Ciara Knudsen is the Chief of Staff of the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), where she serves as a close strategic and operational partner to the senior management team, supporting the systems and relationships that enable the AGLN to thrive. Drawing on her experience leading across complex public-sector and international organizations, Ciara helps advance strategic initiatives, deepen collaboration among Fellowship programs and across the Aspen Institute, and ensure that AGLN can sustain its transformational mission.
Ciara brings more than 20 years of experience across the U.S. government and international institutions, including roles at the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United Nations. Prior to joining AGLN, she served as Deputy Assistant Administrator at USAID, where she led global efforts to address emerging risks including climate insecurity, terrorism, strategic competition, migration, and the policy implications of emerging technology.
At the State Department, Ciara served as Policy and Plans Director for the Special Envoy to the Global Coalition, helping coordinate strategy and operations across more than 80 partner countries, and as Director of Strategic Planning at the National Security Council, where she contributed to the U.S. National Security Strategy and led scenario planning on regional and global risks. Prior to the NSC, she ran civilian-military planning in Afghanistan, Libya stabilization approaches after the fall of Qaddafi, and staffed multiple efforts to improve the effectiveness of diplomacy and development. She was a human rights observer in Northern Ireland, Election observer in Cambodia and Afghanistan, and had the joy of helping to build the Social Services sector in Timor Leste with the UN.
Ciara also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, where she teaches leadership and decision-making in complex policy environments. Her work focuses on bridging policy and practice, preparing the next generation of leaders to navigate uncertainty and design effective responses to global challenges.
She graduated from Brown University with a degree in Development Studies, and from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs with a Masters in Public Policy. She spends her time outside of Aspen as a Little League Assistant Coach and keeping a household of boys and a former bomb-sniffing labrador alive.
