Jenna Ben-Yehuda, BA ’02

Joined Spring 2023

Jenna H. Ben-Yehuda is executive vice president of the Atlantic Council. She is former president and chief executive officer of the Truman National Security Project and the Truman Center for National Policy.

A longtime advocate for gender equity in national security, she is the founder of the Women’s Foreign Policy Network, a global membership community from over one hundred countries. She earned multiple Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards during her twelve years at the US Department of State where she served in a range of intelligence and policy roles in the Western Hemisphere, including serving as senior military advisor to US Northern Command, US Southern Command, and US Special Operations Command before moving to a leadership role in the private sector.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on US National Security. She serves on the advisory boards of the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, the Partnership for Public Service, and GLOBSEC.

Ben-Yehuda holds bachelor’s degrees in international affairs and Spanish from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, where she served as an adjunct professor, and master’s degrees from National Defense University and National Intelligence University. She is a frequent speaker on a range of foreign policy matters and has been featured in a wide range of national media. US President Joe Biden appointed her to the Air Force Academy in 2022.