Elizabeth Fitzsimmons

Ambassador (ret) Laura Kennedy served almost four decades as a U.S. career diplomat. She spent much of her career working in or on the former Soviet Union and served multiple assignments in Geneva and Vienna on multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation (conventional, nuclear and biological) as well as a number of temporary assignments in New York, including the 2010 and 2015 NPT Review Conferences and heading the U.S. delegations to the UN Committee on Disarmament. She retired in 2013 but was recalled to service in 2014 to head the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan and then the U.S. Mission in Vienna where she served as the U.S. Governor on the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency. She retired again in 2015.

Kennedy’s assignments included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus 2004-5, Ambassador to Turkmenistan 2001-3, Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva 2010-13 with concurrent service as U.S. Special Representative for Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention issues, Deputy Commandant of the National War College where she also taught for two years 2007-9, Charge d’Affaires in Armenia, and Deputy Political section chief in Moscow and Ankara. She is a member of the Leadership Council of Women in National Security (LCWINS) and the trilateral US-Germany-Russia Deep Cuts Commission. Kennedy has been a frequent press commentator and has lectured at various U.S. and international institutions including the Foreign Service Institute, the U.S. Army War College, the Army Command and General Staff College, universities and regional international affairs councils. She serves as an expert for the NewYork Times and Smithsonian Institution Silk Road travels to Central Asia. She has participated in a number of track two dialogues on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation and Asia. She is currently a member of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board.

After receiving her B.A. from Vassar College, Kennedy did graduate work at Stanford and American (M.A.) universities and is also a graduate of the Senior Seminar of the Department of State for which she later served as Dean.

Ambassador (ret.) Greta C. Holtz is the President and CEO of Amideast, a leading non-profit organization which works to provide live-changing educational and exchange programs in the Middle East and North Africa and for U.S. students and faculty. Ambassador Holtz served as a career diplomat with extensive experience in the Middle East and North Africa. She was the U.S. Ambassador to Oman from 2012 to 2015, the Chargé d’affaires in Qatar from 2020-2021, and the Minister-Counselor for Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2009 to 2010. Additional overseas postings included Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Tunisia, Syria, and Turkey, and her domestic assignments included serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

Ambassador Holtz’s broad experience encompasses a number of other positions, including as Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of the College of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University, and Senior U.S. Coordinator for Operations Allies Refuge (OAR) in Doha, Qatar.  Ambassador Holtz also served as the State Department’s Coordinator for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a Senior Watch Officer in the State Department’s Executive Secretariat’s Operations Center, a 24/7 crisis management and communications center, and the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commanding General of the U.S. Special Operations Command, providing strategic guidance for special operations missions worldwide.

Ambassador Holtz holds a BS in Political Science from Vanderbilt University, an MS in International Relations from the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, and an MS in National Security Studies from the National War College. She speaks French, Arabic, and Turkish, and is the recipient of numerous State Department awards, as well as awards from the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency. She is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a member of the Board of Advisors for Spirit of America, and a member of the Board of Directors for The Marshall Legacy Institute. Ambassador Holtz is a non-resident Distinguished Fellow at the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute and is a distinguished graduate of University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of International relations and Commerce.

Beth Roberts is a foreign policy, international trade, and development finance leader with nearly two decades of experience navigating complex geopolitical, regulatory, and investment environments to foster economic growth. In her current role as Senior Manager, Global Strategic Initiatives within Global Public Policy at General Motors, Beth focuses on advancing policies that bolster GM’s supply chain resilience efforts. She specializes in translating big-picture global dynamics into actionable strategies, detailed project management, and diplomatic advocacy to advance policy objectives and drive growth.

During the Biden Administration, Beth served as Vice President of the Office of Foreign Policy at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), where she launched and led a team of regional and sector policy experts focused on aligning DFC’s $50 billion global investment portfolio and business development strategy with U.S. foreign policy priorities. She served as the senior foreign policy advisor to DFC’s CEO, drove strategic diplomatic engagement, and helped integrate geopolitical risk and opportunity analysis across business lines.

Before joining DFC, Beth spent a decade at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), where she developed and managed infrastructure, energy, and agribusiness projects across Africa and South Asia. She also served as an advisor to MCC’s CEO, launched MCC’s Private Sector Advisory Council and led the Corporation’s first trade mission to Africa. Beth’s career began as a public affairs consultant at APCO, supporting domestic and global health care clients. Her service in the Peace Corps in Mali sparked her passion for working at the nexus global business, foreign policy, and sustainable development.

