Kirsten D. Madison is a Senior Vice President with BGR Group’s International and Trade Practice. In this role, she advocates for and provides strategic advice and counsel to BGR clients.
Kirsten has 30 years of experience in international affairs, national security, counterterrorism, law enforcement, and homeland security matters. She has advised U.S. Congressmen and Senators, the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, and the President of the United States.
Her executive experience includes transformative senior leadership stints with the U.S. Department of State and the USCG. Nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in May 2018, she managed a bureau with $4.5 billion in active appropriations, operations in 90 countries, a multinational network of law enforcement training academies, an independent aviation wing with multi-country operations, and a global workforce of over 2,000. During her INL tenure, she initiated and oversaw the first strategic realignment in the bureau’s 40-year history which modernized the bureau’s governance, strategy and learning practices, infrastructure, and business practices to enhance its ability to effectively carry out its mission of combating transnational crime and strengthening the rule of law around the globe. As Director of International Affairs and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commandant at the USCG, Kirsten led the development and implementation of the International Strategic Guidance and a tiered strategic partnership model, to better align resources with strategic goals and deepen the impact of programs and training.
Kirsten has served on boards and executive bodies including the Executive Steering Committee of the U.S. Committee on Transnational Organization Crime and the Department of State Aviation Governance Board. She was selected to serve on the Commission on Synthetic Opioids on behalf of the Secretary of State, chaired the Inter-American Commission on Drug Abuse Control, headed U.S. delegations to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and served as the U.S. chief interlocutor before the International Narcotics Control Board.
In addition, she served as Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council for President George W. Bush; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; Director of Homeland Security at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs; Vice President for Government Relations at the National Endowment for Democracy; Deputy Director and Resident Fellow for Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; and Advisor to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.
Areas of Focus
- U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security Issues
- U.S. Congress and Foreign Policy
- Executive Branch Foreign Policy and National Security Processes
Education
-
London School of Economics and Political Science
M.Sc. (Economics), European Studies -
Goucher College
B.A. International Relations