#NSGSCon 2020 Program Live Edition
#NSGSCon 2020: Anti-Viral Edition
Virtual Conference Program
3rd Annual Meeting of #NatSecGirlSquad, a Project of Unicorn Strategies
Herd Mentality Platform Launch
1-4 December 2020
Welcome Letter
Welcome to #NSGSCon 2020: Anti-Viral Edition!
This year’s conference will spotlight the launch of Herd Mentality, a brand new virtual, closed ecosystem for the #NatSecGirlSquad community. Following a thorough screening process powered by Giant Oak’s GOST, attendees will create their own profiles to easily interact with one another, including speakers, exhibitors, partners, and mentors. Herd Mentality will become the private and secured home for #NatSecGirlSquad training, discussion, and community. #NSGSCon 2020 attendees will maintain full access to the platform and all the content that will come to populate it, for a full year.
For four days, we’ll discuss the most pressing national security concerns, offer training on how to best address these threats and opportunities, and foster intentional community all in support of building the competent and diverse workforce we need. The conference will comprise various types of events: Lightning Rounds, Breakout Sessions, Fireside Chats, Meal (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) Sessions, and Main Stage Events.
Lightning Rounds will last 45 minutes to 1 hour. Each will have 1-2 speakers who will lead the round. Speakers will brief the audience on the topic, why the topic is important, and some interesting details about the topic. Speakers should feel free to bring in their own experiences and share how to learn more.
Breakout Sessions will last an hour or more and are interactive sessions between the speakers and attendees. Speakers will give an overview of the topic, explain why the topic matters, and then engage the audience in activities based learning to facilitate discussion between the audience and speakers.
Unicorn Sessions are interview-style sessions with two speakers.
Meal (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner) Sessions foster community engagement by encouraging speakers and attendees to break bread together. Yes, these sessions are actually for eating!
Main Stage panels will last 75 minutes and discuss big-picture national security issues. All conference attendees are encouraged to attend.
Like all #NatSecGirlSquad events, #NSGSCon is a child-welcoming space. Children are welcome to attend any session with their parent or caregiver, and child-centric programming will be available.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Day 1 Schedule: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 4
Day 2 Schedule: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 8
Day 3 Schedule: Thursday, December 3, 2020 13
Day 4 Schedule: Friday, December 4, 2020 17
Day 1 Schedule: Tuesday, December 1, 2020
0830 ET Morning Check-In
0930 ET Main Stage 1: State of the Squad and Platform Overview
The founder of #NatSecGirlSquad, Maggie Feldman-Piltch, will update attendees on the current state of the squad, particularly how the organization adapted to difficult circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She will also explain how #NSGS will continue to grow with the launch of the Herd Mentality platform.
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
1045 ET Motivational Moment and Water Break
1100 ET Breakout Sessions 1
Breakout Session 1.1 Making it Through USA Jobs
USAJobs, aka THE ABYSS. While the process is far from perfect - or even satisfactory, we have to make do with what we have while we build something better. #NatSecGirlSquad Chief of Staff Stephanie Bolduc Mikesell is a USAJobs sorcerer and will walk you through some useful tools for getting through the initial screen.
Stephanie Bolduc Mikesell, Chief of Staff, #NatSecGirlSquad
Breakout Session 1.2 Briefing the Interagency
The USG runs on, or doesn't run, on the interagency process. This session will build familiarity with best practices for communicating to and with a diverse group of stakeholders with complimentary missions and occasionally conflicting cultures.
Marisa Howard, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Anita Wadhwani, Senior Legislative Analyst, Redhorse Corporation
Breakout Session 1.3 Networking 101
Networking is an art, not a science...or something like that. Speakers will help prepare attendees to get the most out of #NSGSCon, HerdMentality, and networking IRL (whenever that happens again)!
Alexandria Maloney, Director of Communications, Black Professionals in International Affairs
Breakout Session 1.4 Being an Effective Mentor
The importance of mentorship - having a mentor or sponsor, in the national security space can't be overstated. And while there are lots of opportunities to learn what to look for in a mentor, there are fewer chances to figure out HOW to be a mentor. Col. Candice Frost, #NatSecGirlSquad's resident mentorship expert, offers this breakout session at the top of #NSGSCon 2020 to arm mentors and potential mentors with the tools they need to succeed, support, and lead.
Col. Candice Frost, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, Director, Foreign Intelligence, U.S. Army
Breakout Session 1.5 Data Visualization
Looking for new ideas for how to present your data and information? Ever wanted to discuss what makes an effective and compelling chart or graphic? Now is your chance!
Marguerite Benson, AI Success (Public Sector), DataRobot
Lisa Kuchy, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
1200 ET Motivational Moment and Water Break
Lt. Gen. Theodore D. Martin, Deputy Commanding General/Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
1215 ET Lightning Rounds and Lunch
Lightning Round 1.1 The Arctic: More than Just Cold
How will climate change affect geopolitics in the Arctic? Will the Arctic play a major role in 21st century great power competition? Will polar bears become as mythical as unicorns? Attend this lightning round to find out!
Lindsay Rodman, JD, Executive Director, LCWINS
Lightning Round 1.2 Kids are People, too: Talking to Your Kids About the Chaos
Kids are people, just smaller. This year has presented a number of "teachable moments," and "absolute crises" for parents and children. As this year comes to a close and we open the book on 2021, what’s working for your family? What isn't?
Phillip Carter, JD, Senior Corporate Attorney, Tableau; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law
Jumaina Siddiqui, Senior Program Officer for South Asia, US Institute of Peace
Lightning Round 1.3 Force Planning for Comprehensive Lethality
Competent Diversity is the Official Buzz Phrase of #NatSecGirlSquad - but what does it mean, and how does it help build the force we need now, and later.
Kyleanne Hunter, PhD, Assistant Professor of Military and Strategic Studies, US Air Force Academy
Kate Kidder, ABD, Full Political Scientist, RAND Corporation
Lightning Round 1.4 Transnational Criminal Networks and the Flow of Illicit Goods
Transnational criminal networks are far from a new problem, and are perhaps finally starting to get the attention of national security practitioners in a meaningful way. How do these networks fuel threats and conflict? What intelligence can we gain from the tracking of illicit goods and the currencies used to purchase them?
Soo Kim, Analyst, RAND Corporation
Fabiana Perera, PhD, Assistant Professor, William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies
Jodi Vittori, PhD, Security Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1300 ET Main Stage 2: Congress Crew
Join us on the main stage, as we discuss what life is like as a member of Congress on a national security committee!
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, US House of Representatives
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, US House of Representatives
Rep. Lauren Underwood, Illinois' 14th Congressional District, US House of Representatives
Moderator: Stephanie Bolduc Mikesell, Chief of Staff, #NatSecGirlSquad
1415 ET Motivational Moment and Water Break
Kristina Celeste, Marshal’s Aide, US Supreme Court
1430 ET Breakout Sessions 2
Breakout Session 2.1 Cyber Policy for Non-Experts
Are you interested in cyber policy but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone – come learn from the experts at this breakout session!
Valerie Cofield, Deputy Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Lauren Zabierek, Director, Cyber Security Project, Harvard Belfer Center
Breakout Session 2.2 Personal Branding for Quiet Professionals
Everyone loves to talk about "personal branding." But what if your goals require a meager at best digital footprint? Regardless, building a brand in a field that pretends to turn down its nose at such efforts, is no easy task. This breakout session will focus on helping you to articulate your personal mission statement and goals as part of crafting a genuine and helpful brand for professional success in national security and defense.
Kristin Fleschner, JD, Attorney, Facilitator, Public Speaker
Jazmine Garard, Program Development Coordinator, Perspecta
Victoria Piccoli, Chief of Multimedia, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Katherine Tobin, Director of Ressearch and Strategy, TM
Breakout Session 2.3 Ascending to Strategic Leadership [When Everyone Else is a White Guy]
The national security apparatus was built largely by and for straight white men. Even though times are (finally) changing, the systemic and cultural barriers to competent diversity are far from imaginary and have real implications for those of us trying to serve our country. How do we move within and lead teams, organizations, and departments not built for or by us - particularly at the strategic level?
Col. Michelle Estes, 352nd Special Operations Maintenance Group Commander, US Air Force
Erika Pugh, Special Assistant/Chief of Staff to the Assistant Director, FBI
Breakout Session 2.4 International Organizations 101
How do national security interests shape the US’ participation in international organizations? What will the future of US involvement in NATO and the UN look like under a new administration? Find out more at this breakout session!
Laura Brent, Senior Advisor, Cyber Defense, NATO
Helen You, Policy Fellow, Foreign Policy
1530 ET Networking Time
During this time, we encourage you to schedule one-on-one meetings with connections, visit the employer booths, or participate in activities like buzzword bingo and the scavenger hunt! Add more to your profile, check out the Spotify playlist - the options are endless.
Featured mentors, MM LaFleur Stylists, and most of the #NatSecGirlSquad team will have availability for one-on-one and small group sessions during this time. Sign up via Herd Mentality.
1700 ET Workout Classes
Get up from your desk and grab a workout class led by the US military services!
All workouts can be completed without special equipment.
1830 ET Dinner and Discussion Groups
Dinner Session 1.1 International Law
What is international law? Does it even matter? Is enforcement even possible? How do we respect sovereignty while also creating rules of the road - and what does it mean for national security?
Rosa Brooks, JD, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Policy, Georgetown University Law Center
Chimène Keitner, JD, D.Phil, Alfred & Hanna Fromm Chair in International and Comparative Law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Dinner Session 1.2 Graduate School
Are you considering graduate school to build your national security expertise? Come attend this dinner session with representatives from American University and Georgetown University!
Jennifer Forney, Associate Dean, American University School of Public Affairs
Payton Tanner, Director of Admissions, Georgetown University, Security Studies Program
Dinner Session 1.3 Briefing 101
Briefing: Almost all of us have to do it, and not that many of us are good at it. Phil Walter of Divergent Options is back from with his popular #NSGSCon 2019 session Briefing 101!
Phil Walter, Founder, Divergent Options
Dinner Session 1.4 W(h)ine and Dine: Parenting in a Pandemic
Talk about your kids. Don't talk about your kids. Drink. Don't drink.
Laicie Heeley, Founder and Editor, Inkstick Magazine
Dinner Session 1.5 Coalition Building and Stakeholder Engagement
National Security is a team sport. How do you build something new when you see a need? What does it take to get a team to buy into a vision (or order) and make it happen?
Elmira Bayrasli, CEO and Co-Founder, Foreign Policy Interrupted
Lexi Marten, Senior Consultant for National Security Strategy, Guidehouse
Dinner Session 1.6 Venezuela, Cuba, and US Distraction
This panel will begin with a brief discussion of the major challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean to set the stage. We will then dive into the current situation in both Cuba and Venezuela and potential policies to address the respective challenges.
Rebecca Bill Chavez, PhD Senior Fellow, Inter-American Dialogue; Senior Advisor, CNA Corporation
María Espinosa, Deputy Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas
Emily Mendrala, Executive Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas (CDA)
Joy Olson, Senior Consultant, Open Society Policy Center
Day 2 Schedule: Wednesday, December 2, 2020
0830 ET Breakfast Sessions
Breakfast Session 1.1 One-on-One Self-Organized Appointments
This breakfast session will set time aside for one-on-one, self-organized appointments among attendees.
Breakfast Session 1.2 Security in Space
What are the threats and vulnerabilities to US satellites and space infrastructure? How will the US cooperate and compete with other countries in space? Join this breakfast session to learn about the latest security developments beyond our home planet!
Meagan Murphy Crawford, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, SpaceFund
Sarah Mineiro, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Defense Program, CNAS
Angela Phillips, Engineering Fellow, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems
Breakfast Session 1.3 Motivating Teams in a Remote Environment
Motivating a team isn't easy, and doing it in a remote environment is especially difficult. Add in the fact that for most of us, our employers and institutions are really not traditionally set up for teleworking, and you've descended into another level of chaos. This breakfast discussion will go over some dos and don’ts, and focus on how to motivate the right way rather than "the way did in person except now it's over a VTC."
John Saad, Partner – National Security Segment Leader, Guidehouse
Kimberly Schneider, Inspector, US Capitol Police
Breakfast Session 1.4 Toxic vs. Dysfunctional Management
Toxic and dysfunctional are not identical twins, but it can feel that way. How to spot the differences, how to handle them both, and how to avoid being labeled as either.
Amy Grubb, PhD, Digital Transformation Advisor, Federal Bureau of Investigation
0930 ET Morning Stretch and Member Spotlight
Kylie Mason, Deputy Agency Delivery Lead, Booz Allen Hamilton
0945 ET Lightning Rounds 2
Lightning Round 2.1 Unmanned Flying Tech
This lightning round will discuss Advanced Air Mobility, which will transport people and goods in new, sustainable, community-friendly, and cost-effective electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in both rural and urban environments. We will also talk about how the Department of Defense, through the Air Force’s Agility Prime program, is bringing together thought leaders, manufacturers, and suppliers to discuss AAM's future.
Karina Perez, Manager for Unmanned and Emerging Aviation Technologies, Aerospace Industries Association
Shivanjli Sharma, Aerospace Research Engineer, NASA Ames Research Center
Lightning Round 2.2 Prepping for Performance Reviews
Does your impact matter if you can't articulate it? Can you grow in your professional life without flat out asking for areas of improvement? What does it take to get promoted? Performance reviews are your friends, we promise.
Katrina Mulligan, JD, Managing Director for National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress
Kristi Scott, JD Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer, Central Intelligence Agency
Lightning Round 2.3 Building and Executing International Agreements
Imagine you and your friends are deciding what to eat for dinner. Now imagine you're going to eat that same dinner, every day. NOW imagine you all have different food allergies, and you're not actually friends. Welcome to negotiating international agreements, y'all!
Amb. Robert Gallucci, Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University
Amb. Laura Holgate, Vice President, Materials Risk Management, NTI
Lightning Round 2.4 Diplomatic Communication
Sometimes, how you say it is even more important than what you actually say.
Tamara Wittes, PhD, Senior Fellow for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution
1030 ET Main Stage 3: Telling the Story of National Security Through Spokespeople
Each year, #NSGSCon discusses the role of communicating national security from a different angle. In 2018, we explored the role of think tanks. 2019 focused on how journalists build trust and ensure transparency. In 2020, we facilitate a candid conversation with government spokespeople on their roles and responsibilities to the national security apparatus and the American people.
Rear Admiral Paula Dunn, Vice Chief of Information, US Navy
Col. Kelly Frushour, Deputy Director, Communication Directorate, US Marine Corps
Col. Beth Kelley Horine, Director of Public Affairs, Air Force Reserve Command
Amanda Schoch, Assistant DNI for Strategic Communications, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Moderator: Caitlin Hayden, Senior Vice President for Communications, BAE Systems
1145 ET Motivational Moment and Member Spotlight
Meghan McGee, Strategic Innovation Group Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton
1200 ET Lunch and Learn
Lunch Session 1.1 Policy Planning: A Full on Monet
With reference to the infamous “full-on Monet” scene in the 90s classic “Clueless,” Policy Planning: A Full-On Monet will give #NSGSCon attendees the opportunity to better understand the policy planning process over lunch. How can you articulate and execute a grand strategy that is more than the sum of its individual parts? What frameworks and methods can be helpful to account for second and third level effects? When are the potential unintended or negative impacts worth it? Are there blind spots in the process that consistently impede progress- and if so how do we address them? Attendees will come prepared to listen and engage with speakers, and may submit questions ahead of time.
Tatyana Bolton, Managing Senior Fellow, R Street Institute
Corin Stone, JD, Scholar-in-Residence, American University Washington College of Law
Lunch Session 1.2 Testifying Before Congress
Testifying before Congress. How do you get asked? What do you say? How should you prepare? If you're a staffer, how do you know who to ask? What do you tell them to say? How do you help them prepare? These are important questions, and even more important when you're not a straight white guy.
Mieke Eoyang, JD Vice President for National Security, Third Way
Algene Sajery, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst Global Strategies
Shelly O’Neill Stoneman, Vice President, Executive Branch and International Government Relations, BAE Systems, Inc.
Lunch Session 1.3 Know Your Tools: Military 101
The military plays an important role in our national defense strategy and execution. This Military 101 session will provide those familiar with some of the basics with an opportunity to get an understanding of structure, priorities, cultures, and all that other gray area.
Brigadier General (Ret.) Paula Thornhill, PhD, Associate Director, Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS
Lunch Session 1.4 Polarization, Extremism, and the Internet
This breakout session will discuss how political polarization fuels extremism and how extremists exploit the Internet to their advantage.
Hala Furst, JD Associate Director for Sector Engagement, Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Kareeda Kabir, Technical Program Manager, Experian
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, PhD, Director, Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University
Moderator: Nicholas Rasmussen, Executive Director, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism
Lunch Session 1.5 Careers in Federal Law Enforcement
This lunch session will explore career opportunities in US federal law enforcement featuring speakers from FBI, DSS, and TSA.
Kala Bokelman, Supervisory Special Agent, US Department of State
Michael Hynes, Supervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Anna Kuntz, Deputy Section Chief, Career Development, Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service
NKTB, Intelligence Analyst, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Sasha Cohen O’Connell, PhD, Executive In-Residence & Director, Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy Master’s Program, American University
Moderator: Peter Sursi, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Lunch Session 1.6 Military Careers: Enlistment, OCS, Reserves
This lunch session will explore career opportunities in the US military.
Captain (Ret.) Melissa Bryant, Independent Consultant
Andrea Goldstein, Senior Policy Advisor, US House of Representatives; Intelligence Officer (183X), US Navy
Ensign Yena Seo, Intelligence Officer, US Navy
Victoria Thomas, 94th Flying Training Squadron Director of Staff, US Air Force Academy
1315 ET Breakout Sessions 3
Breakout Session 3.1 Life Motivation with Kate Bell
Kate Bell, host of the Anti-Viral hit “Girl Talk” and community favorite from #NSGSCon 2019 is back to breathe new life into your life. Special appearance by Pizza Bell is possible.
Breakout Session 3.2 Homeland Security
Join this breakout session to learn from the experts about homeland security issues and institutions!
Olivia Troye, Advisor, Republican Political Alliance for Integrity & Reform (REPAIR)
Moderator: Rob Walker, Executive Director, Homeland Security Experts Group
Breakout Session 3.3 Best In-Office Practices During COVID-19
This brainstorming session will bring together employees and employers to discuss needs, potential solutions, etc. as #NatSecGirlSquad works to create a set of best practices.
Jill Filipovic, JD, Executive Editor, Feministe
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
Breakout Session 3.4 Ethics
Ethics means many things to many people. In this session, we will discuss what ethics is, what morality is, and how you might think about navigating the moral and ethical aspects of your career and #NatSec generally. What should I do? How should I live? What do I believe? Come prepared for questions and lively conversation!
Pauline Shanks Kaurin, PhD, Professor, College of Leadership and Ethics, US Naval War College
Breakout Session 3.5 The Political Appointment Process with LCWINS
Led by LCWINS Executive Director Lindsay Rodman, this session will include an overview of the poilitical appointment process for those interested in pursuing political opportunities in January 2021.
Lindsay Rodman, JD, Executive Director, Leadership Council for Women in National Security
1415 ET Member Spotlight
1430 ET Main Stage 4: The Hill to Die On: Why Congress Matters
This main stage event will explore the ins and outs of a career in Congress (a.k.a. The Hill) and the role of Congress in national security.
Megan Reiss, PhD, National Security Policy Advisor, Office of Senator Mitt Romney
Kathy Suber, Staff Member, US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Jasmine Wyatt, Staff Member, US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Moderator: Jamie Jones Miller, Senior Advisor, The Roosevelt Group
1530 ET Unicorn Session with Dr. Stacey Dixon, NGA Deputy Director
RSVP required to attend this fireside chat.
Stacey Dixon, PhD, Deputy Director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
1545 ET Unicorn Sessions and Platform Time
Join over a dozen live and pre-recorded conversations between impressive and engaging decision makers and leaders. Got a specific topic or question you want answered? Submit it here. This is also a great time to check out a workout class, connect with old friends and new mentors, visit with potential employers, or take a break!
1800 ET Dinner and a Movie
Submit your vote for Movie Options via this Google Form!
1900 ET Writing Workshop – Writing an Op-Ed
Are you interested in writing an op-ed article but don’t know where to start? During this two-hour workshop, Ben Wittes will write an example op-ed with attendees and break it down to identify effective tips and tricks.
