Practitioners in systems design for energy innovation — decades building what works, both inside government and out.

We help leaders build funding programs, roadmaps, and implementation strategies that deliver measurable impacts across clean energy and deep tech.

About

Waypoint Strategy Group offers a full-spectrum perspective on the technology innovation lifecycle from conception and early stage R&D to demonstrations and pilots to workforce and deployment barriers. The team has built new offices and initiatives at the U.S. Department of Energy, developed and run dozens of major programs leading to over 500 investment decisions, optimized complex bureaucratic processes, authored and led interdisciplinary roadmaps and strategies, and delivered measurable results over decades of work. Their combined network across government, industry, and policy consulting provides technical depth, policy savvy, and execution know-how.

Waypoint is built on the belief that long-term practitioners are well-suited to bring innovative processes and thinking to organizations working on multi-decadal issues, such as the modernization of the energy system and advancement of deep tech. The Waypoint team has spent decades learning and refining their skills in the U.S. government working as intrapreneurs across the DOE and other agencies to deliver enduring results. Years of continuous work across multiple administrations led to the development of a multitude of new funding tools, technology roadmaps, implementation strategies, and organizational management and governance approaches that continue to be used today. The Waypoint team wants to bring this deep experience and expertise to your organization and its toughest challenges.

Areas of Expertise

We combine deep technology knowledge with hands-on program design and execution experience. We help our clients build the right system of tools, not a single intervention.

Areas of expertise combination graphic

Generation

  • Solar — Photovoltaics and Thermal
  • Wind — Onshore and Offshore
  • Water — Hydroelectric and Marine
  • Geothermal
  • Nuclear — Fission and Fusion

Grid

  • Energy Storage — Electrochemical, Thermal, Mechanical
  • Distribution Grid
  • Virtual Power Plants
  • Microgrids
  • Energy Systems Integration

Industry

  • Iron and Steel; Green Metals
  • Cement and Concrete
  • Low‑Carbon Fuels
  • Process Heat and Electrification
  • Blue Economy (Maritime, Aquaculture, mCDR, Ocean Observations)

Energy Commercialization

  • Commercial readiness evaluations
  • Competitive landscape mapping
  • Technology‑to‑market strategies
  • Demonstration planning
  • Project finance and risk management

Strategy & Program Design

  • Goal setting and success metrics
  • Opportunity and risk assessment
  • Lifecycle planning from ideation to deployment
  • Milestone‑driven intervention design
  • Design and execution of suites of programming

Public Sector Transformation

  • Programmatic change management
  • Office and program launch strategies
  • Innovation policy development
  • Government operations modernization
  • Funding mechanism optimization

Founding Partners

Andrew Dawson

Andrew Dawson

Systems Strategist & Commercial Demonstrations Expert

Jennifer Garson

Jenn Garson

Innovation Program Designer & Policy Expert

Victor Kane

Victor Kane

Emerging Technology Commercialization Specialist

Garrett Nilsen

Garrett Nilsen

Scale-Up and Manufacturing Specialist

Our Work

We tackle challenges through a systems-based lens, aligning technical, financial, and policy levers in parallel to accelerate solutions. By combining rapid execution with rigorous measurement, we ensure every intervention delivers timely impact and creates a foundation for long-term success.

We offer a range of services to address critical client needs, provide actionable information and insights, and enable informed decision making.

Innovation and Investment Strategies

We offer strategic planning services that de-risk technology pathways and accelerate market entry. From commercialization strategies for startups to portfolio investment planning for billion-dollar programs, we help clients think creatively and pragmatically about advancing technologies.

Landscape Assessments and Technology Validation

We perform rigorous evaluations of technology readiness, commercialization potential, and competitive landscapes. Our approach combines systems-engineering depth with market understanding to guide funding and development decisions.

Funding Program Design and Execution

We create high-impact programs that align resources with innovation goals, covering the full lifecycle from ideation to deployment. Our team has designed billion-dollar federal initiatives, accelerator programs, and strategic partnerships to drive technology commercialization.

