Anna Brady-Estevez

Anna earned her PhD in chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University, where she was President of the student government representing the 13 graduate and professional schools. Anna earned a BS in chemical engineering and a BA in Spanish from The Johns Hopkins University. At Hopkins she was a captain, MVP, and university record holder for the varsity cross country and track teams. Anna enjoys using her knowledge of several languages for both community service and travel.

At the National Science Foundation, Anna directs the Small Business and Innovative Research (SBIR) national portfolio and investments in Chemical, Environmental, and Distributed Ledger (Blockchain, DAGs) innovations. The NSF's investments are at the earliest stages and are comprised of non-dilutive grants, and also include mentoring and networking; the program deploys ~$200M annually. 

​

Previously, Anna was Director of Corporate Strategy at Cummins Inc., a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute, and service diesel and natural gas engines and related technologies. Prior to Cummins she was a Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and a venture partner at the international investment firm 4-Innovation. 4-Innovation's purpose is to seek innovative technology in countries with high industrial scientific output: Israel, Singapore, and the USA. 

​

Anna was Director of Strategy at AES Corporation, one of the world's largest power companies, which owns and operates a portfolio of generation and distribution businesses, from coal to gas to renewables. Before AES, Anna was a Principal at Signal Lake, a venture capital firm focusing on technically innovative solutions to customer challenges in software, telecom, data storage, advanced materials, and energy. 

​

Before her investing career, Anna was a National Science Foundation Fellow at Yale University. Her work focused on nanotechnology and advanced materials for cleantech applications. Through this research and peer-reviewed publications, Anna developed a carbon nanotube (CNT)-based hybrid filter for a low-cost, low-energy, filtration system which achieves high viral and bacterial pathogen removal from water. This CNT-hybrid filter may also serve as enabling technology for other separations processes spanning foods, fuels, chemicals and biomedicals.

Anna served her fellowship at The AES Corporation under the mentorship of Gardner Walkup. She is a member of Fellows Class 14.