Ben Wittes, Editor-in-chief, Lawfare
Day 3 Schedule: Thursday, December 3, 2020
0830 ET Morning Check-In
Throughout #NSGSCon 2020, we’ll be highlighting a number of #NatSecGirlSquad members, organizations whose work we admire, academic institutions, and employers with live and pre-recorded spotlights. This morning is a great time to watch a few on the pre-recorded page while you get ready for the day. If you need a break from screen time, check out the appropriately labeled tracks on the #NatSecGirlPod!
0930 ET Main Stage 5: Human Capital Management
Each year, #NatSecGirlSquad brings together senior decision makers from across the national security apparatus to talk about progress and pitfalls in recruiting, retaining, promoting, and supporting a competent and diverse workforce. This highly-anticipated conversation also provides members an important opportunity to elevate their specific concerns in an open and direct forum.
Lori Welch, Chief of Emerging Talent, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
1045 ET Motivational Moment and Water Break
1100 ET Breakout Sessions 4
Breakout Session 4.1 Military Services Listening Sessions
Senior leaders from across the military will be on hand to speak one-on-one and in groups with members, off the record.
Lt. Gen. Laura A. Potter, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, US Army
Breakout Session 4.2 The Political Appointment Process with LCWINS
Led by LCWINS Executive Director Lindsay Rodman, this session will include an overview of the political appointment process for those interested in pursuing political opportunities in January 2021.
Lindsay Rodman, JD, Executive Director, Leadership Council for Women in National Security
Breakout Session 4.3 Personal Style in Professional Life
We all spend time figuring out what to wear, how to style our hair, if we want to wear makeup. And the lines are blurred even more in the work-from-home times. While MM LaFleur will be on hand for all of #NSGSCon and beyond, this session will include some of the most fashion forward voices of #NatSecGirlSquad.
Xavier Clark, Senior Strategist, US Department of Homeland Security
Courtney Galatioto, Chief of Staff, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Dani Reyes, Content Fellow, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
Breakout Session 4.4 Reputational Rehab and Intentional Evolution
This breakout session will advise participants on how to rehabilitate and restore one's professional reputation and commit to achieving personal growth.
Amb. Barbara Leaf, Ruth and Sid Lapidus Fellow & Director of the Geduld Program on Arab Politics, Washington Institute
Shaila Manyam, Senior Vice President, Client Lead and Senior Director, Public Affairs & Crisis, BCW Global
1200 ET Motivational Moment and Water Break
1215 ET Lightning Rounds and Lunch
Lightning Round 3.1 Running for Office
Are you interested in running for office someday? How does one organize a campaign and create an effective policy platform? Check out this lightning round to learn more!
Andrew Albertson, Executive Director, Foreign Policy for America
Kristina Biyad, Outreach Manager, Foreign Policy for America
Michelle Wietbrock, Chairwoman of the Board, Wabash Township
Lightning Round 3.2 Artificial Intelligence and Tech
Artificial intelligence is no longer the future; it’s the present. How will AI impact national security interests and capabilities? Come learn from the experts at this lightning round!
Michelle Brennan, Image and Video Pod Lead, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Alka Patel, JD, Head of AI Ethics Policy, DoD Joint Artificial Intelligence Center
Lightning Round 3.3 Being an Effective Ally: A Course for Men
“Don’t be sorry, be better.” The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have highlighted the urgency for men to actively commit to the mission of gender equality. #NatSecGirlSquad appreciates its male members and allies, but no one is perfect, and we all have room for improvement. How can people with privilege improve as allies? How does toxic masculinity weaken men, and how can they overcome it?
John Bordeaux, PhD, Senior Management Scientist, RAND Corporation
Jeff Fields, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI National Security Division; Cyber Project and Intelligence Project Fellow, Harvard Belfer Center
Steve Leonard, Senior Fellow, Modern War Institute at West Point; Co-Founder, Divergent Options
Lightning Round 3.4 Personal and Professional Diplomacy
How do we build personal and professional relationships, simultaneously - especially when national priorities are involved?
Charlotte Gorman, McCain Fellow for OSD Policy, Department of Defense
Heather Hurlburt, Director of New Models of Policy Change, New America
Moderator: Jade Vasquez, Research and Communications Fellow, Catalyst Global Strategies, LLC
1300 ET Main Stage 6: Ellevest x NSGS: Unicorn Session with Sallie Krawcheck
Financial well-being is important for all of us, but especially for women and non-binary people in #nationalsecurity. Financial concerns consistently rank as the top reason for security clearance denial, and solid financial health is absolutely vital for mitigating insider threat. Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest, joins Maggie for a fireside chat on the mission of helping people achieve their financial and professional goals.
Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and Co-Founder, Ellevest
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
1415 ET Motivational Moment and Water Break
1430 ET Breakout Sessions 5
Breakout Session 5.1 WTF is CTF (Counter Threat Finance)
Debra Geister, Manager and CEO, Section 2 Financial Intelligence Solutions
Suzanne Lynch, Professor of Practice – Economic Crime, Utica College
Jennifer McEntire, Senior Manager in the Financial Crimes Automation & Digitization Team, Wells Fargo
Breakout Session 5.2 Beyond Washington
Washington DC is not the center of the universe - even when it comes to government. States and cities play an important role on the international stage. What does that look like? What does security and mission driven work outside of DC AND outside of government look like?
Amb. Nina Hachigian, JD, Deputy Mayor for International Affairs, City of Los Angeles
Reta Jo Lewis, JD, Senior Fellow & Director of Congressional Affairs, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Breakout Session 5.3 Tools of the Trade: Aircraft, Weapon Systems, and Vehicles
What is it? What does it do? Why? Where? Ask all the questions you want and get them answered. Dogs are invited and encouraged to attend.
LT Jack McCain, #NatSecGirlSquad Member
Breakout Session 5.4 Overcoming Challenges – Best Practices for Navigating Your Career in National Security
Guidehouse will provide a brief review of the survey and report “What it Looks Like vs. What it is: Achieving Competent Diversity in National Security”. Using the survey results and key findings as a backdrop to acknowledge systemic challenges for women and underrepresented groups in national security, we will engage panelists in a discussion about how candidates and individuals can best position themselves for success in national security careers. Our panelists will explore practical advice and best practices for navigating national security careers, focused on the three topical areas discussed in the report: Applying for Jobs in National Security, Working in National Security, and Leadership and Promotion in National Security.
Intro: Erika Moburg-Jones, Managing Consultant, Guidehouse
Jeremy Baker, Deputy Assistant Director, Office of Intelligence, Homeland Security Investigations
Tracy Carson, PhD, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Foreign Assistance, Department of State
Sabra Horne, Chief Innovation Officer, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Tasha Reid Hippolyte, Director of the Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia Division of International Operations Directorate, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of International Affairs
Moderator: Ashley Mattison, Director, Guidehouse
1530 ET Networking Time/War Game Session
Networking and Career Fair
Attendees will take this time to embark on our new beast - virtual networking. With young professionals, students, established professionals, and leaders who are wise beyond their years, this career fair time is invaluable for all attendees.
Breakout Session 5.5 War-Gaming a Rising China: Potential and Peril
As the DoD develops plans and postures to counter a rising China, it uses war games to test the concepts it creates. This breakout session will create space to pause and assess our general China strategy; discuss what good war games can, cannot, and should not be asked to do; and then generate ideas for the war game that would best meet this moment.
Caroline Baxter, Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation
1700 ET Community Engagement
Explore all that Herd Mentality, and our incredible community, has to offer. This is a great time for informal meetups, check out the new additions to on-demand content, or take a break! Dogs of #NatSecGirlSquad, anyone?
1845 ET GEM Awards Opening Remarks
RSVP to Opening Remarks and Award Presentation
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
1900 ET GEM Award Presentation
General Robert Abrams, Commanding General - USFK
Presented by Jessica R. Gott, International Relations Strategist, UNC/CFC/USFK Communications Strategy Division
Benjamin Wittes, Founder - Lawfare Blog
Presented by Maggie Feldman-Piltch
LT John S. McCain IV, Human Being
Presented by Lt. Col. Marcus J. Jackson IV
Jeffrey Fields, Supervisory Special Agent - FBI
Presented by Caitlin Chase
Day 4 Schedule: Friday, December 4, 2020
0900 ET Morning Check-In
0915 ET Office Hours and Self-Directed Programming
As our #NSGSCon 2020 comes to a close, take advantage of your new connections! Attendees - connect one on one, visit recruiter booths, visit office hours, get some resume help. The opportunities are vast so don't waste a second!
1115 ET Main Stage 7: The Tiara of Optimism – What Comes Next?
This conversation will look at what can and should come next in US foreign policy, national security, and defense. Where are there clear opportunities to create a more stable and just peace? What are those opportunities and how should we prioritize them?
Emma Ashford, PhD, Visiting Fellow, CATO Institute
Kori Schake, PhD, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, AEI
1215 ET Lunch and Learn
Lunch Session 2.1 Addressing the China Challenge
The relationship between the US and the People’s Republic of China affects not only US national security strategy but international relations altogether. How does the PRC challenge US national security interests? How will the US balance between cooperation and competition with the PRC? Join this lunch session to learn more!
Naima Green-Riley, Raymond Vernon Fellow and PhD Candidate in Government and International Relations, Harvard University
Elsa Kania, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security
Moderator: Dani Reyes, Content Fellow, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
Lunch Session 2.2 Media Training
How do we tell the story of the mission to non-experts through journalists? What works and what doesn't? What are appropriate ground rules, and how do you speak up if an inquiry or interview makes you feel uncomfortable?
Carrie Johnson, Justice Department Correspondent, National Public Radio
Lunch Session 2.3 Memo Writing
Join this session to get the BLUF on writing your best Bottom Line Up Front. Participants will get key tips on writing for busy senior policymakers and advice on how to edit themselves for their best policy advice. While not required, participants can bring a piece of their own writing to practice on.
Loren DeJonge Schulman, Vice President, Partnership for Public Service; Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security
Lunch Session 2.4 Professional Pivoting: Avoiding the Pigeon Hole
Are you interested in switching to a new career track? Join this lunch session to discuss how to get your foot in the door to pivot to a new professional path.
Patricia Cogswell, JD, Strategic Advisor, Guidehouse
Melissa Kepler, Training Consultant and Facilitator, LMI
Moderator: Ashley Pratt, Pre-Sales Consultant, Sayari Labs
1330 ET Main Stage 8: Five Eyes & Friends: International Cooperation in National Security
This main stage event will explain how Five Eyes and other intelligence sharing relationships contribute to international cooperation in the security space.
Counsellor Georgina Barquet, Head of Special and Border Affairs, Embassy of Mexico in the United States
Cori Fleser, National Security Policy Analyst, Booz Allen Hamilton
Lois Nicholson, Counsellor Defence Acquisition and Technology, British Embassy
Alina Polyakova, PhD, President and CEO, Center for European Policy Analysis
Moderator: Benedikt Franke, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Munich Security Conference
1400 ET Unicorn Session with Dr. Fiona Hill
Come join a fireside chat with Order of the Golden Hammer-recipient Dr. Fiona Hill, moderated by Alexandra Di Cocco.
Fiona Hill, PhD, Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe, Foreign Policy Program, Brookings
Moderator: Alexandra Di Cocco, #NatSecGirlSquad member
1530 ET Breakout Sessions 6
Breakout Session 6.1 TBA
Breakout Session 6.2 Becoming a Manager
Interested in becoming a manager? Join this breakout session to discuss how to ascend to management positions in the public and private sectors!
Amy Levine, Senior Intelligence Analyst, Department of Defense
Nilanthi Samaranayake, Strategy and Policy Analysis Program Director, CNA
Teresa Thomas, Neurodiverse Talent Enablement Program Lead, MITRE
Jim Townsend, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Security Program, CNAS
Breakout Session 6.3 Technology Governance and Moderation
In the US today, technological innovation outpaces regulation. How can the US government and private sector improve the governance and moderation of technology? Join this breakout session to learn more!
Maggie Engler, Senior Data Scientist for Platform Manipulation, Twitter
Kate Klonick, JD, PhD, Assistant Professor, St. John’s University School of Law
Moderator: Munish Walther-Puri, Director of Cyber Risk, City of New York-Cyber Command
Breakout Session 6.4 #NSGS Office Hours
1615 ET Main Stage 9: Order of the Golden Hammer Ceremony
Order of the Golden Hammer, Class of 2019: Dr. Sasha O’Connell, Dr. Kori Schake, and Dr. Tamara Wittes
Honoring:
Elizabeth Wright - Presented by Maggie Feldman-Piltch
Dr. Fiona Hill - Presented by Alexandra DiCocco
Wendy Anderson - Presented by Merritt Ogle
Beverly Kirk - Presenter by Victoria DeSimone
1800 ET Closing Remarks
Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder, Unicorn Strategies and #NatSecGirlSquad
1845 ET Dance Party with #NatSecGirlSquad DJ
Speaker Bios
Andrew Albertson
Andrew Albertson is the executive director of Foreign Policy for America, where he leads the team in working to strengthen support for principled American engagement in the world. Prior to founding FP4A, Andrew worked at USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), where he was Deputy Regional Representative for OTI's programs in the South and Southwest regions. From 2007 to 2010, Andrew was the founding executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to examining how genuine democracies can develop in the Middle East and how the U.S. can best support that process. Andrew is a Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and recently co-directed the organization’s Fragile States Working Group. He received a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University, where he was the Huffington Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
Emma Ashford, PhD
Emma Ashford was a research fellow in Defense and Foreign Policy, with expertise in international security and the politics of energy. She writes about Russia, Europe and the Middle East, along with U.S. foreign policy more broadly. Her projects included a book draft on the foreign policy of petrostates, an article on the politics of restraint, and papers on the future of U.S. foreign policy and the liberal international order. Emma has published long‐form articles in publications such as Foreign Affairs, the Texas National Security Review, and Strategic Studies Quarterly. Her writing has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, Vox, The National Interest, and War on the Rocks, among others. Emma co‐hosted the Power Problems podcast, a biweekly podcast which explores key questions in international security. She holds a PhD in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia, and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jeremy Baker
Jeremy Baker is the Deputy Assistant Director of the Homeland Security Investigations Office of Intelligence (HSI Intel), Intelligence Enterprise Division. In this capacity, Mr. Baker is responsible for overseeing HSI’s intelligence and criminal analysis, collection and reporting activities, collection requirements and management, deconfliction with and facilitation of Intelligence Community support to law enforcement operations, counterintelligence, and protective intelligence. HSI Intel consists of 800 criminal analysts and other intelligence personnel who support over 6,000 HSI special agents around the world.
Prior to serving in his current capacity, Mr. Baker’s previous roles within HSI Intel were Acting Division Chief of the Criminal Analysis and Production Division, the Acting Division Chief of the Collections Division, the Unit Chief of the Counterintelligence and HUMINT Unit, and the Section Chief of the Reports Officer Program. Mr. Baker previously served as the planning lead for the establishment of the DHS Transnational Organized Crime Mission Center, Vice-Chair of the DHS Reports Officer Management Council, the HSI representative to the National HUMINT Committee, and as a regular member of the Director of National Intelligence’s Integrating the Intelligence Community executive panel. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence.
Mr. Baker began his U.S. government service in 2000 as a U.S. Army Counterintelligence Agent and HUMINT collector in various locations around the world. He is a graduate of the Joint Special Operations University Executive Course, the American University Key Executive Leadership Program, and is a member of the Senior Executive Service.
Counsellor Georgina Barquet
Counsellor Georgina Barquet joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 2005 and has served as Deputy Consul in Tecun Uman, Guatemala and Brownsville, Texas. In 2011, she was appointed as Head of Political Affairs at the Mexican Embassy in Canada and in 2013 she became the Special Affairs Director at the Mexican Foreign Ministry. In 2016 she joined the Embassy of Mexico in the United States, first as the Senate Liaison and in 2019 she became the Head of Borders and Special Affairs. She received her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations at ITAM, in Mexico City. She has a Master’s degree in European Integration Studies at the University of Barcelona; a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of Texas (summa cum laude) and a Master’s in Interamerican Security and Defense at the Interamerican Defense College in Washington, D.C, where she became the first woman and civilian to be awarded the title of President of her class. She has published articles in Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica and Hemisferio.
Caroline Baxter
Caroline Baxter is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, where she focuses on issues related to great power competition, operational strategy, expeditionary warfare, and military readiness. She has been detailed twice to the Department of Defense first in the Air Staff and then in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. Prior to coming to RAND, Baxter worked at the National Democratic Institute in the Middle East and North Africa section. Her work initially focused on Iran and Israel/Palestine, where she served as an election monitor in the West Bank during the presidential elections in January 2005. She subsequently concentrated on North Africa, and on Mauritania in particular, where she opened NDI's first office and co-managed NDI's international election observation mission to the post-coup presidential elections in March 2007. Baxter holds a B.A. in international relations from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and an M.A. in international affairs, with a concentration in international security policy, from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
Elmira Bayrasli
Elmira Bayrasli is the Director of the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program (BGIA). She is also the CEO of Foreign Policy Interrupted and the Interruptrr newsletter and the host of Project Syndicate's podcast, Opinion Has It. She is the author of From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places, a book that looks at the rise of entrepreneurship globally. From 2002-2006, Elmira lived in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina where she was the Chief Spokesperson for the OSCE Mission. From 1994-2000 she was presidential appointee at the U.S. State Department, working for Madeleine Albright and Richard Holbrooke, respectively. Elmira is a regular contributor on global entrepreneurship for Techcrunch. She also provides analysis on foreign policy, particularly on Turkey. Her work has appeared in Reuters, Foreign Affairs, Washington Post, Quartz, Fortune, Forbes, CNN, NPR, BBC, Al Jazeera, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Elmira sits on several boards, including Invest2Innovate, Turkish Women's International Network, and Our Secure Future.
Marguerite Benson
Marguerite Benson is passionate about using information, data, and analysis to enable informed decision-making and to improve organizational effectiveness, particularly within the US Government. Most recently, she has been focusing her efforts on technology modernization in the national security apparatus, including via her work at Artificial Intelligence startup DataRobot and as the founder of Sticky Wicket Advising. Marguerite previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she advised national security agencies on strategy development, organizational design and effectiveness, and defense technology. Prior to consulting, she spent more than a decade at the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Agency for International Development. Marguerite has also been a Fulbright Fellow in Poland and an election monitor in Ukraine. She has an M.A. in Eastern European Studies from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and a B.A. in International Relations from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.
Kala Bokelman
Kala Bokelman has been a Diplomatic Security special agent for 12 years. Her domestic assignments include the San Francisco Field Office and Washington, D.C., headquarters. She has also served as the assistant regional security officer (ARSO) in Maputo and Baghdad, and ARSON-Investigator in San Jose. In April she returned to DS for a domestic assignment in the Overseas Criminal Investigative Division. Roughly half of her time in DS has been spent investigating crimes involving human trafficking, sexual assault and fugitive returns. She and her partner have two children.
Tatyana Bolton
Tatyana Bolton is the Managing Senior Fellow for R Street’s Cybersecurity & Emerging Threats team. She crafts and oversees the public policy strategy for the department with a focus on secure and competitive markets, data security and data privacy, and diversity in cybersecurity. Other areas of research for the team include cyber metrics, Bureau of Cyber Statistics, content moderation, 5G, building capacity, state and local cybersecurity and supporting innovation.
Most recently, Tatyana worked as the senior policy director for the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission focusing on U.S. government reorganization and resilience portfolios. From 2017-2020, Tatyana also served at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as the cyber policy lead in the Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans where she developed strategies for strengthening the cybersecurity of our nation’s critical infrastructure. Tatyana’s work included efforts on the Cyber Deterrence Strategy of the United States, the DHS Cybersecurity Strategy and the National Cyber Strategy.
Tatyana has published pieces in Lawfare and Defense News on cybersecurity clinics and women in cybersecurity. She also received an award for exceptionally meritorious service from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. She received a Master of Arts in security studies with a focus on Asian affairs from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service’s Security Studies Program and earned Bachelor of Arts with honors in political science and theatre from the Ohio State University.
