Jolynn Shoemaker

Jolynn Shoemaker is director of Women in International Security (WIIS) at CSIS, the only global network actively advancing women’s leadership, at all stages of their careers, in international peace and security. Before joining WIIS, she worked for the Institute for Inclusive Security, an organization dedicated to increasing women’s participation in peace processes. Ms. Shoemaker has served in policy and legal positions in the U.S. government. She worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, focusing on the Balkans region. She also worked as an attorney in the General Counsel’s Office for International Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where she negotiated international agreements to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Ms. Shoemaker was a Presidential Management Fellow in the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, where she was responsible for monitoring human rights and asylum issues in Africa. She holds a J.D. and an M.A. (security studies) from Georgetown University and a B.A. from University of California at San Diego. She has published extensively on women, peace, and security and women’s leadership, and she is a member of the New York Bar, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Truman National Security Fellow.