Moira Whelan is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab). Moira is a founding partner of BlueDot Strategies and specializes in international engagement and technology. Moira has more than 15 years in senior positions at the forefront of building and executing communications strategies in the nonprofit and national security community.

Moira served as the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Digital Strategy under President Obama, where she oversaw the flagship social media platforms to engage U.S. and international audiences and led multiple teams to guide the communications approach on major U.S. initiatives.

Before joining USAID, Moira worked at the Department of Homeland Security where she directed the National Joint Information Center and also served as Chief of Staff in the Office of Gulf Coast Rebuilding.

Moira was a founding member of the the National Security Network, a nonprofit advocacy organization. She has held the position of communications director both at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and, prior to that, on the House Committee on Homeland Security Democratic Staff. Moira started her career in editorial and legislative outreach roles at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Moira is a graduate of Regis University in Denver, Colorado, and completed her coursework for a master’s degree in international relations at Old Dominion University. Moira is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She volunteers as a board member for the Digital Diplomacy Coalition, and she likes to help out at her children’s schools as often as she can.