About Us

Justin Davis

Brittany Edwards

Rebecca Ewing

Justin Davis

Head of Finance

Justin ensures that JDI stewards its financial resources responsibly.

He excels at analyzing and interpreting data, and his insight helps guide company strategy. He oversees our spending to maximize benefits to our team and clients.

Justin values precision, accuracy, and clarity; he speaks spreadsheet as a second language. He believes no process is sacred, or perfect. He’s uniquely gifted at finding the signal in the noise.

Prior to JDI, Justin was in Loss Mitigation at OneWest Bank. He built the bank’s first quality control department, implemented new auditing policies, and helped senior executives navigate an ever-changing landscape of regulation and compliance issues.

On a team full of trivia-lovers, Justin is unbeatable at movie and TV trivia, and also puts the rest of us to shame when it comes to mental math. He spends his spare time reading up on the San Antonio Spurs and wishing he was an avid golfer.

Find out more about Justin on LinkedIn.

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DSACT
Litmus

Brittany Edwards

Senior Director

Brittany is a career brand marketer, bringing 20 years of experience serving clients across B2B technology markets to the JDI team. A seasoned strategic communicator and storyteller at heart, she has a knack for translating complex technology into compelling narratives. She loves bringing emerging technologies to market and has a proven track record of driving visibility and credibility for companies delivering innovative solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.

Prior to joining JDI, Brittany has worked both in-house at a high-growth SaaS startup and agency-side at a notable, global PR agency, as well as led her own business as a communications consultant. Throughout her career, she has worked across industries including AI, machine learning, AR/VR, enterprise software and high tech computing, and launched dozens of companies and industry-first products while supporting enterprise technology clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to early-stage startups. She specializes in developing the high-impact communications programs and integrated marketing strategies clients need to tell a unique story across channels.

Brittany is an avid supporter of the National Park System (Denali and Kenai Fjords are on her bucket list) and goes hiking with her family any free moment she has. She is the mother of two boys, a college basketball fanatic (Go Heels!) and delights in the rare, quiet moment to dive into a good book.

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Autograph
Cultivarium
Reflective

Rebecca Ewing

Vice President

As a Vice President at JDI, Rebecca is focused on creative services: from copywriting to graphic design and code, from photography to experiential design. She has spent almost two decades as both a verbal and a visual communicator, helping companies large and small craft a narrative that speaks volumes. She's a marketer by trade, but an artist at heart. Rebecca believes that the best designs in any medium are data-driven and customer-obsessed. After years as a communicator, she built a unique creative department at JDI that looks at client challenges from the same side of the table as marketing itself.

The majority of her experience lies in branding and public relations across human health, behavioral science, and consumer technology.

Find out more about Rebecca on LinkedIn.

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Featured clients

Siri
The Allen Institute
EMROD
Ramona Optics
ITER
Project Innerspace
Color Factory
Juniper Genomics
Natural Fiber Welding
Real Ice
Syzygy Plasmonics

Risa Fielder

Doug Freeman

Michelle Gamboa

Risa Fielder

Senior Director

As a child, Risa would constantly pester her mother to stop the car so she could ask people what they were doing and, more importantly, why they were doing it. She continues to draw from this deep well of genuine curiosity, especially when navigating life’s most consequential decisions.

Risa currently serves as Chief of Staff to Josh Jones-Dilworth, CEO of JDI — a boutique marketing and communications firm with a mission to promote science companies. She amplifies his work as a thought partner, project manager, and implementer on strategic projects. Risa is also a member of the global Chief of Staff Association and loves embarking on new opportunities with this group of highly talented individuals.

Helping people is a driving force in her life, and she strives to have an impact on whatever she does. Risa currently serves on the Advisory Board of Hearts2Heal, mentors people making the leap from the service industry to corporate work, and volunteers as often as possible at her children’s elementary school.

Risa’s proudest accomplishments come from her family which she lovingly calls the Fantastic Fielders.

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First Dollar
Kernel
Senseye
WorldQuant University
Fathom

Doug Freeman

Senior Director

Doug is fascinated by the stories we tell about science, and how these stories inform our social and cultural narratives.

As a founding member of JDI, Doug helped originate and develop the firm’s expertise in AI & ML, New Space, Energy Transition, New Materials, and Infrastructure & Computing. He works across clients to discern emergent trends, develop new initiatives, and help companies anticipate and stay ahead in rapidly evolving industries. Most of all, Doug’s keen curiosity drives him to uncover the unique stories that most need telling.

At JDI, Doug also spends time on firm-wide innovation, implementing innovative tools and techniques, new products and processes, and novel revenue streams.

Doug earned his Master’s degree studying digital rhetoric at the University of Texas, where he taught in the Digital Writing and Research Lab. He is also a music, film, and technology writer for the Austin Chronicle, profiling some of Texas’ most interesting artists and personalities. He is co-editor of the Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by University of Texas Press, and contributes to numerous other publications.

