Building a Career in the Field of National Security

Dana Goldsmith
MA ’19
Strategic Studies

Dana applied to Johns Hopkins SAIS after seeing, first-hand, the value of a degree from the school’s Strategic Studies Program in Washington – not just in terms of the academic preparation it provides its alumni, but largely in terms of the tight-knit, eager-to-assist community it opens for its graduates.

Prior to graduate school, Dana served as a White House Defense Fellow in the Obama Administration, gaining experience in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSD-P) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (OSD-LA) at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). In this role, Dana’s most notable accomplishments include negotiating the implementation of Presidential Policy Directive 23 (PPD-23) with the National Security Council (NSC), leading the  development of an interagency security sector reform plan for a partner nation, contributing to the development of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA FY17) with the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), and serving as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs (ASD-LA). Prior to DoD, Dana worked on international development projects in Malaysia, Thailand, Liberia, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, and South Sudan as sub-contractor of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

As
a new graduate, Dana hopes to use her skills and experience to advise
commercial enterprises on how to navigate the complex world of international
affairs while reducing risks to national security.