Jamie Jackson

Sumona Guha leads the Foreign Policy Project at Third Way and is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.  Guha is a national security professional and former diplomat.  During the Biden Administration, she was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council. She also served in the Senior Executive Service at the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination, focusing on Asia and the Middle East.

Previously, Guha was Senior Vice President at Albright Stonebridge Group, where she co-led the South Asia practice and supported the Europe practice, and was also Senior Director at the U.S.-India Business Council, where she led executive committees on energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, and food/agriculture.  Earlier in her career, Guha was on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. She previously served in the White House as Special Advisor for Europe and Eurasia in the Office of the Vice President.  A former U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Guha has worked in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, in the U.S. Senate as a Pearson Fellow, in the Office of Russian Affairs, at the U.S. Embassies in Moscow and Paris, and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York.  Guha holds an M.A. in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from The Johns Hopkins University. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and speaks Bengali, French, and Russian.

With a career spanning government, the non-profit sector, and law, Ms. Foster has deep expertise in the economic and political empowerment of women, and how to effectively integrate a gender-focused approach into foreign policy.

She is a co-founder of Smash Strategies, which provides strategic advice to corporations, institutions, and philanthropists to ensure that their investments in women and girls are effective and transformational. In 2021 through early 2023, Foster returned to the U.S. Department of State focusing on Afghan relocation, with a mandate to prioritize the needs of women and girls. She had previously served at the U.S. Department of State from 2012-2017 as a Senior Advisor/Counselor in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues and at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan where she focused on women and civil society. Foster has also worked in private law practice, as a Chief of Staff to United States Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Chris Dodd (D-CT), and in senior management positions in the non-profit sector. She is a lawyer by training.

Her first book, Take Action: Fighting for Women & Girls was published in October 2021. Her second book, co-authored with Susan Markham, Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice, was published in September 2023.

Alexis Prieur L’Heureux is Vice President at WestExec Advisors.

Prior to joining WestExec, Alexis most recently served as Chief of Staff for Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06). Alexis ran his congressional office, including his work on the House Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Budget Committees, and was also a Senior Advisor for his political action committee, Serve America. Alexis also served on President Joe Biden’s Presidential Transition Team as the lead for Department of Defense appointments. Before working on the Hill, Alexis served in President Obama’s Administration as a national security policy advisor at the Department of Defense (2009-2012, 2014-2017) and as a Deputy Executive Secretary at the U.S. Department of Treasury (2013-2014).

In addition to her government experience, Alexis has also worked to protect the vote for numerous campaigns at both the state and national levels, starting with then-Senator Obama’s 2008 primary campaign in New Hampshire. In 2017, Alexis co-founded All Voting Is Local, which is a non-profit that works to increase access to voting by improving how elections are run at the local level.

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.

With over 30 years of government service, Katharina (Katrina) McFarland is widely recognized as a leading subject-matter expert on government procurement. She served as Chairman of the Board of Army Research and Development at the National Academies of Science, and as a Director on the Boards of SAIC and Transphorm, She was previously the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition (2012 to 2017) and acting Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics & Technology) (2016-2017). She was President of the Defense Acquisition University from 2010 to 2012 From 2006 to 2010, Ms. McFarland was the Director of Acquisition, Missile Defense Agency. She is an accredited Materials, Mechanical, Civil and Electronics Engineer. She has received an Honorary Doctoral of Engineering from the University of Cranfield, United Kingdom; the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Department of the Navy Civilian Tester of the Year Award, and the Navy and United States Marine Corps Commendation Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. Ms. McFarland brings substantial experience with the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Army, and Intelligence Community procurement with focus on Space applications, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber, and IT technologies.in defense acquisition, program management, logistics and technology.

Stacie Pettyjohn is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Her areas of expertise include defense strategy, posture, force planning, the defense budget, and wargaming. Her current projects focus on munitions stockpiles, the effect of drones on warfare, and deterring the use of nuclear weapons in a multipolar world. Prior to joining CNAS, Pettyjohn spent over ten years at the RAND Corporation where she served as the Director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program in Project Air Force and the co-director of the Center for Gaming. In2020, she was a volunteer on the Biden administration’s defense transition team.

She has designed and led strategic and operational games that have assessed new operational concepts, tested the impacts of new technology, examined nuclear escalation and warfighting, and explored unclear phenomena, such as gray zone tactics and information warfare. Previously, she was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, a peace scholar at the United States Institute of Peace, and a TAPIR fellow at the RAND Corporation.