Beth is a graduate of Elon University and is a Truman National Security Project Security Fellow. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Jennifer Gavito joined The Cohen Group as a Senior Advisor in 2024 and co-leads the firm’s Middle East practice. A career Senior Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor, Ms. Gavito spent over 25 years at the intersection of international and economic policy in senior diplomatic positions in Washington and throughout the Middle East and Europe, on the staff of the National Security Council, and as a senior advisor to the Department of Defense.

Ms. Gavito served most recently as the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs where she coordinated policy recommendations for the Secretary of State and other senior US government leaders and oversaw the work of 22 diplomatic posts in 18 countries throughout the Middle East. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran. She concurrently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Press and Public Diplomacy, leading hundreds of staff in Washington and throughout the Middle East in strategic communications strategy and engagement. Prior to retiring from government service, Ms. Gavito was nominated by President Biden in January 2024 to serve as the US Ambassador to the State of Libya. Ms. Gavito has held a range of leadership roles at US embassies and consulates around the world. She was Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the US Embassy in London from 2018–2021, US Consul General to Bavaria from 2015–2018, and Political Counselor at US Consulate General Jerusalem from 2012–2015. Earlier assignments include, among others, Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Director for Strategy, Plans, and Programs (J-5) at the US Africa Command; Deputy Consul General at US Consulate General Dubai; Director for Syria and Lebanon at the National Security Council; Deputy Director for North Africa at the Department of State; and head of the Economic and Commercial Section at US Embassy Beirut.

Dr. Kimberly A. McClain is a global strategist, retired U.S. Air Force Reserve officer, and CEO of TMG Strategic Advisors, LLC, a boutique firm advising governments, corporations, and investors on geopolitical risk, public-private partnerships, and enterprise resilience. With more than three decades of service across the U.S. military, federal government, and private sector, she is recognized for bringing clarity and precision to high-stakes decisions.

A Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Dr. McClain led enterprise-wide strategy for a $79B federal budget, supported $1T in grants and $6T in securities, and secured $400M in reinvestments for underserved programs. At the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, she coauthored breakthrough legislation that delivered long-term health benefits to over 5M veterans. Earlier, as an Air Force executive, she directed policy and engagement for a $179B enterprise, improving operational performance and strengthening congressional relationships.

Her distinguished military career spanned 30 years, including senior advisory roles for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where she negotiated $2B in international defense partnerships and built enduring coalitions across 45+ countries. She also pioneered the first regional cybersecurity cooperation strategy for Latin America under U.S. Cyber Command.

The Honorable Robert M. Scher is a recognized expert in strategic planning, geopolitical risk assessment and mitigation, and government advocacy across the energy and defense sectors and on issues of international, national security, and US domestic politics. He has served in the public sector, worked in the private sector, and was appointed to a congressionally mandated commission by the Senate Majority Leader.

Bob was most recently the Vice President and Head of International Affairs for BP America. In this position he tracked and analyzed US foreign and national security policy as it affected BP’s businesses around the world.

Brandi Vann, PhD, is a globally experienced national security executive, currently serving as Director for Strategy at Draper and a member of the Board of Directors of 908 Devices. In these roles, she helps organizations strengthen their business and technical strategies and engage effectively with national security communities worldwide.

In July 2025, Dr. Vann concluded a distinguished career in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), where she most recently served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (ASD(NCB)) and as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs. In this capacity, she advised the senior Defense Department leadership on  management and execution of programs related to nuclear weapons, biological and chemical defense programs, chemical demilitarization, countering weapons of mass destruction, and treaty management. She also served as Staff Director of the Nuclear Weapons Council, leading efforts to assess and maintain the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, ensure sustainment and operations of deployed systems, and plan for modernization. Across her DoD tenure, Dr. Vann contributed to every phase of capability development, including policy, strategy, research and development, acquisition, and operations. Before serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense. She oversaw a multibillion-dollar portfolio spanning chemical and biological defense, counterproliferation, countering weapons of mass destruction, nuclear forensics, international cooperation, and business operations. Notably, she co-led the first-ever Biodefense Posture Review (BPR), which fundamentally reformed DoD policy, strategy, and execution of global biodefense operations. In 2023, President Biden awarded Dr. Vann the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for her transformative contributions to biodefense and her support of critical DoD initiatives.

Before joining the Department of Defense, Dr. Vann served as Director of Laboratories at Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation and was a visiting scientist at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Dr. Vann holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of South Carolina, where she specialized in analytical chemistry and applied statistics.

