Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
Past Event
Special Series
Women in Intelligence: Panel Discussion and Networking Event
RSVP RequiredHarvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students
From uncovering Benedict Arnold to providing actionable intelligence on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the role of women who work in the intelligence community continues to change in a dynamic, threat-rich world.
Please join the Intelligence Project for a panel discussion with senior female executives from across the intelligence community to discuss their careers and the important role women who work in intelligence play in national security decision making.
The purpose of the event is to familiarize Harvard students with the intelligence community as viewed from the vantage points of female senior executives through honest discussion and networking. Attendees will hear from a panel of senior intelligence officers from across the US intelligence community on leadership lessons from their distinguished careers, the multitude of paths that women can pursue toward a career in the intelligence community, and the role of men in supporting and advancing women. The evening will conclude with a networking and cocktail hour.
All conversation is off-the-record and we abide strictly by Chatham House Rules.
Speakers:
Introduction: Wayne Stone Moderator: Brooke Carr Keynote: Corin Stone Panelists: Corin Stone, Wayne Stone, Tricia Wellman, LaTosha Gibson, Cynthia Epler
Schedule:
3:45-4:00pm: Check-in, snacks and refreshments 4:00-4:15pm: Introduction by Wayne Stone & Brooke Carr 4:15-4:30pm: Keynote Address 4:30-5:45pm: Panel 5:45-6:45pm: Networking & Cocktails
Speakers
Corin Stone, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy & Engagement
Corin R. Stone is the Deputy DNI for Strategy & Engagement. In this capacity, Ms. Stone ensures that the IC’s current focus is aligned with IC future strategies to drive national security outcomes. Ms. Stone leads a team that positions the IC to achieve its future vision by leading transformative initiatives and cutting-edge research and development; supporting and spurring innovation; re-imagining data management in the digital age; establishing clear policy and direction; and actively engaging with our overseers and the public.
Ms. Stone recently returned from a joint duty assignment to the National Security Agency, where she was the agency’s Executive Director, working with NSA’s Director and Deputy Director to provide leadership in all areas of the enterprise and to represent NSA’s interests both internally and externally. Ms. Stone also recently served as the lead for the ODNI’s Transformation Team, responsible for developing ODNI initiatives, processes, governance and structures to enable the ODNI to be a more agile organization, capable of driving IC integration and accelerating the IC’s ability to adapt, anticipate, and respond to current and future requirements.
In April 2005, Ms. Stone helped stand-up the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and served as the first Principal Deputy General Counsel from 2005-2010. Thereafter, Ms. Stone served as the Associate Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy, Plans, and Requirements, and then was dual-hatted as the Deputy Assistant DNI for Policy & Strategy and the IC Information Sharing & Safeguarding Executive. Immediately prior to her assignment at NSA, Ms. Stone served as the Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Policy & Strategy, where she led the development of the 2014 National Intelligence Strategy and oversaw the formulation and implementation of IC‐wide policy and strategy on the full range of intelligence issues, including collection, analysis, requirements, management and information sharing.
Ms. Stone began her career in federal service as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Keeton, District Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She then moved to the U.S. Department of State, where she was an attorney‐adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser and served for eight months in Iraq, first as an Associate General Counsel in the Coalition Provisional Authority, and then as the first Legal Adviser to Ambassador Negroponte and the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. While at the State Department, Ms. Stone also worked as an attorney-adviser for the Department’s Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, as the special assistant to Legal Adviser William H. Taft, IV, and in the Department’s legal office handling international claims and investment disputes, where she represented the U.S. Government before the Iran‐U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague.
Prior to her federal service, Ms. Stone practiced commercial litigation at Pepper Hamilton, LLP, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also worked part‐time for the Hague Conference on Private International Law during the negotiations of the Special Commission on the Question of Jurisdiction, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, as well as the Special Commission on General Affairs and Policy of the Conference.
Tricia S. Wellman, Executive Director of National CounterTerrorism Center
Tricia S. Wellman joined NCTC in September 2015 as the Center’s first Executive Director. Ms. Wellman most recently served as the Deputy Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Policy and Strategy and the IC Information Sharing and Safeguarding Executive. In those roles, she oversaw the formulation and implementation of IC-wide policy and strategy on a full range of intelligence issues, including collection, analysis, requirements, management and information sharing and she provided overall leadership for ODNI and IC information sharing initiatives.
From January 2007 to April 2013 she was a Senior Associate General Counsel and then a Deputy General Counsel in ODNI’s Office of General Council where she handled a range of legal issues facing the ODNI, including litigation, legislation, and Guantanamo Bay detainee issues.
Prior to joining the ODNI, Ms. Wellman spent 12 years at the Department of Justice.
Ms. Wellman received her undergraduate degree from Boston College and her Juris Doctor from George Mason University. She has received numerous awards including the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal and the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award.
Wayne Stone, ODNI
Wayne Stone is a former Recanati-Kaplan Felllow and recently finished his post as the Acting Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. In this role, he managed and oversaw the planning, supervision, and coordination of audits, inspections, investigations, and other reviews related to programs and operations in accordance with the IC IG's mission, goals, and objectives and the National Intelligence Strategy. He also oversees the IC IG operations, including budget, resource allocations, and personnel management.
Mr. Stone is currently the Senior Executive Management Officer for ODNI. He promotes a full spectrum of management and human resource responsibilities which impact the ODNI and the great Intelligence Community. He is directly responsible for senior national intelligence officer’s assignment management efforts, development and training, performance management, on-boarding, policy implementation and recruitment employment law compliance.
