February 28, 2024
In our inaugural professional development panel, Farah Pandith, Prof. Elisabeth Ferris, Dr. Laura Manning Johnson, and Diane Batchik demystified career options, fostered a deeper understanding of industry dynamics, and empowered more informed decisions about career paths.
Farah Pandith: An adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat, she is renowned for her pioneering work in counter-violent extremism. A political appointee in the George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations, Pandith was appointed the first special representative to Muslim communities in June 2009 by Secretary of State Clinton, serving under Clinton and John Kerry. During her tenure, Pandith traveled to nearly one hundred countries and was the main architect of the Women in Public Service Project, earning her the Secretary's Distinguished Honor Award. She also brings additional experience in the NSC, USAID, and the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Dr. Elizabeth Ferris: Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University, specializes in humanitarian and human rights issues and focuses on the politics of humanitarian action and civil society's role in protecting displaced populations. Most recently, she served as Co-Director and Senior Fellow of the Brookings Project on Internal Displacement from 2006-2015, acted as senior advisor to the UN Secretary-General in planning the Global Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants in 2016, and was one of four expert advisors to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement from 2019-21.
Dr. Laura Manning Johnson: A professor and practitioner of national security, brings her experience in academia and analysis. She served as a Biological Warfare Analyst in the Weapons Intelligence and Non-Proliferation Center for the CIA before becoming the first Director of Central Intelligence Representative to the Office of Homeland Security. She was a member of the Vice-President’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Review and in numerous directorial positions at the Department of Homeland Security (Chief of Counterterrorism, Deputy Director of Fusion, amongst many others). Additionally, she served on the Board of Directors of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) from 2007 to 2010 and co-chaired INSA’s Domestic Intelligence Council.
Diane Batchik: has spent her career at the intersection of intelligence, technology, and international relations in support of U.S. national security. She worked at the National Security Agency for almost 20 years, in the U.S., at the U.S. European Command, and on the Intelligence Community's Arms Control Intelligence Staff. In industry, she ran international partner programs for a Fortune 500 company and federal programs for a tech start-up. As co-founder and CEO, she led a high-end cyber intelligence and engineering company supporting US national security clients. She eventually successfully sold the company to a leading data analytics firm. She is active in multiple philanthropic areas, including currently serving on the national board of one of the largest national immigration advocacy and refugee resettlement organizations; she also co-owns two restaurants.
