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On this week’s episode of the Iron Butterfly, we are thrilled to welcome Stephanie La Rue, Esq. to the podcast. Stephanie is the chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) where she brings her passion for DEI strategy to the IC. Stephanie also represents the IC in several White House initiatives that pursue educational equity, excellence, and economic opportunity in underrepresented communities. She also founded the Latino Intelligence Network, a collective of Latinx research groups across the IC.  Stephanie serves as the CIA’s Hispanic Advisory Council Chair, and is the recipient of IC EEO and Diversity Award for Exceptional Service and CIA’s Donald Cryer Award for exemplary contributions to the agency mission. We are proud to have her on the podcast and share her truly amazing story. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s episode of the Iron Butterfly podcast, we are thrilled to share the incredible story of Kristin Wood. Kristin brings with her 20 years of career experience from CIA, with service in the analysis, operations, and digital innovation directorates as she pursued transforming and building new capabilities within the agency. She was a President’s Daily Brief briefer for Vice President Cheney and his National Security Advisor, in addition to building and leading CIA’s Advanced Analyst Program, served as the Deputy Chief of a Middle East-focused operations division. She concluded her government service as the Deputy Director of the Innovation and Technology Group at the Open Source Center.    Kristin is now the CEO and President of The Grist Mill Exchange, which is a platform that allows commercial data providers and government customers to connect seamlessly to acquire data and information for the use within Federal government. We are so excited to share her story. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode of the Iron Butterfly podcast, we are proud to welcome Melissa Smislova, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A). Melissa brings decades of intelligence expertise with her, known for her work on the Soviet Union and North Korea.  Prior to her service at DHS, she worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), earning several awards along the way such as the National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation, the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, and the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) 1998 Killian Award. Melissa embodies what it means to be a selfless and unapologetic woman in intelligence, balancing both fierce yet nurturing attributes within the Intelligence Community. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s episode of the Iron Butterfly podcast, we are thrilled to welcome our friend, Janaki Kates. Janaki is a national security consultant with nearly two decades of government experience and is passionate about expanding missions and growing diverse workforces. She began her career at the CIA as an analyst focusing on foreign space programs. She then went on to focus on foreign weapon systems, counterproliferation, and counterintelligence. Janaki has served at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of State, and the National Security Council. Most recently, she served as the Director of Government Affairs for the Intelligence Program at Northrop Grumman.  Janaki shares her story with the common theme of taking life by the reins as a professional, wife, mom, friend, and mentor. She is tough yet unafraid to share a laugh. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on the Iron Butterfly Podcast, we are proud to welcome Lauren Bean Buitta, founder and CEO of Girl Security, a nonpartisan, non-profit building equitable pathways in national security for girls, women, and gender minorities. Lauren has worked for a think tank and founded a consulting firm prior to Girl Security, and is associated with a number of prestigious councils and committees. Lauren is a mom to two amazing humans and was named one of the “50 Women Making the World a Better Place.” In this episode, she bravely and courageously shares her story.  Please note that this episode includes some content that may be graphic and shocking to listeners. Listener discretion is advised. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this special episode, we open Season 4 featuring Lorna and Brad Catling, family members of the legendary Virginia Hall. Virginia worked with the United Kingdom’s Clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) and American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), aiding the French Resistance during WWII. She went on to work with the CIA where she ultimately retired from the clandestine services. Virginia was the most highly decorated female civilian in WWII and paved the way for women in the Intelligence Community.    Her family shares her breathtaking story of bravery, resilience, and grit on this week’s season opener of Iron Butterfly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on the Iron Butterfly Podcast, we are proud to welcome Suzanne Heckenberg for our Season 3 finale!  Suzanne is the President of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), as well as the Intelligence and National Security Foundation. She oversees a host of INSA's strategies ranging from finance, to events, to corporate partnerships. She previously served as the organizations first Chief Operating officer, working to expand INSA from the inside and promote diversity and inclusion within the IC. This week, she shares her remarkable story with us.  Join us for a fantastic Season 3 finale of the Iron Butterfly Podcast! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s episode of the Iron Butterfly podcast, we are proud to welcome La’Naia Jones, Deputy Chief Information Officer at the National Security Agency. She serves with previous experience as the Acting Chief Information Officer of the Intelligence Community, the Chief of Transformation and Transition in partnership with the Department of Defense, in addition to her background in IT leadership.  La’Naia joins us and proudly shares her winding path into the IC and how following her passions and working hard led her where she is today. Join us for this special episode of the Iron Butterfly podcast! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode of the Iron Butterfly, we are joined by Colonel Molly Solsbury, Chief Data Officer for Army intelligence within the 18th Airborne Corps. Molly has over two decades of service in active duty roles, ranging from intelligence and policy, to research and development. She shares her story with us from her experiences at the National Security Council and her Fellowship at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, with many in between.   Molly has spent time in a variety of special operations Units throughout Central and South Asia, the Middle East, as well as North and West Africa. Join us this week to listen to Molly's incredible story on the Iron Butterfly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on the Iron Butterfly podcast, we're joined by Jackie Barbieri, the Founder & CEO of Whitespace, a spatial data analytics company. With a history of supporting the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Intelligence Community as an intelligence analyst. Jackie shares her winding path with us through her academic endeavors at Georgetown University, her desire to serve her country in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and with her unique linguistic strengths in Spanish, Arabic, and Italian. In this episode, Jackie shares her purpose and passion for unlocking the value of data sets in order to understand human activity as well as improving human security everywhere. Join us in listening to Jackie's story. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this very special edition of the Iron Butterfly podcast, we sat down with three incredible individuals whose stories are shaped by the loss of their parents in their service to the United States. We spoke with Marie Mickley, an adventure-loving, adrenaline-junkie turned law student at the University of Wisconsin, Jacob Centeno, a professional storyteller, with the title of founder and CEO of Poor Bear Stories, a video production company in Orlando, FL, and Alison Spann, another professional storyteller based on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where she is a news anchor. In this episode, we speak with beneficiaries of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, Special Operations Warrior Foundation and Defense Intelligence Memorial Foundation, non-profit organizations that support the families of fallen CIA officers and special operations forces who are killed in action. Marie, Jacob, and Alison all share their stories of bravery, sacrifice, and growth, alongside what the U.S. Intelligence Community means to them. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rachel Grunspan joins us this week on the Iron Butterfly podcast, bringing her over 20 years experience at the CIA. She has impacted the Agency as a cyber-threat analyst, a game and simulation designer, an executive manager, and most recently, as Dean for CIA's Digital University. She believes in increasing the creative capacity of individuals and organizations to best close intelligence and national security gaps.   Join us for an exciting episode of the Iron Butterfly as we delve into Rachel's unique and exciting career in intelligence gaming and the digital world as it relates to intelligence, and how she has provided innovation throughout her career. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jacqueline Tame, former Acting Deputy Director and inaugural Chief Performance Officer for the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, joins Iron Butterfly to discuss her winding path into the United States Intelligence Community. Jacqueline bravely shares both her professional and personal hurdles, how she overcame them, and why they shaped her into the woman and professional she is today. In an awe-inspiring conversation, Jacqueline discusses experiences with mentors, superiors, and mentees, while sharing her background that shows that challenges do not define you. Join us in listening to Jacqueline Tame's phenomenal story in our premier episode of Iron Butterfly's third season! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join us as we conclude our second season of the Iron Butterfly podcast with a very special episode. This week, we are joined by three incredible mentees from Girl Security, a non-profit organization working to forge equity in national security by preparing girls and gender minorities to advance confidently into national security’s many pathways. In this episode, three high school and college students were handed the reins as they sat down with their IC “sheroes,” the Honorable Suzanne Spaulding, the Honorable Ellen McCarthy, and Vice Admiral Kelly Aeschbach. Tune in to hear what our panelists had to say about being the only woman in the room, embracing what makes you uncomfortable, and who did the “Hokey Pokey” in the mountains of Kazakhstan. To learn more about Girl Security, please visit www.girlsecurity.org. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This season of the Iron Butterfly is coming to a close but not before a final special episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on the Iron Butterfly Podcast, we are joined by Laura Nelson, CEO of the National Cryptologic Foundation. Laura served in the IC for 37 years and has held roles with NSA and CIA. She has supported multiple initiatives including the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and was the first woman to be a senior leader in cryptanalysis at NSA. Laura shares what she learned as a leader of technical teams, how she found her voice in a male-dominated area, and the challenges of finding mentors who were like her. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Erringer Helbling, Director of Operations at HawkEye 360, joins us this week on the Iron Butterfly. Listen in as Errin discusses her Army service and explains the vital role of geospatial engineers to the intelligence community. In this episode, Errin shares her experiences providing humanitarian assistance through geospatial data, serving troops in combat zones, and meeting an unlikely character during her time as a Military Social Aide at the White House. She explains how to stay true to your purpose as you move through your career, and why she, an engineer, believes people are the most complex system. Tune in as Errin shares insight into her time at SpaceX, why she co-founded a non-profit supporting female veterans, and why she thinks all of us are like rubies. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tune in this week as we talk with Chitra Sivanandam, Chief Technology Officer at Reinventing Geospatial Inc (RGI) and recipient of the 2019 AI Industry Executive of the Year award. Chitra discusses what she’s learned over the last 25 years working as an imaging scientist with the IC and DoD and the importance of being comfortable with wacky and unusual ideas. She shares why bringing our whole authentic selves to the table is key to variety and diversity. Chitra emphasizes why we should give ourselves latitude and how owning a brewing company, The Craft of Brewing, comes full circle with advancing AI.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join us this week as we sit down with Dr. J’Tia Hart, PhD. J’Tia holds a degree in nuclear engineering and works in nonproliferation at the Argonne National Laboratory with the Department of Energy. Tune in as J’Tia talks about beginning college at the age of 15 and how fainting on a job helped lead her to a career in engineering. She discusses the importance of leaning into what you’re good at and remembering that you belong exactly where you are. J’Tia shares the three prongs of advice she offers to women in the IC and how she follows what sparks joy in her life, including her YouTube series, STEM queens (youtube.com/jtiaphd).  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s episode of the Iron Butterfly, we sit down with April Falcon Doss, the Executive Director of the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University. April first joined the IC after watching the events of 9/11 unfold on TV from her hospital bed after giving birth. She spent over a decade at the NSA where she served in many roles, to include helping stand up the Directorate of National Intelligence and as Associate General Counsel for Intelligence Law. After leaving the NSA, April practiced law in the private sector and served as Senior Minority Counsel for the Russia Investigation in the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. April discusses how social media platforms know our behaviors better than our families, the implications of technology changing faster than law and policy, and her book, Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.