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.
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.
Pettyjohn has authored or co-authored reports on a wide range of issues, including defense strategy and budgets, nuclear deterrence and escalation management, readiness and responsiveness, the role of airpower in defeating the Islamic State, competition with Russia, possible war fighting scenarios with North Korea, and command and control of multi-national NATO amphibious forces. Additionally, she has crafted a large body of work on the United States’ overseas posture, which explores the operational requirements, its vulnerability to attack, and the political access challenges that the United States faces.
Pettyjohn’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, War on the Rocks, Defense News, The National Interest, Foreign Policy, and Lawfare. She has a PhD and an MA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and a BA in history and political science from the Ohio State University.
Asha Castleberry is a distinguished national security & foreign policy expert, a public speaker, television media commentator, a United States Army Veteran, and a former U.S. Congressional Candidate. She is an author of a memoir titled, “ Why National Security Matters.” Castleberry has over a decade of experience working as a Middle East Policy Expert in the public and private sectors. For the Biden-Harris Administration, she served as a Senior Official (Senior Executive Service) in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (Middle East Policy) in the U.S.State Department. From 2012-2015, Castleberry served in Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan. She previously served as the Kuwait Desk Officer in the U.S. Army Central. She also served as a Senior Key Leader Engagement Officer for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. Before her deployment, Asha worked in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she worked on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Africa.
Castleberry is a sought-after expert globally and has worked with many U.S. Ambassadors. This year, Asha served on a panel with high-level Iraqi officials (with Senior officials from members of Parliament and military officers) to discuss combating ISIS and the role of China at the Erbil Security Forum in Iraq.
Bonny Lin is a senior fellow for Asian security and director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Previously, she was the acting associate director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE and a political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where she analyzed different aspects of U.S. competition with China, including U.S.-China competition for influence in the Indo-Pacific and China’s use of gray zone tactics against U.S. allies and partners.
Her research advised senior leaders in the Department of Defense, including military leaders at U.S. Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Army Pacific. Dr. Lin also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2018, where she was director for Taiwan, country director for China, and senior adviser for China. Dr. Lin holds a PhD in political science from Yale University, a master’s degree in Asian studies with a focus on China from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College.
Nisha Biswal brings over 30 years of experience in U.S. foreign policy and international economic development including in the Executive Branch, in Congress and the private sector. Most recently, she served as Deputy CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), overseeing operations, management and policy coordination, and helping DFC become the largest bilateral development finance institution in the world. Biswal was senior vice president for international strategy and global initiatives at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 2017-2023 and led the South Asia practice.
Her prior government service includes Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 2013 to 2017. There she oversaw the U.S.-India strategic partnership, including the launch of an annual U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue. She also initiated the C5+1 Dialogue with Central Asia and the US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue during her tenure as Assistant Secretary. Prior to that, Biswal was assistant administrator for Asia at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),having previously worked in the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Bureau for Humanitarian Response. She also spent over a decade on Capitol Hill, working as staff director on the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on Appropriations as well as professional staff on the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives.
Ms. Pamela Powers is the Defense Market Leader at Maximus. Prior to her current role, she joined KPMG in March of 2021 as a Managing Director and lead the Transformation Delivery service for KPMG’s Federal sector. In this role she helped organizations develop solutions to complex challenges by leveraging data, technology, and business process improvement while driving effective change management. She also serves in an advisory role for several other organizations including the Women Veterans Interactive Foundation, Kinometrix, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, and the Partnership for Public Service.
Prior to this, she served as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Chief of Staff when, on April 2, 2020, the President chose her to serve as Acting Deputy Secretary. In that role, Ms. Powers led enterprise modernization of the federal government’s second-largest Cabinet department with a budget of more than $218 billion and over 400,000 employees serving in VA medical centers, clinics, benefits offices, and national cemeteries across the country.
Jennifer Short is a senior national security leader with more than 30 years of experience shaping strategy and leading operations at the highest levels of U.S. defense and government. She most recently served as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense under two presidential administrations, advising on global defense strategy and operations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and U.S. homeland defense.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has led complex, multi-agency collaboration across the Department of Defense, Air Force, Space Force, and Congress, securing critical legislative outcomes and funding for defense modernization, cyber strategy, and space capabilities. A combat-proven A-10 fighter pilot and former Commander of the 23rd Wing, she led more than 6,000 personnel and global combat search and rescue operations.
Jennifer holds degrees from Arizona State University, Touro University International, and the National War College, and is an International Women’s Forum Leadership Fellow with executive education from INSEAD and Harvard Business School.
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.
Rachel Vogelstein is a Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and Director of the Women’s Initiative at the Columbia Institute of Global Politics, where she focuses on gender equality in the U.S. and globally. Most recently, she served in the Biden Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Gender Policy Council and Special Advisor on Gender at the National Security Council, leading policy development on health and reproductive rights, economic security, and democracy and political participation, among other issues. For over a decade, Rachel was an advisor to Secretary Hillary Clinton on women’s issues, serving on both of her presidential campaigns and as the Director of Girls’ and Women’s Initiatives at the Clinton Foundation. During the Obama Administration, she was an official in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State, where she developed a landmark foreign policy agenda for women’s empowerment. Previously, she served as the Douglas Dillion Senior Fellow and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women’s Rights, which was recognized by the New York Times for capturing the global impact of the #MeToo movement, and began her career as a lawyer focused on reproductive rights.
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).
Dr. Jung H. Pak was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. During her tenure at State, she was responsible for overseeing relations with Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands (2023-2024); deepening and expanding U.S. relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and related fora (2021-2023); and leading on Global China issues (2021-2022), developing new initiatives and strengthening collaboration with key foreign interlocutors. She concurrently served as U.S. Deputy Special Representative for North Korea from 2021-2023 and as the top U.S. official on North Korea policy from 2023-2024.
Prior to arriving at State, Dr. Pak was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she focused on Korean Peninsula issues, East Asia regional dynamics, and transnational threats related to proliferation, cybersecurity, and climate change. While at Brookings, she authored Becoming Kim Jong Un, which has been translated into multiple languages and draws from her deep knowledge and experience as an intelligence officer.
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.
Uyen (pronounced “Win”) Dinh serves as the Vice President of Government Relations and Strategy at BlackSky Global, LLC, a provider of real-time geospatial intelligence.
Previously, Uyen served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. With over two decades of experience in national security and intelligence community programs and policies, the Congressional legislative process, and the executive branch planning and decision making process, Uyen’s unique skill set leverages her federal government experience with private sector insights.
In the business sector, Uyen led her own strategic consulting company, WinStrategies, LLC; after having served as Vice President for Government Relations for GeoEye, Inc. a New Space company. Her background includes national and military intelligence, space- based ISR, satellite payloads, space launch systems, GEOINT, cybersecurity, and homeland security issues such as emergency preparedness and disaster relief, customs and border enforcement, maritime security, combating human trafficking, transportation security, and humanitarian issues.
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.
Laura A. Dickinson is the Oswald Symister Colclough Research Professor of Law and Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School. Her work focuses on national security, human rights, the law of armed conflict, and foreign affairs privatization. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters, including scholarship that has appeared in the American Journal of International Law, the Yale Journal of International Law, the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics, the William & Mary Law Review, the Emory Law Journal, and the Southern California Law Review. She also contributes regularly to the national security blog, Just Security. Professor Dickinson’s prizewinning book, Outsourcing War and Peace, published by Yale University Press, examines the increasing outsourcing of military and security functions, considers the impact of this trend on core public values, and outlines mechanisms for protecting these values in an era of privatization.
In addition to her scholarly activities, Professor Dickinson has a distinguished record of government service.
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 18th Airborne Corps that deployed to Iraq, as well as key staff assignments as the G-1, 3rd 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.
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.
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.
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.
Dr. Van Winkle currently serves as the Industry Executive for Federal Government at Oracle, where she supports federal agencies in using innovative technology to solve complex challenges.
Prior to joining Oracle, Dr. Van Winkle served as Director of Strategic Analytics within Raytheon Intelligence and Space. She was previously a member of the Senior Executive Service within the Department of Defense and served in multiple leadership roles across the Department focused on assessing and ensuring the readiness of the military force. Most recently she served as the Deputy Director of Military Force Management for the U.S. Air Force, establishing and overseeing military force management policies to guide the readiness and retention of the Air Force’s human capital. Prior to that role, Dr. Van Winkle served as the Executive Director of the Office of Force Resiliency and was the principal staff advisor to the Secretary of Defense on policies related to the response and prevention of interpersonal violence; developing the Department’s first integrated prevention policies and framework, for which she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service.