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.

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.

Heidi is a General Partner and Executive Vice President at America’s Frontier Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in frontier technologies vital to the long-term competitiveness and national security of the United States and close allies. She is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations where she specializes in Economic Statecraft and leads the high-level Roundtable Series on Geoeconomics. She is the former CEO, and remains a Partner, at International Capital Strategies – a boutique advisory firm that provides clients with market-relevant insights on the intersection of macroeconomics, geopolitics, policy and global financial markets.

She served on the Biden Treasury Department Transition team as lead on International Affairs through January 2021. From August 2019 through the 2020 election, she led and built Biden’s international economic policy team for his Presidential campaign, crafting and contributing to incoming Administration policy on national economic security, China policy, supply chain resilience, trade, energy and energy security, the IMF and Multilateral Development Banks, sanctions and export controls, as well as to the domestic competitiveness and investment agenda.

Allison Peters previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State where she oversaw the Bureau’s Office of Multilateral and Global Affairs, including its work on technology and human rights, Office of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Office of Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy. Previously, Ms. Peters served as the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights and the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs where she worked to advance rights-respecting approaches to technology and cyber policy and counter threats.

Prior to her time in government, Peters served as the Deputy Director of the National Security Program at the think tank Third Way where she regularly advised policymakers on a broad spectrum of foreign policy and national security issues. In this capacity, she helped to lead the Program’s Cyber Enforcement Initiative where her writing, research, and policy development focused on strengthening global cooperation and capacity to identify and bring to justice malicious cyber actors.

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.

Mary O’Brien is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general officer and a leader in cybersecurity, intelligence, emerging technology, and national security. With 34 years of distinguished military service, she commanded at every level of the Air Force and served in pivotal staff leadership roles, including the Joint Staff Director of Command, Control, Communications and Computer/Cyber, and Chief Information Officer, the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Cyber Effects Operations, and the Director of Intelligence, U.S. Cyber Command. An innovator, Mary pioneered advancements in the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles, networked weapons, and advanced intelligence sensors, significantly enhancing military operational capabilities. Mary is also a proud recipient of the National Defense University College of Information and Cyberspace Rear Admiral Grace Hopper Award, recognizing her innovative contributions to the fields of information and cyberspace.

She is the CEO of Mary O’Brien Strategies, LLC, a consulting business which provides clients with expert guidance to navigate complex digital challenges, focusing on risk mitigation, technology integration, and resilience-building strategies.

Julia McQuaid is the Vice President of the Strategy, Policy, and Plans Division at CNA. A seasoned political-military affairs expert, she brings over 20 years of experience advising the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, and other national security agencies on strategic and operational issues. Her expertise spans areas such as strategic competition, adversary threats, emerging technologies/unmanned systems and autonomy, coalition building and alliance maintenance, terrorism, nuclear policy, and global maritime security.

As a researcher, McQuaid led several high-profile projects at CNA, including a congressionally directed assessment of the 17-year U.S. effort to defeat Al-Qaeda. Her work influenced substantial revisions in U.S. counterterrorism approaches overseas. She has also conducted in-depth research on adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures, particularly within non-state actor groups, and supported DOD efforts to develop countermeasures. Her analytical leadership extends to wargames and strategic studies, addressing global challenges with a focus on homeland defense, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Additionally, she consults for the Defense Science Board. McQuaid holds a Master of Arts in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in French and government from Franklin & Marshall College.

Michele Pearce most recently served as Of Counsel at Covington and Burling LLP. Prior to Covington, Michele held several senior staff positions within the Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress. Most recently, she served as General Counsel (Acting) of the Department of the Army, providing legal and policy advice to the Secretary of the Army and other service leadership. In this role, Michele was responsible for legal matters related to modernizing acquisition and contracting practices to meet emerging threats, implementing AI and hypersonic systems, and reforming ethics and diversity and inclusion programs.

Prior to her role in the Army, Michele served as Deputy General Counsel (Legislation) at DoD. She was the principal legal advisor to DoD officials, including the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and General Counsel on matters concerning legislation, investigations, and the Department’s Legislative Review Program, which considers more than 400 legislative proposals annually.

Linda Robinson is Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she is currently writing a book about women political leaders and leadership archetypes. Robinson is a national security and foreign affairs expert, best-selling author, and prize-winning former foreign correspondent. She has testified before Congress multiple times on national security, the Middle East, and military issues. She is the author of three critically acclaimed and best-selling books about Afghanistan, Iraq and the special forces, One Hundred Victories (2013), Tell Me How This Ends (2008), and Masters of Chaos (2004).

