Biography
Michele Kernitsky is an adjunct fellow for the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy (FDD). She is also a partner at Aardwolf Global Solutions, where she leads its geopolitical risk practice. She is an accomplished national security executive with 26 years of service at the CIA, National Security Council, and State Department. In 2024, she received the Presidential Rank Award, which the president gives to the highest-performing senior executives in government for sustained, extraordinary accomplishment. Michele holds a master’s in Eurasian, Russian, and East European studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She completed her undergraduate studies at Connecticut College.
In her last assignment at the CIA, she led the Near East analytic program through the most tumultuous period in the history of the modern Middle East. At the National Security Council, she was director and then acting senior director for Russian Affairs and supported President George W. Bush with expert briefings and policy recommendations on Russia. While at the State Department, she served in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, cultivating and expanding U.S. government relationships with Russian officials, defense industry leaders, and civil society contacts to advance U.S. policy aims. Before entering public service, she worked at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as the director of the U.S.-Russia National Security Project.