Amanda Simpson is an advisor and consultant on aerospace, energy, and DEI as the CEO of Third Segment LLC. She is a nationally renowned speaker and has presented at corporations, government agencies, civic organizations, conferences, and colleges around the country on technology and aerospace innovation as well as gender and diversity.

Formerly she was Vice President for Research and Technology and Head of Sustainability at Airbus Americas, responsible for  coordinating technology development, research activities, and innovation for Airbus in the western hemisphere. She was also the Head of Sustainability efforts for Airbus in the Americas and has been an outspoken advocate for future flight concepts and clean aviation.

Ms. Simpson joined Airbus following government assignments in the United States Department of Defense. She was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy, responsible for developing the strategy for the utilization of energy for military operational forces worldwide and was the senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all matters pertaining to energy in our military.

Jamie Jones Miller is the inaugural Dean and CEO of Northeastern University’s Arlington, VA campus, blending her passion for national security and developing the next generation of leaders. She most recently served as a Senior Advisor at The Roosevelt Group, a strategic advocacy and consulting firm, where she worked with a wide range of clients in the defense, security, and intelligence sectors.

Jamie’s 16 years of government service includes roles as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (SES III) and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (SES II) where she advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on legislative strategy and 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 is a 2018 graduate of National Defense University’s PINNACLE flag and general officer course and was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the Secretary of Defense in 2020.

Tracy Pakulniewicz is a senior national security and public affairs executive with more than two decades of experience advancing U.S. defense, homeland security, and international policy priorities across the Executive Branch, private sector, and nonprofit arenas. Her career has centered on strengthening alliances, supporting Service members and their families, and aligning communications, policy, and operational strategy to advance national and global security objectives.

Tracy recently served as the Senior Advisor in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, where she advised on policies impacting military readiness, recruiting, retention, the National Guard and Reserves, and family support — a portfolio valued at more than $8 billion. Her work included engagement with NATO Allies to advance shared approaches to recruitment and retention, including efforts to integrate and advance women across allied military forces. She has represented the United States in high-level discussions with NATO’s International Staff and Personnel Directors, contributing to alliance-wide strategies that strengthen the resilience and inclusivity of the modern force.

Anne Witkowsky previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations.

Previously, Witkowsky served as the Co-Director of the Task Force on U.S. Strategy to Support Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism, a partnership of Freedom House. From 2014-2016, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). She held policy responsibility for peacekeeping and stability operations; humanitarian assistance and disaster response; DoD support to the security of U.S. embassies; and international humanitarian law, rule of law and protection of human rights. Her office coordinated the DoD policy role in key Administration initiatives, such as the U.S. Ebola response, strengthening United Nations peace operations, and support to embassy security.

From 2009-2013, she served as the Deputy Coordinator for Homeland Security and Multilateral Affairs (DAS equivalent) in the Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT), U.S. Department of State, with responsibility for terrorist designations and sanctions; strengthening international transportation security; developing bilateral information sharing agreements; and building CT cooperation within multilateral organizations. In 2012-2013, she also served as the CT Bureau’s Acting Principal Deputy Coordinator.

Dani Schulkin is Director of the Democracy Initiative at Just Security at NYU School of Law. Schulkin formerly served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General and Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor at the White House. Her work spans national security, democratic governance, and administrative law.

Schulkin served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she coordinated national security policy and led on issues ranging from election security and foreign malign influence to international synthetic opioid trafficking. She was also Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor at the National Security Council (NSC), managing domestic crisis response, terrorism prevention, and other domestic security issues from the White House. She began her service in the Biden Administration with the Office of the Staff Secretary, working on the team charged with reviewing all presidential briefing memos and executive actions.

‍Schulkin has held roles at the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), the New York Attorney General’s Bureau of Internet and Technology, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. She began her legal career as a Legal Fellow at Just Security. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Yale Journal on Regulation, the University of Pennsylvania Regulatory Review, and Just Security, covering domestic terrorism, democratic governance, and national security. She holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law, where she received the Vanderbilt Medal and was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, and a B.A. from Harvard University, where she was Captain of the Harvard Women’s Swim and Dive Team.

Heather Hurlburt is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, analyzing, explaining and working to close the gap between the practice of international affairs and the realities of politics in the United States. From 2022-2024, she served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, overseeing strategy and management for the agency charged with carrying out President Biden’s worker-centered American trade policy. Previously, she founded and ran the New Models of Policy Change project at the think tank New America’s Political Reform program. Her work there explored the intersection of international affairs policy and domestic political polarization, on topics from trade and climate to political violence to nuclear security. She also made the project a hub for analysis and convening on diversity, gender and equity in international affairs.

