Washington, D.C. — Mara Rudman, a seasoned national security and domestic policy expert with decades of high-level experience in Washington, will join the Center for American Progress as its new executive vice president for policy later this month. Rudman—who held high-ranking positions in both the Obama and Clinton administrations and led Quorum Strategies as principal—will oversee all of the organization’s policy development. CAP has significantly expanded its policy footprint in recent years and announced the creation of its 20th policy team in 2019.
“We are thrilled to welcome Mara back to the Center for American Progress. She will guide our policy work, bringing with her decades of experience in both policy and government,” said Neera Tanden, president and CEO of CAP. “Throughout her career, Mara has brought strategic thinking and planning to her work helping to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. As we look to 2020 and beyond, we are lucky to have her as a member of our executive team.”
Mara succeeds Jacob Leibenluft as CAP’s executive vice president for policy. Leibenluft recently relocated to New York and will remain affiliated with CAP as a senior fellow, working primarily with the Economic Policy and the Energy and Environment Policy teams.
Rudman was most recently senior vice president for policy/projects at Business Executives for National Security (BENS) and led Quorum Strategies, a geopolitical strategic advisory firm providing strategic planning, operations and management, private-public partnerships, and policy advising. Her government positions have included serving as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs for Presidents Obama and Clinton; deputy envoy and chief of staff for the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace at the State Department; and assistant administrator for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Rudman, a CAP veteran from 2004 to 2009, is also a faculty fellow at Georgetown University. Earlier in her career, Rudman was chief counsel to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She also is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and professional development chair for Women of Dartmouth D.C.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.