From UM to Washington: Building a Career in U.S. National Security

Join us for a career conversation with Georgia Wood (U-M LSA BA ’21, International/Global Studies—International Security), a Legislative Aide in the U.S. Senate (focus: homeland and national security). Georgia’s career path spans the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (Intern, 2024), Booz Allen Hamilton’s National Cyber Program (senior consultant, 2025), and two years at CSIS’s Strategic Technologies Program (Program Manager/Research Associate), with earlier roles at the United Nations Foundation and ODNI’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Wood completed a graduate program in Security Studies at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service—concentrating on technology and security—where she served as a cybersecurity fellow, graduate research assistant, and columnist for the Georgetown Security Studies Review, and is a CyberCorps Scholarship for Service recipient. An active Michigan alum (Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, The Consilium Group (policy research & political advocacy), Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Public Service Intern Program (PSIP), Voter Coordinator at the Ginsberg Center, Longwoods Fellowship Recipient), Georgia will share practical advice on launching careers at the nexus of national security, cybersecurity, and tech policy across think tanks, the executive branch, and Capitol Hill.

Faculty Expert

Javed Ali

Associate Professor of Practice

Ali is a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, with over 20 years of professional experience in national security and intelligence issues in Washington, D.C. He served in the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he also held senior positions on joint duty assignments at the National Intelligence Council, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the National Security Council.

Staff Expert

Nayab Ali

International Diplomacy Programs Administrator, Weiser Diplomacy Center