Earlier in her career, she held senior positions in conflict prevention and international affairs advocacy, including at the International Crisis Group and Human Rights First. She was a speechwriter and member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning staff under Secretaries of State Albright and Christopher, and a Special Assistant and speechwriter to President Bill Clinton. She also worked on Capitol Hill and the US Delegation to the OSCE.  She served from 2022-2025 on the U.S. Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board. She is widely published, and from 2017-2020 was a regular columnist for New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer. She is a member of the board of the Scoville Peace Fellowship, a co-founder of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, and holds degrees from Brown and George Washington Universities.

Phyllis Wilson is a trailblazing leader, trusted advisor, and nationally recognized voice in purpose-driven leadership. As the 5th Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army Reserve – the first woman in any component of the U.S. Army to hold the highest warrant officer position – she shaped strategy, culture, and the future of the military. Today, she is the President of the Military Women’s Memorial located at Arlington National Cemetery, which is America’s only major national memorial honoring the more than 3 million women who have defended America, from the American Revolution to today. Phyllis also serves on multiple nonprofit boards and offers her expertise as a national speaker on leadership, security, and workforce transformation.

Lisa Curtis is Senior Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. She is a foreign policy and national security expert with over 20 years of service in the U.S. government, including at the NSC, CIA, State Department, and Capitol Hill. Her work has centered on U.S. policy toward the Indo-Pacific and South Asia, with a particular focus on Afghanistan, U.S.- India strategic relations, Quad (U.S., Australia, India, and Japan) cooperation, counterterrorism strategy in South and Central Asia, and China’s role in the region.

Curtis served as Deputy Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for South and Central Asia from 2017-2021 under three successive National Security Advisors. During her tenure at the NSC, she coordinated U.S. policy development and implementation of the South Asia Strategy approved by the President in 2017 and was the NSC representative at several rounds of the U.S.-Taliban negotiations held in 2019 and 2020. She was also a key contributor to the Indo-Pacific Strategic Framework approved by the President in 2018.

Sherri Goodman serves as Vice-Chair of the US Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board (ISAB). She is also the Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security (IMCCS), representing over 40 military and national security organizations addressing the security risks of a changing climate. She is credited with educating a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape the national discourse on the topic.

She is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program, as well as a Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate & Security.

Sherri chairs the Board of the Council on Strategic Risks and chairs the External Advisory Board on Energy and Homeland Security for Sandia National Laboratories. She is the Vice-Chair of the Board of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).

Carole House is a strategic technology executive who has spent her career focusing on leveraging innovative technologies to combat national security threats. She is the founder and CEO of a strategic technology and national security advisory practice, Penumbra Strategies, and serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Association for Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center.  Carole recently departed the White House National Security Council (NSC) as Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure. She previously served as the NSC Director for Cybersecurity and Secure Digital Innovation.  During her time at the White House, Carole architected two Executive Orders driving critical steps to promote innovation in cybersecurity, digital identity, artificial intelligence, and digital assets. Carole has held positions in the private sector as an Executive in Residence at Terranet Ventures, Inc., co-founder and interim COO for a stealth fintech startup, and served on advisory boards for three financial regulatory agencies and three non-profits.  She also has been recognized for her leadership in cyber and emerging tech initiatives, including the prestigious “Fed100” award and AFFIRM’s “Leadership in Crisis” award, in addition to various publications across the Atlantic Council, Bloomberg, the Small Wars Journal, and the Military Review.  Carole’s prior government experience includes service as a U.S. Army Captain as well as positions leading emerging tech, cybersecurity, and national security initiatives across the White House, Senate Homeland Security Committee, and the U.S. Treasury.

Jeannette Gaudry Haynie, PhD, is a security and conflict scholar, retired Marine Corps officer and combat veteran, and former government senior executive leader. A New Orleans native and U.S. Naval Academy graduate, she is a Cobra attack helicopter pilot by trade who has served both within and outside the government in a wide range of leadership roles. Within the government, she has served on active duty, as a reservist, and in a civilian executive leadership role at the Department of Defense; outside of government, she has served as a principal research scientist, nonprofit executive, and adjunct professor.

Dr. Haynie served on active duty as a Cobra pilot and instructor before transitioning into the reserves and beginning graduate school. While serving on the Joint Staff and in the Marine Corps Commandant’s think tank, she earned her MA in Political Science from the University of New Orleans and her PhD in International Relations from The George Washington University. She retired after 22 years of combined active and reserve service in the Marine corps.

Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez is president and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue. She is formerly a senior fellow in the Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program. She is a member of the Truman Center for National Policy Board of Directors, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS) Steering Committee, the Princeton University Institute for Regional and International Studies Advisory Board, and the Foreign Policy for America Advisory Board.

Dr. Chavez served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2013 until 2016 where she prioritized Women, Peace, and Security initiatives, combatting the militarization of law enforcement, and expanding defense institution building programs. Her areas of focus included shaping Defense Department contributions to President Obama’s Central America Strategy, moving the U.S.- Mexico relationship beyond the narrow counternarcotics focus, supporting the Colombian peace process, resetting defense relations with Argentina and Brazil, and establishing a productive dialogue with Cuba on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

Leah Nodvin is the Director of Government and External Affairs at the BMW Group, where she supports U.S. – European relations and covers the federal sustainability portfolio. Previously, Leah served as the Chief of Staff for the Bureau of Europe and Eurasia at USAID. Prior to joining USAID, she worked on Capitol Hill and most recently served as the Staff Director for the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Europe, working on behalf of Congressman Bill Keating of Massachusetts. During her time on Capitol Hill, Leah also served as a Professional Staff Member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Europe as well as a Foreign Affairs Legislative Assistant for a Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Prior to her time in Washington, Leah completed a research Fellowship with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna, Austria. Leah holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University as well as master’s degrees from the University College’s London School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Leah is currently completing a master’s degree in Defense and Strategic Studies at the Naval War College. Leah grew up in New Hampshire and speaks basic French, intermediate Russian, fluent German and is a native English speaker.

Nicholas Rasmussen was the Executive Director at Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). Previously, he was the Senior Director for National Security and Counterterrorism Programs at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. Rasmussen is a national security professional with over twenty-seven 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.

Susan Hennessey is a Counsel in WilmerHale’s Defense, National Security, and Government Contracts practice group. In private practice, she focuses on national security, technology and defense-related matters. Previously, Ms. Hennessey served as Chief Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and Chief of Staff of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

In 2022, Ms. Hennessey served as the Director of National Intelligence’s representative on the Senior Steering Group examining the relationship between the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command. She began her legal career as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the NSA.

Before joining the Justice Department, Ms. Hennessey was a Senior Fellow of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, where she published influential legal and policy analysis on topics including surveillance law, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies and served as Executive Editor of Lawfare. As a Brookings scholar, she provided nonpartisan expert advice, briefings, and testimony to Congress, senior government officials, non-governmental organizations, business leaders, and other stakeholders.

Tressa Steffen Guenov is Director for Programs and Operations & Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Security Studies at the Atlantic Council. She previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (ISA), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSDP). In that role she supported the Assistant Secretary of Defense/ISA in a range of policy, leadership, management, and advisory capacities for the offices of African Affairs; European and NATO Policy; the Middle East; and Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.

Previously, Tressa was Senior Adviser to Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks, where she supported the Deputy on a variety of strategy development and stakeholder engagement efforts. Tressa also served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (Acting) and PDASD for Legislative Affairs from 2015-2017. In her government career she also served in the State Department as a Presidential Management Fellow, as a special assistant to USDP and the Principal Deputy USDP, and as a country director for Central Asia issues.

John B. Bellinger III is a partner and co-chair of the Global Law & Public Policy Practice at Arnold & Porter. He is also Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Bellinger served as The Legal Adviser for the U.S. Department of State under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2005 to 2009. He previously managed Secretary Rice’s Senate confirmation and co-directed her State Department transition team. He received the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award in January 2009.

Mr. Bellinger served from 2001 to 2005 as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House. He previously served as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department during the Clinton Administration (1997-2001), Special Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1996), and Special Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster (1988-1991).

Jen Daskal is a Partner at Venable LLP. She is a national security legal and policy expert, with years of experience managing crisis, mitigating risk, and working at the intersection of technology, policy and law. From October 2023 to January 2025, Daskal served as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the White House. Before that, she was the Principal Deputy Legal Advisor at the National Security Council and served as Acting General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, where she oversaw over 3,000 attorneys, including the Department’s cybersecurity, intelligence, litigation, and law enforcement legal teams.

Before joining the federal government, Daskal was a tenured law professor at American University Washington College of Law (WCL) until February 2021. In 2020, she founded and served as the first Faculty Director of WCL’s Tech, Law & Security Program. As a law professor, she wrote extensively on issues of data security and data privacy, testified multiple times before Congress, and won several awards for her work.