He also serves as an advisor to the Arch Mission Foundation, a not-for-profit backing up the collective knowledge of planet Earth, and to NanoSafe, which helps organizations manage nanotechnology environmental health and safety (EHS) risks.

Doug laughs too loud, argues too much, and asks far too many questions.

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Featured clients

Brane Audio
Pixion Batteries
Phasecraft Quantum
SRI International
Terra CO2
Allen Institute
Vulcan

Michelle Gamboa

Director

Michelle’s core mission is to help people thrive. She puts this mission to work on the JDI operations team, helping lead recruitment, training, and development.

As a former educator, Michelle understands the importance of making learning and development collaborative and purposeful. She loves drawing out the expertise of those around her to design impactful learning experiences. Her knack for streamlining systems and curating resources ensures growth is easy and accessible for the whole team.

Michelle oversees JDI’s full recruitment process, prioritizing efficiency and a positive candidate experience. Dedicated to fostering inclusivity, she also actively contributes to JDI’s DEI initiatives, helping shape strategies that drive a more positive and welcoming environment.

Through all her work, Michelle is guided by a commitment to continuous improvement and a people-first approach.

Beyond JDI, Michelle spends her time watching cooking competition shows, reading sci-fi and fantasy, and trying to keep all her houseplants alive.

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Shanna Gerlach

Josh Jones-Dilworth

Liz Jones-Dilworth

Shanna Gerlach

Director

Instead of going to preschool like most kids, Shanna spent her formative years at her family’s kitchen table splattered with paint and glue. Though Shanna doesn’t remember exactly what she created, she does remember how: with abandon, confidence, curiosity, and ambition.

Now a Director of Design at JDI, Shanna seeks to constantly surprise clients and audiences. Using her eclectic background in psychology, theater, and art, she aspires to immerse people in unexpected experiences, creating intricate worlds just as fluently as her design work communicates complex ideas. Shanna’s work often bridges design, marketing, and paid media, allowing her to flex her multimodal creativity into everything from copywriting and naming to event development, photography, and experiential storytelling.

After hours, you can find Shanna writing custom poems for strangers (and sometimes friends) on a 1928 Remington Portable II typewriter with Typewriter Rodeo, on the track or trail training for her next marathon (or ultra), taking thrifting a little too seriously, or sometimes still covered in paint and glue at the kitchen table.

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Featured clients

Penrose
PrairieFood
OnProfit
Juniper Genomics
Ergo
Tynt
Brane Audio
New Civic

Josh Jones-Dilworth

Founder & CEO

I founded JDI and lead the firm today as CEO. JDI is the center of my professional universe. We are an integrated marketing firm that helps make precedent-setting science and emerging tech companies well known and understood. I love my team and our clients. Building JDI has been my life’s work, and a deeply gratifying experience.

At JDI I am also currently leading a team to create a new community of the most consequential people in the science world called Penrose.

Along the way I have also co-founded Litmus Health (infrastructure for real-world evidence), The Daily Dot (the internet's hometown newspaper), Culturati (the leading conference and community of company culture leaders) and New Civic (a project to catalyze American civic and philanthropic engagement). JDI is co-owner of the science magazine Nautilus and I proudly serve on its Board.

Separately, I am an Advisor to Synthetaic (AI-driven object detection) and Mithril (sustainable ocean mining), and the Arch Mission Foundation (permanent knowledge archive).

My nonprofit and education work is also really important to me. I’m the outgoing Board Chair of DivInc. I was an Advisor to Mayor Steve Adler for all 8 years of his time in office. I teach part-time in the MBA in Entrepreneurship program at the Acton School of Business, and I’m a Trustee of McDonogh School in Baltimore. Finally, I chair the Board of Folio Collaborative.

I hope our paths will cross. A more exhaustive version of my bio lives here.

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Siri
Viv
Solver
WolframAlpha
edX
SRI International
Kernel
Nginx
My ASICS
Zocdoc
Project Innerspace
Convergent Research
Allen Institute
Fathom.org
TerraCO2
Prairie Food

Liz Jones-Dilworth

President & COO

As President and COO, Liz’s mission at JDI is to build an environment for creative people to thrive. Vital to that mission are financial stability, individual and team health, and continuous learning and development. Her work focuses on building a work community that engages our team’s many talents and allows us to absorb ourselves in problems to solve creatively together.

With the operations department, Liz gathers and interprets data to guide company strategy and write policies. She balances the needs of our team to do their best work with the needs of our company financially and legally. She fosters a culture that strives for growth and generosity.