Johnnie Kaberle is a Senior Vice President at WestExec Advisors, where she helps clients navigate the intersection of Congress, the Department of Defense, and the intelligence community. Prior to joining WestExec, Johnnie spent over three decades on Capitol Hill, culminating as Staff Director of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and Deputy Staff Director of the full Appropriations Committee. In that role, she led bipartisan negotiations and shaped hundreds of billions in national security funding—playing a central role in advancing innovation, acquisition reform, and capability delivery to the warfighter. Today, Johnnie draws on that deep institutional experience to help clients understand how decisions are made in Washington, identify and pursue strategic opportunities, and build lasting relationships with key stakeholders. She also teaches legislative negotiation and is known for her ability to help clients “decode” complex government processes and deliver impact where it matters most.
Former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta and Former President of the Middle East Policy Council.
Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley is the Non Resident Scholar of the Middle East Policy Council, a think tank that contributes to American understanding of the political, economic and and cultural issues that affect U.S. interests in the Middle East, Senior Advisor at the strategic advisory firm, West Exec Advisors, a BBC Contributor and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Before her current appointments, she held a series of senior positions that included Ambassador to the Republic of Malta, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of U.S. cyber forces, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism for the Department of State where she negotiated the establishment of the International Institute for Justice and Rule of Law, and Country Director for Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley was the first woman to lead a diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia as the Principal Officer in Jeddah after taking on the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for the Middle East and Africa.
Veronica Daigle is the President of National Security Practice at Red Cell Partners. She was previously the Director of Acquisition & Innovation Policy, Federal Legislative Affairs, Government Operations at The Boeing Company. Prior to joining Boeing in 2020, Ms. Daigle was the Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness in the Department of Defense (DoD), where she served as the principal staff advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness on all matters related to military readiness. In that position, Ms. Daigle managed three deputy assistant secretaries of defense, with a combined staff of over 50 military and civilian personnel.
Ms. Daigle entered the Federal Government in 2008 as a Presidential Management Fellow at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and subsequently served as an operations research analyst in DoD’s office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE). From 2008 to 2013, Ms. Daigle assessed a wide-ranging portfolio of issues, including the operational requirements and costs for Army ground operations, the potential effect of continued Overseas Contingency Operations funding on readiness programs, and the sufficiency of resources to support mental health services for Service Members.
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.
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.
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).
Prior to returning to Stanford University, Dr. Van Schaack served as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. State Department office where she once served as Deputy. GCJ advised the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights on issues related to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide and the deployment of the whole range of transitional justice mechanisms in states emerging from violence or repression. Prior to returning to public service, Dr. Van Schaack was the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School, where she taught international criminal law, human rights, human trafficking, and a policy lab on Legal & Policy Tools for Preventing Atrocities. In addition, she directed Stanford’s International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic. Ambassador Van Schaack has published numerous articles and papers on international human rights and justice issues, including her 2020 thesis, Imagining Justice for Syria (Oxford University Press). From 2014 to 2022, she served as Executive Editor for Just Security, an online forum for the analysis of national security, foreign policy, and rights.
Shamila Chaudhary currently serves as the Democratic Co-Chair of the Afghanistan War Commission
Shamila N. Chaudhary is an international affairs analyst specializing in U.S. foreign policy with a focus on South Asia. She was the President of the American Pakistan Foundation; a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center; and a Senior Fellow at New America. In her personal capacity, she is a member of the Foreign Policy for America Leadership Circle and serves on the Advisory Council of South Asians for America.
Chaudhary worked for over a decade in the U.S. government, including at the White House as Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan on the National Security Council from 2010-2011. She also served in the U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff as South Asia Advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.
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.
Michèle Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and a Co-Founder, former Chief Executive Officer, and now Chair of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
Michèle served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. She led the development of the Department of Defense’s 2012 Strategic Guidance and represented the Department in dozens of foreign engagements, in the media and before Congress. Prior to confirmation, Michèle co-led President Obama’s transition team at the Defense Department.
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.