Mona Sutphen is a Senior Partner at The Vistria Group. Previously, she was a Partner at global consultancy Macro Advisory Partners and earlier was Managing Director at UBS, AG. She served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for President Obama during his first term. Earlier Ms. Sutphen was a career diplomat, serving on the staff of the NSC during the Clinton Administration as well as at US Mission to the United Nations and other posts in Asia and Europe. Ms. Sutphen serves on the Board of Spotify and as a Trustee for Putnam Investments. She is Co-Chair of the IRC Board and also serves on the advisory boards of the Omidyar Network and Columbia University’s Center for Global Energy Policy. Ms. Sutphen co-authored “The Next American Century” and was an Executive Producer of several documentary films. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College and a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics.

Elizabeth K. Horst is a former career U.S. diplomat with more than 25 years of experience leading policy, people, and partnerships across Europe and South Asia.  As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, she served as the bureau’s chief operating officer—overseeing policy development, budgets, staffing, strategic communications and U.S. engagement with 13 countries and 20 posts.  As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Pakistan, she refocused the bilateral relationship on economic and security issues, and launched the U.S. – Pakistan Green Alliance to advance climate resilience, clean energy, and water security.  She was also responsible for Public Diplomacy to the regional audience of almost 2 billion people from Astana to Colombo.  She was nominated as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka in 2024.

Her diplomatic career included leadership roles in Mission German as Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy and in Tallinn, Estonia as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission, where she strengthened transatlantic security and economic cooperation.  Her Washington postings focused on regional security, economic development and foreign assistance, and spearheading mentoring and leadership initiatives.  Earlier assignments took her to Ukraine, Germany, Russia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Niger, where she began her public service as a Peace Corps volunteer, working on food security and community health.

She holds degrees from the University of Kansas and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and speaks German, Russian, French, and Hausa.

Alexis Lasselle Ross is the President of Apex Defense Strategies, LLC, a strategic advisory firm that guides companies as they navigate the defense market. Ross founded Apex after more than two decades as an executive in the public and private sectors. Her consultancy draws upon this experience to offer companies a unique blend of strategic planning and executive advising on the  epartment of Defense’s acquisition system, the U.S. defense industrial base, and the planning and execution of large-scale change.

Most recently, Ross performed strategic planning at General Dynamics, advising corporate leadership on managing critical issues and navigating government business. Prior to entering the private sector, Ross served in a variety of senior positions in both the  executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. She served as the deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense,  advising the secretary and ensuring execution of Department of Defense policy, programs, and organizational restructuring.  During her tenure, she performed the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, leading the  department’s healthcare and human resources systems during the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Ross served as the deputy assistant secretary of the army for strategy and acquisition reform, where she designed and implemented improvements to the Army acquisition system, including new policies on intellectual property and advanced manufacturing.

Laura McAleer is the University of Notre Dame’s Associate Vice President for Federal and Washington Relations, responsible for the development and execution of the University’s strategic priorities in the Nation’s capital.

Prior to joining Notre Dame, McAleer served for more than twenty years as a defense and foreign policy advisor and analyst, most recently at the Department of Defense as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Senate Affairs and acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. Previously, she worked on Capitol Hill for more than a decade, serving as a national security and foreign policy advisor to four U.S. Senators and on the Majority Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In addition to her congressional experience, McAleer’s public service includes assignments as a strategy and plans officer for U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, as an analyst and program manager with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and as the Director for Strategic Initiatives for the Secretary of the Navy. She also served for more than a decade as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Deirdre M. Walsh is the Executive Vice President for Strategy and Government Affairs for ARKA Group. ARKA combines the strength of visionary aerospace and defense companies, bringing unparalleled innovation, expertise, and capability to the needs of the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense. Walsh brings her recognized leadership in the IC and the broader aerospace and defense industry to this position, along with her reputation for steadfast commitment to serving the nation and warfighter throughout her career. Prior to ARKA, Ms. Walsh served as Vice President of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace & Technologies. In this position, she led the creation and execution of government relations strategies to enhance Ball Aerospace’s reputation and strategic positioning in the industry as a trusted mission partner.

