Who We Are
Signal Hill Advisers will guide you to long-term strategic coherence with consulting services focused on geopolitical risk management, national security executive advisory, and government relations consulting. We translate that experience into practical, forward-looking guidance: identifying threats before they become crises, finding opportunities where others see only risk, and helping clients engage the right people in Washington and beyond at the right moment.
We serve corporations, nonprofits, and think tanks operating in national security-related sectors — including defense technology, energy, and conflict research — helping them make sense of a complex and rapidly shifting global environment. Our clients face consequential decisions shaped by geopolitical volatility, adversarial state actors, federal policy change, and disruptions that move faster than traditional intelligence and advisory resources can track. We exist to close that gap.
We are not a large firm. We are a trusted advisor — with the network, the judgment, and the Washington fluency to help our clients move with confidence in an uncertain world.
Signal Hill Advisers is led by Dave Diaz, a national security strategist with 33 years of experience driving consequential outcomes across the U.S. government's most demanding institutions — the Marine Corps, the Pentagon, the Department of State, the Intelligence Community, and the White House National Security Council. Dave's career has been defined by solving complex, high-stakes problems at the intersection of military strategy, foreign policy, and geopolitical risk.
Dave served as Director for Africa on the NSC staff, coordinating U.S. national security strategy across the Sahel, coastal West Africa, and the Gulf of Guinea. At the State Department, he directed an interagency task force — working across State, Defense, the Intelligence Community, and key allies — to counter the illicit proliferation of advanced weapons to terrorists and insurgents, with a particular focus on mitigating diversion risk from Ukraine, Syria, and the Sahel. At the Pentagon, he led strategy and policy in the Joint Chiefs' Global Integration Directorate, driving multinational military planning and coordinating efforts to address trans-regional threats and seek advantage in great-power competition.
A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct Assistant Professor of National Security Policy at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, Dave holds master's degrees from Boston University and the National War College. He brings to Signal Hill the networks, judgment, and strategic fluency that only come from three decades at the center of U.S. national security decision-making.
The Grit Group Advantage
The Grit Group, LLC, is the parent organization providing you with the context, analysis, and advice your organization needs to navigate uncertainty.
The Grit Group’s three divisions:
Signal Hill Advisers will guide you to long-term strategic coherence with consulting services focused on geopolitical risk management, national security advisory for the defense and energy sectors, and government relations consulting.
Logan Square Media will deliver public-facing content, policy-relevant speeches and written products, and social media-ready communications to build and advance your national security brand.
The Grit Group’s Partner Network will connect you with unique insights, global perspectives, and additional resources to leverage advantage, mitigate risk, and seize opportunity.