Avery Alpha

Avery Alpha serves as the Senior Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff for the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the White House. For the Obama Administration, she helps coordinate, implement, and advance the President's policy priorities on counterterrorism, homeland security, and cyber security.  She joined the National Security Council in 2014 as Director for Counterterrorism, responsible for Syria, Turkey, Egypt, and Europe counterterrorism issues as well as foreign fighters. She spent 2010 through 2013 at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo working with Egyptian partners to disrupt terrorist attacks, dismantle terrorist networks, and--after the revolution--rebuild counterterrorism cooperation. She joined the Department of State in 2006, and prior to that worked in the Studies Department at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is proficient in Arabic and is a graduate of Columbia College at Columbia University. She is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on its Term Member Advisory Board.