Prize, Challenge, and Incentive Program Design and Execution

We specialize in structuring incentive programs that unlock private capital, drive collaboration, and catalyze markets. From the DOE’s American-Made Challenges to rural energy initiatives, we build incentive-based funding models that deliver strong returns.

Policy Development and Implementation

We craft actionable innovation policy that delivers results, not just theory. Experience includes standing up new government offices, developing risk frameworks, and shaping national strategies for energy and technology sectors.

Change Management and Government Operations Transformation

We advise on how to navigate and change complex public-sector systems, helping organizations move beyond bureaucratic barriers to achieve practical results.

Submission Development, Refinement, and Red Teaming

We provide expert support for grant applications, proposals, and prize submissions, including drafting, refinement, mock reviews, and interview preparation. We help applicants strengthen weaknesses and stand out.

Portfolio Management, Metrics, and Impact Evaluation

We build systems to monitor, measure, and communicate program success, including metric development, real-time tracking, and post-program impact evaluations.

See an example of our approach applied to generalized program design: Explore Full Stack

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Andrew Dawson

As Strategy Director at DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), Andrew shaped a $25 billion portfolio that moves first-of-a-kind projects from concept to bankability. He led program design for Industrial Demonstrations, Long-Duration Energy Storage, Distributed Energy Systems, Point Source Carbon Capture, Direct Air Capture, Clean Energy on Mine Lands, Energy Improvements for Rural and Remote Communities, and Small Modular Reactors. Andrew also co-authored the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff reports and OCED 2030, aligning technical, policy, and finance milestones across agencies and investors. Over 9 years at DOE, he has established a proven track record in building large, integrated demonstrations that de-risk technology, address commercialization barriers, and crowd-in private capital.

Jennifer Garson

Jenn spent 15 years at the US Department of Energy in various executive roles. As Director of the Water Power Technologies Office, she directed the $200 million Water Power Technologies Office and launched programs that now anchor the blue-economy innovation landscape. She created the Powering the Blue Economy initiative which focused on power applications spanning ocean markets like aquaculture and microgrid power, and supported the design of an $800 incentive program to modernize the hydropower industry. She helped shape the creation of OCED and managed the launch of the $1B Energy Improvements in Rural and Remote Areas provision to address energy security and affordability in communities with less than 10,000 people. She led on the design of new funding mechanisms, created a new DOE-affiliated Foundation for Energy Security & Innovation (FESI), launched more than a dozen rapid prizes, supported new voucher programs for startups, and created new cooperative-agreement pathways that steered public and private dollars to hundreds of start-ups. Her hallmark is translating policy authority into user-friendly programs that grow durable innovation networks.

Victor Kane

Victor engineered DOE's most prolific commercialization program engines, channeling >$1 billion annually into the clean-energy ecosystem. He scaled DOE's American-Made Challenge prize programs from one solar pilot to 100+ department-wide competitions backed by a 500-member national network; introduced Partnership Intermediary Agreements, now 60+ active funding programs delivering multimillion-dollar projects at startup speed; and created the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) prize-to-grant model anchoring regional incubators. Victor reinvigorated Energy I-Corps, expanded the Technology Commercialization Fund, and launched the MAKE IT (Manufacture of Advanced Key Energy Infrastructure Technologies) Prize to on-shore critical-component production. He and his team were instrumental in launching FESI, DOE's new public-private foundation that channels philanthropic and private capital into commercialization and workforce programs.

Garrett Nilsen

As Deputy (and Acting) Director of DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), Garrett managed a $300+ million-per-year portfolio spanning photovoltaics, solar-thermal, grid integration, supply-chain resilience, and non-hardware solar costs (e.g. workforce development, siting, community acceptance, equitable access to solar). Under his leadership the office launched first of their kind programs to address technology commercialization, solar energy and load forecasting (solar and net load forecasting prizes), renewable energy siting (Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning, Large Animal Solar System and Operations Prize), renewable energy grid interconnection (Interconnection Innovation Exchange), new uses of solar (Solar Desalination Prize) and more. Garrett spent over 13 years working in SETO aiding the industry's rise from a minor contributor to the US electricity sector to the nation's fastest growing energy source. His expertise lies in designing pipelines that swiftly translate research into commercially bankable solutions across energy technologies.