Practitioner Mentors

Rachel Alpert is Chief Counsel to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In this capacity, she leads the team of attorneys who provide legal advice and guidance to OFAC in the administration and enforcement of U.S. economic and trade sanctions. Rachel previously worked as a partner at Jenner & Block LLP, where she co-chaired the National Security, Sanctions, & Export Control and the Human Rights & Global Strategy practice groups. In that role, she advised domestic and international clients on a range of issues, including export controls and sanctions compliance, business and human rights, supply chain accountability, and national security reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Rachel also served for seven years as an Attorney-Adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser, where she worked on legal issues affecting U.S. relations with Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean and advised on the implementation of approximately $2 billion in U.S. foreign assistance resources to prevent trafficking in persons, combat transnational crime, promote democracy, and provide urgent humanitarian assistance throughout the world

Kristen is Vice President of Business Development and Capture for Seerist, the only augmented analytics solution for threat and risk intelligence professionals in the US Government. Previously, Kristen was the Federal Business Lead for a Silicon Valley-backed startup called Golden, a team building the world’s largest knowledge graph. 

Kristen’s career includes over 15 years as a policy analyst and advisor in the Department of Defense (DoD), including as Deputy Director for the National Security Innovation Network, a new office within USD (R&E) where she activated academia and entrepreneurial communities across the nation to solve complex DoD challenges. She spent the majority of her experience in the Department focusing on Special Operations and Irregular Warfare policy and strategy development. Notably, Kristen successfully led the effort to create a new Congressional authority for Special Operations Forces to provide Irregular Warfare support and training to Eastern European special operators prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Kristen was the Co-founder and Co-director of the No Exceptions, a coalition of post-9/11 military veterans and national security leaders who successfully supported full gender inclusion in the military, the last industry in American society where it had been legal to exclude women because of gender. Kristen is a fellow for organizations including the Center for New American Security Next Generation National Security Fellowship, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the German Marshall Memorial Fund, and the National Security Institute. Kristen serves on various boards including the Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association. 

Kristen received her Master of Public Policy degree with a National Security concentration from the University of Chicago and is a native Texan. 

Joan Mower is Director of the Business Development Office at the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the U.S. Government agency which oversees the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Radio/TV Marti and the Middle East Broadcasting Corp. Previously, Ms. Mower served as the public relations director for USAGM and VOA. Ms. Mower has also been an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, teaching public diplomacy. From 2007-2009, she was the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State on Sudan issues. Before joining the USAGM, Ms. Mower served as the director of international programs/Africa and Latin America at The Freedom Forum/Newseum. She supervised offices in Johannesburg and Buenos Aires. At the foundation, she promoted press freedom. Ms. Mower has also served as a Foreign Service Officer. She began her career as a journalist. For 10 years she covered Washington for the Associated Press. She graduated from the University of California/Berkeley and holds an M.A. in African Studies from Johns Hopkins. An avid tennis player, Ms. Mower grew up in Africa, living in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. She lives much of the time in Charlottesville.

Frederick (Rick) M. Hotchner took his B.A. in Russian Studies and Foreign Affairs in 1990. He served as an Operations Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations for the ensuing 28 years, retiring in 2018 as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service. He is currently serving on the advisory boards of two companies and volunteers for various causes.

Karen M. Schaefer held numerous leadership positions within the Central Intelligence (CIA) during her 26-year career, with overseas assignments as an operations officer in Latin America, Europe, Afghanistan and Iraq (where she served as Chief of Base). 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 (NSC), where she managed the President’s covert action programs. She closed out her government career as the Associate Executive Assistant Director (AEAD) of the National Security Branch, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Director’s Senior CIA Representative. Ms. Schaefer served as the Policy Lead for the Biden Transition Team Central Intelligence Review Team in 2020. Ms. Schaefer currently sits on the board of Siemen’s Government Technologies (SGT) and Donovan Capital Group and as a senior advisor to Seerist. She also sits on the advisory boards of the International Spy Museum, The Honor Foundation, Third Option Foundation, FAMIL, and the Sycamore Institute and is an Expert for the Cipher Brief. Ms. Schaefer 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 United States Special Operations Command Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, and two Director of National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement Medals.

Sandra Moles is a retired senior federal government manager and private sector consultant with a 30-year career focused on national security, threat intelligence, risk analysis, strategic communications, and technology innovation. She is the founder of Triskele Ops consulting firm and advises on venture capital investments in the defense technology sector. Sandra grew up in Leesburg, VA and graduated from UVA as an Echols Scholar with an interdisciplinary focus on international studies. She has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University.

Jennifer Ewbank is a senior national security executive and former Deputy Director of the CIA for Digital Innovation (2019–2024), where she led the transformation of one of the world’s most sophisticated and secure digital ecosystems. With a career spanning global intelligence operations, technology innovation, and public-private partnerships, she brings a unique perspective on national security and economic competitiveness. A former four-time Chief of Station and head of the National Resources Division, she built critical partnerships with U.S. and foreign governments, industry, and academia. Today, she supports America’s national and economic security missions through board roles, strategic advisory services, and public speaking engagements.

Chris has over 25 years of Federal Government service, beginning his career as an enlisted U.S. Navy SEAL and then continuing as a Paramilitary Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He retired from the CIA as a Senior Intelligence Service Executive. During his career at the CIA, he served in field assignments and held several field commands as well as multiple senior leadership positions at CIA Headquarters, including Chief of the CIA’s largest overseas Station. He also served as Executive Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence (DCIA), was assigned to the Department of Defense as Deputy Commander of a Combined Joint Interagency Task Force, and held other senior roles with global responsibilities in both traditional areas and war zones. 

Margaret Sparling is an Associate Research Analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses where her work focuses on US Navy force design and the Hybrid Fleet, Indo-Pacific military and security affairs, and US security cooperation programs. She holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics and History from the University of Virginia. 

Eric Allison has been an affiliate of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy since 2018. As an NSPC practitioner-mentor, he contributes to undergraduate and graduate courses focused on national security, with particular emphasis on the Intelligence Community.  A former member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service and multi-tour Chief of Station, Eric draws on over 40 years of insights gained in a variety of official intelligence collection and policy roles, as well as an international consultant.  Eric holds an MS in Organization Development from American University and a BA in History from the University of Virginia. 

USN Admiral (Retired) Charles A. (Chas) Richard is a Miller Center’s James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. Having completed a distinguished career of more than 41 years in service to the nation, his final assignment was as commander of U.S. Strategic Command from November 2019 to December 2022, responsible for one of 11 unified commands under the Department of Defense.

At STRATCOM, Richard oversaw the global command and control of all the nation’s nuclear forces to achieve the national security objective of strategic deterrence. He was responsible for more than 150,000 people conducting strategic deterrence and nuclear operations, nuclear command and control, global strike, missile defense, electromagnetic spectrum operations, and analysis and targeting.

Richard’s staff assignments included service as the executive assistant and naval aide to the under secretary of the Navy; chief of staff, Submarine Force Atlantic; and command of Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 17, Bangor, Washington. Other staff assignments included director of resources on the staff of the under secretary of defense for policy; squadron engineer on the staff of SUBRON-8; and duty on the staff of the deputy chief of naval operations (submarine warfare). He has also served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations’ Strategic Studies Group XXVIII, studying the integration of unmanned systems into naval force structure.