Principal director for the East Asia Policy office in the Department of War
At Duke: “Duke not only prepared me for my career working in national security – my time in the Duke American Grand Strategy program directly led to my first job. I volunteered to coordinate an AGS event with the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a defense agency that focuses on countering weapons of mass destruction. I really did not know much about DTRA, but I handed my resume to the director’s assistant and six weeks later, I had a job offer. I’ve now been working on national security issues in government for more than 15 years.
Global changemaker: I’ve leapt at many of the unexpected opportunities I’ve come upon in my career without being certain where they would lead. And I’ve had some big adventures: When I was a few years out of college, in 2013, I was part of a team that envisioned, planned, and executed the first-ever chemical weapons neutralization at sea, which destroyed over 1,200 tons of Syrian chemical weapons on a ship. I then supported the Department of Defense’s response to the Ebola pandemic in West Africa, and was able to travel to Liberia during the pandemic to oversee the U.S. military efforts there. (Let me tell you, my mom was not excited about this one.) I then moved to the Department of State to work on Pakistan military issues for a few years, and in 2017, moved back to the Department of Defense in a similar role. In this role, I was tagged to be one of the Department of Defense’s representatives in peace negotiations with the Taliban. While this was unsuccessful, it was fascinating (and horrifying) to be in the room with Taliban leaders. After six years working on Afghanistan and Pakistan, in 2021, I shifted to lead a team focused on Southeast Asia, a fascinating region with a lot of opportunity. I helped to expand the U.S. alliance with the Philippines, which was really rewarding. I moved to my current position in 2025 and I’m having fun learning new things every day.