Dr. Lori L. Leffler

Leadership.

Dr. Lori L. Leffler

Deputy Director & Chief of Staff

Dr. Lori L. Leffler serves as the Deputy Director and Chief of Staff at the Irregular Warfare Center (IWC). In this executive capacity, she drives the development and implementation of strategic visions to lead national security missions and manage enterprise-wide operations. Utilizing more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning government, industry, and academia, Dr. Leffler orchestrates cross-functional collaboration and strategic communication initiatives to support the primary mission of the Center. Her comprehensive background in quantitative and qualitative analysis, management studies, and structural reviews provides her with a unique foundation for making positive, lasting impacts as a defense leader.

Prior to joining the IWC, Dr. Leffler served as the Special Advisor to the Dean of the School of Arctic and Climate Studies at the Department of War’s Ted Stevens Center (TSC) for Arctic Security Studies. In this position, she supported the school’s leadership by assisting with routine educational administrative duties and coordinating networking events for arriving civilian and military security practitioners. Her day-to-day coordination helped maintain the center’s scheduled programming, providing standard security cooperation tools that aligned with the Department’s ongoing focus in the Arctic region.

Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Leffler has held multiple pivotal government and senior-level industry positions. Notably, she has overseen highly complex, enterprise-wide strategic programs supporting more than 2.8 million Department of War personnel. Her vast experience and insight remain critical to the Department’s implementation and management of sustainable programs and missions supporting global defense stakeholders.

A highly credentialed federal executive, Dr. Leffler holds a Doctorate of Strategic Leadership with a specialized focus in Foresight. She is a graduate of the Department of War’s prestigious Defense Senior Leadership Development Program and holds a Master of Science in National Security and Resource Strategy, with a focus on American Studies, from the National Defense University Eisenhower School. She completed her foundational academic studies with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management.