A Road Less Traveled: National Security Careers After Law School
The Reiss Center on Law and Security, together with the students of the National Security Law Society, sponsors a series of career talks with national security law and policy practitioners in candid conversations about their paths after law school. Featured speakers hail from a diverse range of backgrounds—including government, advocacy, private sector, and/or scholarly work—and address both the details of their work as well as a broader view of their career trajectories. The series is an integral part of fulfilling the Reiss Center’s mission to educate the next generation of national security leaders, demystifying and providing exposure to a diverse range of career experiences in this field.
September 29: Gideon Maltz, Chief Executive Officer, Tent Partnership for Refugees
On September 29, 2025, The Reiss Center on Law and Security & the National Security Law Society welcomed the first speaker of the 2025-2026 season of A Road Less Traveled: Gideon Maltz, Chief Executive Officer, Tent Partnership for Refugees.
September 23: Stephen Townley, Legal Director of TrialWatch, Clooney Foundation for Justice
On September 23, The Reiss Center on Law and Security & the National Security Law Society welcomed the first speaker of the 2024-2025 season of A Road Less Traveled: Stephen Townley, Legal Director of TrialWatch, Clooney Foundation for Justice.
October 24: Tarun Chhabra, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Technology and Security, National Security Council
On October 24, The Reiss Center on Law and Security & the National Security Law Society welcomed the second speaker of the 2024-2025 season of A Road Less Traveled: Tarun Chhabra, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Technology and Security, National Security Council.
February 3: Hope Goins, Democratic Staff Director, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security
On February 3, 2025, The Reiss Center on Law and Security & the National Security Law Society welcomed the third speaker of the 2024-2025 season of A Road Less Traveled: Hope Goins, Democratic Staff Director, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.
March 4: Alexis Blane, ’08, Special Counsel to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
On March 4, 2025, The Reiss Center on Law and Security & the National Security Law Society welcomed the fourth speaker of the 2024-2025 season of A Road Less Traveled: Alexis Blane, Special Counsel to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
April 3: Zaid Zaid, Director, Head of U.S. Public Policy, Cloudfare
On April 3, 2025, The Reiss Center on Law and Security & the National Security Law Society welcomed the final speaker of the 2024-2025 season of A Road Less Traveled: Zaid Zaid, Director, Head of U.S. Public Policy, Cloudfare
September 28: Susan Hennessey, Chief Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice
On September 28, we welcomed our first speaker of the 2023-2024 season of A Road Less Traveled: Susan Hennessey, Chief Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Department of Justice and former Executive Editor of Lawfare.
Susan Hennessey is Chief Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the United States Department of Justice.
Prior to joining the Department, Hennessey was a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and Executive Editor of Lawfare. Previously, she worked in the Office of General Counsel at the National Security Agency.
Hennessey graduated from Harvard Law School and the University of California, Los Angeles.
November 2: Ian Moss, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Department of State
On Thursday, November 2, 2023, we welcomed our second speaker of the 2023-2024 season of A Road Less Traveled: Ian Moss, Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Department of State.
February 7: Priyanka Motaparthy, Director, Project on Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict and Human Rights at the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School
On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our third speaker of the 2023-2024 season of A Road Less Traveled: Priyanka Motaparthy, Director, Project on Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict and Human Rights at the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School.
March 1: Tess Bridgeman (’10), Co-Editor-in-Chief, Just Security; Senior Fellow & Visiting Scholar, Reiss Center on Law and Security. Former: Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council; Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser, US Department of State
On Friday, March 1, 2024, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our fourth speaker of the 2023-2024 season of A Road Less Traveled: Tess Bridgeman (’10), Co-Editor-in-Chief, Just Security; Senior Fellow & Visiting Scholar, Reiss Center on Law and Security. Former: Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council; Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser, US Department of State.
March 4: Kelly Razzouk, Senior Director for Democracy and Human Rights, National Security Council. Former: Acting Chief of Staff, US Mission to the United Nations; Director of Policy and Advocacy, International Rescue Committee
On Thursday, April 4, 2024, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our fifth and final speaker of the 2023-2024 season of A Road Less Traveled: Kelly Razzouk, Senior Director for Democracy and Human Rights, National Security Council. Former: Acting Chief of Staff, US Mission to the United Nations; Director of Policy and Advocacy, International Rescue Committee.
October 17: Rita Siemion, Senior Counsel, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
On Monday, October 17, 2022, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our first speaker of the 2022-2023 season of a A Road Less Traveled: Rita Siemion, Senior Counsel, US Senate Judiciary Committee; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center.
November 17: Arsalan Suleman, Counsel, Foley Hoag LLP
On Thursday, November 17, 2022, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our second speaker of the 2022-2023 season of a A Road Less Traveled: Arsalan Suleman, Counsel, International Litigation & Arbitration Practice, Foley Hoag LLP; Former: Acting Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, U.S. Department of State.