He has been a Senior National Intelligence Officer for more than ten years with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and throughout the intelligence community, including senior positions with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency. Mr. Stone retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Fire Science from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Long Island University and a Master of Science in Organization Development from American University. He won a Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, a National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medal and a National Intelligence Medallion.
Cynthia Epler, Senior Defense Intelligence Analyst (SDIA) for the Middle East and South Asia, Defense Intelligence Agency
Ms. Cynthia Epler serves as the Senior Defense Intelligence Analyst (SDIA) for the Middle East and South Asia at U.S. Central Command for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). She was a Recanti-Kaplan Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School 2017-2018, where she shared and deepened her expertise on irregular warfare, systems targeting, and Islam. Since joining DIA, Ms. Epler completed six tours to Afghanistan where she earned accolades for superior, sustained support and impact as the Special Intelligence Advisor to the Commanding General of Allied Forces Afghanistan. In more recent years, she supported and enabled military operations countering ISIS.
Ms. Epler spearheaded the establishment Central Command’s Network Defeat Division, emphasizing deliberate systems targeting in direct support to Operation INHERENT RESOLVE’s counter-ISIS campaign. The Secretary of Defense cited the Division’s efforts as the most effective endeavor against the enemy in 2016, while the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff praised the collaborative approach, which seamlessly leveraged the strength of the interagency. Ms. Epler has worked at Central Command for five years covering Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and counterterrorism for the Middle East and South Asia. Ms. Epler also served as DIA’s Deputy Senior Command Representative to U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. While at DIA headquarters in Washington DC, Ms. Epler led the militant Islam team, worked long range assessments, and helped establish the Afghan insurgency team.
Prior to joining the Defense Department, Ms. Epler worked as a researcher for the Center for the Study of Political Violence and Terrorism at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, as well as for the Islamic Institute for Human Rights. Prior to 9/11, Ms. Epler covered global, national-level elections forecasting terrorism/political violence for the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) in Washington DC. She provided research support to IFES’ Arab election compendium supporting USAID in the Middle East.
Raised in suburban Columbus, Ohio, Ms. Epler grew up interested in foreign adventures and at 18 years old, boldly crossed the northern border to attend the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). After completing a degree in German, she moved to Austria where she taught English, American history, and pop culture as part of the Fulbright program until joining an Internet startup in London. Ms. Epler and her West Highland terrier call St. Petersburg, Florida home where she enjoys all activities the sunshine state and beachfront offer.
Ms. Epler’s awards include the Intelligence and National Security Alliance’s Joan Dempsey Mentorship Award for leading multinational deployed teams, as well as Combatant Command and the Defense
Department intelligence officers in garrison. In 2015, she earned the DIA Director’s award for outstanding, sustained contributions to Afghanistan through Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. The Defense Department, United States Army, and NATO individually recognized her contributions to both the warfighter and policy.
LaTosha Gibson, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
LaTosha N. Gibson serves as the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations (Acting) in the Office of the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community (IC IG). She leads a team of professional investigators to address allegations of violations of criminal, civil and administrative laws arising from the conduct of IC, Office of the Director for National Intelligence, military and contract employees.
Prior to this assignment, Mrs. Gibson served as a senior investigator, and Hotline and Intelligence Oversight Program Manager in the Office of the Inspector General, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA OIG). During her tenure at DIA OIG, Mrs. Gibson was directly responsible for the identification and recovery of millions of dollars in Government funds lost through fraudulent activity, neglect or mismanagement. Her efforts as a hotline and intelligence oversight program manager played a pivotal role in identifying systemic flaws in Agency internal management controls that resulted in changes of Agency policies and directives. One particular investigation Mrs. Gibson led identified systemic weaknesses in the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) that resulted in a change in Agency policy to add additional protections to PII and a notification to senior USAF officials of possible compromises of PII involving USAF general officers. Her significant accomplishments and contributions to mission have been recognized with numerous Performance and Special Act Awards.
Throughout her career, Mrs. Gibson has been involved with assessing programs involving multiple IC organizations on a range of interagency reviews and evaluations. Mrs. Gibson has briefed the results of OIG work on a wide range of topics to senior DIA and IC and other government agency officials. She has authored numerous written products involving intelligence oversight and investigative actions that inform agency officials on actions to take to be more efficient and productive.
Mrs. Gibson is a retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer with over 20 years of distinguished service. She has held numerous leadership positions throughout her military career, culminating as the Senior Administrator of personnel operations for over 1,200 military and civilian personnel, and as the Command Managed Equal Opportunity Officer and Family Advocacy Program Representative for a major Naval command. Mrs. Gibson was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal upon her retirement and received other laudatory awards and achievements.
Mrs. Gibson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, in Business Administration, from Saint Leo University, and a Masters of Business Administration, with emphasis in Human Resources, from Saint Leo University. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Mrs. Gibson resides in Bristow, Virginia, with her husband Allen, and her two sons, Joshua and Jordan.
Brooke Carr, Defense Intelligence Agency
Brooke Carr is a Recanati-Kaplan fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, working on the Intelligence Project. Carr joined the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2006, after separating from USAF active-duty. She received her B.A. from the USAF Academy in 2002, an M.A. from Boston University in 2005, and completed National Defense University's Postgraduate Strategic Intelligence Program in 2008. Carr remains a USAF reservist, serving as an Air Force Office of Special Investigations commander, and completed Air Command and Staff College in 2015.