Jamie Jackson is an attorney and public speaker who provides insider political analysis on U.S. public policy developments. Drawing on her unique blend of experience as a former White House, Pentagon, and congressional leadership aide, she has built a career advising political leaders and organizations on complex legal and policy issues. Her areas of expertise include defense policy, emerging technologies, social justice reform, congressional investigations, and legislative procedure.
In her role as Senior Counsel to then-U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Jackson played a pivotal role in shaping consequential federal legislation. As Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Jackson was integral in drafting and negotiating defense policy legislation, as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). She also held key national security roles during the Obama and Biden administrations.
Mary DeRosa is a Professor from Practice at Georgetown University Law Center, where she focuses on national security law. She is Director of Georgetown’s Global Law Scholars program and Co-Director of its Center on National Security and the Law.
Previously, Ms. DeRosa served as Deputy Assistant and Deputy Counsel to the President and National Security Council Legal Adviser in the Obama Administration. She has also served at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations as Alternate Representative of the United States to the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly, an ambassador-level position. Before the Obama Administration, Ms. DeRosa was Chief Counsel for National Security for the Senate Judiciary Committee, working for the Chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy; Senior Fellow for Technology and Public Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council Legal Advisor, and earlier Deputy Legal Adviser, during the Clinton Administration; and Special Counsel to the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Defense. Earlier in her career, Ms. DeRosa was a lawyer at the Arnold & Porter law firm and a law clerk to the Honorable Richard Cardamone, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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.
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.
Shelby Pierson advises a broad range of defense-tech, AI, and national-security companies across venture-backed, early-stage, and growth ecosystems, with a tireless focus on integration and operational outcomes. She partners with CEOs, founders, and investors to scale technology for government adoption, accelerate product-market fit inside the national security enterprise, and shape mission-aligned strategies for data, AI/ML, advanced sensing, and geospatial innovation.
Shelby also serves on corporate boards, bringing expertise in enterprise risk, oversight, modernization, and international partnership management. Her portfolio work focuses on building tech-forward operating rhythms, aligning investments to measurable mission value, and strengthening governance to deliver durable performance. Shelby has more than 25 years of national security leadership experience in the U.S. intelligence community, known for translating strategy into execution across large, matrixed organizations.
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.
A native of Cuba, former U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) served for almost three decades as a Member of Congress representing diverse areas in South Florida. She was the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In these roles, she led on pressing foreign policy issues, including championing the advancement of freedom and democracy for all, fighting Islamist extremism; supporting free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea; and imposing sanctions on human rights violators in Venezuela. Her record over nearly four decades of public service includes fighting against tyranny and oppression, particularly in her native homeland of Cuba, as well as working diligently to support and strengthen the US – Israel strategic partnership.
Rep. Ros-Lehtinen served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and was a member of the CIA Subcommittee and the National Security Agency and Cybersecurity Subcommittee. A strong proponent of education, Rep.
Virginia Blaser is a tech-driven CEO, founder, and AI inventor with over three decades of experience leading organizations and driving innovation across the public and private sectors. As the CEO and founder of Blaser Global, she advises corporations, NGOs, and governments on leadership, operational strategy, and the ethical integration of AI into diplomacy, development, and foreign affairs. A serial entrepreneur, Virginia has launched and scaled multiple startups, secured venture capital investments, and developed AI-powered tools, including a patent-pending platform that transforms images into customizable products — merging technology, design, and accessibility at scale. Before entering the private sector, Virginia served as a senior U.S. diplomat for over 30 years across three continents — including five years as acting U.S. ambassador to five countries. She managed billion-dollar budgets, navigated complex political and economic challenges, and advanced U.S. interests on the global stage. Virginia is the author of The Manager’s Workbook, described by the Foreign Service Journal as a “must-read” for aspiring and experienced leaders. She serves on several boards, including Cape BPO, the President’s Advisory Council at Pathfinder International, and the board of IRPIA, an Africa-based think tank focused on innovation, governance, and policy impact. She also sits on the advisory boards of Tilting Futures and Crisis Path, helping shape global strategies on leadership, innovation, and resilience. Her work reflects her passions: empowering women and youth, advancing innovation, and shaping the future of leadership in the age of AI.