February 16: Albert Sanders, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google Cloud
On Thursday, February 16, 2023, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our third speaker of the 2022-2023 season of A Road Less Traveled: Albert Sanders, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google Cloud. Former: Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama, Office of White House Counsel; Counselor to the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
March 6: Katrina Mulligan, Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Army, U.S. Department of the Army
On Monday, March 6, 2023, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our fourth speaker of the 2022-2023 season of A Road Less Traveled: Katrina Mulligan, Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Army, U.S. Department of the Army. Former: Principal DASD for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, U.S. Department of Defense.
April 3: Jeohn Favors, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, National Security Division, Department of Justice
On Monday, April 3, 2023, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our fifth and final speaker of the 2022-2023 season of A Road Less Traveled: Jeohn Favors, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, National Security Division, Department of Justice. Former: Official, Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Department of State, National Security Council.
October 19: Alex Abdo, Litigation Director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
On Tuesday, October 19, 2021, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our first speaker of the 2021-2022 season of a A Road Less Traveled: Alex Abdo, Litigation Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
November 15: Akunna Cook, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Southern Africa and Economic and Regional Affairs, U.S. Department of State
On Monday, November 15, 2021, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed Akunna Cook, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Southern Africa and Economic and Regional Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, our second speaker of the 2021-2022 season of a A Road Less Traveled.
February 9: Ben Huebner, Chief, Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency Office, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society resumed our 2021-2022 season of A Road Less Traveled by welcoming our third speaker: Ben Huebner, Chief of the Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency Office at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
March 4: Ruchi Gill, Deputy Chief Counsel, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
On March 4, 2022, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed Ruchi Gill, Counsel at Latham & Watkins and former Deputy Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, our fourth speaker of the 2021-2022 season of A Road Less Traveled.
April 6: Jonathan Lee, Director of Global Public Policy, WhatsApp
On April 6, 2022, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society concluded the 2021-2022 season of A Road Less Traveled with our fifth speaker: Jonathan Lee, Director of Global Public Policy at WhatsApp.
September 28: Camille Stewart, Head of Security Policy for Google Play and Android
On Monday, September 28, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed our first speaker of the 2020-2021 season of a A Road Less Traveled: Camille Stewart, Head of Security Policy for Google Play and Android at Google and former senior policy advisor at DHS in the Obama Administration.
October 26: Nabiha Syed, President of The Markup
On Monday, October 26, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed Nabiha Syed, President of The Markup, our second speaker of the 2020-2021 season of a A Road Less Traveled.
February 1: Ronnie Newman, National Political Director of the ACLU
On February 1, 2021, Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society resumed our 2020-2021 season of A Road Less Traveled by welcoming our third speaker, Ronnie Newman, National Political Director of the ACLU.
March 1: Alissa Starzak, Head of Public Policy at Cloudflare
On March 1, 2021, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society welcomed Alissa Starzak, Head of Public Policy at Cloudflare, our fourth speaker of the 2020-2021 season of A Road Less Traveled.
April 5: Maher Bitar, Senior Director for Intelligence Programs, National Security Council
On April 5, 2021, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society concluded the 2020-2021 season of A Road Less Traveled with our fifth speaker: Maher Bitar, Senior Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council.
Beth George – September 24
On September 24, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Beth George, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Reiss Center and partner in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, for the first session of our 2019-2020 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
Spencer Boyer – October 29
On October 29, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Spencer P. Boyer, Director of the Washington Office of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, for the second session of our 2019-20 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
Anna Makanju – February 11
On February 11, 2020, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Anna Makanju, public policy and legal expert working at Facebook, for the third session of our 2019-20 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
Vance Serchuk – March 9
On March 9, 2020, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Vance Serchuk, executive director of the KKR Global Institute, the geopolitical analysis unit of the global investment firm KKR, for the fourth session of our 2019-20 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
Josh Geltzer – April 16
On April 16, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted the final 2018-19 session of A Road Less Traveled, our career series featuring national security law and policy practitioners. Students heard from Joshua Geltzer, Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law, which focuses on constitutional impact litigation and public education on everything from whistleblower protections to the travel ban to DACA.
Hina Shamsi – April 8
On April 8, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, and the National Security Law Society hosted Hina Shamsi, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, for the fourth session of our 2018-19 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
Wally Adeyemo – March 26
On March 26, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Wally Adeyemo, Senior Advisor at BlackRock, for the third session of our 2018-19 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
Margaret Taylor – February 12
On February 12, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Margaret Taylor, Senior Editor at Lawfare and Fellow at the Brookings Institution, for the second session of our 2018-19 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.
You can follow her on Twitter @MargLTaylor.
Rachel Goldbrenner – January 25
On January 23, 2019, the Reiss Center on Law and Security and the National Security Law Society hosted Rachel Goldbrenner, Executive Director of the Reiss Center on Law and Security for the inaugural session of our 2018-19 series featuring national security law and policy practitioners.