Jen Easterly

Jen Easterly is the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). She was nominated by President Biden in April 2021 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on July 12, 2021. As Director, Jen leads CISA’s efforts to understand, manage, and reduce risk to the cyber and physical infrastructure Americans rely on every day. She is a proud Mom, a mental health advocate, a Rubik’s Cube enthusiast, and an aspiring electric guitarist. 

Before serving in her current role, Jen was the head of Firm Resilience at Morgan Stanley, responsible for ensuring preparedness and response to business-disrupting operational incidents and risks to the Firm. She also helped build and served as the first Global Head of Morgan Stanley’s Cybersecurity Fusion Center, the Firm’s center of gravity for cyber defense operations.

Jen 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. She also served as the Deputy for Counterterrorism at the National Security Agency.

A two-time recipient of the Bronze Star, Jen 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 distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Jen 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 honors and awards, including the 2023 Sisterhood Award from Girls Who Code; the 2022 National Defense University Admiral Grace Hopper Award; the 2021 Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity Person of the Year Award; the 2020 Bradley W. Snyder Changing the Narrative Award, and the 2018 James W. Foley Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a French American Foundation Young Leader, Jen is the past recipient of 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.