Aaron has over 20 years of experience in business and government. He served for 10 years in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of Captain. He served in Special Operations pre-9/11 and was among some of the first NATO troops to enter Bosnia in 1996, attached to the British Army. Post-9/11, Aaron served to the Chemical Corps as an Officer and helped protect the U.S. from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Aaron held several leadership positions, including executive officer and company commander. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School at Ft Bragg, NC and Technical Escort School—the DOD's elite CBRNe/WMD operator school.

After military service, Aaron worked in a variety of commercial leadership and executive roles. He led a U.S. sales team at Smiths Detection, a security technology division of Smiths Group plc, FTSE #82, and created and implemented global strategy. After Smiths, Aaron was the Director of Global Programs for Thermo Fisher Scientific, Fortune #144, at the Center of Excellence (COE). The COE led the effort to take traditionally lab-based technology into the field with innovation, miniaturization, and ease of use. Aaron also worked as a Senior Vice President at Federal Resources, a privately held and technically-focused business that is a prime vendor to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency, and he served as the Managing Director of FR International, Federal Resources' international division. Aaron is also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Black Bear LLP, a global defense acquisition, technology and logistics firm. Aaron has conducted business in about 50 countries and has driven wins of over $1 Billion in contracts and revenue.

Dr. Poynton is a recognized expert in the fields of business and public administration as a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of State, and he is a Board Member at the United Nations Association, Washington DC Chapter. He has established relationships at the highest levels of the U.S. & international government and defense industry and he has developed strong and useful networks with customers, partners, and policy & decision-makers. Aaron served on a U.S. presidential campaign on the national finance committee and on a U.S. gubernatorial campaign on the national leadership team, finance committee, and as the national Chair of the Veterans' Coalition.

Aaron earned a Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Baltimore and his dissertation was co-chaired by faculty from National Defense University. He received an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business with a focus on global business and a concentration in strategy; he went on to conduct his post-graduate business studies at Harvard Business School and is a graduate of HBS's Advanced Management Program. Aaron holds an LLM in Commercial Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MS in Project Management from George Washington University, and a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland UMBC. He is also a graduate of the John's Hopkins University Army ROTC program and Hult-Ashridge International Business School executive training program.

Aaron is the President of two non-profits: Harvard Business School AMP Foundation, a public charity (501c3) dedicated to providing educational opportunities and STEM scholarships; and COVID Promise, a grassroots public charity focused on COVID-related economic recovery and resilience.