Our Leadership:
Lucas F. Schleusener,
Chief Executive Officer
Speechwriter to the Secretary of Defense
Department of Defense, 2012-17
National Security Associate
Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House, 2011-12
Mr. Schleusener (he/him) is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Out in National Security and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served on the speechwriting staff of Secretaries of Defense Panetta, Hagel, and Carter from 2012 to 2017. Previous to which, he worked in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel from 2011 to 2012. He worked on President Obama’s campaign in 2008.
James Osyf,
Chief Operating Officer
Chief of Staff, Corporate Strategy & Development
Lockheed, 2015-Present
OPNAV Operations and Plans, National Military Command Center
U.S. Navy Reserve, 2015-Present
Lead Cyber Policy Advisor, Navy Staff
U.S. Navy, 2008-15
Mr. Osyf (he/him) currently serves as Chief of Staff, Corporate Strategy and Development at Lockheed Martin and is a member of the U. S. Navy Reserve. He spent more than eight years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, working as both a submarine officer and advisor on the Navy Staff.
James holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government, a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy, and was a 2016 Shawn Brimley Fellow at the Center for New American Security.
Rusty Pickens,
Chief Administrative Officer
Founder and Principal
580 Strategies, 2017-Present
Senior Advisor for Digital Platforms
Department of State, 2015-17
Acting Director for New Media
The White House, 2011-15
Mr. Pickens (he/him) is a Co-Founder Out in National Security. He served as Senior Advisor for Digital Platforms at the U.S. Department of State, and former Acting Director for New Media Technologies at the White House, where he led teams who operated cloud platforms for the Obama Administration to increase public engagement, improve user experience, enhance staff productivity, and heighten security posture. During this time, Rusty created new systems for and built new teams to lead Whitehouse.gov, the Presidential correspondence system, the We The People petitions system, the White House Appointment Center, and the U.S. Embassy contact management systems.
Rusty's two decades of leadership experience aligning organizational vision with technology strategy across top federal agencies and start-up environments included the Federal Salesforce Community of Excellence, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee, Obama for America 2008, and the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Madison Strader Arcangeli,
Vice President of Public Policy
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Forza DC, LLC, 2018-Present
Senior Legislative Assistant
Congressman Adam Smith, 2013-2018
Ms. Strader-Arcangeli (she/her) is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Forza DC, LLC. She focuses on developing policy solutions and advocacy strategies for clients within the private and non-profit sectors involved in defense, Veterans’ affairs, and intelligence. She has also done work with philanthropic clients in the health and economic sectors, as well as non-profits focused on LGBTQ policy matters.
From 2013 to 2018, Madison served as the Senior Legislative Assistant for Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) when he was Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). She supported his work on the HASC, assisting in the advancement of legislation related to military personnel, readiness, and installation issues in addition to managing a large and diverse domestic policy portfolio.
Upon leaving the Hill, Madison trained as a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. She returned to DC to pursue her passion for sound and impactful public policy. Madison has honed her ability to develop and execute effective legislative strategies while working at two boutique multi-client government affairs firms, most recently at Sixkiller Consulting.
She is a board member of the Italian American Democratic Leadership Council. Madison is a graduate of the University of Washington, where she focused on international security, foreign policy, and social implications of the law and criminal justice system.
Sarah Pruski,
Vice President of Technology & Cybersecurity
Director of Security Operations
Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2012-Present
Special Agent
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2008-2010
Sarah (she/her) currently serves as the Director of Security Operations for the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she manages all matters as they relate to the ongoing oversight and execution of Harvard’s enterprise security and risk management programs. Prior to her work in higher-education, Sarah was Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where her caseload included investigations involving matters of national security, human rights violations, and child exploitation.
Sarah also owns Niemożliwe!, a small design studio specializing in web, print, and branding designs, is a volunteer with Team Rubicon to provide disaster relief to those affected by domestic or international natural disasters, and most recently is a member of the Naval Reserves training as an Intelligence Officer.
She is a proud Buffalo, NY, native, considers herself a corn syrup connoisseur, and fought in the November 2022 Battle of Ticketmaster for the Eras Tour (and won). Sarah holds an M.A. from the Harvard University Extension School in Anthropology and Archaeology, and a B.A. from Syracuse University in International Relations.
Gennie W. Minzyk
Vice President of Professional Development
CEO
Second Star Solutions, 2023-Present
Senior Research Fellow
Potomac Institute of Policy Studies, 2008-2010
Gennie (they/them) is the founder of Second Star Solutions, which takes organizations and people to the next level of performance and growth by aligning business strategy, workforce development, and organizational structure. Prior to this, they were a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
Previous to that, they served in the United States Air Force for 20 years, in numerous leadership positions with a focus on missiles, space, and cyber, culminating in service at the Pentagon leading space policy international engagement efforts across Europe, NATO & Canada. They orchestrated 15 senior-level DoD and interagency exchanges with 10 differing partner nations; drove alignment between U.S. and partner space policy & strategy priorities.
They hold a B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne, an M.S. from Troy University, an M.S. from the National Intelligence University, and an M.A. from National Defense University.