In her government career, she served as the first chief operating officer (COO) for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Walsh led the ODNI in its transformation to better integrate and unify the nation’s intelligence priorities and strategies. From 2014 to 2018, Walsh was director of legislative affairs for the ODNI. In this position, she managed ODNI’s interaction with Congress, supported Congressional oversight requirements, and advised ODNI senior leaders on Congressional priority interests. Walsh was appointed to the Senior National Intelligence Service in 2013. She served as deputy director of Congressional and public affairs at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Preceding her assignment to NRO, she supported the Intelligence Community Chief Financial Officer in strategic budgeting and communications. Additionally, Walsh provided strategic counsel and support to the revision of Executive Order 12333, entitled “United States Intelligence Activities,” and served as director of Policy Management, driving foundational IC policy in response to the Executive Order. Before joining the IC, Walsh served as House liaison to the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. She began her career on Capitol Hill, on the legislative staffs of Reps. Sherwood Boehlert and Felix J. Grucci Jr.

Walsh holds a Master of Arts in legislative affairs from the George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in international studies from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Caroline Tess is Executive Director of National Security Action and former Executive Director of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security.

Caroline served as Special Assistant to the President at the National Security Council during the Obama Administration. She also served at the State Department focusing on North America and U.S. relations with the United Nations. Caroline worked on Capitol Hill for several years, serving on the Senate Intelligence Committee and in the offices of Senators Harry Reid and Bill Nelson.

Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale is the Senior Fellow for Geoeconomics and Defense at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) where she conducts research on economic security and defense industrial policy and investments. She is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.

From 2023-2025, Dr. Taylor-Kale served as the first Presidentially-Appointed, Senate-Confirmed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy.  In her role, she led all defense industrial strategy, investments, and planning, including the Defense Production Act and industrial base investments, supply chain resilience, small business programs, international defense industrial cooperation, and economic security and review of domestic mergers and acquisitions and foreign investments (CFIUS).  She led the Department of Defense in developing and publishing the first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy and Implementation Plan.  During her tenure, she led the expansion of strategic investments in rare earth elements, critical and strategic materials, solid rocket motors, and other upstream supply chain materials.  To further accelerate investment in the Defense Industrial Base, Dr. Taylor-Kale launched the DoD’s largest other transaction contracting vehicle, the Defense Industrial Base Consortium.  During her tenure, she led a record of $3.3 billion of grants to manufacturing and defense industrial supply chain businesses through the Defense Production Act and the Industrial Base Fund.  Additionally, she established the first Board of Directors for the strategic and critical materials for the National Defense Stockpile.

Dr. Taylor-Kale is a policy executive, strategist, and organizational behavior scholar with extensive experience in finance, business, economic policy and managing in complex organizations.  From 2021-2023, she served as the Fellow for Innovation and Economic Competitiveness at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and contributed to CFR’s Renewing America Initiative. Her CFR research focused on strategic innovation, industrial policy, and the changing nature of work. From 2017-2018, she was an International Affairs Fellow at CFR and the deputy director of CFR’s independent task force on the future of the U.S. workforce, co-authoring of the task force’s published report “The Work Ahead: Machines, Skills, and U.S. Leadership in the Twenty-First Century.”

Previously, Dr. Taylor-Kale served in the Obama Administration from 2014-2017. As the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing in the International Trade Administration, Dr. Taylor-Kale led multiple teams of international trade specialists and oversaw policies and programs to promote exports of U.S. manufactured goods and economic competitiveness in health and information technology; energy and environmental technologies; and transportation and machinery sectors. Prior to the Department of Commerce, Dr. Taylor-Kale was the senior advisor for policy and operations at the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation where she coordinated policies for OPIC’s $5 billion portfolio of investments in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Taylor-Kale joined the Obama Administration from the World Bank where she was special assistant to the Vice President for sustainable development and climate change.

From 2003-2012, Dr. Taylor-Kale was a career Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. Department of State and served in diplomatic postings in India as a consular officer and special assistant to the ambassador, Côte d’Ivoire as a political affairs officer, Afghanistan as an economic affairs officer, and in Washington, DC in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs as a financial economist. She received multiple awards for her economic analysis and from 2010-2011, was the first Foreign Service Officer to serve as an advisor to the U.S. Executive Director on the boards of the World Bank Group.

Dr. Taylor-Kale holds a B.A. in economics and anthropology from Smith College, an M.P.A. in development economic and demographic studies from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, an M.B.A. in finance and management from the New York University’s Stern School of Business, and a Ph.D. in management science and engineering with a specialization in Organizations, Technology, and Entrepreneurship from Stanford University’s School of Engineering. Her scholarly research examines grand challenges, ecosystem design, and how organizations leverage technology to build cross-sector strategic partnerships. Dr. Taylor-Kale is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is the recipient of numerous educational and professional awards, including the Zhi-Xing Eisenhower Fellowship, International Career Advancement Program, Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, and the David Boren Scholarship for Critical Language Study. She is a member of the Truman National Security Project and an alumna of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security.

