Lift and Shift Episode 3 - Laura Kupe

She got next!! 

She has already accomplished a great deal in a space that does not boast many women or people of color, but Laura Kupe is poised to elevate even higher. 

Laura is a defense official currently serving in the Biden-Harris Administration. She is also a former Obama presidential appointee and multilingual attorney with domestic and foreign policy expertise in think tanks and the U.S. federal government, including the RAND Corporation, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House. Laura was born in Germany to Congolese parents and was raised in Luxembourg before moving to the United States. She speaks German, French, and Luxembourgish, in addition to English, and is a self-proclaimed “Afropean-American.”  She is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was recognized on The Root’s List of 100 Influential African Americans in 2021 for her contributions to U.S. national security.

Laura is a founding member of NextGen NatSec, a coalition of national security and foreign policy practitioners working to diversify the sector and of the Congolese Diaspora Impact Summit, CDIS, whose mission is to facilitate networking within the Congolese Diaspora in America, amplify the voices of Congolese experts, and support initiatives that enhance the socio-economic capital of the DRC and its Diaspora.

Disclaimer: Laura appears on Lift and Shift in her personal capacity and not as a member of the Defense Department.