Our Leadership Through Mentorship Program hosts influential policy leaders, practitioners, and advocates for visits at the School. They attend classes, have meals with students, and conduct office hours. Occasionally, these guests give lectures open to the public.

Jen Easterly is the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Ms. Easterly was nominated by President Biden in April 2021 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on July 12, 2021. As director, Ms. Easterly leads CISA’s efforts to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the cyber and physical infrastructure Americans rely on every day.

Before serving in her current role, Ms. Easterly was the global head of Firm Resilience and the Fusion Resilience Center at Morgan Stanley, responsible for ensuring preparedness and response to business-disrupting operational incidents and risks to the firm.

Ms. Easterly has a long tradition of public service, including two tours at the White House, most recently as special assistant to President Obama and senior director for counterterrorism. She also served as the deputy for counterterrorism at the National Security Agency.

A two-time recipient of the Bronze Star, Ms. Easterly retired from the U.S. Army after more than 20 years of service in intelligence and cyber operations, including tours of duty in Haiti, the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Responsible for standing up the Army’s first cyber battalion, Ms. Easterly was also instrumental in the design and creation of U.S. Cyber Command.

A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Ms. Easterly holds a master’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She is the recipient of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award and the Bradley W. Snyder Changing the Narrative Award.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a French-American Foundation Young Leader, Ms. Easterly is the past recipient of numerous fellowships, including the Aspen Finance Leaders Fellowship, the National Security Institute Visiting Fellowship, the New America Foundation Senior International Security Fellowship, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and the director, National Security Agency Fellowship.