Reta Jo Lewis most recently served as President and Chair of the Export Import Bank.  Previously, she was Senior Fellow and Director of Congressional Affairs at The German Marshall Fund of the United States where she was the principal liaison between GMF and Congress and built extensive congressional relationships.  During the Obama Administration, from 2010 to 2013, she served as the U. S. Department of States’ first-ever Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, under Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. Lewis led the office charged with building strategic peer- to-peer relationships between the 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.

Dr. Evelyn N. Farkas has three decades of experience working on national security and foreign policy in the U.S. executive, legislative branch, private sector and for international organizations overseas. She is currently the executive director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. Prior to that, she was president of Farkas Global Strategies and a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Atlantic Council and national security contributor for NBC/MSNBC.

She served from 2012 to 2015 as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia, also covering the Balkans, Caucasus and conventional arms control. From 2010 to 2012, she was the senior advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and special advisor to the Secretary of Defense for the NATO Summit. Prior to that, she was the executive director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism and senior fellow at the American Security Project. From 2001 to 2008, she served as a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee responsible for Asia Pacific, Western Hemisphere, Special Operations Command, and policy issues including combatting terrorism and export control.

From 1997-2001, Dr. Farkas was a professor of international relations at the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College. She served 1996-97 in Bosnia with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). She has published numerous journal articles and opinion pieces, including “Fractured States and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, Ethiopia, and Bosnia in the 1990s” (Palgrave/St Martin’s Press). She speaks Hungarian and German and has studied French, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, and Hindi.

A retired career diplomat from the US Department of State, Annie is a Senior Non-Resident Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York, and a public commentator on foreign policy. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and active on non-profit boards relating to NewYork City and Afghanistan advocacy.

As a self-employed consultant, Annie works with non-profits and think tanks on issues relating to US policymaking and fragile states, international organized crime, Afghanistan, and Latin America.

Her thirty-year diplomatic career focused on security, rule of law, and human rights policy. She was the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan and Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul; Office Director for UN Peacekeeping and Sanctions; head of the $700 million security assistance program in Mexico; the lead human rights officer in Turkey and South Africa; and a Director at the National Security Council implementing policy on Central American migration. Ms. Pforzheimer is a graduate of Harvard, with a Masters in National Security Studies from the National Defense University.

Colonel (retired) Patricia Mulcahy is an accomplished human resources leader and senior executive with a career that spans over 40 years as an Army officer and a civil servant.  In her culminating assignment with the Department of the Air Force, Pat was the first Chief Human Capital Officer of the newest military service – the U.S. Space Force.  She was responsible for creating the Space Force’s first comprehensive human capital strategy, including establishing core values, talent management goals, uniform design, motto, and logo, and conducting the most extensive transfer plan for military members since the Air Force was established in 1947.

Pat was commissioned into the Army from the Siena College Reserve Officer Training Corps program.  She served at every level in the field of military personnel management and personnel service support including command of a company at Fort Devens and in Germany; a battalion at Fort Stewart; and a brigade in 18^th Airborne Corps that deployed to Iraq, as well as key staff assignments as the G-1, 3^rd Infantry Division; XO, Army G-1; and J-1, European Command.  Following her retirement from the Army in 2009, Pat served as a federal civilian employee as well as a member of the Senior Executive Service in several military personnel policy positions in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness including the Director of Officer and Enlisted Personnel Management.  Pat also served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Force Management Integration.

Caitlin Hayden is the London-based Group Communications Director for BAE Systems, one of the largest aerospace, defense, and security firms in the world, employing around 110,000 people with customers in more than 40 countries. In this role, Hayden leads global communications and serves as a member of the company’s executive committee.

Prior to this, she served as the Senior Vice President of Communications at BAE Systems, Inc., leading all external and internal communications for the U.S. business.

Before joining BAE Systems, Hayden had accumulated nearly two decades of communications and leadership experience. This includes serving as vice president of Communications for the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), leading the organization’s work to tell the aerospace and defense industry’s story in the U.S. and around the world. Previously, Hayden was executive vice president and Media Group director in Edelman’s Washington, D.C. office, where she worked with a range of clients to develop communications strategies to meet their business objectives, including protecting and promoting their brands and navigating regulatory, policy, and crisis issues.