John Bordeaux
John Bordeaux is a Senior Management Scientist within the Engineering and Applied Sciences group at The RAND Corporation: a non-profit, non-partisan research organization. His areas of expertise include knowledge management, technology strategy, organizational design, and information governance. He holds degrees in information science and public policy, with a focus on organizational informatics. Most recently, John led a team to recommend the organizational design for the office of the Chief Data Officer for Homeland Security. Since returning to RAND in 2016, he has worked as principal investigator for studies supporting federal sponsors; including the Transportation Security Administration, the Security, Suitability and Credentialing Performance Accountability Council, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the U.S. Army G-1 office.
Laura Brent
Laura Brent is a national security professional who has managed complex strategic and operational challenges at NATO, within the U.S. Government, and in the private sector.
Ms. Brent most recently served on the NATO International Staff, which provides advice, guidance, and support to the decision-making processes of the Alliance. Working within the Cyber Defense Section, Ms. Brent was responsible for developing and implementing cyber policy.
Previously, at Ernst & Young, Ms. Brent conducted cybercrime investigations and assessed clients’ cybersecurity programs and maturity. Prior to Ernst & Young, Ms. Brent served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, advising senior leaders on a broad range of national and homeland security issues including cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection.
Ms. Brent holds a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Rosa Brooks, JD
Professor Rosa Brooks teaches courses on international law, national security, constitutional law and criminal justice. She joined the Law Center faculty in 2007, after serving as an associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. From 2016-2018, Brooks served at the Law Center’s Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. Brooks is also an Adjunct Senior Scholar at West Point’s Modern War Institute and a Senior Fellow at New America.
Brooks has combined teaching and scholarship with stints in government service and a successful career in journalism. From 2009-2011, Brooks served as Counselor to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and founded the Defense Department’s Office for Rule of Law and International Humanitarian Policy. In July 2011, she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. From 1999-2000, she served as a senior advisor at the US Department of State.
Brooks previously wrote weekly opinion columns for Foreign Policy and the Los Angeles Times, and her articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and dozens of other national and international publications. Her most recent book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2016; it was shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize and named one of the five best books of the year by the Council on Foreign Relations. Brooks is also the author of Can Might Make Rights? The Rule of Law After Military Interventions (with Jane Stromseth and David Wippman), published in 2006, and A Garden of Paper Flowers (Picador, 1994).
In 2006-2007, Brooks was Special Counsel to the President at the Open Society Institute in New York. Brooks has also served as a consultant for Human Rights Watch, a fellow at the Carr Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a board member of Amnesty International USA, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a lecturer at Yale Law School, a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Fragile States. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Open Society Foundation’s US Programs, the advisory board of National Security Action and the board of the Harper’s Magazine Foundation.
Brooks received her A.B. from Harvard in history and literature, followed by a master’s degree from Oxford in social anthropology and a law degree from Yale.
Tracy Carson, PhD
Dr. Tracy Carson is a career member of the Senior Executive Service. She currently serves as the Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Foreign Assistance (F), a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary equivalent, at the U.S. Department of State. In this role, she is responsible for general management oversight of all phases of F’s work, with a specific focus on integration across all of F’s directorates. Prior to this, she served as F’s Managing Director for Regional and Global Programs and coordinated the allocation of more than $35 billion in foreign assistance resources for the Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and advised on strategies, programming, resource decision-making, and F's internal operations. Dr. Carson has worked in F for more than a decade and notably served as F’s Regional Director for Africa. She joined the federal government in 2008 as a Presidential Management Fellow. Her federal career has spanned various agencies and offices, including the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia; the Broadcasting Board of Governors (now the U.S. Global Agency for Global Media); and the Department of Health and Human Services. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors from Northwestern University, and completed her masters and doctoral studies at Oxford University on a British Marshall Scholarship, where she focused on African History. She has served as an adjunct Senior Professorial Lecturer at American University’s School of International Service. She is originally from Chicago, and now lives in Upper Marlboro, MD.
Phillip Carter, JD
Phillip Carter is a senior corporate attorney with Tableau, a software company, where his work is focused on the company’s public sector business.
Professor Carter has a diverse background in law, policy, and public service. He began his career as an Army officer, serving for more than 9 years, including a combat tour (2005-06) in Iraq as an embedded adviser with the Iraqi police. He later practiced acquisition and procurement law in the private sector, managed a start-up government contractor supporting DoD and other agencies, and served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee policy. Prior to joining Tableau, Professor Carter led a research program at the RAND Corporation focused on personnel issues for the Department of Homeland Security, and before that, led a research program at the Center for New American Security focused on veterans and military personnel issues. Professor Carter has also served on a number of advisory and governance boards across the veterans and military community, and written extensively on national security and veterans issues.
Professor Carter teaches a course on national security business law, and a practicum on military personnel and veterans policy. He earned a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law, and a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Kristina Celeste
Kristina Celeste is optimistic, dedicated, resilient, and driven. Her success can be attributed to her hard work ethic and perseverance. In a two-and-a-half-year span, Kristina successfully completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Political Science. As a first-generation college graduate, she employs a deep gratitude for the educational opportunities she received and intends to maximize their potential. Kristina feels her best when she is working toward a bigger picture, engaging in new challenges, and contributing to notable results in a collaborative, fast paced, public-service environment. Currently, Kristina serves as a Marshal’s Aide at the Supreme Court of the United States.
Rebecca Bill Chavez, PhD
Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez is a non-resident senior fellow with the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program. She is also a Senior Advisor at the Center for Naval Analyses and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2013 through 2017. Prior to joining OSD Policy, she was Professor of Political Science with tenure at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Chavez received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University and her B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Her research has focused on Western hemisphere security and on comparative politics, with an emphasis on security and defense, the rule of law, and democratization.
Xavier Clark
Mr. Xavier Clark is a Graduate Lecturer and second-year PhD student in the Department of Communication. Mr. Clark has a B.S. In Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, where they studied political communication with a minor in sign language and Africa and African Diaspora Studies. Mr. Clark has a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from George Mason University Schar School of Public Policy where they studied emergency management and homeland security. Mr. Clark's areas of research and expertise are organizational communication, critical race theory, intersectionality, urban commerce, business communication, and luxury communication. Mr. Clark is also, an employee for the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Clark's pronouns are he/him, they, them.
Valerie Cofield
Valerie Cofield is the Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) for the Cyber Capabilities Branch within the FBI’s Cyber Division. In this capacity, she leads coordination and deployment of Cyber Division’s technical tools and capabilities, and oversees all cyber-related training, recruiting, hiring, and finances for the division.
Ms. Cofield joined the FBI in 1999 as an auditor for the Los Angeles Field Office. In 2002, she was promoted to financial manager. Ms. Cofield moved to FBI Headquarters in December 2008 to accept a position as chief of the budget unit in the Criminal Investigative Division. In January of 2011, she accepted a new position as the budget officer of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch. Ms. Cofield was selected into the senior executive service as chief of staff of the Science and Technology Branch in November 2014. In July 2017, Ms. Cofield was promoted to DAD of the Digital Transformation Office (DTO), where she engaged with interagency partners and other key stakeholders on policy issues related to current and emerging technologies and their impact on law enforcement.
Prior to her selection as DAD in FBI’s Cyber Division, Ms. Cofield was detailed to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. This Congressional Commission was authorized through the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and its mission was to develop a national strategy for preventing cyberattacks of significant consequences. While on the Commission, Ms. Cofield was a Senior Director and Task Force Lead. Her task force researched issues on how to strengthen international cyber norms and how to more effectively use non-military instruments of state power to shape behavior in cyberspace. The Commission completed its report in March of 2020 with over 75 recommendations, some of which were turned into legislative proposals with the goal of including these proposals into the FY21 NDAA.
Patricia Cogswell, JD
Patricia Cogswell currently works as a Strategic Advisor at Guidehouse to develop and implement solutions to manage national security risks, leveraging her unparalleled breadth of experience in federal service with a focus on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Most recently serving as former Deputy Administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Cogswell’s long and distinguished career in public service includes leading programs at the White House, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice related to intelligence, information sharing, border security, screening and watchlisting, and aviation, maritime and surface transportation. With a deep commitment to the security mission, she led complex initiatives across the federal government and with international partners. Cogswell received the DHS Policy Thought Leadership Award in 2010 and 2011 and the DHS Secretary’s Award for Excellence in 2008.
Working for DHS since its creation, Cogswell served in multiple leadership positions with the agency. Prior to TSA, she served as Assistant Director for Intelligence at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Acting Undersecretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy Integration and Implementation, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Coordination. She also served on the National Security Council staff as Special Assistant to the President for Transborder Security, and acting Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism between 2010 and 2013.
Meagan Murphy Crawford
Meagan is one of the leading voices in the space industry and an experienced space startup executive and founder. She is the host of the Mission Eve podcast that aims to increase the number of women in the space industry and is frequently featured as a thought leader on the industry’s development and investment potential.
Meagan is a strong believer in the power of free enterprise as the driving force that will lift humanity permanently off-world. She is managing partner of SpaceFund, a venture capital firm investing in space startups and Chair of the board of the non-profit Center for Space Commerce and Finance. She holds an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Rice University.
In 2009, Meagan began running the NewSpace Business Plan Competition, a program focused on educating both entrepreneurs and investors, and catalyzing deal flow. As a manager, coach, and judge for the last decade, she has read over 1,000 space business executive summaries, has coached hundreds of selected teams, and helped award cash prizes to dozens of NewSpace startups.
Stacey Dixon, PhD
Dr. Stacey A. Dixon is the eighth Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). In this role, she assists the director in leading the agency and in managing the National System for Geospatial Intelligence. She became NGA’s deputy director on June 23, 2019.
Prior to this, she served as IARPA’s fourth director from September 2018 to June 2019, after serving as IARPA’s deputy director from January 2016 to August 2018. Before joining IARPA, Dr. Dixon served as the deputy director of NGA’s research directorate, where she oversaw geospatial intelligence research and development. Previous to that, she served as the chief of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs and then deputy director in NGA’s Office of Corporate Communications.
From 2007 to 2010, she was a staff member for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and from 2003 to 2007, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, where she was assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office’s Advanced Systems and Technology directorate.
Dr. Dixon holds both a doctorate and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. She was also a chemical engineer postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Dixon is a native of the District of Columbia, where she currently resides.
Rear Admiral Paula Dunn
Rear Adm. Paula Dunn, a Michigan native and daughter of a World War II veteran, was commissioned in 1993 through Navy Officer Candidate School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Michigan, a Master of Arts in Communication Arts from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas. She is a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Dunn’s deployments include Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula in Iraq; Operation Nomad Shadow in Ankara, Turkey; the Joint Investigation Group for the sinking of ROKN Cheonan in Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea; Operation Tomodachi following a major earthquake and tsunami in Japan, underway aboard USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) with U.S. 7th Fleet; and two contingency missions in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operation, Bahrain.
Her shore assignments include serving as public affairs officer at Naval Air Station Whiting Field and Training Air Wing Five in Milton, Florida; action officer at the Chief of Navy Information News Desk in the Pentagon; director of broadcast and publishing operations at the Naval Media Center in Washington D.C., deputy director of Navy Office of Information U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and special assistant for public affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Her command leadership assignments include Navy Office of Information U.S. 7th Fleet, Yokosuka, Japan; Navy Public Affairs Support Element West, San Diego, California; and Navy Office of Information U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet, Manama, Bahrain.
Dunn assumed the duties of vice chief of information Sept. 25, 2019. In this role, she leads the Navy Reserve Public Affairs community consisting of more than 500 Reserve public affairs officers and enlisted mass communication specialists worldwide.
Dunn earned Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) I at U.S. Naval War College and Advanced JPME at U.S. Joint Forces Staff College. She earned two Silver Anvil awards from the Public Relations Society of America, a Thomas Jefferson Award from the Department of Defense, and a Thompson-Ravitz Award for Excellence in Navy Public Affairs. Her military awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Joint Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal and various other campaign and unit awards.
Maggie Engler
Maggie Engler is a technologist and researcher focused on applying statistics and machine learning to mitigate abuses in the online ecosystem, including disinformation, harassment, and fraud. She is currently a senior data scientist at Twitter on platform manipulation. Previously, she led data science at Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a nonprofit that aims to disrupt the business model of disinformation through detection and demonetization. She has also been an Assembly fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Prior to GDI, Maggie spent several years in cybersecurity, most recently working on identifying anomalous login attempts at Duo Security. She has worked on a range of information security problems including malware classification and risk assessment in both the private and public sectors. Maggie holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, with a concentration in signal processing and a Notation in Science Communication with distinction.
Mieke Eoyang, JD
As the Senior Vice President for Third Way's National Security Program, Mieke Eoyang is committed to closing the credibility gap between Democrats and Republicans on security issues and crafting a national security strategy that is both tough and smart. She works on every major national security issue—from foreign policy to cybercrime to impeachment—while still making time to mentor the next generation of women in national security. It's a lot to manage, but Mieke thrives on chaos—and on connecting people and ideas.
Mieke had a long career on Capitol Hill, most recently serving as Chief of Staff to Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA). Prior to that, she was the Defense Policy Advisor to Senator Kennedy, the Subcommittee Staff Director on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and a Professional Staff Member on the House Armed Services Committee. Mieke began her career as a legislative assistant in the office of Representative Pat Schroeder (D-CO), where she handled the congresswoman's Armed Services and Foreign Policy work.
Mieke serves as a board member for Internews, and National Security Action, as well as on the Steering Committee of the Leadership Council on Women in National Security. She also serves on the Wise Head Panel for the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change program.
Originally from Monterey, California, Mieke earned her J.D. at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and graduated from Wellesley College. She is a contributor for MSNBC and PBS NewsHour. Her analysis is often solicited by The Wall Street Journal, NPR, POLITICO, Associated Press, and other media outlets. Her writing has appeared in numerous media outlets, including Lawfare, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Politico.
María Espinosa
María José Espinosa Carrillo is an economist and foreign policy expert with over a decade of experience in policy research, advocacy, and international relations. María José is the Deputy Director at the Center for Democracy in the Americas, a leading nonpartisan nonprofit institution based in Washington, D.C. devoted to fostering a U.S. policy of engagement toward countries in Latin America. In this role, she leads initiatives and strategic advocacy to promote a U.S. policy toward the Americas based on engagement and mutual respect. María José has also developed the organization’s initiatives on women and LGBTQI+ rights. She has played a key role in bringing voices from the region into the US policy debate and has led dozens of high-level US delegations on fact-finding trips to the region. María José also serves as the Interim President of Engage Cuba, a national coalition of private companies, organizations, and local leaders working to end the travel and trade embargo on Cuba.
Prior to joining CDA, María José organized exchange programs between the U.S. and Cuba. Earlier in her career, María José worked as an International Affairs Analyst at the Centre for the Study of Asia and Oceania (currently International Policy Research Center). She began her career as a professor in the School of Economics at the University of Havana.
María José holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Economics and Tourism from the Universitat de les Illes Balears in Spain; an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Havana in Cuba; and a B.A. (honors) in Economics from the University of Havana. She is the recipient of multiple awards and has been named one of the 2020 Latino National Security & Foreign Policy Next Generation Leaders by the New America Foundation and the Diversity in National Security Network. María José has lived and worked in Latin America, Europe, and the United States.
Jeff Fields
Jeff Fields currently serves as an FBI Supervisory Special Agent within the National Security Division, where he leads an interagency cyber-network operations group. Prior to this post, he worked global terrorism and human intelligence matters and has deployed to Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa in support of US Special Operations Command’s counterterrorism (CT) mission. A graduate of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Jeff has acquired substantial expertise on national security policy and the complex geo-politics of Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition, he has firsthand experience tackling the challenges encountered at the intersection of intelligence and cyber-technology. As an FBI Adjunct Faculty member, he is an agency subject matter expert on Intelligence, CT, and Violent Extremism. A member of the International Consortium of Minority Cyber Professionals and NatSecGirlSquad, Jeff is fully committed to addressing the cybersecurity and intelligence community’s diversity deficit.
Jill Filipovic, JD
Jill Filipovic the author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness, and is a journalist based in East Africa and New York. She is a contributing writer at the New York Times, and formerly Cosmopolitan.com's senior political writer, a weekly columnist at the Guardian and the editor of the gender-issue blog Feministe, named one of Forbes Best Blogs for Women. A 2013 UN Foundation Press Fellow and a 2014 International Reporting Project Fellow, her coverage of legal, gender and global health issues has also appeared in Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Nation, the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism and others. She is a two-time winner of a Society of Professional Journalists Delta Sigma Chi award for commentary, and iIn 2014, she received the Newswomen's Club of New York's Front Page Award for her coverage of international reproductive rights at Al Jazeera America.
Kristin Fleschner, JD
Kristin Fleschner is an attorney and a powerful advocate for equal opportunities for all. Kristin worked in the federal government, at the CIA, State Department and US House of Representatives for over a decade. The majority of her career has focused on the intersection of national security and human rights. She was the first blind analyst at the CIA where she was honored with the CIA Director’s Award for her work on creating equal opportunities in the workforce. She created the gender, peace, and security cell at the CIA and testified before Congress as a subject matter expert. At State Department, she led the writing of the Department’s first Bias-Motivated Crimes Strategy and first toolkit guiding US and Foreign Embassies interactions with journalists based on international law. She has a yellow lab guide dog named Zoe and is a track and road cyclist.
Cori Fleser
Cori Fleser is a National Security Policy Analyst with Booz Allen Hamilton. She currently supports the Joint Chiefs of Staff by providing technical subject matter expertise on implementing the U.S. Women, Peace, and Security Act (Public Law 115-68) within military strategy, plans, and policy. From 2016 to 2019, she served as the Gender Advisor at U.S. Africa Command, where she was responsible for implementing the U.S. Women, Peace, and Security legislation within the command’s operations, engagements, and security cooperation. Cori’s previous experience includes supporting the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a Joint Operations Planner, conducting analysis for Special Operations Command Europe and Special Operations Command Africa, and designing wargames for military and commercial organizations. Before joining Booz Allen Hamilton in 2012, Cori worked for several non-governmental organizations focused on gender-based issues including girls’ leadership development, gender-based violence prevention, and foreign aid reform. Cori completed her M.A. in Sustainable Development with a focus on Gender and Security at the School for International Training Graduate Institute and her B.A. in International Affairs and German with a minor in Women’s Studies at James Madison University. Cori was a 2018 Manfred Wörner Fellow with the German Marshall Fund, a 2018 Young Leader with Atlantik-Brücke, and is a proud member of #NatSecGirlSquad.
Benedikt Franke, PhD
Dr. Benedikt Franke is the Chief Executive Officer of the Munich Security Conference. Before joining the MSC, he served as Senior Advisor for Strategic Affairs at the Headquarters of the Christian Social Union (CSU) and was part of the inner campaign team for the successful local, state and federal elections in 2013. Before that he worked as Special Assistant for the former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan. Benedikt Franke holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a Master’s Degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He publishes regularly on foreign affairs.
Candice Frost
Colonel Candice E. Frost is the Director of Foreign Intelligence for the Army G-2 within the Headquarters, Department of the Army where she provides current and estimative intelligence to the Secretariat and the Army Staff and projects the Future Strategic Environment to the Secretary of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Army, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Army G-2, and Army Acquisition Executive. As the Director of Foreign Intelligence, Colonel Frost advises and provides foreign technical threat intelligence assessments in support of Army acquisition programs, science and technology efforts, and research and development programs.
Colonel Frost received her commission from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY branching into Military Intelligence with the United States Army. Within the Army she has served at all levels of Military Intelligence from tactical, operational, to strategic levels of both analysis and command. Most recently, after her Battalion Command, she completed a War College Fellowship at the Central Intelligence Agency. Colonel Frost’s deployment experience includes Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan (2011), Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan (2005), and Stabilization Force XI, Bosnia (2002).
Colonel Frost’s military and civilian education are Airborne School, Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course, Military Intelligence Advanced Course, Combined Arms and Staff School, Signals Intelligence Tactical Operations Officer Course, Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies, and the Senior Service College (Fellowship) Central Intelligence Agency. Colonel Frost holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from the United States Military Academy, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan University, and a Master’s in Military Arts and Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies. She is an adjunct professor for the University of Arizona.
Colonel Frost’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Distinguished Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (5 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Citation, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (Numeral 5), National Defense Service Medal (2), Combat Action Badge, and the Parachute Badge. She hails from Muscatine, Iowa and now lives in Washington D.C.