Amber McIntyre,
Vice President for Strategic Communications
Counselor for Interagency and International Operations, NASA Headquarters, 2023-Present
Deputy Chief of Staff, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, 2021-Present
Biden-Harris Transition Team, U.S. Department of State, 2020-2021
Amber McIntyre (she/her) serves as Counselor for Interagency and International Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Originally from St. Petersburg, Florida, Amber is an alum of Florida State University and has a Master's in Public Administration from American University.
In 2009, Amber joined the U.S. Department of State as a civil servant, and over the course of 10 years held a range of positions including Foreign Affairs Officer where she focused on International Religious Freedom in Sub-saharan Africa; and Public Affairs Specialist where she led domestic engagement and public outreach. In 2017, Amber joined the private sector as a Senior Management Consultant with HWC, Inc. focusing on emergency management and resilience programs at the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. In 2021, Amber joined the Biden Harris presidential transition team and administration. She most recently served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York.
Our Volunteers:
Ava Elaine Hartwell Bagley,
Mentorship Program Lead
Senior Defense Analyst
Government Accountability Office, 2016-Present
Department of Defense, 2014-2016
Department of State, 2011-2014
Ms. Bagley (she/her) has served in several executive branch national security organizations for more than ten years. Since 2016, she has served in the Government Accountability Office. As a senior analyst, Ava has written reports on key issues facing the Department of Defense, including program delays and cost overruns of vital naval shipyard improvements, cybersecurity concerns in weapons system software, and challenges the military services encounter in prepositioning military materiel. Ava has also been a member of and President of GAO’s Toastmaster’s group and a member of the GAO’s Gender Identity Information Group and Gay and Lesbian advocacy group. She has participated in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion workshops at GAO, presenting on transgender issues.
Prior to beginning her service at the GAO, Ava worked in various capacities across DOD and the Department of State, as well as the Voice of America. At DOD, researched and evaluated cybersecurity tools, and worked on positive messaging around the Littoral Combat Ship. At State, she served as program liaison to South and Central Asia for the Overseas Security Advisory Council, among other positions. At VOA, Ava taught the newsroom how to leverage social media to engage directly with citizens across North Africa involved in the Arab Spring and produced a comprehensive report on press freedom issues across Asia.
Ms. Bagley holds an M.A. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Oberlin College from Oberlin College. Ava is currently pursuing a certificate in the Fleet Seminar Program at the Naval War College.
Ms. Wong (she/her) is a volunteer for Out in National Security with graphic design. She has a background in marketing design and is currently a product designer at a VC based in NYC.
Previously, Annie was a product designer at an IT startup where she worked on the development of a proprietary enterprise application. In May 2016, Annie received her BA with honors in Graphic Design from Rochester Institute of Technology with a minor in Media Arts and Technology.
Matt Snow,
Comms Associate
Graduate Student
The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, 2022-Present
Matt Snow is a first-year global communications graduate student at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.
He received his Bachelor of Science in political science with a minor in communications from Arizona State University in the fall of 2021. Matt was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, and spent eight years post-high school touring and playing in a rock band called The Apprehended, where he developed a sense of wanderlust and a love for building connections with people of diverse backgrounds.
As a graduate student and aspiring public diplomacy FSO, he wants to work in the intersection of intercultural communications, human rights advocacy—particularly those of the LGBTQ+ community—and diplomacy. He is a loving partner, a dog dad to three pit mixes, and enjoys Star Wars, TTRPGs, and hiking. Matt uses He/Him pronouns and identifies as a cisgender, bisexual male.
Zachary Johnson,
Comms Associate
Graduate Student, Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service, 2021-2023
Senior Project Coordinator, LCA, 2018-2021
Zachary Johnson (he/him) is a recent M.A. graduate of the Security Studies Program at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Previously, Zach worked as a communications consultant for state and local government agencies in the Pacific Northwest. In this role, he led implementation of communications strategies related to capital projects and community engagement. He received his B.A. in Public Affairs from Washington State University in 2017. At WSU, he played a leading role in advancing the work of the Initiative for Public Deliberation, a program that seeks to promote effective dialogue on contentious regional issues.
Zach lives in D.C. with his husband, Ian. He enjoys reading, cycling, hiking, camping, and listening to the same 20 songs on repeat.
Our Advisors:
Jesse Salazar
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, U.S. Department of Defense
Brian Hale
Former Assistant Director for the Office of Public Engagement, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Kayla M. Williams
Former Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Our Former Colleagues:
Zach Volpe,
Comms Fellow
Staff Assistant
The Office of Senator Cory Booker, 2022-Present
Graduate Student
Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service, 2021-Present
Matthew Buckwald,
Events and Comms
Analyst
General Dynamics Information Technology, 2021-Present
Nathan Eckstein,
Policy and Research
Political Officer, Foreign Service
U.S. Department of State, 2021-Present
SINSI Fellow, Office of the Secretary
U.S. Department of Defense, 2017-2019
Shawn Skelly, Former Vice-President
Vice-President
Out in National Security, 2017-2021
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness
U.S. Department of Defense, 2021-Present
Commissioner
National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, 2017-2020
Executive Secretary
Department of Transportation, 2016-17
Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for AT&L
Department of Defense, 2013-16
Commander, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Thomas Fitzgerald,
Vice-President of Development
Managing Director, City & State Berger Hirschberg Strategies, 2021-Present