She has served as chair of the Army War College Board of Visitors, for which she received the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Award, and as a member of the National Defense University board. She has also served as a senior adviser to the U.S. State Department, U.S. Central Command, and other military headquarters commands. As a volunteer advisor on the Biden presidential campaign, Robinson led the Special Operations / Low Intensity Conflict team of the Defense Working Group.

Before joining the Council on Foreign Relations, Robinson was a senior policy researcher and director of its Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation.

Kimberly Lehn is the Senior Director at the Pacific Forum, in charge of the Honolulu Defense Forum (HDF). HDF seeks to facilitate dialogue and solutions between a wide range of actors from the private and public sectors to bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific in the face of an increasingly contested regional security environment.

She is a national security professional with over 20 years of experience in the U.S. federal government and in the private sector. She is the Founder of Diamond Pacific Strategies LLC in Honolulu, and a Senior Advisor at Beacon Global Strategies, a strategic advisory firm in Washington, D.C. advising leading companies on national security issues. She previously served in management and analytic roles at the Central Intelligence Agency as well as on assignments to the National Security Council’s Directorate of East Asia, the Department of State’s Intelligence and Research Bureau, and on the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee as a professional staff member with a focus on the Indo-Pacific, strategic competition with China and Russia, and the important role alliances and partnerships play to build collective security.

Ambassador James O’Brien most recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs after previously serving as Head of the Office of Sanctions Policy prior to this role.

Mr. O’Brien was Vice Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG) and led the firm’s Europe practice. A founder of the firm, he has worked extensively on issues affecting consumer goods, health, entertainment, environment, media (including free speech), information technology, telecommunications, and finance sectors. Mr. O’Brien is also a member of the management and investment committees of Albright Capital Management LLC, an affiliated investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets.

Mr. O’Brien has served two U.S. administrations as special presidential envoy, securing the release of Americans held hostage abroad and overseeing U.S. policy planning towards the Balkans. He has been senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State and served as the principal deputy director of policy planning at the State Department. He worked to end armed conflicts in Europe, helped develop non-proliferation initiatives after the Cold War, negotiated environmental agreements, and supported initiatives to investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes.

Essye Miller’s public service career spanned morethan three decades. She served most recently as Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer and Acting Defense Chief Information Officer at the Department of Defense, selected by former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. As a career member of the Senior Executive Service, Miller has deep expertise in information management and technology, cybersecurity, and critical satellite communications. She advises corporations on expansion into the public sector, the federal market, product portfolios, and executive strategy. Miller also serves as an advisor to the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, the Department of Commerce, and NGOs.

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.

Heather Samuelson is an attorney and strategic advisor with nearly two decades of experience in government, politics and the non-profit sector. She most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Confirmations Counsel in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, guiding hundreds of Biden-Harris Administration nominees through the Senate confirmation process. Heather also served in the Obama-Biden Administration, first as White House Liaison at the U.S. Department of State, and then as Assistant Counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office. In these roles, she directed recruitment and vetting for national security positions and advised officials on federal ethics compliance.

Prior to rejoining government, Heather was the first General Counsel for the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) overseeing all legal matters for NDWA and its sister organization Care in Action. Heather also served as a longtime attorney and advisor to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, including representing the Secretary before the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi, and serving as Chief Counsel for the 2016 Clinton-Kaine Pre-Election Transition team.

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.

Julie Myers Wood has more than 30 years of experience in the public and private sector working on regulatory and enforcement issues from many perspectives, including as federal prosecutor, defense counsel, government investigator and compliance consultant. Key highlights include leading 15,000 special agents, lawyers, and officers at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); helping the President choose cabinet members to serve in his administration; and co-founding a compliance software and consulting startup, which was later acquired by Guidepost Solutions. Ms. Wood is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Guidepost Solutions, a leading investigations, compliance, monitoring, and security firm with offices throughout the United States, as well as England, Colombia, Mexico and Singapore.

