Ben-Yehuda brings long record of public service and non-profit leadership
Atlantic Council reinforces through hiring Ben-Yehuda sustained period of growth, success
WASHINGTON D.C. – July 10, 2023 – The Atlantic Council announced today that Jenna Ben-Yehuda, president and CEO of the Truman Center for National Policy and Truman National Security Project, has been named as the Council’s new executive vice president. She will assume the role in September.
Ben-Yehuda brings proven leadership and a wealth of experience. She served for over a decade at the US Department of State in a range of intelligence and policy roles in the Western Hemisphere, including as senior military advisor to US Northern Command, US Southern Command, and US Special Operations Command, utilizing her fluent Spanish. She has also occupied leadership roles in the private sector and been highly active in promoting gender equity in the foreign policy and national security communities.
“We are delighted to welcome Jenna to our leadership ranks,” said Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe. “Throughout her career, Jenna has worked to galvanize US leadership and engagement, in concert with allies and partners, to solve global challenges. From her work at senior levels at the State Department to advising combatant commanders and her tenure at Truman, she has been a change agent.”
Said Ben-Yehuda: “In a world beset by a range of complex, interlocking challenges, the ability to reimagine the systems of governance and partnerships required to forge a peaceful and prosperous future will rest with those organizations for whom innovation and dynamism are native languages. The Atlantic Council is such a place. Its creative and agile promotion of constructive leadership and engagement make it an essential forum for ideas and action and an indispensable shaper of the global order of tomorrow. I am thrilled to join its tremendous team to help steward its continued growth and excellence during this critical time.”
At the Truman Center for National Policy and Truman National Security Project, Ben-Yehuda led the organizations through a period of dramatic growth, transformation, and policy impact. Ben-Yehuda tripled Truman’s revenue and led a series of high impact moments—from Truman’s work evacuating Afghan allies to Secretary Blinken’s adoption of Truman’s recommendations on State Department modernization and elevating the role of city and state diplomacy. Under her leadership, Truman also transformed its annual conference, TruCon, into a critical national security convening for practitioners and senior leaders.
Ben-Yehuda remains active in federal service. In 2022, President Biden appointed Ben-Yehuda to the Board of Visitors of the US Air Force Academy.
A longtime advocate for gender equity, Ben-Yehuda founded the Women’s Foreign Policy Network, a global community of women in foreign affairs in over one hundred countries. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she also serves on the advisory boards of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, the Elliott School of International Affairs, the Partnership for Public Service, and GLOBSEC.
Washingtonian Magazine named Ben-Yehuda one of Washington’s most influential people in national security and defense in 2022 and 2023. She speaks frequently on US foreign policy and has written for or provided commentary to a range of press outlets in English and Spanish, including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, The Hill, BBC, and CBS This Morning, among others.
The hire comes during a period of historic growth for the Atlantic Council. Since 2019, the Council has launched five of its now sixteen programs and centers, increased its online reach to tens of millions of users across its website, video, and social media audiences, and seized on crucial world events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the global shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Council’s success is reflected in a 45 percent revenue increase from 2020-2022 and a twenty-fold increase over the past fifteen years. For more, read the Council’s 2022 annual report.
For media inquiries, please contact press@atlanticcouncil.org.
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