Join the Center for International Security Studies' Careers Team for

A panel discussion about careers inside the Office of the Secretary of Defense - Policy, the U.S. Senate, and the Office of Management & Budget

Leigh Ann G. Killian develops defense policy and security strategy for the U.S. Department of Defense. Leigh Ann currently serves as the country director for Turkey and Cyprus in the office of European and NATO Policy at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). In OSD, she previously specialized in counter-terrorism policy and in information operations, in the Special Operations and Combating Terrorism office and as the acting chief of staff for the Defeat-ISIS Task Force. From 2009 to 2014, she supported and managed military influence operations across the Middle East at U.S. Central Command. Leigh Ann holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Religion from Smith College where she received a Department of Defense Boren Scholarship and a Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to study Urdu and Hindi in India. Leigh Ann and her family reside in northern Virginia.

Kristen Trindle is a Military Legislative Assistant with Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Air & Land Subcommittee, as well as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Kristen has been involved in four cycles of the Armed Services Committee’s National Defense Authorization Act. She has personally drafted nearly 100 provisions, all of which are now law.  Mrs. Trindle Graduated from Princeton University in 2018 with an AB in Near Eastern Studies and a certificate in the History and Practice of Diplomacy. Kristen serves as an Officer with the U.S. Navy Reserves, and is currently enrolled in the U.S. Naval War College Master of Arts in Defense and Strategic Studies program.

Kevin McGinnis is a Director for Research and Analysis at the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), where he co-leads the Commission’s work on promoting and protecting U.S. technology advantages and public-private partnerships. Kevin joined NSCAI from the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) National Security Division, where he was a Program Examiner covering investments across the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Intelligence Community. Kevin has also served on the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning team at the Defense Innovation Unit, helping to launch and manage the xView Detection Challenge. Kevin began his career in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. His roles there included serving as a member of Secretary Hagel’s Nuclear Enterprise Review team; Global Posture Planner for Europe, Africa, and South America; and Country Director for Mexico and the Caribbean. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master in Public Affairs, both from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs ('11, *15).

Zoom Link: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/95679774187