Before joining the private sector, Ms. Wood held several high-level positions with the U.S. government at four government agencies (DOJ, DHS, Treasury and Commerce), as well as the White House.  At the White House, she helped President George W. Bush identify key cabinet and sub-cabinet officials, including at DOJ, DHS, and DOD.  At DHS, she led 15,000 special agents, lawyers, and officers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the largest investigative component and second largest investigative agency in the federal government.  She oversaw the Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) division at ICE and the agency’s initiatives to combat human trafficking as well as its investigative work to prevent child exploitation. While serving as Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement at the Department of Commerce, Ms. Wood was responsible for all dual-use export enforcement and special agents and she oversaw the enforcement of criminal and civil violations of export enforcement laws, including those involving telecommunications companies and encryption issues.  At the Department of Justice, she served as Chief of Staff for the Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s Criminal Division and also prosecuted cases as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, including securities fraud, organized crime, money laundering, and bankruptcy fraud.  As a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Treasury, she developed policy and ran a team responsible for money laundering and customs enforcement matters.

Ms. Wood serves on several nonprofit boards and advisory boards relating to national security and immigration. She has been recognized with numerous industry and leadership awards, including the naming of the Julie L. Myers Conference Center at ICE Headquarters, in honor of her contributions and leadership at the Department of Homeland Security.

Sandrea Hwang is the Senior Director of the Strategic Intelligence and Global Advisory group, a new risk advisory service at Pillsbury Law. Prior to this role, Sandrea served as a national security senior executive, and has over two decades of experience leading counterintelligence and counterterrorism initiatives across the U.S. Government. Most recently, she served as the National Intelligence Manager for Counterintelligence and Assistant Director at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, where she shaped national strategies, developed interagency plans, and led engagements with the public, private sector, Congress, and international partners. Sandrea previously served twice on the White House National Security Council, overseeing U.S. counterterrorism and homeland security policy. She has also held roles at the FBI, CIA, NCTC, and Department of Defense, and was posted at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. She holds degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and School of Public Policy, and currently serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown’s Center for Security Studies. She also serves on the International Spy Museum Advisory Board, is a Senior Advisor to Control Risks, and contributes as a National Security Expert at the Cipher Brief.

Bess Dopkeen is the founder of Keen Edge Strategies, LLC and has worked for over two decades in Defense. She advises small and nontraditional companies as they work to provide their innovative technology to the Department of War.

Bess was the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering for three years. At R&E she championed and guided policy, issues, and programs spanning from basic research through prototyping, experimentation, and transition. Previously Bess was a professional staff member on the House Armed Services Committee and the majority’s lead for the Science and Technology and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction portfolios. Before the Hill she was a senior analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation. She led the Defense Innovation Board’s 2018 congressionally mandated Software Acquisition and Practices study for the Under Secretary of Acquisition and Sustainment, was the Program Manager for the Cost Assessment Data Enterprise, and ran the Better Data for Acquisition effort for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. She worked on major analyses for the Secretary including CAPE’s national security space launch study, evolutionary satellite acquisition-efficiency project, and National Nuclear Security Administration’s national labs labor-cost analysis.

Bess holds degrees from Tufts University and the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at National Defense University, where she was a distinguished graduate. She is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Bess was a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member, a Center for a New American Security Next Generation fellow, a Truman National Security Project fellow, and a Tufts University Dutko fellow. Bess helped create Tufts’ Tisch College of Civic Life’s summer DC fellowship and mentorship program and created and led the Tufts Fellowship program in the Pentagon for over a decade. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Paul Voosen, a science journalist for Science Magazine, and their two children.

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.

Alyssa Ayres was appointed dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs and professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University effective February 1, 2021. She is the first woman to serve in the role of permanent dean at the school.

Ayres is a foreign policy practitioner and award-winning author with senior experience in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. From 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she remains an adjunct senior fellow. Her work focuses primarily on India’s role in the world and on U.S. relations with South Asia in the larger Indo-Pacific. Her book about India’s rise on the world stage, Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2018 and was selected by the Financial Times for its “Summer 2018: Politics” list. An updated paperback edition was released in 2019. Ayres is also interested in the emergence of subnational engagement in foreign policy, particularly the growth of international city networks, and her current book project (working title, “Bright Lights, Biggest Cities: The Urban Challenge to India’s Future,” under contract with Oxford University Press) examines India’s urban transformation and its international implications.