Hala Furst, JD
Hala V. Furst is the Associate Director for Sector Engagement in the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention, leading the Office’s efforts to engage with national level stakeholder organizations to create local prevention frameworks addressing violent extremism. Prior to standing up this line of effort, she was most recently the Principal Director (Acting) of the Department of Homeland Security’s Private Sector Office, creating strategic relationships between Department Headquarters, Department components, the policy community in DC, and business communities across the country. Before that as the Director of Cybersecurity and Innovation, a position she created, she focused on cybersecurity and innovative technology interests, including social media, countering terrorist use of the internet, and preventing the online exploitation and abuse of children. At the same time, she was the Executive Director of the Loaned Executive and Exemplar Programs, two premiere U.S. Government efforts to enable the private sector and government officials to share expertise through executive leader exchanges.
During the 2016-2017 presidential transition she was a member of the DHS Transition Team, providing information and insight about the existing activities of the Department to incoming leadership. Prior to this she led the Stakeholder Outreach effort for the second Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR). In 2012 Hala was detailed to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, working for the Majority Staff under then Chairman Joe Lieberman on cybersecurity legislation, after joining the Department as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) in 2010. In August of 2018 she completed the Excellence in Government Fellowship with the Partnership for Public Service and has since become a Senior Fellow and Co-Coach for subsequent classes of Fellows. She holds a J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law, and a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Minnesota.
Courtney Galatioto
Courtney V. Galatioto joined SEPA in 2019. As Chief of Staff, she works to align SEPA’s mission and goals across the organization by fostering inclusive and productive relationships, providing a strategic voice in evaluating risks, and facilitating timely decision-making and a productive balance between short-term execution and long-term priorities. She serves as a thought partner to the President & CEO and principal liaison for SEPA’s Board of Directors and partnerships.
She came to SEPA with a decade of experience in the energy industry, and previously served as the Vice President for Stakeholder Relations at the Alliance to Save Energy, where she oversaw the fundraising efforts and corporate relations. Prior to the Alliance, she served as a policy fellow for the State of North Carolina.
She serves on the boards of the Women’s Energy Network DC Chapter and #NatSecGirlSquad which works to drive diversity across the national security industry.
Courtney has a master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University with a focus on energy, climate change, and security. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Amb. Robert Gallucci
Ambassador Gallucci is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. He previously served as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large and Special Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, focused on the non-proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. He was the chief US negotiator during the North Korean nuclear crisis of 1994 and served as Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs and as Deputy Executive Chairman of the UN Special Commission following the first Gulf War. Upon leaving public service, Ambassador Gallucci served as Dean of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University for 13 years before he became president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Jazmine Garard
Jazmine Garard is a Program Development Coordinator within the Intelligence Group at Perspecta. In this role, she supports science and technology efforts for a Government customer within the Intelligence Community. Prior to this role, she served as an Intelligence Analyst within the US ARMY and also deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She has worked with customers across the intelligence community, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the Department of Defense (DoD).
Debra Geister
Debra Geister is the Manager and CEO of Section 2 Financial Intelligence Solutions. Section 2 or S2, is focused exclusively on understanding the patterns of behavior in regard to financial crime and money laundering by transnational criminal organizations. To that end, S2 works with the public and private sectors to train systems and staff on how to clearly detect the “hybrid threat.”
Ms. Geister’s experience includes 15 years in a leadership role in banking compliance. Previously, she was the Managing Director at Matrix-International Financial Services and Manager at Navigator Consulting Group. She also spent three years at MetaBank as Senior Vice President, leading the combined Fraud and Bank Secrecy Act(BSA) Unit. She built a successful team to lead the organization out of a cease and desist order.
For 10 years prior, Ms. Geister was Senior Director of Consulting Services at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. She developed processes to assist clients with operations such as sanctions screening, assisting with OFAC, PEP, 314a and other global sanction lists. Prior to direct client work, Debra Geister was responsible for a line of AML and Fraud products that served the financial industry as the Director of Market Planning. She has extensive experience with the technologies and design behind many of the products that support the Financial Services industries and all areas of AML including, customer information programs, sanctions compliance, customer due diligence, and transaction monitoring and investigations.
Mrs. Geister often speaks at global events within the industry. She is also a member of American Bankers Association, ACAMS, and ACFCS. She was a member of the Advisory board of the Regulatory Compliance Conference of the American Bankers Association and volunteers her time at events on the AML industry. She works closely with law enforcement agencies on subjects such as identifying typologies and the hallmarks of different financial crime patterns.
Andrea Goldstein
Andrea is a leader in building civil-military dialogues, and a sought-after strategic planner and policy advisor in both international and domestic contexts regarding intelligence, special operations, hybrid warfare, veterans, and military personnel policy, with a particular focus on human security and incorporating gender perspectives into security environments. She has served in the U.S. Navy as a commissioned officer in both the active and reserve components for over 10 years.
She has published widely in The New York Times, Jezebel, Task & Purpose, The War Horse, Center for a New American Security, Proceedings, and a number of industry and peer-reviewed publications. She is the co-author of three books.
Charlotte Gorman
Charlotte Gorman serves in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy as a member of the inaugural cohort of McCain Fellows. Charlotte is a recent graduate of the Master of Global Policy Studies program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and holds an undergraduate degree in History and International Relations from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Charlotte has previously interned at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Middle East Institute, and with a member of the US House of Representatives. She served as an AmeriCorps volunteer with people experiencing homelessness in Austin, TX and has experience in the non-profit sector. Charlotte is a GirlSecurity mentor and is passionate about making the defense, development, and diplomacy fields look more like the American people that they represent.
The views expressed are her own and do not represent DoD.
Naima Green-Riley
Naima Green-Riley is a Ph.D. Candidate and Raymond Vernon Fellow in the Government Department at Harvard University and a former Foreign Service Officer at the State Department. Naima specializes in U.S. and Chinese foreign policy, with a focus on public diplomacy and the challenges in the global information space. Her research has been supported by the Morris Abrams Award in International Relations, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, and the World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship from the Smith Richardson Foundation. Naima has contributed expert commentary to the Aspen Strategy Group, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and the National Bureau of Asian Research, and her writing has been featured in several media outlets, including the Monkey Cage blog at the Washington Post and The Diplomat. She earned a Bachelor’s degree (BA) in International Relations with honors from Stanford University. She was a Belfer Center International and Global Affairs fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, where she graduated with a Master’s in Public Policy (MPP). She is proficient in Mandarin Chinese, and she maintains an intermediate-level proficiency in Arabic.
Amy Grubb, PhD
Dr. Amy Grubb is an internationally acclaimed speaker who has presented numerous keynote sessions and workshops on organizational change, working with others, organizational culture, leadership, storytelling, and engagement. Having played a significant role in the talent aspects of the FBI’s post-9/11 transformation as well as building two Centers of Excellence (COEs) within the FBI (leadership development, organizational development), Amy’s practical experience adds gravitas to her lively and down-to-earth presentations. A Fellow in Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and advisor to the C-suite, she has won numerous internal and external awards for her contributions to the “people side” of work.
Amb. Nina Hachigian, JD
Ambassador Nina Hachigian is the Deputy Mayor of International Affairs for the city of Los Angeles. From 2014 to 2017, she served in the Obama administration as U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Previously, from 2007 to 2014, Ambassador Hachigian was a senior vice president and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), with a focus on U.S.-China relations and Asia policy. Prior to CAP, she was a senior political scientist at RAND Corporation, serving as the director of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy. From 1998 to 1999, she served as a special assistant on President Clinton's National Security Council. She is a board member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a founder of Women Ambassadors Serving America.
Caitlin Hayden
Caitlin Hayden is senior vice president of Communications for BAE Systems, Inc. In this role, she leads all external and internal communications activities for BAE Systems, Inc. — developing and executing communications strategies and delivering compelling messages across an array of communication media and channels. As a member of the U.S. headquarters senior leadership team and the BAE Systems plc Global Communications Council, she directs media relations, employee engagement, marketing communications, and community investment activities to shape perceptions among customers, other external stakeholders, and employees.
Before joining BAE Systems, Caitlin was the Vice President of Communications for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the leading advocacy organization for the aerospace and defense industry. In this role, she led the organization’s outreach and communications functions and worked closely with AIA member companies to tell the aerospace and defense industry’s story in the United States and around the world.
Caitlin joined AIA from Edelman, where she served as Executive Vice President and Director of the Media Group in the firm’s DC Office. At Edelman, Caitlin worked with a broad range of clients to develop comprehensive communications strategies to meet their business objectives, including protecting and promoting their brands and navigating regulatory, policy and crisis issues. She also served as one of Edelman’s senior media and speech trainers, working with CEOs and spokespeople globally to refine and strengthen their message.
Before joining Edelman, Caitlin served as a Special Assistant to President Obama, the National Security Council Senior Director for Strategic Communications and Press, and the National Security Council (NSC) Spokesperson. In this position, she led White House messaging around foreign policy, development and global health, defense, intelligence, cybersecurity and counterterrorism. She also served for two years as the Deputy NSC Spokesperson and several months as an Assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
Prior to the White House, Caitlin was a career civil servant at the Department of State. She joined the State Department on September 10, 2001 and spent her career there focused on press, speechwriting and South and Central Asia policy. In addition to Washington assignments, Caitlin also served for varying lengths of time in Afghanistan, Iraq and the UK.
Laicie Heeley
Laicie Heeley is the founder and editor of the foreign policy magazine Inkstick and the CEO of Inkstick Media. She is also a Fellow with The Stimson Center and a Partner with the Truman National Security Project. Heeley's work has appeared in well-known newspapers, journals, and periodicals including Foreign Policy and The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Associated Press, and she has appeared as an expert on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
Heeley is also the creator of the lifestyle brands Holson House and A Thousand Threads. Her successful dinner series Field + Foundry, a collaboration with the Microsoft search engine Bing, brought together influencers with a combined social media reach of over 1.6 million followers in an effort to build creative community in the policy-driven bubble of Washington, DC.
Tasha Reid Hippolyte, PhD
Mrs. Tasha Reid Hippolyte, Ph.D. is the Director of the Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia Division in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of International Affairs (INA). In this capacity, she advances agreements and engagements for CBP with Africa, Middle East and Central Asia countries to include project development, technical assistance, operational partnerships, and information sharing for legitimate international trade and travel. Her division provides expertise and assistance for programs to execute effective collaboration within the U.S. Government interagency and foreign counterparts for cross border international security. Previously she served as Acting Executive Director for Trade Policy and Programs in the Office of Trade. There she led the drive for the execution of priory trade issues and enforcement strategies from the policy and program perspective.
Mrs. Hippolyte began her career with CBP in 2006. Since that time, she has held a number of positions to include: Acting Director of the INA Middle East Division (during the CBP Afghanistan and Iraq Reconstruction efforts), International Affairs Liaison to the Office of Congressional Affairs, and CBP World Customs Organization SAFE Framework Capacity Building Team Lead. Mrs. Hippolyte was instrumental in assisting the South African Revenue Service with developing their border security strategy and action plan in preparation for the Federation International of Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in South Africa.
Tasha graduated from the University of South Carolina (Honors College), with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She received a Masters of Public Administration from Howard University where she also completed a Ph.D. in Political Science with International Relations and Public Administration concentrations. Her dissertation research examined the impact and role of women in the post conflict peace process. Prior to joining CBP, Mrs. Hippolyte served as a Research Assistant at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars for Dr. Fredrick Harris. Mrs. Hippolyte also worked on Capitol Hill as a Washington Fellow.
Amb. Laura Holgate
Ambassador Laura S.H. Holgate served as U.S. Representative to the Vienna Office of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency from July 11, 2016 to January 20, 2017. The United States Mission to International Organizations in Vienna works with seven major organizations of the United Nations system based in Vienna: The International Atomic Energy Agency; the UN Office on Drugs and Crime; the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization; the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs; the Wassenaar Arrangement; the UN Commission on International Trade Law; and the UN Industrial Development Organization. In this role, Ambassador Holgate advanced President Barack Obama’s commitment to design and implement global approaches to reduce global threats and seize global opportunities in the areas of nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, verification of the Iran Deal, nuclear testing, counterterrorism, anti-corruption, drug policy, export control, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. She also promoted gender balance in the staff and programming of the Vienna-based international organizations.
Ambassador Holgate was previously the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction on the National Security Council. In this role, she oversaw and coordinated the development of national policies and programs to reduce global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; detect, identify, secure and eliminate nuclear materials; prevent malicious use of biotechnology; and secure the civilian nuclear fuel cycle. She was also the U.S. Sherpa to the Nuclear Security Summits and co-led the effort to advance the President’s Global Health Security Agenda.
From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Holgate was the Vice President for Russia/New Independent States Programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Prior to that, Ambassador Holgate directed the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fissile Materials Disposition from 1998 to 2001, and was Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction at the Department for Defense from 1995 through 1998, where she provided policy oversight of the “Nunn-Lugar” Cooperative Threat Reduction program.
Ambassador Holgate received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in politics from Princeton University and a Master of Science Degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and spent two years on the research staff at Harvard University’s Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government. She is a past President of Women in International Security and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Col. Beth Kelley Horine
Colonel Beth Kelley Horine is the Director of Public Affairs, Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. Colonel Horine serves as the strategic communication advisor to the Commander, Air Force Reserve Command, providing communication synchronization and planning for headquarters initiatives and across the Total Force public affairs enterprise. She develops and executes public affairs policy to three Numbered Air Forces, 47 wings and operating locations world-wide. Colonel Horine also serves as the career field manager for all unit and individual mobilization augmentees in the Reserve public affairs career field.
Previously, she served as the Chief, Readiness and Integration Division, Air Force Reserve Command Manpower, Personnel and Services Directorate, where she was the lead for all Air Force Reserve Human Resource resiliency and community program activities, readiness, field integration, strategic communication, data and systems, and the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration program. She also served as the command’s senior component expert on personnel expeditionary and contingency entitlements. Prior to her assignments at Air Force Reserve Command, she served as a joint specialized, technical program planner at U.S. European Command, as a legislative liaison for Headquarters Air Force Reserve at the Pentagon and as the commander of the 4th Combat Camera Squadron at March Air Reserve Base, California.
Colonel Horine is a 1997 graduate of Trinity University, receiving her commission through The University of Texas San Antonio Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. She served over 10 years on active duty, as both a navigator and a public affairs officer. In 2005, Colonel Horine deployed in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM as a strategic communications planner on the Multi National Force-Iraq staff, U.S. Embassy, Baghdad. In 2007, she transitioned to the Air Force Reserve, first as a public affairs Individual Mobilization Augmentee, then later as a traditional Reserve commander in the unit program. In the civilian sector, Colonel Horine taught as an adjunct professor of management and communications at American Public University.
Sabra Horne
Sabra Horne is CISA’s Chief Innovation Officer, responsible for envisioning, establishing and enabling innovation efforts in the eighth and newest component agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which unifies protection of the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure. Prior to this role, she was Director of CISA 2020, leading change management of the agency and Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Cyber Infrastructure Resilience (SECIR), leading effective sharing of cyber information with the private sector, as well as state, local, tribal and territorial entities.
Previously, she served the National Security Agency (NSA) as Deputy Chief for Information Sharing and Collaboration, facilitating sharing of NSA’s most highly classified intelligence. She was Senior Advisor to NSA Threat Operation Center leadership and led its effort to share unclassified cyber threat information with other government agencies and private sector. She began her NSA service as a core member in standup of the Media Leaks Task Force, which led agency response to the public leaks of classified information in 2013.
Ms. Horne was Director of Communications at the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, responsible for all legislative, public, and intergovernmental affairs. She began her government career at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships for Open Source, driving collaboration across the sixteen intelligence agencies in their use of open source intelligence. While at the ODNI, she served as the Chief of Staff in the standup of the National Maritime Intelligence Center and lead development of the Unified Intelligence Strategy for the National Intelligence Manager for Cyber, unifying intelligence collection and analysis across the intelligence community. She also supported DHS and the Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection in increasing information sharing with the private sector.
Prior to her government service, she had an 18-year career in academic publishing, the last 12 as Senior Executive Editor for the largest list of academic criminal justice publications while at Wadsworth Publishing. Ms. Horne has a Master in Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts in English from The College of Charleston. She and her husband, John, live in the Palisades, and enjoys gardening and volunteering in her time off.
Marisa Howard
Marisa Howard is a senior intelligence officer from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), where she supports the management of US and Allied GEOINT activities related to counterterrorism, including analysis, collection, resources, innovative tradecraft, partnerships, risk assessment, and strategy implementation. She is a member of the Federal Women’s Program Council and her organization’s Diversity Council and Mentoring Program, leading a Lean In Circle for group mentoring that she established for the NGA workforce at her location. Marisa began her career as an imagery analyst and is an expert in counterterrorism, Russian military, arms control, and security policy issues.
Prior to her current assignment, Marisa was focused on senior policymaker support spanning two presidential administrations: first, an extended tour as the President’s Daily Briefer to senior Pentagon leadership, and then as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USDI). In this role, Marisa served as the senior advisor to the USDI on intelligence, current operations, and security policy issues. She also was the USDI’s lead in providing timely intelligence support to the Secretary of Defense and the USDI’s focal point for intelligence cooperation across the interagency, ensuring that Defense intelligence activities are supportive of national security objectives.
Marisa is credited with multiple joint duty assignments and completed a three-year tour in Germany. She has served as an adjunct instructor at NGA, CIA, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and the NATO School at Oberammergau, and has been a guest speaker across the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community on executive intelligence briefings and the relationship between intelligence, operations, and national policy. Marisa is the recipient of numerous professional awards including the Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award from the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service from the 26th Secretary of Defense, and the Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service (with bronze palm) from two USDIs. She is a graduate of The George Washington University and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, where she was the first resident interagency student selected for a foreign exchange (Shrivenham, United Kingdom). Marisa is a native of Pensacola, Florida, and currently resides in Washington, D.C. When she is not working, you can find Marisa traveling the world, savoring great food, and enjoying theater with her friends and family.
Kyleanne Hunter, PhD
Dr. Kyleanne Hunter is a Marine Corps combat veteran with multiple combat deployments as an AH-1W “Super Cobra” attack pilot. She finished her active duty time in the Marine Corps’ Legislative Liaison Office in the House of Representatives. She is an Assistant Professor of Military and Strategic Studies at the United States Air Force Academy and the co-director of the Athena Leadership Project. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, and a Masters of Arts and a Doctorate from University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
Dr. Hunter’s research focuses on the intersection of social integration and military effectiveness, with a focus on gender and unconventional warfare. While completing her dissertation was a researcher in residence at University of San Diego’s Kroc School of Peace and Justice. She was co-primary investigator for the Nonviolent Actors in Violent Conflicts project funded by the Carnegie Foundation. Her work has been published in Journal of Peace Research, Armed Forces & Society, and Signs, as well as popular publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, and San Diego Union Tribune. She is co-editor of Invisible Veterans: What Happens When Women Become Civilians Again (Preager Press, 2019) with Kate Thomas Hendricks.
Dr. Hunter is also an adjunct professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She was the former Chair of the Employment and Integration Subcommittee for the Secretary of Defense’s Advisory Committee of Women in the Services (DACOWITS). She was part of the Department of Veterans Affairs inaugural class of “Women Veteran Trailblazers,” and named as one of HilllVets 100 most influential veterans in 2018. She serves on the advisory board for Impact:PEACE. She and her husband reside in Colorado Springs, CO.
Heather Hurlburt
Heather Hurlburt is the director of the New Models of Policy Change project at New America's Political Reform program. Hurlburt leads research into how policy advocacy can adapt to be effective in our current environment of intense political polarization and guides advocates and funders seeking to navigate politics effectively on behalf of policy solutions on issues such as national security and climate change.
Hurlburt is a contributor to New York Magazine; has published articles in Politico, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, Fortune, Vox, and Time, among other publications. She co-hosts the Drezburt podcast and frequently appears in print and broadcast media.
Previously, she ran the National Security Network, a premier source for internationalist foreign policy messaging and advocacy, held senior positions in the White House and State Department under President Bill Clinton, and worked on Capitol Hill and for the International Crisis Group. She holds degrees from Brown and George Washington Universities.
