Jason M. Smith

As Senior Vice President, a member of LNE Group's Board of Directors, and leader of the firm's Strategic Advisory practice, Jason helps shape the firm's strategic direction while leading client engagements across a broad range of industries and sectors.

Since joining LNE Group in 2004, Jason has advised more than 140 clients throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America. His experience spans organizations of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, as well as universities, research institutes, trade associations, nonprofit organizations, municipalities, and other public-sector entities.

Jason's approach is collaborative by design. Before recommending a path forward, he takes the time to engage with every stakeholder (executives, customers, partners, agency officials, elected leaders, and skeptics) to understand their perspectives, concerns, and priorities.

He believes the strongest decisions are developed collaboratively and that the right solution should create value for the buyer, the seller, and the broader community it serves. This conviction has earned Jason the trust of clients who return to LNE Group project after project, while making him a natural connector across the firm's practice areas.

Jason is particularly effective when a client has a compelling technology or business concept but needs to determine how to fund it, position it, build the right partnerships, and bring it to market. He translates complex technical and commercial priorities into fundable projects, has led more than 50 consortium-based innovation initiatives, and has helped clients secure more than $300 million in non-dilutive public funding and contracts.

He is especially valuable at the outset of strategic funding, procurement, and policy pursuits, where he develops clear, actionable plans; aligns client priorities with the right opportunities; and builds the partnerships needed to compete and win.

Jason's perspective also extends beyond consulting. In 2020, he co-founded Discovery Therapeutics Caribe, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a regenerative therapy for severe diabetic foot ulcers. Though new to the biotechnology sector, he led the company's strategy, partnerships, and operations, giving him firsthand insight into the pressures innovators face when capital requirements, development timelines, and regulatory milestones converge.

Jason earned both his B.B.A. and M.B.A. from Ohio University and studied at the Hogeschool voor Economische Studies in Amsterdam. Outside the office, he manages a youth sports teams, emphasizing the same values he brings to client work: preparation, effort, and being a great teammate. He and his family enjoy traveling and are devoted Cleveland sports fans. When time allows, Jason enjoys working on his classic car and sharpening his performance-driving skills.