Lori J. Robinson is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and the Belfer Center. She retired in 2018, after serving 37 years in the United States Air Force. She commanded at several levels of the Air Force from squadron command at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, wing command for E-3 Airborne Warning and Control Aircraft (AWACS), major command at Pacific Air Forces. She culminated her career as a Combatant Commander at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)and United States Northern Command (NorthCom). As the Commander, NORAD, she was responsible to both Canada’s and the United States’ most senior leadership for defending both countries against airborne and maritime threats. As the Commander, United States NorthCom, she was responsible for defending the United States against a North Korean ballistic missile attack and supporting several agencies for Defense Support for Civil Authorities. Lori Robinson also served in joint jobs, to include on the Joint Staff, the Deputy Combined Forces Air Component Commander for United States Central Command. Additionally, she worked on the Hill, to include running the Air Force Office for the House of Representatives, and was in charge of Air Force Legislative Liaison.
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.
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.
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.
Deborah Curtis, former CIA Deputy General Counsel for Litigation and Investigations, is a partner in Arnold & Porter’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice. Her experience spans a wide range of senior level positions in the federal government involving sensitive intelligence, law enforcement and policy issues.
At CIA, Deborah oversaw the Agency’s response to litigation, congressional investigations, critical incidents and criminal matters. In this role, Deborah advised the CIA’s Director and Deputy Director, the Office of Congressional Affairs, the Counterintelligence Mission Center and the Office of Security. She also handled several major national security policy initiatives including representing CIA interests during the U.S.-EU negotiations to reach a transatlantic data privacy agreement and the provision of U.S. information in support of Russian war crimes prosecutions before the International Criminal Court.
Prior to joining CIA, Deborah was the Chief Counsel for Industry and Security at the Commerce Department, the senior-most legal official on all licensing and enforcement decisions involving the Entity List, Military End-User List, Denied Persons List, Unverified List and other issues arising under the Export Administration Regulations. During her time at Commerce, Deborah also co-drafted the Huawei Foreign Direct Product Rule and advised on the CFIUS-adjacent process prohibiting certain foreign transactions that could impact the U.S. Information and Communications Technology and Services supply chain.
Deborah previously served for more than a decade at the Department of Justice, including at the National Security Division’s Counterespionage Section. At Main Justice, she oversaw Espionage Act cases and criminal export control and sanctions investigations and prosecutions nationwide. Deborah was also a Deputy Chief for National Security at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where she investigated, prosecuted and supervised cases involving espionage, illegal foreign agents, state-sponsored malicious cyber intrusions and matters involving the ITAR, FCPA and theft of trade secrets.
Finally, as an Associate General Counsel for National Security and Military Affairs at the Pentagon, Deborah provided legal guidance on Air Force Special Access Programs involving air and space system projects, the issuance of national interest determinations, commercial facilities physical security breaches and counterintelligence “insider threat” probes.
Alex Kahan is a global strategy, operations, and policy leader with experience at the intersection of national security, government, and the private sector.
Most recently she served on the executive leadership team of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the government’s investment arm that provides financing to the private sector to advance foreign policy and development goals in key sectors and global markets. As the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, she led DFC’s enterprise strategic planning and consulting function, enabling DFC to grow to over 700 personnel with a $50B portfolio. Prior to DFC Ms. Kahan was the Chief of Staff for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security at the U.S. Department of State, where she supported global pandemic response coordination and oversaw Department activities to distribute more than 700 million vaccines to 118 countries.
Michelle J. Howard served 35 years in the United States Navy. She led Sailors and Marines multiple times in her career as the Commander of: a ship, an Expeditionary Strike Group, Task Force, and a Naval theater. Her last command was from 2016 to 2017 as U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa. She simultaneously led NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples with oversight of missions from the Western Balkans to Iraq. Operations in her career include: NATO peacekeeping, West African Training Cruise, Indonesia Tsunami Relief operations, and the rescue of Maersk Alabama from Somali Pirates. Michelle J. Howard is a Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran.
In 1999 Michelle J. Howard became the first African American woman to command a ship in the Navy. In 2014, she was the first woman to become a four-star Admiral in the U.S. Navy and the first woman to be appointed to the position of Vice Chief of Naval Operations (number two in a Military Service). She is the first African American woman to reach the rank of three-star and four-stars in the Armed Forces.
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.
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.
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.