Carrie Johnson
Carrie Johnson is a justice correspondent for the Washington Desk. She covers a wide variety of stories about justice issues, law enforcement, and legal affairs for NPR's flagship programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as the newscasts and NPR.org. Johnson has chronicled major challenges to the landmark voting rights law, a botched law enforcement operation targeting gun traffickers along the Southwest border, and the Obama administration's deadly drone program for suspected terrorists overseas. Prior to coming to NPR in 2010, Johnson worked at the Washington Post for 10 years, where she closely observed the FBI, the Justice Department, and criminal trials of the former leaders of Enron, HealthSouth, and Tyco. Earlier in her career, she wrote about courts for the weekly publication Legal Times. Her work has been honored with awards from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Society for Professional Journalists, SABEW, and the National Juvenile Defender Center. She has been a finalist for the Loeb Award for financial journalism and for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for team coverage of the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas. Johnson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Benedictine University in Illinois.
Kareeda Kabir
Kareeda Kabir is a technical program manager at Experian plc. By training she is a linguist, and has extensive research experience in the fields of linguistics, violent misogyny, and the intersection of national security and social media. Ms. Kabir is a 2020 graduate of Georgetown University, where she studied linguistics with a focus on semantics, sociolinguistics, and discourse analysis. She published her senior thesis on manifestos of incels, and her other work has been featured in Lawfare and Teen Vogue.
Elsa Kania
Elsa B. Kania is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Her research focuses on Chinese military strategy, defense innovation, and emerging technologies. Her book, Fighting to Innovate, should be forthcoming with the Naval Institute Press in 2021. Ms. Kania also serves as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
At CNAS, Ms. Kania has contributed to the Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative and the “Securing Our 5G Future” program, while acting as a member of the Digital Freedom Forum and the research team for the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security.
Ms. Kania also works in support of the U.S. Air Force’s China Aerospace Studies Institute through its Associates Program, is a Non-Resident Fellow in Indo-Pacific Security with the Institute for the Study of War, and is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre. She serves as an Adjunct Policy Advisor for the Institute for Security and Technology; contributes to the Party Watch Initiative at the Center for Advanced China Research; and co-founded the China Cyber and Intelligence Studies Institute, a non-profit research collaboration.
Ms. Kania has been invited to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and the National Commission on Service. She was named an official “Mad Scientist” by the U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command and was a 2018 Fulbright Specialist in Australia with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Currently, Ms. Kania is a PhD candidate in Harvard University's Department of Government. Her dissertation will examine Chinese military learning and innovation in historical and comparative perspective. She is also a graduate of Harvard College (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), and her senior thesis was awarded the James Gordon Bennett Prize.
Ms. Kania was a Boren Scholar in Beijing, China, and she maintains working proficiency in Mandarin Chinese. Her views are her own.
Pauline Shanks Kaurin, PhD
Pauline Shanks Kaurin is a professor in the College of Leadership and Ethics, and the Admiral James B. Stockdale Chair in Professional Military Ethics. She holds a doctorate in Philosophy from Temple University and specializes in military ethics, just war theory, philosophy of law and applied ethics. Previously, she served as associate professor at Pacific Lutheran University, and her most recent publication is Achilles Goes Asymmetrical: The Warrior, Military Ethics and Contemporary Warfare (Routledge 2014.) She served as a featured contributor for The Strategy Bridge and has published with Clear Defense, The Wavell Room, Newsweek and Just Security.
Chimène Keitner, JD, D.Phil
Professor Chimène Keitner is a leading authority on international law and civil litigation, and served as the 27th Counselor on International Law in the U.S. Department of State. She has authored two books and dozens of articles, essays, and book chapters on questions surrounding the relationship among law, communities, and borders, including issues of jurisdiction, extraterritoriality, foreign sovereign and foreign official immunity, and the historical understandings underpinning current practice in these areas.
Professor Keitner holds a bachelor’s degree in history and literature with high honors from Harvard, a JD from Yale, where she was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow, and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
Among other professional services, Professor Keitner has served on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law and as Co-Chair of the ASIL International Law in Domestic Courts Interest Group. She is a member of the American Law Institute and an Adviser on the ALI’s Fourth Restatement of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. She is also a founding co-chair of the International Law Association’s Study Group on Individual Responsibility in International Law.
Melissa Kepler
Melissa “Mel” Kepler is a Training Consultant at LMI and a Gallup-Certified StrengthsCoach(TM). Prior to LMI, she did marketing and communications at ODNI for Guidehouse. Ms. Kepler also worked at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for over 13 years in a variety of positions, including as an intelligence analyst, a staff officer, a tradecraft specialist, and a human resources professional. Ms. Kepler founded the NGA Parents Network during her time at the agency. In her spare time, Mel enjoys drinking a truly inadvisable amount of coffee, laughing at her children, and plotting with her friends.
Kate Kidder, ABD
Dr. Katherine Kuzminski (Kidder) currently works as a Full Political Scientist at RAND Corp with strategic analysis expertise in US defense and national security manpower issues; recruitment, retention, and talent management; and institutional/organizational design. Kidder was a former Fellow in the Military, Veterans, and Society Program and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). In that capacity, she led the CNAS Rebuilding the Bipartisan Defense Project, convening members of Congress around national security and defense issues. She also served on the defense policy team for the Marco Rubio 2016 presidential campaign.
Dr. Kidder was a doctoral candidate in Security Studies at Kansas State University, where she concentrated on congressional-executive relations and the formation of U.S. foreign policy. She earned her M.A. in Security Studies from Kansas State University, where she concentrated on U.S. Foreign policy and quantitative methodology. Her master’s thesis focused on the institutional professionalization of the U.S. Army. Ms. Kidder also holds a B.S. In History with a concentration in military history from Kansas State University.
Soo Kim
Soo Kim is a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct instructor at American University. Her research interests include the Korean Peninsula, Russia, Indo-Pacific strategy, near-peer competition, decisionmaking, propaganda, and the intelligence community. She served as an analyst in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and also worked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A native Korean speaker, Kim is a contributor to the Nikkei Asian Review and the Lowy Institute's The Interpreter, and has published articles in The Hill, The Diplomat, The National Interest, National Review, and other publications. She comments frequently on Korean Peninsula and East Asia issues in international media, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, CNN, PBS, Bloomberg, Voice of America, BBC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Handelsblatt, Chosun Ilbo, and Donga Ilbo.
Kim earned a B.A. in French from Yale University and an M.A. in international relations/strategic studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Kate Klonick, JD, PhD
Kate Klonick joined the Law School faculty in 2018. She teaches Property, Internet Law, and a seminar on information privacy. Klonick's research centers on law and technology, using cognitive and social psychology as a framework. That has led to study in the areas of decision making, intellectual property, property, communications torts, norms, shaming, and governance. It has also led to interest in robotics, artificial intelligence, and Internet law. Most recently she has been studying and writing about private Internet platforms and how they govern online speech.
Klonick's work has appeared in The Harvard Law Review, The Georgetown Law Journal, the peer-reviewed Copyright Journal of the U.S.A., The Maryland Law Review; and is forthcoming in The Southern California Law Review and Yale Law Journal. Her research on networked technologies' effect on social norm enforcement, freedom of expression, and private governance has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Lawfare, Slate, Vox and numerous other publications.
Professor Klonick holds an A.B. with honors from Brown University where she studied both modern American History and cognitive neuroscience, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where she was a Senior Editor on the Georgetown Law Journal, and a Ph.D. in Law from Yale Law School where she was also a resident fellow at the Information Society Project. She clerked for Hon. Eric N. Vitaliano of the Eastern District of New York and Hon. Richard C. Wesley of the Second Circuit. She is an affiliated fellow at the Yale Law School Information Society Project where she is spending the Fall of 2019 while on research leave to write on the topics of platform governance and oversight.
Sallie Krawcheck
Sallie Krawcheck’s professional mission is to help women reach their financial and professional goals (or, put more bluntly, to get more money into the hands of women), thus enabling them to live better lives and unleashing a positive ripple effect for our families, our communities and our economy. To that end, Krawcheck is the Chair of the Ellevate Network, a 135K-strong global professional women’s network; she is also the CEO and co-founder of Ellevest, a digital-first, mission-driven investment platform for women; she is Chair of the Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Leadership Fund, a fund that invests in the top-rated companies for advancing women; and she is the best-selling author of “Own It: The Power of Women at Work.” Read more about how women support each other at work through Ellevate Squads.
Before launching Ellevest, Krawcheck built a successful career on Wall Street: She was the CEO of Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, US Trust, the Citi Private Bank, and Sanford C. Bernstein. She was also Chief Financial Officer for Citigroup. Prior to that, Krawcheck was a top-ranked research analyst covering the securities industry.
Krawcheck, one of few executives to find success in large complex companies and as a startup CEO, is widely recognized as one of the most influential women in business. She has been recognized by Inc. as a "Top Female Founder", called "The Last Honest Analyst" by Fortune magazine, was named the seventh most powerful woman in the world by Forbes, was # 9 on Fast Company's list of the "100 Most Creative People in Business," called one of the top 10 up and coming entrepreneurs to watch by Entrepreneur Magazine and has landed on Vanity Fair’s “The 2018 New Establishment List.”
Krawcheck received a BA summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School. She has two children and two cats.
Amb. Barbara Leaf
Barbara A. Leaf, the U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2014-2018, is the Ruth and Sid Lapidus Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Beth and David Geduld Program on Arab Politics. During her diplomatic career, Ambassador Leaf served in high-level positions at Foggy Bottom and abroad. Before arriving in Abu Dhabi in 2014, she served as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Arabian Peninsula in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and as deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq; directed the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team in Basrah, Iraq; and served as the department’s first director of the Office of Iranian Affairs. In addition, she had postings in Rome, Sarajevo, Paris, Cairo, Tunis, Jerusalem, and Port-au-Prince.
Ambassador Leaf departed government as a member of the Senior Foreign Service and has received numerous Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor Awards throughout her career. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, she holds a master's degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. She speaks Arabic, French, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian.
Steve Leonard
Steve Leonard serves as the Director of Assessments for the University of Kansas School of Business, where he is an award-winning faculty member and chairs graduate programs in Organizational Leadership and Supply Chain Management. A former senior military strategist and the creative force behind the defense microblog, Doctrine Man!!, he is a career writer and speaker with a passion for developing and mentoring the next generation of thought leaders. He is a senior fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point; the co-founder of the national security blog, Divergent Options, and the podcast, The Smell of Victory; co-founder and board member of the Military Writers Guild; and a member of the editorial review board of the Arthur D. Simons Center’s Interagency Journal. Published extensively, his writing focuses on issues of foreign policy, national security, strategy and planning, leadership and leader development, and, occasionally, fiction. An alumnus of the School of Advanced Military Studies, he led the interagency team that authored the U.S. Army’s first stability operations doctrine, spearheaded the reintroduction of operational art into capstone doctrine, and wrote the guiding principles for the Army Design Methodology. He is the author, co-author, or editor of five books, numerous professional articles, countless blog posts, and is a prolific military cartoonist.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Idaho in 1987 and his master’s degree in systems management from Murray State University in 1990. He began his Army career as a logistics officer, later specializing in strategic planning and policy. He served in a variety of command and staff positions during his time in uniform, including assignments in the Unites States, Europe, Korea, and the Middle East. He served two combat tours with the 101st Airborne Division, and another with the staff of the US Embassy-Iraq, where he was the principal military assistant to the Deputy National Security Advisor of the Government of Iraq, and the senior advisor to the commanding general of Iraq’s National Defense University.
Amy Levine
Amy Levine is a Senior Intelligence Analyst with a decade of experience in the Department of Defense. Currently focused on global terrorism issues, Amy has worked at US Central Command, supported the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Office of the Secretary of Defense, and deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan. She received her MA in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University, and completed her BA in International Relations at Boston University.
Reta Jo Lewis, JD
Reta Jo Lewis is GMF’s director of congressional affairs. Lewis draws on her immense experience and GMF’s resources and European networks to connect Congress and GMF. She joined GMF in January 2015 as a senior fellow with Leadership Programs, where she focuses on leadership development, outreach, programming, and thought pieces on global engagement strategies to strengthen the next generation of transatlantic leaders. Since beginning her tenure, GMF has been very active in engaging Congress through its Transatlantic Congressional Staff Salon Series, briefings on Capitol Hill, study tours, testimony from GMF experts, and engagement with European parliamentarians. Lewis has also worked with TLI to develop the Transatlantic Subnational Diplomacy Initiative (TSDI) to enhance diplomacy at the state and local levels.
Previously, she served as the State Department’s first-ever special representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, under secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry from 2010-13. Lewis led the office charged with building strategic peer-to-peer relationships between the U.S. Department of State, U.S. state and local officials, and their foreign counterparts. In her post, she served as the State Department’s lead interlocutor in negotiating and executing the first historic agreements to solidify subnational cooperation and engagement efforts with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries and with targeted countries in the European Union. She was the principal architect that led the global engagement of U.S. state and local government leaders’ integration into and strategy regarding sustainability and climate change to RIO+20, COP-16, COP-17 and COP-18. In 2013, she was awarded the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award.
Prior to the State Department, Lewis served in senior positions in the public and private sectors, including political appointments in the Clinton administration. She was the director for business outreach for the Obama-Biden Transition Team. She served as the vice president and counselor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and director of the Chamber’s effort focused on small business and outreach to women and minority-owned businesses. Lewis was the special assistant to the president for political affairs in the Clinton White House from 1993-95 and the director of the Northeast and Southern Regions. During her career, Lewis was the administration’s key point person in organizing the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 1996 Olympics and Paralympic games in Atlanta, and the 1998 African Leaders Summit and G-8 Summit in Denver. Lewis also organized Nelson Mandela’s 8-city U.S. Tour in 1990. She was of counsel at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP prior to joining the Obama Administration, and a 2014 mayoral candidate in Washington, DC.
Lewis holds a bachelor’s in political science from University of Georgia, a master’s from American University, and a JD from Emory University School of Law.
Alexandria Maloney
Alexandria J. Maloney is an organizational capacity and communications strategist with a background in foreign affairs and educational policy on a mission to increase the number of minorities involved in international affairs. She most recently served as a fellow with the White House Initiative for HBCUs and currently serves as the Director of Communications for the Black Professionals in International Affairs. This year, she has been a featured guest speaker at the IAPSS / UN75 consultation, UN Youth SDG Summit, G20 Civil Society Summit, and others discussing inclusive governance practices and the eradication of structural racism as a key factor in achieving the sustainable development goals. She also is the founder of “The World is Watching BLM” an all-volunteer global coalition in support of the global Black Lives Matter movement providing resources to BLM organizers abroad, strategizing diaspora efforts with African leaders, and amplifying the international BLM movement. Their petition to the United Nations of the international community in support of the BLM movement was signed by over 2,000 members of the international community.
She is the mind behind the 2020 BPIAChats Leadership Series, where international affairs professionals share insights for the up-and-coming generations and organizer of the 2020 BPIA Diversity in International Affairs Virtual Conference and Career Fair that brought over 500+ attendees, 17+ recruiters/exhibitors, 8 expert panels, and keynote speakers Congresswoman Karen Bass and Amb. Andrew Young (the first Black Ambassador to the UN and former Mayor of Atlanta).
She received her MPA from Cornell University, MA in International Studies from Morgan State University, and BA in International Affairs from John Cabot University in Rome, Italy. Her research centered on systems thinking, organization design, national security policy, and diversity & inclusion policy. She was announced as a Forbes Under 30 Scholar in 2019 and currently serves on the Advisory Council for the Congressional Black Caucus Institute's (CBCI) Special Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Shaila Manyam
Shaila Manyam is a Senior Vice-President and leads international public affairs at Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW). In her role, she advises clients ranging from global organizations to national governments/world leaders and foreign companies on strategic communications, political risk mitigation, trade and tariff issues including CFIUS and FIRRMA, reputation management, crisis communications and thought leadership/stakeholder strategy. She joined BCW’s Washington, D.C. office following a 12-year career as a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State focusing on Haiti, the Middle East (including Iraq, Syria and regional counterterrorism), Washington, D.C. and the United Nations.
The recipient of multiple awards for service, including five Superior Honor Awards from the State Department, Shaila served as a spokesperson on behalf of U.S. embassies and missions and the President’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. She has advised Cabinet-level national security officials, journalists and Members of Congress on Middle East bilateral and regional security and political strategy, economic policy, multilateral diplomacy, public diplomacy and media, refugees and migration issues. She has also represented the United States at UNESCO for communications, press freedom and technology issues, served as the Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Political Affairs on International Organizations/UN issues, and was deployed to Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, receiving recognition from the Smithsonian Institution for her work supporting post-disaster cultural heritage recovery. Prior to joining the State Department, Shaila was a Partner and Global Communications Director at Ogilvy, focusing on strategic communications, youth marketing and interactive media.
Shaila was born in Canada and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. She graduated from Smith College with honors, double-majoring in Economics and Government, and received a Masters’ of Science from the London School of Economics. Shaila speaks six languages, including French, Arabic and Spanish. She is a member of the Global Leadership Council at the Meridian International Center.
Lexi Marten
Lexi Marten is currently a Senior Consultant for National Security Strategy at Guidehouse where she works with the Intelligence Community on innovative solutions to strategy implementation. Before joining the Guidehouse team, Lexi was a Policy Advisor in the Office of Response and Recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where she advised key FEMA leaders on the federal government’s response to COVID-19 and prepared the agency for a record-breaking hurricane season. Prior to her role at FEMA, Lexi served in the Secretary’s Office at DHS as the Director of the Secretary’s Action Group. In this role, Lexi managed a team dedicated to advancing strategic initiatives for multiple Secretaries during their tenure. Before DHS, Lexi worked on budget development and execution, at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for nearly $250 billion in federal programs across seven government agencies. Lexi also served on the House Homeland Security Committee where she co-authored “Terror Gone Viral: 100+ ISIS Plots Against the West” and developed legislation focused on counterterrorism and intelligence, aviation security, and emergency response.
Kylie Mason
Kylie Mason is a mid-career professional in #NatSecGirlSquad working in the place between technology, strategic policy, and management. With degrees from California Polytechnic State University, American University School of International Service, and MIT Sloan School of Management—Kylie applies concepts to the real world. Her experience ranges from DoD Acquisition, Joint Staff resource strategy, to national cyber policy, and now cyber management. Never settling, Kylie keeps informed on future technologies, space policy paradigms, and the NDAA when she’s not teaching yoga sculpt classes, planning galas, or training her cat to make cocktails in her free time.
LT Jack McCain
Jack McCain Graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2009 with a degree in International Relations. After graduation he reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola for Aviation Preflight Indoctrination, following on to Vance Air Force Base for primary flight training in the T-6A. After Vance, he selected rotary wing aviation, and completed his advanced flight training at Whiting Field. He was then assigned to the Fleet Replacement Squadron, HSC-3, at Naval Air Station Coronado to fly the MH-60S. After graduating from the FRS, then LTJG McCain reported to HSC-25, the Island Knights, at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. While assigned there he deployed to the Western Pacific, Persian Gulf, Brunei, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere, aboard the USS ESSEX, USS STENNIS, USS BONHOMME RICHARD, and USS DENVER. While not deployed LT McCain participated in numerous search and rescue operations, including three lifesaving rescues. After completing three years at HSC-25, he took assignment to the United States Naval Academy, as a senior instructor in the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program. While there he taught the introductory leadership course to first-year Midshipmen, and developed his own curriculum in the form of Naval Leadership Traditions Retrospective, combining the study of history and leadership. While teaching, he also completed his Master’s degree in Security Studies from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and published his first book. LT McCain then volunteered for a combat assignment, requesting the Afpak Hands program. After nearly a year of intensive training in Afghan history, politics, basic combat skills, Dari language, and the UH-60A Blackhawk transition course, he deployed to Kandahar Airfield. Throughout his year in Afghanistan as an Air Advisor, he flew alongside his Afghan counterparts in the UH-60A, teaching advanced combat skills, tactics, and mission flying, throughout Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Helmand provinces, and assisted in developing the first tactical standard operating procedures for the Afghan Blackhawk. As an Afghan Hand, he acted as the link between the Afghan military and U.S. military, advising on cultural, political, and military issues. He then returned to the United States, to take a position with American Airlines as a Director for State and Local Government Affairs out of their Phoenix hub.
Lt. Gen. Theodore D. Martin
Lieutenant General Theodore D. Martin assumed duties as Deputy Commanding General/Chief of Staff, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, March 5, 2018.