From 2010 to 2013 Ayres served as deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia. During her tenure at the State Department in the Barack Obama administration, she covered all issues across a dynamic region of 1.3 billion people at the time (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and provided policy direction for four U.S. embassies and four consulates. Before serving in the Obama administration, Ayres was founding director of the India and South Asia practice at McLarty Associates, the Washington-based international strategic advisory firm, from 2008 to 2010, and served as a part-time senior advisor to the firm from 2014 to 2021. From 2007 to 2008, she served as special assistant to the undersecretary of state for political affairs as a CFR international affairs fellow. Prior to that she worked at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Advanced Study of India and at the Asia Society in New York. Originally trained as a cultural historian, Ayres has carried out research on both India and Pakistan. Her book on nationalism, culture, and politics in Pakistan, Speaking Like a State, was published worldwide by Cambridge University Press in 2009 and received an American Institute of Pakistan Studies book prize for 2011–2012. She has coedited three books on India and Indian foreign policy: Power Realignments in Asia; India Briefing: Takeoff at Last?; and India Briefing: Quickening the Pace of Change.

Ayres has been awarded numerous fellowships and has received four group or individual Superior Honor Awards for her work at the State Department. She speaks Hindi and Urdu, and in the mid-1990s worked as an interpreter for the International Committee of the Red Cross. She received an AB from Harvard College and an MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Halifax International Security Forum agenda group, and she serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group. In 2021 and 2022, the Washingtonian included her as one of their “most influential people shaping policy.”

Rachel Jacobson served as the 17th Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment and the Chief Sustainability Officer of the U.S. Army. In this capacity, Jacobson led policy and oversaw a $20B budget for U.S. Army installations globally.  Her portfolio included: military construction and housing, energy and water, infrastructure, natural and cultural resources, historic preservation, safety and occupational health, community partnerships, and all environmental matters.  Jacobson stood up the Army’s first ever Advanced Nuclear Power Initiative.  Jacobson previously worked at the law firm WilmerHale, and held senior positions at the US Department of Defense Office of General Counsel, Department of the Interior, and the Department of Justice. Jacobson was at the forefront of some of the largest environmental cases in US history. She also held a senior position at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Jacobson is currently a consultant with The Roosevelt Group in Washington, D.C.

Iris Ferguson is president and founder of IAF Strategies, where she advises on Arctic security, energy security, and geopolitical risk, and holds affiliations as a visiting scholar at Penn Washington and a senior associate, non-resident, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience from 2022 to January 2025, advising the Secretary of Defense on protecting U.S. and allied interests in the Arctic, oceans policy and the Freedom of Navigation Program, critical minerals, and energy security. Previously, Ferguson served as an advisor for the U.S. Air Force, where she authored the Air Force’s first Arctic Strategy. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, helping establish SelectUSA, and as a legislative aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She holds a BA from the University of Arkansas and an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and completed a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship on Arctic and space security in Canada.

Ambassador Laura S. H. Holgate served most recently as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna and the Representative of the United States of America to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

As an experienced national security leader, Holgate’s public service includes the reduction of threats and management of risks from nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons. She previously served as Vice President at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Special Assistant to the President at the National Security Council, and as a senior official at the Departments of Energy and Defense. She is frequently quoted and published in print and tv and she speaks publicly on nuclear energy, nuclear security, chemical weapons, bioterrorism, and related international organizations.

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. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

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.

Mary Beth Bruggeman spent eight years as an active-duty Marine combat engineer. Upon leaving active duty, Mary Beth worked for iRobot Corporation for four years, advancing their work on counter-IED robotics, spent time as a stay-at-home mom and Marine wife, and then started a fitness and nutrition coaching business.

Mary Beth joined the Mission Continues team in 2015 as the Executive Director for the Southeast Region. In 2019, Mary Beth assumed the role of President of The Mission Continues. Mary Beth has degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy (BS) and Georgetown University (MPP), and is an alum of the George W. Bush Institute’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program. She lives in Fairfax Station, VA, with her husband Brian, a retired Marine, and their three kids.

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Margaret Boatner serves as Vice President of National Security Policy at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), where she leads the development and execution of strategic initiatives related to defense acquisition, procurement, and the defense industrial base. With nearly 15 years of experience at the Pentagon, Boatner has played a pivotal role in shaping Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition policy and developing and implementing acquisition reform efforts.

Most recently, Boatner served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Strategy and Acquisition Reform (DASA(SAR)). In this role, she was the lead executive for the design and implementation of Army-wide acquisition policy affecting the development and production of warfighting capabilities. Boatner was also responsible for leading consistent implementation of new statutory authorities affecting Army programs of record, engaging with Congressional committee staff on legislation affecting the acquisition process, and guiding the development of related acquisition legislative proposals. During her tenure, Boatner orchestrated Army-wide initiatives that overhauled policy on intellectual property, software development and acquisition, and industrial base resilience. Boatner also led a broad effort to streamline and simplify the DOD acquisition processes in collaboration with OSD stakeholders.