Outside of JDI, Liz founded the Core Alumni Advisory Council at Boston University, which celebrates interdisciplinary education. She also serves as Secretary of the board of the Rude Mechanicals, an avant-garde theater company. She writes poetry every month with her beloved workshop group.

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Folio
The Daily Dot
DSACT
Culturati

Emily LeClair

Kayla Ritchie

Heather Stafford

Emily LeClair

Manager

As an Executive Assistant at JDI, I specialize in dynamic scheduling. Whether it's handling changing priorities or negotiating scheduling conflicts, I’m at my best when I’m working on an organizational puzzle. I take pride in being a trusted partner to our CEO and executive team, managing complex calendars with precision, and ensuring our VIPs receive the highest level of attention and care.

I also play a critical role in stewarding our company's finances through careful travel coordination. By finding cost-efficient flights, accommodations, and ground transportation, I help our team stay productive and focused on delivering their best work to clients when they travel.

A key contribution I make to our operations team is managing our team's feedback and evaluation processes. Through coordinating performance reviews and compiling feedback from team members, I ensure that our team remains engaged and motivated.

My training in acting and improvisation is called upon often in our fast-paced agency. Listening and responding with empathy, building on ideas, and forming relationships quickly are all skills I’m grateful to be able to bring to work.

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Kayla Ritchie

Senior Director

Kayla is a communications professional with nearly 20 years of experience spanning industries such as high-growth startups, entertainment, political organizations, and more. She began her career in Los Angeles’ entertainment industry before relocating to New York City, where she expanded her expertise to include politics, tech, and startups. With experience on both the agency side and in-house, Kayla has a deep understanding of how communications can drive success across diverse organizational needs.

Passionate about storytelling and creating meaningful impact, Kayla is a media relations expert who knows how to break through the noise and connect with the right audiences.

Originally from Houston, Kayla moved back to Texas 2017, and lives in Austin with her husband and two boys.

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Terra CO2
Helogen
Juniper

Heather Stafford

Senior Director

Heather has spent her life developing a thesis — that (observation + empathy)*timing = comedy. And the ability to make people laugh can have a tremendous impact outside of a sketch or standup class. And that is especially true for marketing. Telling a story in one way might garner laughter and rapt attention; another way might get yawns.

During her tenure at JDI, Heather has worked with clients across industries, with a particular focus on biotechnology and agriculture, where the building blocks of life are being used to cure disease, address climate change, and create new materials. She is especially skilled at developing the core messaging and speaking points clients need to tell their own stories effectively.

Heather has held positions in everything from fast food and business development to operations management, including managing the goldfish booth at a local carnival, which was much more stressful than one might imagine. That being said, she still learned most of what she knows while driving a bus. She’d be happy to tell you a story or two over a margarita.

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Farmobile
Curie Co
Debut Bio
Homeworld Collective
Vida Health
WorldQuant University

Jamal Wilburn

Collin Young

Jamal Wilburn

Senior Director

Jamal’s career has spanned finance, media, theater, entrepreneurship, and technology. What ties it all together is a passion for how creative thinking and communication unfold in a business context.

Jamal is Senior Director of Business Development at JDI, where he spends his time reframing the questions that founding teams face. Jamal builds relationships with risk-takers by helping them map their motivations, goals, and emotions back to a cogent marketing strategy.

Jamal studied International Business and Finance at Howard University, and Finance and Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Prior to JDI, Jamal’s experience at investment management firms William Blair & Company and Dimensional Fund Advisors gave him the ability to provide strong counsel and keep his clients focused on the most intense needs of their target audiences.

Outside the office, Jamal is often volunteering on the boards of various nonprofits, reading the Economist, working on his deadlift, or watching Netflix. And chilling.

Find out more about Jamal on LinkedIn.

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Canvas 1839
Traverse
DivInc
Satellogic
ScaleFactor

Collin Young

Associate

Solving problems has always been the driving force behind Collin’s creative expression. As a child, his writings and drawings would stretch reality as he created futuristic inventions, landscapes, and characters. He began his education pursuing design and art, but switched to business where he found more grounded ways to work creatively.

While pursuing a degree in entrepreneurial studies at Drexel University, Collin took advantage of the Co-op Experience, through which he worked for a food waste start-up in operations; mentored youth; handled marketing and communications at a financial firm; and joined the business development team at JDI. His diverse experiences enable him to draw unique connections, and find similarities across industries, which sparked an interest in strategy.

Working at GLG as a research associate allowed Collin to constantly learn about new industries and technologies, and also apply his skills of problem solving and strategy. As a marketer, he enjoys the opportunity to work creatively and collaboratively with a variety of people and teams seeking to effect positive change.

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Aspen Institute
Autograph
JDI Innovation

JDI is a boutique consultancy that brings emerging technology and science-driven companies to market.

Our clients are on a mission, and so are we.

Do you love science and communication?