Mara Rudman is the executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress. Rudman was most recently senior vice president for policy/projects at Business Executives for National Security, and led Quorum Strategies, a geopolitical strategic advisory firm. Her government positions have included serving as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs in the Obama and Clinton administrations, deputy envoy and chief of staff for the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace at the U.S. Department of State, and assistant administrator for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development. From 2004–09, Rudman worked at the Center for American Progress as the senior vice president for Strategic Planning and then was a senior fellow and founder of Middle East Progress. She also is a faculty fellow at Georgetown University. Earlier in her career, she was chief counsel to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and began her career working for her hometown member of Congress. Rudman has been a guest on numerous TV and radio shows and has written for and been quoted in various print publications. She received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Harvard Law School.