Karen Schaefer

Retired Senior Intelligence Service, Central Intelligence Agency

Karen M. Schaefer held numerous leadership positions within the CIA during her 26-year career, with overseas assignments as an Operations Officer in Latin America, Europe, and Afghanistan and as Chief of Base in Iraq. Her headquarters positions included Chief of Operations, Directorate of Science and Technology; Deputy Associate Director of Military Affairs; Deputy Chief of Counterintelligence, Near East Division; Executive Assistant to Deputy Director CIA; and Group Chief, Iran Operations Division. She also served as Director of Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council, where she managed the President’s covert action programs.

She closed out her government career as the Associate Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director’s Senior CIA Representative. She served as the Policy Lead for the Biden Transition Team CIA Review Team in 2020. Currently, she sits on the Board of MicroStrategy Government Services,Siemens Government Technologies and Seerist. She is also on the Advisory Boards of the International Spy Museum, Third Option Foundation, FAMIL, the Secure Community Network National Security Advisory Council, the Honor Foundation and the Sycamore Institute. She is an Expert for the Cipher Brief and a Senior Advisor for the Atlantic Council. She holds a BA in Spanish and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, and her awards include the Presidential Rank Award, Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the CIA Director’s Medal for Extraordinary Fidelity and Essential Service, the US Special Operations Command Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, and two Director of National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medals.