The Martin family’s military heritage harkens back more than ten generations to 1776 when Private Daniel Martin enlisted in the 1st New Jersey Infantry Regiment and fought the British during the American Revolution, including service at Valley Forge. Lieutenant General Martin graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1983 and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Armor. His military education includes the Armor Officer Basic Course (Cavalry Track), the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, the Naval College of Command and Staff, and the Army War College. He holds a Master’s Degree in National Security & Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College, and a Master’s Degree in Business from Webster University.
His command experience includes Commander, C Company, 2d Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, Federal Republic of Germany; Commander, 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers), 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq; Commander, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq; Commander, Operations Group (COG), National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California; Commandant & 45th Chief of Armor, U.S. Army Armor School, Fort Benning, Georgia; the 73rd Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York; the Commanding General National Training Center & Fort Irwin, California; and the Commanding General 2d Infantry Division (Combined), Republic of Korea.
Beyond command, Lieutenant General Martin has served in a wide variety of staff and leadership assignments including duty in the 1st Armor Training Brigade, Fort Knox, Kentucky; the Combined Arms Command-Training, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Advisor to the Imam Mohammed bin Saud Brigade and later the Prince Sa’ad bin Abdul Rahman Brigade, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Deputy Chief of Staff, G3, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq; Joint Improvised Explosive Device-Defeat Task Force as the Iraq Field Team Leader, Baghdad, Iraq; and Human Resources Command, Alexandria, Virginia, as Armor Branch Chief and Chief of Combat Arms Division.
Meghan McGee
Meghan McGee is a recent graduate from Georgetown's Security Studies Program with a concentration in International Security. During her studies, she was awarded a research grant to go to Berlin and study Germany's national security policies. McGee was a reporter for the Georgetown Security Studies Review interviewing faculty and covering events in the DC area. McGee would like to utilize her communications background and passion for national security to make better informed policymakers, stakeholders, and citizens.
Emily Mendrala
Emily Mendrala is the Executive Director of CDA where she promotes U.S. policies toward the Americas based on engagement and mutual respect through advocacy, educational travel, and strategic communications. Before joining CDA, Emily was a Director in the Legislative Affairs Directorate at President Obama’s National Security Council where she advised the National Security Advisor on legislative matters pertaining to Latin America, Europe, Asia, Russia, nuclear nonproliferation, and multilateral affairs. She worked on Cuba and Central America policy at the Department of State and, before that, served as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, advising Chairman Kerry on Latin America, global women’s issues, foreign assistance, and trafficking in persons.
Emily has an M.A. in International Economics with a concentration in Latin American Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and three children.
Jamie Jones Miller
Jamie Jones Miller joined The Roosevelt Group in January 2020 as a Senior Advisor. She most recently served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Defense where she advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on legislative strategy and developed and executed the congressional engagement strategy. Jamie previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for House Affairs. In these roles, she managed relationships with members of Congress and key congressional staff, the military departments as well as the White House, National Security Council and federal departments and agencies in support of DOD priorities. Jamie was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service for her contributions to DoD from 2017-2020.
Jamie has thirteen years of Capitol Hill experience including service as Chief of Staff to Congressman Robert J. Wittman (VA-01) and Legislative Director for Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04), two senior members of the House Armed Services Committee. She began her career in government relations as a Legislative Assistant at Hollings and Associates, LLC in Columbia, S.C. and as an Associate at Capital Partnerships, a Virginia-based consulting firm. Jamie received a B.A. from James Madison University (JMU) in International Affairs in 1999, a certificate in National Security Studies from National Defense University (NDU) and is a graduate of the fall 2018 PINNACLE course at NDU. Jamie is past president of the JMU Alumni Association and volunteers on several boards and councils for JMU and Alpha Sigma Tau National Sorority.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, PhD
Cynthia Miller-Idriss is Professor of in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education, and runs the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) in the Center for University Excellence (CUE). Before her move into the School of Public Affairs in fall 2020, she was Professor of Education and Sociology at American University. In addition to her primary faculty appointments, Dr. Miller-Idriss is an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Justice, Law and Criminology in the School of Public Affairs. She is also Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the U.K.-based Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right and serves on the international advisory board of the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) in Oslo, Norway. She has spent two decades researching radical and extreme youth culture in Europe and the U.S., most recently through a focus on how clothing, style and symbols act as a gateway into white supremacist extremism. Dr. Miller-Idriss has testified before the U.S. Congress and frequently serves as a keynote speaker and expert panelist on trends in white supremacist extremism to global academic and policy communities as well as staff and representatives in U.S. and international government agencies and embassies. Dr. Miller-Idriss is the author, co-author, or co-editor of six academic books, including Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right, forthcoming from Princeton University Press in fall 2020. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Miller-Idriss writes frequently for the mainstream press on youth radicalization, white supremacist extremism, and education, with recent by-lines at CNN Style, The Guardian, Le Monde, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, and Fortune. Dr. Miller-Idriss appears regularly in the U.S. and European print and broadcast media as an expert source and political commentator, including recent appearances on NBC Evening News, MSNBC, BBC World News, Deutsche Welle, Sky News, France 24, and more. Prior to her arrival at American University in August 2013, Dr. Miller-Idriss served on the faculty of New York University for a decade, and also taught previously at the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Sociology and German Area Studies from Cornell University.
Sarah Mineiro
Sarah Mineiro currently works at Anduril Industries where she is responsible for space and missile strategy and business development. Sarah has worked within the national security and defense sector for over 15 years. Previously, Sarah was the Staff Lead for the Strategic Forces Subcommittee for the House Armed Service Committee (HASC). She led the Subcommittee’s legislative and oversight activities of all Department of Defense and Military Intelligence Program space programs, U.S. nuclear weapons, missile defense, directed energy, and hypersonic systems. Sarah was the senior legislative advisor to Ranking Member Mac Thornberry on all strategic forces issues. In this role she was the primary drafter and negotiator of the Space Force and Space Command legislation for the House Republicans.
Prior to joining the HASC, Sarah served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSDP) in Nuclear and Missile Defense, Koreas, Brazil, and Space Policy offices. At OSDP she was responsible for the development and implementation of several international strategies, negotiation of international agreements, as well as planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of Defense of Defense programs.
She previously served in the Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs (SAF/IA) as an international affairs specialist. At SAF/IA she was responsible for the development and implementation of the Air Force’s international engagement strategy for space. She drafted and negotiated over 100 international agreements to facilitate cooperative RDT&E efforts, foreign military sales, foreign disclosure cases with partners and allies.
Sarah started her career as an intelligence analyst for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Dayton, Ohio. She was the lead employment analyst on foreign counterspace systems including space situational awareness sensors, directed energy, and kinetic kill vehicle systems.
Sarah holds a Masters in Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
She is happily married to the best space lawyer in the United States, Dr. Michael Mineiro, and together they have two wonder-filled and wonderful children. In her spare time she paints, reads comic books, and plucks a guitar.
Katrina Mulligan, JD
Katrina Mulligan is the managing director for National Security and International Policy at American Progress, where she supports the team’s work on global security at a critical time for the United States. Previously, she served as an attorney adviser and director for preparedness and response in the National Security Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she represented the department on a wide range of National Security Council (NSC) policy committees. In this role, she provided legal and policy advice on a broad range of national policies, including on foreign influence and election interference, immigration and watchlisting, preparedness and response, and efforts related to biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. She also contributed on a number of national strategies and operational plans, including the 2017 National Security Strategy.
Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Mulligan served on the NSC staff as the director for disclosures response, where she developed messaging, strategy, and policy in response to unauthorized disclosures of classified information. She also served in several roles within the office of the director of national intelligence, including as associate director for strategic communications initiatives, special adviser for detainee affairs, and chief of the mission management group. In these roles, she was responsible for developing and implementing intelligence community media and internal communications strategies; managing the development and delivery of intelligence community policy related to rendition, detention, interrogation, and Guantanamo; and scoping and executing interagency projects to better integrate the intelligence community and realign resources to optimize for strategic warning. She also served as the assistant to the director of the National Counterterrorism Center during the response to Benghazi and the Boston Marathon bombings.
Prior to joining the federal civil service in 2009, Mulligan practiced law at DLA Piper in Washington, D.C. Her practice focused on civil litigation and regulatory matters and, most interestingly, she represented the government of Peru in their case against Yale University over the return of the Machu Picchu artifacts.
Mulligan started her career as the deputy finance director for Barack Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign and later managed the traveling press corps on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Her first job out of college was as a paralegal at the law firm of Miner, Barnhill, and Galland, where she supported Obama.
Mulligan received her bachelor’s degree in law, letters, and society from the University of Chicago and her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.
Lois Nicholson
Lois has over 25 years of experience leading teams in UK MOD and industry in the design of complex military systems. In her early career, Lois worked in the private sector, leading cross-industrial, multi-national systems engineering teams, followed by similar roles in government service.
In July 2018, Lois was posted to the British Embassy Washington DC in the role of Counsellor Defence Acquisition and Technology. Lois leads a team responsible for working with the US in the areas of defence acquisition and trade, research and technology and future capability development. She is responsible for the cost-effective acquisition and delivery of a portfolio of $13bn UK Foreign Military Sales programme and Direct Commercial Sales with the US; as well as delivering prosperity objectives by supporting specific UK export campaigns, seeking opportunities for UK companies to access US Defence markets. Building on opportunities offered by UK's inclusion in the trusted US National Technology Industrial Base (NTIB), Lois partners with US, Australia and Canada governments to seek ways of building resilience in the industrial base in each nation, including improving access to advanced technologies. On behalf of the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser, she is responsible for the UK/US bilateral science and technology co-operation and the development of future and new collaborative opportunities, and is responsible as the UK deputy for delivering the strategic intent of the 5 Eyes TTCP S&T collaboration.
Lois is passionate about supporting the development of others, especially women. Before her posting to the US, Lois led the Senior Civil Service Unit Ambassador Scheme, which successfully delivered on its aim to promote more visibility and engagement of the senior civilian leadership with the wider civil service community across Defence. She also was an active ambassador herself - for HMNB Devonport, where she led and supported the civilian workforce, including apprentices, STEM group and the Devonport leadership cadre. In addition to her long-standing commitment to Women in Defence UK, since her arrival in Washington DC, Lois has supported the Embassy women's network, built relationships with the Women in Defense US network, encouraging and supporting British Embassy staff to become involved.
In 2013, Lois achieved professional accreditation as a Chartered Manager (Fellow of Chartered Manager Institute), becoming one of the first in the MOD to achieve this professional qualification and recognition. In August 2019, Lois graduated as an Allied Fellow from the US CAPSTONE senior leadership programme.
Sasha Cohen O’Connell, PhD
Sasha Cohen O’Connell is an Executive in Residence in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology, School of Public Affairs, American University where she currently teaches cyber policy at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Additionally, she serves as the Director of the Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy Master’s program at American. O'Connell's career in public service includes time in academia and the executive branch. She has spent the majority of her career at the FBI where she served most recently as the organization's Chief Policy Advisory, Science and Technology and as the Section Chief of Office of National Policy for the FBI's Deputy Director where she led policy engagement with the National Security Council on a wide breadth of issues. Among other roles, O'Connell ran the FBI's Strategy Management Office where she led implementation of the Balanced Scorecard for the FBI's Director and served as Chief of the Executive Staff for the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division where she led strategic planning, performance evaluation, training, and communications for the Bureau’s criminal programs. During her time at the FBI O'Connell focused her energy on enhancing strategic, risk-based decision making; driving cross-programmatic strategic initiatives; building partnerships across government and private sector; and driving strategic communications and outreach to enhance the public's understanding of the role of federal law enforcement. O'Connell is a founding board member of #NatSecGirlSquad.
Joy Olson
Joy Olson is a consultant working with a wide range of NGOs and foundations, bringing her more than 20 years of experience running human rights advocacy NGOs to helping organizations work through problems, manage change, and create and carryout multi-sectorial advocacy strategies. She is a leading expert on human rights and US policy toward Latin America.
As Executive Director of WOLA (the Washington Office on Latin America) from 2003-2016, she pioneered new approaches to advocacy in the areas of drug policy, youth gang violence prevention, and human rights and organized crime. She rebuilt this storied organization, leading it through a financial crisis building cutting edge communications capacity, and doubling the budget by dramatically changing its fundraising structure to rebalance foundation and non-foundation income.
Ms. Olson testified before Congress seven times on Latin America policy issues ranging from human rights in Mexico to drug policy to the problems of poverty and inequality in the region.
Her many accomplishments include, developing and monitoring human rights conditionality in US assistance toward Latin America, leading NGO efforts to increase U.S. funding for and Central American peace accords implementation and a successful advocacy effort to lift the ban on food and medicine sales to Cuba. In the 1980s she worked on immigration and refugees’ issues, and developed legislation to suspend the deportation of Salvadoran refugees from the United States.
Prior to joining WOLA, Ms. Olson directed the Latin America Working Group (LAWG), a coalition of sixty non-governmental organizations working to promote peaceful and just U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America.
Ms. Olson earned a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, following two years’ work in community development in Honduras.
Alka Patel, JD
Alka Patel is serving as the Head of #AIEthics Policy for the Department of Defense (DoD) Joint AI Center (JAIC). In this role, she is leading the efforts on Responsible AI. She brings over 20+ years of experience working at the intersection of technology, business and law.
Most recently Patel was the inaugural Executive Director of the #Digital Transformation and #Innovation Center sponsored by PwC (an industry/academic partnership) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to leading the start-up of the $13 million Center including developing and executing Center strategy and operations, she managed the industry sponsor’s relationship as well as managed over 25 research projects (from project scoping through delivery) with interdisciplinary faculty teams in the area of #artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cybersecurity/privacy.
Prior to that, she was Managing Director and Senior Counsel at Bank of New York Mellon where she was responsible for risk management, national and international contract negotiations, streamlining the RFP/procurement process and developing a legal strategy for a business line effort in the healthcare space, with a focus on privacy and cybersecurity. Prior to her role at Bank of New York Mellon, Patel, a registered patent attorney, worked in private practice where she represented start-ups, universities, and Fortune 500 companies to protect and address their #technology and intellectual property needs, including working on M&A transactions, negotiating licensing/software development/joint venture agreements and performing #IP audits.
Patel has been recognized for her professional and personal contributions locally and nationally. She has served on a number of non-profit boards advocating for gender and racial diversity, social impact, and has held leadership positions in professional organizations.
Fabiana Perera, PhD
Dr. Fabiana Sofia Perera is an Assistant Professor at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. Prior to joining the Perry Center, Fabiana was a Rosenthal Fellow at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary for Policy, Western Hemisphere Affairs. Fabiana has experience working in the public and private sectors. She worked as a research associate at Mitsubishi International Corporation focusing on Latin America and the energy and infrastructure sectors. She also has experience serving at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Fabiana holds an MA in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University and earned a PhD in Political Science from The George Washington University. For her doctorate, Fabiana completed fieldwork in Venezuela and Ecuador. Fabiana has presented her research at the annual meetings of the American Political Science Association and the Latin American Studies Association. Her research and analysis have appeared in numerous publications including The Washington Post, CNN.com, and War on the Rocks. Her research has been supported by numerous organizations including Columbia University's Women in Energy program and George Washington University's Center for International Business Education.
Karina Perez
Karina Perez is the Manager for Unmanned and Emerging Aviation Technologies. In this role she works with AIA’s members regarding Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Urban Mobility and Spectrum among other areas, and works to find industry consensus on complex issues facing the aviation industry.
Before joining AIA, Karina was a public policy intern with the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Economic development where she focused on aerospace and STEM initiatives for women and the economic impact of the Los Angeles Airforce Base. In addition to her work at AIA, Karina serves as deputy manager for SGx Satellite under the NGO Space Generation Advisory Council. Karina joined SGAC in April of 2017 while completing an internship with the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Outside of the aerospace industry, Karina has hosted over 16 panels and talks throughout Southern California on pop culture, politics and diversity.
Karina holds a B.A. in Political Science, Public Policy and Management from California State University, Northridge.
Victoria Piccoli
Victoria Piccoli serves as the Chief of Multimedia at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In this role, she leads ODNI branding efforts and corporate-level photography, video production, and web support. Prior to this position, Victoria provided public affairs and communications support to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. Victoria enlisted into the Army National Guard in 2012 and was commissioned into the Navy Reserve as a Public Affairs Officer in 2019. She graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor degree in Multimedia and Cinema Production and from George Washington University with a master degree in Media and Strategic Communications. She specializes in leading social media, multimedia creation, digital content strategy, and storytelling.
Alina Polyakova, PhD
Dr. Alina Polyakova is President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington DC. Previously, she was the Founding Director of Global Democracy and Emerging Technology and Fellow in the Foreign Policy program's Center on the United States and Europe. She specializes in European politics, far-right populism and nationalism, and Russian foreign policy. Polyakova's recent book, "The Dark Side of European Integration" (ibidem-Verlag and Columbia University Press, 2015) examines the rise of far-right political parties in Western and Eastern Europe.
Prior to joining Brookings, she served as director of research and senior fellow for Europe and Eurasia at the Atlantic Council. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Swiss National Science Foundation senior research fellow. Polyakova's writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The American Interest, as well as a number of academic journals and media outlets. She has also been a fellow at the Fulbright Foundation, Eurasia Foundation, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), and a Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Bern.
Polyakova holds a doctorate and master's in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor's in economics and sociology with highest honors from Emory University. She speaks Russian and German.
Lt. Gen. Laura A. Potter
Lieutenant General Laura Potter earned her commission in the Military Intelligence Corps in 1989. She is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Russian and Spanish. She holds a Master’s Degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies and a Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
Lieutenant General Potter’s assignments include: Assistant S-2, 19th Support Command, Taegu, Republic of Korea; Division G-2 staff officer in 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry); Low Level Voice Intercept Platoon Leader in direct support of 2d Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry); Signals Intelligence Officer, Company Commander, and Battalion S-3, 704th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Meade, Maryland; V Corps Collection Manager; Battalion S-3, 302d Military Intelligence Battalion and Brigade Deputy Commander, 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, Heidelberg and Wiesbaden, Germany; Joint Staff J-2 Intelligence Planner and Executive Assistant to the Joint Staff J-2; Commander 743d Military Intelligence Battalion, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado; Military Assistant, then Executive Officer to the 20th Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Pete Geren. In 2010, she returned to Europe to command Allied Command Counterintelligence, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, then served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence G-2,
U.S. Army Europe and the J-2, U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. Her most recent assignment was the Commanding General of the United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence and Fort Huachuca. She assumed duties as the 47th Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2 for the United States Army on September 14, 2020.
Her deployments include United Nations Military Observer in Abkhazia, Republic of Georgia; 302d Military Intelligence Battalion S-3, then Deputy Commander, 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); and Commander, Theater Intelligence Group, Combined Joint Task Force 435, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Afghanistan.
Lieutenant General Potter’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Legion of Merit (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Bronze Star Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army and Joint Staff Identification Badges, the Parachutist Badge, and the Estonian Ministry of Defense, Cross of Merit, 3rd Class.
Lieutenant General Potter is married to Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Randy Potter. They have two sons.
Ashley Pratt
Ashley Pratt is a pre-sales consultant at Sayari, a beneficial ownership and financial intelligence platform based in D.C. Previously, she conducted English- and Spanish-language open-source public records research. She received her master’s degree in International Relations from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, where she wrote a dissertation applying the principles of just war, particularly jus ad bellum, to insurgencies. Ashley previously graduated with honors from Arkansas State University. Her research interests include insurgency, post-structuralism, just war theory, and gender-based analysis of international relations. Ashley developed a unified progressive foreign policy platform as a participant in Foreign Policy Generation (FPGen.org). She also produces and hosts the Women in Foreign Policy podcast.
Erika Pugh
Erika Pugh is approaching her 10th year in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which comes as a bit of a shock, considering her path prior to her FBI journey.
Erika, began her collegiate studies at Marymount University, studying Fashion Design and Marketing and later switching over to a dual major in Psychology and Education. She went on to pursue a teaching career in a performing arts school. While teaching dance at various studios throughout the DC Metropolitan Area, she worked part time in Baltimore and NY as an actress /model.
While pregnant with her first daughter, Erika received a job offer with the FBI as an HR Specialist and nervously took the chance to begin a new career.
Coming in as an entry level HR Specialist in the Staffing Unit, she was able to grow and progress to a Supervisory HR Specialist and then requested to act in a Unit Chief capacity. After about 5-6 months in this role, Erika was pulled to the HR front office to create and spearhead a program which would later be called Customer Engagement. There, she was able to widen her scope and understanding of Bureau operations and field office challenges and with the help of a stellar team, bring about major change and enhancements to various field partners. In this role, she was asked to present and brief on various topics, most notably, a briefing to countless government executives at the White House Executive Building regarding innovative hiring processes and practices through customer partnership.
After two years leading Customer Engagement, Erika was named Special Assistant to the AD of the Strategic Realignment Program Management Office (SR PMO) in the Director’s Office where she currently plays an integral role in the Huntsville relocation project.
Nicholas Rasmussen
Nicholas Rasmussen is currently the executive director of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). Before joining GIFCT in 2020, Rasmussen was the senior director for the National Security & Counterterrorism program at the McCain Institute. He is a national security professional with over 27 years in U.S. government service, including in senior counterterrorism posts at the White House and in the U.S. Intelligence Community from 2001 to 2017. He concluded his government career as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), leading more than 1,000 professionals from across the Intelligence Community, federal government and federal contractor workforce.
Rasmussen served in senior posts across three administrations, including as special assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council staff under Presidents Bush and Obama before being appointed director of NCTC by President Obama and continuing his tenure at the request of President Trump’s administration. From 1991-2001, he served in policy positions at the Department of State, focused on the Middle East.
He holds appointments as distinguished professor of practice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University; as visiting professor of practice at the School of Law, University of Texas at Austin; as distinguished visiting fellow at the National Security College of Australia National University; and as non-resident fellow at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law.
Rasmussen holds a B.A. degree from Wesleyan University and an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Megan Reiss, PhD
Megan Reiss is the National Security Policy Advisor at the Office of Senator Mitt Romney. She previously was a senior national security fellow with the R Street Institute, where she wrote about cybersecurity and other pressing national security issues.
Megan joined R Street in September 2017 from Office of U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., for whom she was also a senior national security fellow. Before that, she was co-manager of the William P. Clements Jr. Papers Project, a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin’s Clements Center for National Security and its Briscoe Center for American History.
Earlier in her career, she was a research associate at the Hoover Institution working on preemptive and preventive force issues.
Megan has a bachelor’s degree in human biology from Stanford University; an LLM in international criminal justice and armed conflict from the University of Nottingham School of Law; and a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
A South Dakota native, she lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Dani Reyes
Dani Reyes is the Content Fellow at Unicorn Strategies/#NatSecGirlSquad and a Counterterrorism Analyst Intern at The Counterterrorism Group. She is an accelerated Master's student at New York University studying International Relations and US Foreign Policy to prepare for a career in the Intelligence Community. In May, Dani graduated as the Class of 2020 Salutatorian from NYU, where she majored in Global Liberal Studies with a concentration in Politics, Rights, and Development and minored in Political Science and Spanish. Her senior thesis analyzed the role of anti-corruption populist rhetoric in the 2016 presidential campaigns in the Philippines and the United States.
Dani has produced research on realist grand strategy, Russian intelligence services, and the balance of power between China and Russia in Central Asia. She also won the Distinguished Delegate Award representing the United States at the 2020 International Model NATO Conference. Dani’s current research explores the national security implications of deepfakes, DPRK foreign and domestic policy, and the al-Nusra Front in Syria. Her master’s thesis will comparatively analyze Chinese and Russian cyber-enabled information operations targeted at the United States.
As an avid globetrotter, Dani has studied, worked, and lived in New York City, Washington, D.C., Berlin, Shanghai, Madrid, and Manila. She loves to learn languages and hopes to apply her Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and Tagalog skills to her career. As a full-time college student, Dani worked at NYU Law for over two years, most recently at the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the Center for Cybersecurity. She also interned at the International Action Network on Small Arms and the migration studies institute at Comillas Pontifical University.
Lindsay Rodman, JD
Lindsay L. Rodman is the Executive Director of LCWINS. She began her career as an associate at Arnold & Porter LLP. She then joined the Marine Corps and served as a judge advocate for eight years on active duty in various assignments including deployment to Afghanistan, serving as Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and selection as a White House Fellow, placed at the National Security Council.
After transitioning into the Reserves, Lindsay became a political appointee in the Pentagon, serving first as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness and then as the Senior Advisor, International Humanitarian Policy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
Prior to joining LCWINS, Lindsay was selected as the Council on Foreign Relations' inaugural International Affairs Fellow in Canada, where she lived for two years, and then served as Executive Vice President for Communications and Legal Strategy at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Lindsay remains an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the Kennedy School, and Duke University.
John Saad
John Saad is a partner and national security sector leader, working in the areas of organizational transformation, operations redesign and complex claims analysis. At Guidehouse he leads our National Security Sector, which encompasses our work across the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Department of State and the Intelligence Community.
Prior to joining Guidehouse, John was with PwC for 22 years where he supported both private and public sector clients on a range of matters in both PwC’s Forensics Practice and its Public Sector Practice.
He serves as the Chairman of the Board of directors for the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council as well as a Board Member for the American Red Cross NCR. John is a Senior Fellow at the Virginia Tech Hume Center for National Security and Technology. Additionally, John is an adjunct professor of business administration at the George Washington University.
Algene Sajery
Ms. Algene T. Sajery is founder and CEO of Catalyst Global Strategies, LLC. Ms. Sajery is a seasoned foreign policy and national security policy strategist with over 20 years of legislative and political affairs experience in the U.S. Congress, as well as the corporate and nonprofit sectors. At Catalyst, Ms.Sajery forges strategic partnerships between nongovernmental organizations, businesses, governments, and private donors in the U.S. and the developing world. Together, she and her clients are ‘catalysts for good’ who develop and execute government relations and public affairs strategies to improve global health, foster economic development, promote human and civil rights, and solve complex global security challenges. Ms. Sajery also helps organizations and businesses thrive by showing them how to effectively navigate government, from Washington, to Geneva, to Accra.
Prior to launching Catalyst, Ms. Sajery was senior foreign policy and national security advisor to U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (MD) from 2012 to 2020. From 2015-2018, Sajery concurrently served as democratic policy director of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SFRC). A highly effective legislative strategist and coalition builder, Ms. Sajery has drafted or negotiated several landmark human rights, national security and foreign policy laws. Prior to the Senate, Ms. Sajery held several leadership roles in the House of Representatives, including as Democratic Staff Director of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, and Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY). During her tenure in the House, Ms. Sajery co-founded the Congressional African Staff Association and served as a staff lead on several congressional caucuses and task forces, including the HIV/AIDS Caucus and the CBC’s Foreign Policy and National Security Task Force. She began her career on Capitol Hill in 2002 in the office of the late Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI).
As the first woman of color to serve in a senior leadership role of SFRC, Ms. Sajery is dedicated to increasing woman and minority representation in national policymaking. She recently launched The Minority Leaders, a podcast highlighting the journeys of women of color change makers in Washington. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS), is a mentorship member of Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security, and is a member of Black Women’s Congressional Alliance and Black Professionals in International Affairs. Ms. Sajery is a co-founder of the Curated Consulting Collab and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. She is also in the 2020-2021 cohort of the National Security Scholars and Practitioners Program (NSSPP). Ms. Sajery holds bachelor’s degrees in English and African American Studies from Howard University and completed graduate studies in Global Security at John Hopkins University.
Nilanthi Samaranayake
Nilanthi Samaranayake directs the Strategy and Policy Analysis Program. Since joining CNA in 2010, she has led several studies on Indian Ocean and South Asia security. Recently Samaranayake has worked on U.S.-India naval cooperation, water resource competition in the Brahmaputra River basin, and Sri Lankan foreign policy. She also has conducted research on the navies of Bangladesh and Pakistan, the Maldives Coast Guard, security threats in the Bay of Bengal, and relations between smaller South Asian countries and China, India and the United States.
Prior to joining CNA, Samaranayake completed a fellowship at the National Bureau of Asian Research, where she investigated Sri Lanka's deepening ties with China. Her findings were published in the journal Asian Security. She also analyzed public opinion for a decade at the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.
Samaranayake holds an M.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She received her B.A. in International Studies from American University.
Amanda Schoch
Ms. Amanda J. Schoch was selected as the first Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Strategic Communications (ADNI/SC) for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in July 2018. As ADNI/SC she is responsible for setting the strategic vision for U.S. Intelligence communications and engagement efforts and advancing a focused, consistent, and effective message for the ODNI and the broader Intelligence Community with both internal and external customers and stakeholders.
Most recently, Ms. Schoch served on a joint duty assignment at the National Security Agency (NSA) where she worked with agency leadership to develop and implement a new organizational model. In this role she led strategic communication efforts, designed initiatives to improve the effectiveness of the agency, and incorporated private sector best practices into leadership development and change management activities. Following the transformation, she stood up NSA’s new Directorate of Operations Communications Organization, implementing a new shared services model and developing communication campaigns and engagement plans that advanced operational initiatives and activities. Upon her return to the ODNI, Ms Schoch served as a core member of the ODNI Transformation Team responsible for developing ODNI initiatives, processes and structures that enable the ODNI to address the IC’s most difficult challenges.
In October 2008 Ms. Schoch joined the ODNI in the Office of Legislative Affairs where she developed and directed a comprehensive legislative strategy for the ODNI. She later led the redesign of the IC Joint Duty Program, as Chief of the IC Joint Duty Program, expanding the scope and purpose for the IC’s integrated human capital program.
Kori Schake, PhD
Dr. Kori Schake is the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Before joining AEI, Dr. Schake was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. She has also taught at Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland.
Dr. Schake is the author of five books, among them “America vs the West: Can the Liberal World Order Be Preserved?” (Penguin Random House Australia, Lowy Institute, 2018); “Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony” (Harvard University Press, 2017); “State of Disrepair: Fixing the Culture and Practices of the State Department” (Hoover Institution Press, 2012); and “Managing American Hegemony: Essays on Power in a Time of Dominance” (Hoover Institution Press, 2009).
She is also the co editor, along with former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, of “Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military” (Hoover Institution Press, 2016).
Dr. Schake has been widely published in policy journals and the popular press, including in CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, Politico, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and War on the Rocks.
Dr. Schake has a PhD and MA in government and politics from the University of Maryland, as well as an MPM from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Her BA in international relations is from Stanford University.
Kimberly Schneider
Kimberly Schneider is a senior leader with over twenty years of federal law enforcement experience. She was appointed Public Information Officer (PIO) for the U.S. Capitol Police (Washington, DC) in November 2005, and served as the PIO until February 2016. She served in this capacity through several ranks as a Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain.
She currently holds the rank of Inspector and serves as the Commander of the Dignitary Protection Division at the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, DC. Kimberly previously served as the Assistant Operational Commander for the House Division, with oversight of nearly 350 sworn federal law enforcement officers. She joined the United States Capitol Police in February 2000, and was initially assigned to the Senate Division until 2002, and then worked in the Command Center—a 24 hr. operations center for the U.S. Capitol Police. In March 2005, she was promoted to Sergeant and worked on the House Division in the Uniformed Services Bureau supervising front-line police officers, and in November 2005 was appointed PIO for the U.S. Capitol Police. Kimberly was promoted to Lieutenant in March 2012 and assigned to the First Responder Unit where she served as a Section Commander for the Capitol Division, until returning to the PIO in July 2013.
As the Public Information Officer, Kimberly served as the official spokesperson for the Department, reporting directly to the Chief of Police, serving five different Chiefs of Police over her career--and provided sound counsel and operational support to the Department with responsibility for managing all media liaison functions. She has organized and delivered hundreds of live press conferences before global media audiences, and has coordinated and conducted hundreds of interviews regarding routine and complex high profile, multi-agency incidents. Kimberly also served as the lead U.S. Capitol Police planner for the 2020 Republican and Democratic Conventions, and also as the subcommittee co-chair for such National Special Security Events (NSSE) such as Inaugurations, States of the Union, Joint Sessions of Congress, and the Historic Papal Visit.
Kimberly has authored numerous articles and served as the editor of the official Department journal, the 1828, and developed and taught “Law Enforcement/Media Relations” to U.S. Capitol Police Recruit Officers at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Cheltenham, Maryland. She has also been a guest speaker at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and at Georgetown University, and has been a guest lecturer at American University in Washington, DC.
Kimberly is originally from Brooklyn, New York and holds a TS clearance. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in the Administration of Criminal Justice with a concentration in Organizational Leadership from Mountain State University (Beckley, West Virginia). She also holds a Master’s of Science in Management from The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland). Inspector Schneider is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Session #270, and currently serves on the Board of the DC Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates as the 1st Vice President.
Loren DeJonge Schulman
Loren DeJonge Schulman is the Vice President for Research, Analysis, and Evaluation at the Partnership for Public Service and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Previously, she served as the Deputy Director of Studies and the Leon E. Panetta Senior Fellow. Her research interests include national security and defense reform, civil-military relations, and democratic accountability of use of force.
Ms. Schulman most recently served in government as the Senior Advisor to National Security Advisor Susan Rice. Before returning to the White House in 2013, she was Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and served as Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council staff from 2011–2012. Prior to that, she worked as a special assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, first supporting the Obama administration's transition in the Department of Defense and later advising on defense strategy and budget. She began her career in government as a Presidential Management Fellow.
Ms. Schulman is a co-host of the national security podcast “Bombshell,” produced by War on the Rocks where she is a senior editor. She serves as a lecturer at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, and is also an affiliate of Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. Her commentary and research have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, and The Atlantic. Raised in Texas, she received her Bachelor of Arts in political science and international studies from Trinity University and her Master in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota as a Distinguished Fellow for International Peace and Conflict Studies.
Outside CNAS, Loren DeJonge Schulman is providing exclusive advice on foreign policy and national security as an informal advisor to the Elizabeth Warren campaign.
Kristi Scott, JD
Kristi Scott is a member of the Senior Intelligence Service serving as the Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer at the Central Intelligence Agency. In this role, Ms. Scott serves as an independent, primary advisor to the CIA Director and other senior Agency officials to ensure that privacy and civil liberties are integrated into the day-to-day conduct of the Agency’s mission. In this capacity, Ms. Scott oversees the Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties which is charged with the oversight of protecting U.S. person information at CIA. Ms. Scott prepares privacy related reporting to the President, Congressional Oversight, and the American public.
Ms. Scott also served as the Acting Director and Deputy Director at the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties. During her long service at DOJ, Ms. Scott also was an Assistant United States Attorney and as Special Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting federal crimes in the District of Arizona and the Eastern District of Virginia. Ms. Scott was the principal author and editor of DOJ's widely used legal treatise titled, "Overview of the Privacy Act 1974."
Ms. Scott has experience as a professor, law clerk, and associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. She holds a privacy certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Pennsylvania State University of the Dickinson School of Law. Ms. Scott received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Rhetorical Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.
Ensign Yena Seo
Ensign Yena Seo, U.S. Navy, is an intelligence officer stationed in Washington, D.C., supporting Carrier Strike Group operations in the 5th, 6th, and 7th fleet areas of operation. Prior to commissioning, she worked as a Max Kampelman Fellow at the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and at the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), where she advocated for issues impacting military and veteran women. She earned her undergraduate degree from Ithaca College, where she studied Journalism and International Studies as a Park Scholar. She has interned previously at the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Orbital ATK, the U.S.-Korea Institute, and the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Her research covered a variety of topics, including North Korean human rights abuses and sanctions efficacy, defense authorization and budgeting, U.S. fast-attack submarine procurement, civil-military relations, and Asia-Pacific security. She is a proud first-generation immigrant after arriving in the U.S. with her family at five years old, and spends most of her free time giving back to the immigrant and Korean-American communities in the Washington, D.C. area.
Shivanjli Sharma
Shivanjli Sharma has worked as an aerospace research engineer across many disciplines at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley over the last several years. She has performed research and helped conduct studies in real time simulation environments for flight deck automation, operations, and procedures as well as air traffic controller focused simulations for terminal arrival operations. In addition, she has been involved in deploying software and hardware to facilities in the National Airspace System to enable efficiencies in integrated arrival, departure, and surface operations. More recently, she became the National Campaign Deputy Lead for the Advanced Air Mobility Project which is focused on enabling emerging aviation markets for passenger and cargo transportation in urban, suburban, rural, and regional environments. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of California at Davis.
Jumaina Siddiqui
Jumaina Siddiqui is a senior program officer for the Asia Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace. She joined USIP after three years with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) where she served as the program manager for Pakistan, working on programs focusing on political party development, election observation and reforms and increasing the participation of women and youth in the political process. Jumaina was also a US-Pakistan program fellow with the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council where her research focused on efforts by political actors on education reform in Pakistan and the relationship between donors, civil society, politicians and the government to move these reforms forward. Prior to joining NDI, she worked at Global Communities on a US Agency for International Development-funded project to increase stability in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan by providing improved livelihood and economic growth opportunities.
Jumaina holds over 12 years of experience in program management, research and analysis. Other key positions included serving as a program officer at American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative focusing on programs in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as thematic programs related to media legal defense and access to justice in Asia; a research associate at the Stimson Center where she examined non-traditional security issues in South Asia; and program coordinator of the Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University – SAIS, conducting research on international human trafficking and managing a training program on human trafficking in the United States. She holds BA in Political Science from American University and an MA from New York University, where her work focused on democracy promotion and the rule of law in the Muslim world, culminating in a thesis on rebuilding justice systems in post-conflict Afghanistan.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin
Representative Elissa Slotkin is honored to serve the residents of Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, a district that includes Ingham, Livingston, and North Oakland Counties.
Rep. Slotkin has spent her career in national service. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which took place during her first week of graduate school in New York City, Rep. Slotkin knew that national service would define her career. She was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to be a Middle East analyst and went on to devote her career to protecting the United States from national security threats. In her role at the CIA, Rep. Slotkin worked alongside the U.S. military during three tours in Iraq as a militia expert. In between her tours in Iraq, Rep. Slotkin held various defense and intelligence positions under President Bush and President Obama, including roles at the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In 2011, Rep. Slotkin took a senior position at the Pentagon and, until January 2017, she served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In this role, Rep. Slotkin oversaw policy on Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at the Pentagon and participated in negotiations on some of the country’s most pressing national security issues.
It is this same mission-focus that Rep. Slotkin brings to issues affecting citizens of Michigan’s 8th congressional district. For Rep. Slotkin, this means ensuring that everyone has access to healthcare they can afford, lowering the price of prescription drugs, protecting access to clean water and Michigan’s Great Lakes, and returning decency and integrity to politics. Rep. Slotkin’s background in national security contributes to the urgency and passion she brings to increasing government integrity and accountability and passing campaign finance reform. To learn more about Rep. Slotkin’s legislative priorities, click here.
A third-generation Michigander, Rep. Slotkin spent her early life on her family farm in Holly, Michigan. The generations of Slotkins before her worked in the family business, Hygrade Foods, which was headquartered in Detroit and produced iconic foods loved by Michiganders, like the Ballpark Frank first sold at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. The values that made the family business successful instilled in Rep. Slotkin an enduring commitment to integrity, decency, and hard work that guided her to a career of service. The Slotkin family business is well represented in Rep. Slotkin’s office, with hot dog figurines and artwork proudly displayed. Rep. Slotkin attended Cornell University (BA) and Columbia University in the City of New York (MA).
Rep. Slotkin’s home is her family farm in Holly. Rep. Slotkin’s husband, Dave, is a retired Army colonel who served for 30 years as an Apache helicopter pilot. Her two stepdaughters have pursued their own lives of service, one as a physician and the other as a new Army officer.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger
U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger is proud to represent Virginia's 7th Congressional District, which is comprised of ten counties throughout Central Virginia.
Representative Spanberger began her career in public service, first serving as a federal agent with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigating money laundering and narcotics cases, and then serving as a case officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As a CIA officer, she worked at home and abroad to collect vital intelligence, keep our country safe, and work in furtherance of our national security priorities. In the private sector, Representative Spanberger worked with colleges and universities to help them diversify their student bodies and increase graduation rates.
Representative Spanberger serves on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture and the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. On the House Agriculture Committee, she serves as Chair of the Conservation & Forestry Subcommittee and as a member of the Commodity Exchanges, Energy, & Credit Subcommittee. And on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Spanberger serves as Vice-Chair of the Europe, Eurasia, Energy, & the Environment Subcommittee and as a member of the Asia, the Pacific, & Nonproliferation Subcommittee.
Representative Spanberger grew up in Henrico County. She earned her B.A. at the University of Virginia and her MBA at a dual degree program between Purdue University’s Krannert School and the GISMA Business School in Hanover, Germany. Representative Spanberger resides in Glen Allen, Henrico County, Virginia with her husband, Adam, and their three children.
