groundbreaking UAS and AAM concepts. In North Carolina, Mr. Davis was a key contributor for the state DOT’s initiation of several UAS ‘firsts in flight’ including flights crossing busy surface traffic, commercial routine package delivery operations of over 10,000 medical tests to date, statewide UAS Traffic Management concepts and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) statewide bridge inspections.

Prior to Crown, Mr. Davis spent over 36 years at the NASA Ames Research Center in California, directing research in airspace automation including integration of autonomous unmanned systems into the National Airspace System. At NASA, he played a key role in significant joint NASA-FAA air traffic management research initiatives, contributing to developing advanced automation systems that are now operating daily in the U.S. airspace. Mr. Davis retired as the Chief of the Aviation Systems Division at Ames in 2016.

Mr. Davis has a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. He has been awarded NASA’s Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal, Exceptional Service Medal and Outstanding Leadership Medal in addition to NASA’s Software of the Year award.

Chairman Buck McKeon

Board Member
Bio

Chairman Buck McKeon | Board Member

During his 22 years in Congress, Chairman “Buck” McKeon served on multiple committees and served as Chairman of both the House Education and Workforce committee, as well as House Armed Services Committees. Chairman McKeon formed the McKeon Group in 2015 after retiring from Congress. His in-depth experience and ceaseless work ethic give our clients the kind of opportunities and audiences that only he can deliver.
 
 During his time as Chairman, he built on the bi-partisan tradition of the committee and successfully led the Congress to pass the National Defense Authorization Act each year as Chairman, with the bill advancing from committee in 2015 with a unanimous 63-0 vote. Chairman McKeon retired from Congress in 2015. Demonstrating the respect his fellow members of Congress had for him, the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act was renamed the “Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015” in his honor. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon attended Brigham Young University where he earned his bachelor’s degree. He is married to Patricia McKeon, and they have six children, thirty-one grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Ben Baldanza

Board Member
Bio

Ben Baldanza | Board Member

Basil Ben Baldanza is an economist and was the chief executive officer and president of Spirit Airlines from 2005 to 2016, a period in which he led the transformation of the company into an ultra-low-cost carrier.

Heidi Heitkamp headshot

Heidi Heitkamp

Board Member
Bio

Heidi Heitkamp | Board Member

Senator Heidi Heitkamp was the first woman elected to the US Senate from North Dakota. She served for six years in the Senate. She served on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. She also served as the 28th North Dakota attorney general and as the 20th North Dakota tax commissioner. Senator Heitkamp is a contributor to CNBC and ABC. She also serves on numerous nonprofit boards

zachary smith

Zachary Smith

Board Member
Bio

Zachary Smith | Board Member

Mr. Smith joined Crescent Capital Group (CCG) in 2018 as a Managing Director on the Investors Relations team. He is responsible for developing and managing strategic relationships with institutional investors, specifically financial institutions for Crescent. Prior to joining Crescent, Zachary was a Managing Director at Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) within their Insurance Asset Management Practice. Mr. Smith spent 18 years at WFAM in a variety of roles including business development, relationship management, and portfolio management. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the Eccles School of Business (University of Utah).

Meet Our Board of Advisors

Jamie Clover Adams

Advisor
Bio

Jamie Clover Adams | Advisor

With a remarkable career in state, federal, food and agricultural leadership spanning over 25 years, Jamie Clover Adams is a force to be reckoned with. She is no stranger to serving our nation’s farmers and ranchers, having recently held the title of Farm Production and Conservation Chief of Staff under former USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. Furthermore, she shattered the glass ceiling as the first female Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, a position she held for nearly six years. From the Michigan Senate to the Department of Agriculture as Secretary of Kansas, Adams’ portfolio is nothing short of impressive.

Jeff Denham

Advisor
Bio

Jeff Denham | Advisor

Aerial Vantage’s second charter member, the Honorable Jeff Denham, boasts a distinguished profile as a United States Air Force veteran, U.S. Congressional Representative, and an active owner and operator of an almond farm. Denham’s political journey saw him serve as the U.S. Representative for California’s 10th congressional district from 2013 to 2019, having first won the election to the U.S. House in 2010. Not only was he Chair of the Agriculture Committee in the California State Senate, but he also served his nation with honor in the United States Air Force for 16 years, taking part in crucial operations in Iraq and Somalia.

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