Unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 12 July 2021, Jen Easterly leads CISA’s efforts to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the cyber and physical infrastructure Americans rely on every hour of every day.

Before serving in her current role, Easterly was 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. She joined the Firm in 2017 to build and lead its Cybersecurity Fusion Center, the operational cornerstone of its cyber defense strategy.

Easterly has a long tradition of public service, to include two tours at the White House, most recently as Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Counterterrorism, and earlier as Executive Assistant to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in the George W. Bush Administration. A former member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service, she also served as the Deputy for Counterterrorism at the National Security Agency.

A two-time recipient of the Bronze Star, Easterly retired from the U.S. Army after more than twenty 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, she was also instrumental in the design and creation of United States Cyber Command.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a French-American Foundation Young Leader, 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.

A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, she 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 numerous awards, including: the 2022 National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace Admiral Grace Hopper Award, the 2022 Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology Pioneer Award, the 2021 Cybersecurity Venture’s Cybersecurity Person of the Year Award, the 2020 Bradley W. Snyder Changing the Narrative Award, and the 2018 James Foley Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award.

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