Corin Stone, JD
Corin R. Stone is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Washington College of Law. She is conducting research, developing programming, and contributing to TLS courses. She is on leave from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where until August, 2020, she served as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy & Engagement. In 2005, Ms. Stone helped stand-up the ODNI and has served in a number of key leadership roles, including as the first Principal Deputy General Counsel from 2005-2010. Ms. Stone also served on joint duty assignment as the Executive Director for the National Security Agency (NSA) from 2014-2017, working directly with NSA’s Director and Deputy Director. Ms. Stone began her career in federal service as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Keeton, District Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She then joined the U.S. Department of State, where she was an attorney-adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser and served for eight months in Iraq, first as an Associate General Counsel in the Coalition Provisional Authority, and then as the first Legal Adviser to Ambassador Negroponte and the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Prior to her federal service, Ms. Stone practiced commercial litigation at Pepper Hamilton, LLP, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also previously worked for The Hague Conference on Private International Law. She is a Pitt Law (JD '98) and Johns Hopkins University ('94) alumna.
Shelly O’Neill Stoneman
Shelly O’Neill Stoneman is the Vice President for Executive Branch and International Government Relations for BAE Systems, Inc. and its businesses, which collectively employ approximately 33,800 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and Israel, and generated 2018 revenues of $10.8 billion. She is the company’s primary liaison to the Executive Branch, including the Pentagon, State Department, Intelligence Community, and the White House. She also supports the company covering foreign military sales and direct commercial sales through engagement with the U.S. government and foreign embassies.
Ms. Stoneman has a distinguished career of nearly 15 years of public service in a variety of government and non-profit roles. Prior to joining BAE Systems in 2013, she served as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and White House Liaison for Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates, Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel, advising them on a variety of sensitive matters, including the nearly 300 presidential appointments at the Pentagon.
From 2009 until 2011, Ms. Stoneman worked in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, where she served as Special Assistant to the President and was responsible for the defense and national security legislative portfolio. She worked closely with the White House, National Security Council, Department of Defense, and Congress on a variety of policy issues, including the defense budget, acquisition reform, the repeal of the “Don't Ask Don't Tell” policy, detention policy reform, efforts to enhance cyber security, and all key presidential national security priorities.
From 2003 to 2009, she worked for Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ), serving as both his Deputy Chief of Staff and managing his Appropriations Committee responsibilities. Earlier, she worked as a research consultant in Macedonia and Montenegro for the Small Arms Survey. She also worked for the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services focusing on arms control and missile defense.
Ms. Stoneman earned her Bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and has a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, as well as a Master of Arts in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma’s Program in Europe. She serves on the Board of Directors for both the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore and Food for Others; additionally, she is a member of Advisory Council to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). She is married to Jason Stoneman and they live with their two children in Arlington, VA.
Kathy Suber
Kathy Suber began working for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in January of 2019 and serves as the Staff Director for the Intelligence Modernization and Readiness Subcommittee. She previously served in the Intelligence Community (IC) as an Intelligence Officer for over two decades. Ms. Suber has held oversight positions in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Office of Management and Budget. Most of her IC career was spent with the Central Intelligence Agency. Her subject matter expertise disciplines are strategic planning and programmatic management in the hard target operations, covert action, and counterintelligence realms. Ms. Suber received her undergraduate degree in accounting from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She and her husband of 32 years have one son and reside in Maryland.
Payton Tanner
Payton Tanner is the Director of Admissions for the Security Studies Program. She leads all admissions activities for the program including meeting with prospective students, representing the program at graduate fairs, and more. Before taking over the Director of Admissions role, she served as SSP's Assistant Director of Admissions and Alumni Engagement for more than two years.
Payton holds a B.A. in Integrated Communications and MLA in Leadership & Ethic from Spring Hill College, the nation’s third oldest Jesuit institution. Prior to Georgetown, Payton worked for three years in undergraduate admissions at Spring Hill, where she spent her last year as Assistant Director of Admissions. She is currently pursuing her MPS in Higher Education Administration at Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies.
Teresa Thomas
Teresa Thomas MITRE’s Program Lead for Neurodiverse Talent Enablement. She has a long history of advocacy for neurodiverse populations. She has been a house parent in a group home for developmentally disabled adults, is now a parent of an adult on the autism spectrum and is active in the MITRE Corporation's Inclusion and Diversity programs.
Teresa is designing and leading the MITRE Federal Neurodiversity Cyber Workforce Program as well as spearheading MITRE's efforts to pilot a neurodiversity co-op program focused on providing opportunities for autistic university students in cybersecurity roles.
Brigadier General (Ret.) Paula Thornhill, PhD
Paula Thornhill is Associate Director of the Strategic Studies program at Johns Hopkins SAIS and Associate Professor of the Practice. Prior to joining the school she was a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE.
Thornhill retired from the US Air Force as a brigadier general in 2009. Her last assignment was as the commandant of the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (2006-09). Just prior to her time as commandant, Thornhill served as the principal director for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In addition, she has commanded at the group level, taught at the Air Force Academy and been assigned to the Air Staff, the Joint Staff, US Strategic Command, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Thornhill served as the dean of Faculty and Academic Programs at the National War College and as special assistant to the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B. Myers, USAF. She has a BS in history from the US Air Force Academy, an MS in strategic studies from the National War College, an MA in history from Stanford University, and a DPhil in history from Oxford University. Thornhill is also an adjunct senior political scientist at the RAND corporation.
Katherine Tobin
Katherine Tobin is the Director of Research and Strategy at TM. Previously, Katherine Tobin served as the Director of Lateral Innovation at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for two years. In this role, she helped amplify and connect innovative efforts across the Intelligence Community, as well as leads design sprints to support IC-wide challenges. Prior to this role, she spent over four years at the CIA as a manager of emerging technology and design projects to support the Directorate of Analysis. She has also competed at multiple triathlon world championships as part of Team USA.
Jim Townsend
James J. Townsend Jr. (Jim) is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he is the co-host of the podcast “Brussels Sprouts”, a weekly interview program featuring leaders in the transatlantic security community. He is also a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. Jim was elected the President of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) in July, 2020.
On January 20th 2017, Jim completed eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for European and NATO Policy, capping 35 years of working in defense and foreign policy, mostly on European and NATO issues. His work spanned the Cold War, post-Cold War political reconstruction in Europe and Europe's new challenges including Russia and terrorism. Through his work, he has helped execute US military engagement in almost every conflict from the Gulf War to the reintroduction of US forces into Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also played critical roles in NATO enlargement, NATO reform, and helping to build bilateral defense relations with the new European democracies coming from the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Before becoming DASD in 2009, Jim was a Vice President of the Atlantic Council and Director of the Council’s Program on International Security (now the Scowcroft Center). In this position, he strengthened the Council’s voice and impact on transatlantic security and defense issues, making the Atlantic Council a leading player in shaping the Euro-Atlantic defense agenda.
Jim joined the Atlantic Council in 2006 after a distinguished Civil Service career at the Pentagon and at NATO. In the 1990s, Jim was the Principal Director of European and NATO Policy (2003-2006), the Director of NATO Policy (2002-2003) and the Director of the Defense Plans Division at the US Mission to NATO (1998-2002).
In the 1980s, Jim worked in Foreign Military Sales at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) as a Country Director for European security assistance and as the assistant to the DSCA Comptroller, where he worked on most of the financial aspects involved in foreign military sales. Jim's early career also included work in the Department of State, in the Office of Congressman Charles E. Bennett and in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA).
In 1986, Jim received a direct commission in the U.S. Navy Reserve (intelligence) leaving the Reserves as a Lieutenant Commander.
Jim has been decorated by 11 European nations and multiple times by the Department of Defense for his work, including a Presidential Rank Award (Meritorious Executive).
He was an adjunct professor of international studies at American University and SciencesPo in Paris and has lectured overseas and in the US at the War Colleges, National Defense University, at the Foreign Service Institute and at think tanks. He has also provided commentary in the international press on TV, radio and in newspapers.
Mr. Townsend grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and earned a B.A. from Duke University and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in International Economics and American Foreign Policy.
Olivia Troye
Olivia Troye is a risk management and national security executive with twenty years of government service and private sector experience, most recently serving as the Homeland Security, Counterterrorism, and White House Covid Task Force Advisor to Vice President Pence, where she focused on tracking imminent and evolving domestic and international security threats, natural disaster events, and managing complex policy decisions and responses to large scale crisis events facing the American people. Prior to this role, she served in the Office of Intelligence & Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security as Chief of Strategy, Policy & Plans. Olivia has also served on the leadership staffs in the Department of Defense, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of Energy, as well as in the private sector for organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and General Dynamics Information Technology. Fluent in Spanish and hailing from El Paso, Texas, she is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs, and the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
Rep. Lauren Underwood
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood serves Illinois’ 14th Congressional District and was sworn into the 116th U.S. Congress on January 3, 2019. Congresswoman Underwood is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. She is also the youngest African American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives.
Congresswoman Underwood serves on the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, and is the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation. Congresswoman Underwood co-founded and co-chairs the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which elevates the Black maternal health crisis within Congress and advances policy solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and end disparities. She also serves on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Rep. Underwood is a member of the Future Forum, a group of young Democratic Members of Congress committed to listening to and standing up for the next generation of Americans, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the LGBT Equality Caucus. As a strong supporter of addressing the gun violence epidemic, Congresswoman Underwood is a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
Prior to her election to Congress, Congresswoman Underwood worked with a Medicaid plan in Chicago to ensure that it provided high-quality, cost-efficient care. She served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), helping communities across the country prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters, bioterror threats, and public health emergencies. As a career public servant at HHS, she helped implement the Affordable Care Act — broadening access for those on Medicare, improving health care quality, and reforming private insurance. Congresswoman Underwood also taught future nurse practitioners through Georgetown University’s online master’s program. Congresswoman Underwood is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University. She graduated from Neuqua Valley High School and is a lifelong Girl Scout. She resides in Naperville, Illinois.
Jade Vasquez
Ms. Jade Vasquez is Catalyst’s Research and Communications Fellow. She is a public policy professional with 8 years of professional experience in the public and nonprofit sector. Jade received her B.A. in International Relations and Spanish at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and her M.A. in Global Policy at The University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) School of Public Affairs.
Jade is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served as a Youth Development Specialist in rural El Salvador from 2013 to 2015, during the height of the unaccompanied minor crisis. When Jade returned to her native hometown of the Bronx, New York, she worked as a Program and Research Associate for International Network for Public Schools, a nonprofit that designs and supports public high schools for recently arrived immigrants and English Language Learners. Jade’s experience in immigration, international development, and conflict issues inspired her to pursue a career in U.S. foreign policy and international security.
At The LBJ School, she completed the Clements Center for National Security’s Graduate Portfolio Program, served as the Co-Chair for the school’s Policy Alliance for Communities of Color, and was a Research Fellow for the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.
Jade aspires to use her research, writing, community outreach, and program management skills to advance policies and initiatives that will benefit marginalized communities in the United States and abroad.
Jodi Vittori, PhD
Dr. Jodi Vittori is an expert on the linkages of corruption, conflict and conflict finance, illicit financial flows, and national security. She is a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the US research and policy manager for Transparency International's Defense and Security program. She also teaches on corruption and governance at Georgetown University. Jodi has previously been a Senior Policy Adviser for Global Witness, where she managed educational and advocacy activities on linkages between corruption and national security. Prior to joining civil society, Jodi served in the U.S. Air Force, advancing to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; her overseas service included Afghanistan, Iraq, South Korea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, and she was assigned to NATO’s only counter-corruption task force. She is a co-founder and moderator of the Anti-Corruption Advocacy Network. She is the author of the book Terrorist Financing and Resourcing and a co-author of the report A Mutual Extortion Racket: The Military Industrial Complex and US Foreign Policy.
Anita Wadhwani
Anita Wadhwani currently works as a Senior Legislative Analyst for Redhorse Corporation at the Pentagon. She previously worked as a Senior Defense and Policy Analyst for EverWatch and supported the Defense Analysis and Partner Engagement Directorate within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Ms. Wadhwani’s experience stems from her previous role as an analyst for ten years within the Department of Defense, where she was awarded the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the NATO Medal. She also previously served as an India Country Director/Policy Advisor within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia under the OSD. Ms. Wadhwani received her Masters in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and her Bachelors in Journalism/Mass Communications from Point Park College, both in Pittsburgh. During her graduate studies, she was an intern at the Department of State specializing in White House foreign policy.
Outside of her career, Ms. Wadhwani spends time advocating for mental health awareness in the South Asian American community due to experiences within her own family. Her previous advocacy work includes being a guest speaker for a public health panel, a podcast interview, and published blog posts.
Rob Walker
Rob Walker is the Executive Director, Homeland Security Experts Group where he is leading efforts to elevate the conversations around risks and opportunities within the homeland security enterprise. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Aspen Security Forum and the Aspen Institute’s Homeland Security Program. Rob led the Forum for three years, gaining the highest rate of news coverage in the history of the Institute.
Walker retired from the United States Army after serving for over 20 years in various worldwide assignments and leadership roles. He was instrumental in the return of the U.S. Army’s presence in Eastern Europe – an effort to assure NATO allies and deter further westward aggression by Russia. A career Field Artillery Officer, his career was marked by assignments and roles in military-to-military relationship building and fostering of interoperability.
Walker has received numerous military awards including two Bronze Star Medals, the Valorous Unit Award, five Meritorious Service Medals, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with two stars, Korean Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and Joint Service Achievement Medal. He is also a holder of the prestigious U.S. Field Artillery Associations’ Order of St. Barbara.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a master’s degree in international relations from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the co-chair of the West Point Leadership and Ethics Conference in the Washington, DC area and sits on the advisory board of #NatSecGirlSquad, building competent diversity in national security and defense.
Phil Walter
Phil Walter is the founder of Divergent Options. Phil has served in the infantry, as an instructor for a private military contractor, and in intelligence, strategy, policy, and program analyst roles.
Lori Welch
Ms. Welch serves as the Chief of the Emerging Talent Division (ETD) for Human Capital at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In this position, Ms. Welch leads oversight and integration of outreach and recruiting initiatives and strategies for the IC, the program management of the IC Centers of Academic Excellence (IC CAE), and the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program (PRISP).
Ms. Welch has worked for the FBI for 16 years in a variety of leadership and program management positions in the Director’s Office, the Criminal Investigative Division, International Operations, Directorate of Intelligence, Leadership Development, Resource Planning Office and the Las Vegas Field Office. Some of the highlights of her career have been establishing the Domestic Security Alliance Council (DSAC), the foundation of the FBI’s Office of Private Sector (OPS); leading the Alliance Council (DSAC), the foundation of the FBI’s Office of Private Sector (OPS); leading the restructuring of the International Operations Division and overseas expansion plan; managing the Director’s Recue Admin Workload initiative and serving as the business owner to develop a more expeditious way to share timely intelligence with foreign law enforcement and intelligence partners.
From 2006 to 2008, Ms. Welch left public service to work as the Director for Security, Surveillance and Investigations and the Director of Compensation in Human Resources for Harrah’s Entertainment. Prior to the FBI, Ms. Welch served on Capitol Hill as a personal assistant for a United States Senator and managed the internship program. Ms. Welch also spent time in San Francisco working for a PR firm representing high profile clients including the Mayor’s Office and LucasFilms®.
Ms. Welch earned a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California. Ms. Welch also completed the Leading Change and Organizational Renewal Program at Harvard Business School. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and two young children.
Tamara Wittes, PhD
Dr. Tamara Cofman Wittes is a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, where she focuses on U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Wittes served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from November of 2009 to January 2012, coordinating U.S. policy on democracy and human rights in the Middle East during the Arab uprisings. Wittes is a co-host of Rational Security, a weekly podcast on foreign policy and national security issues. She is currently writing a book, Our SOBs, on the tangled history of America’s ties to autocratic allies.
Wittes joined Brookings in December of 2003. Previously, she served as a Middle East specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace and director of programs at the Middle East Institute in Washington. She has also taught courses in international relations and security studies at Georgetown University. Wittes was one of the first recipients of the Rabin-Peres Peace Award, established by President Bill Clinton in 1997.
Wittes is the author of "Freedom’s Unsteady March: America’s Role in Building Arab Democracy" (Brookings Institution Press, 2008) and the editor of "How Israelis and Palestinians Negotiate: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Oslo Peace Process" (USIP, 2005). She holds a bachelor's in Judaic and Near Eastern studies from Oberlin College, and a master's and doctorate in government from Georgetown University. She is a founder of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, and serves on the board of the National Democratic Institute. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Women in International Security.
Outside of Brookings, Tamara has participated at an event for the Biden campaign for President.
Elizabeth Wright
Ms. Elizabeth Wright currently works as a Program Delivery Specialist at the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD) at National Defense University (NDU). Additionally, she serves on the Girl Security Board of Advisors and is a member of the #NatSecGirlSquad Board.
Prior to joining CSWMD, Ms Wright worked for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). She is a former Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired (DACOR) Bacon House Foundation Fellow and Women In Defense (WID) Scholar. She also participated in the inaugural International Summer Institute on AI and Society and was a Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC) Public Policy Fellow.
Ms. Wright holds a Master's in Security Policy Studies from The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and a Bachelor's in Political Science from Southwestern University.
Jasmine Wyatt
Hailing from Akron, Ohio, Ms. Wyatt graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Government and South Asian Studies, specifically focused in International Relations and India, and a Spanish Foreign Language Citation. To complement her studies at Harvard, Ms. Wyatt studied abroad for a semester in Geneva, Switzerland, learning French and studying international relations and multilateral diplomacy. In the past, Ms. Wyatt has interned as a Congressional Page in the House of Representatives for former Representative Betty Sutton (OH 13th District), as a Communications Intern in the Mayor’s Office of Akron Ohio, as a research assistant in the Massachusetts State Senate, and as a volunteer in the National Children’s Hospital and National Cancer Institute of Lima, Peru. Ms. Wyatt wrote her senior thesis on women’s progressive laws, patriarchy, and legal contradictions in India and hopes to eventually obtain a joint Public Policy Master’s degree and J.D.
An aspiring Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Wyatt hopes to use diplomacy as her platform to advocate for human rights globally and pursue her passions of foreign policy, and minority and women’s rights. Her ultimate aspiration is to be a diplomatic voice for the voiceless as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. She currently serves as a Legislative Aide and Constituent Coffee Coordinator for the Democratic Whip Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Helen You
Gahyun Helen You is a Policy Fellow at Foreign Policy Analytics. Before joining Foreign Policy, she worked at UN Women where she helped manage a portfolio of over 45 companies and conducted partnership risk assessments for various UN agencies and regional offices. She was also the director and now policy advisor to the New York University (NYU) Cybersecurity Awareness Worldwide (CSAW) Policy Competition and supported the development of an international conference series on race, racism, and xenophobia which cumulated at the European Parliament in Brussels. Her research focuses on cybersecurity and international cyber governance as well as women's empowerment. She has additional experience in advocacy, government, academic, and nonprofit organizations. Helen is a graduate of NYU where she studied international relations and completed coursework at the NYU School of Law on international law and security.
Lauren Zabierek
Lauren Zabierek is the Executive Director of the Cyber Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. She comes to this role as a 2019 graduate of the Kennedy School's mid-career MPA program.
Lauren served as an intelligence officer in the United States Air Force at the beginning of her career. Later, as a civilian intelligence analyst with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) assigned to the Office of Counterterrorism, she completed three war zone deployments where she worked to identify and dismantle terror networks. Throughout her six years at NGA, she became a subject matter expert on Activity Based Intelligence (ABI) and served as an adjunct professor in ABI at the NGA college.
After leaving NGA, she joined the cybersecurity threat intelligence startup Recorded Future, and was instrumental in building its Public Sector business practice. In her role as a Senior Intelligence Analyst, she fused intelligence methodologies with cybersecurity and machine learning technologies to help public and private sector customers improve their cyber posture. She also managed a team of analysts and worked alongside the Product Management and Training teams to improve her customers' experience with the software.
A Gold Star Sister, Lauren is committed to supporting families of the fallen and has volunteered several times as a mentor with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). She also co-founded the Recorded Future Women's Mentorship Initiative, helped to start a women's initiative at NGA, and is a member of the NatSecGirlSquad.