Michele Flournoy

Michèle Flournoy is Cofounder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, and a Cofounder, former Chief Executive Officer, and now Chair of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

Michèle served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from February 2009 to February 2012. She was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations, and in National Security Council deliberations. She led the development of the Department of Defense’s 2012 Strategic Guidance and represented the Department in dozens of foreign engagements, in the media and before Congress.

Prior to confirmation, Michèle co-led President Obama’s transition team at the Defense Department. In January 2007, Michèle co-founded CNAS, a bipartisan think tank dedicated to developing strong, pragmatic and principled national security policies. She served as CNAS’ President until 2009, and returned as CEO in 2014. In 2017, she co-founded WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm.

Michèle serves on the boards of CNAS, Booz Allen Hamilton, the Council on Foreign Relations, Amida Technology Solutions, and CARE. She serves on a number of advisory boards, including for The Leadership Council for Women in National Security, The Mission Continues, PIMCO, and Girl Security. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group. She is a former member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and the CIA Director’s External Advisory Board, and the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Policy Board.

Michèle earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar.