Ben Marchionna

Chief Innovation Ecosystem Officer

CURRENT FOCUS

Ben Marchionna is a forward-thinking tech, strategy, and operations leader with a proven history of building collaborative, entrepreneurial-minded teams to tackle the world’s toughest innovation challenges. As Michigan’s first-ever Chief Innovation Ecosystem Officer, Ben oversees and directs the holistic development, growth, and sustainability of the rapidly growing Michigan innovation economy.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Prior to his current role, Ben led technology and business development at Electra.aero, an aerospace and defense hard-tech startup near Washington, D.C., where he played a pivotal role in advancing a world’s first hybrid-electric aircraft for dual-use advanced air mobility applications. Before Electra, Ben built the global operations team at SkySpecs, a clean energy startup headquartered in Ann Arbor, where he led the product development and scaling of autonomous robotics and AI-based software solutions into 26 countries.

Ben’s career began at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the renowned national security innovation factory in the Mojave Desert. During his tenure, he contributed to numerous groundbreaking aircraft development programs and graduated from Lockheed Martin’s prestigious Engineering Leadership Development Program.

EDUCATION/PERSONAL

Ben holds a B.S.E. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.S. in Product Development Engineering from the University of Southern California. He is the Chair of the University of Michigan’s Aerospace Industry Advisory Board, a Board Trustee and Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a founding nonprofit Board member of the Los Angeles County Air Show.