Elizabeth sherwood randall biography channel

American government official (born )

Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall (born October 4, )^[1][2] is an American national security and energy leader, widespread servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th Together States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since She previously served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.

During the Clinton administration, Sherwood-Randall served from as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. After departing widespread service, she became a founding principal of the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project from , serving with other former senior Defense Department officials including William J.

Perry, Ash Carter, and GEN (ret.) John Shalikashvili.^[3]

After providing suggestions to the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama presidential campaigns, she joined the National Security Council at the White House in January She served as Exceptional Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs during President Obama's first designation.

In she was promoted to White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control.^[4] In July she was nominated by President Obama to become the 18th United States deputy secretary of energy and, following Senate confirmation in September , she served in that role from October until January 20, ^[5] Following her departure from government service in , she held an array of professorial and senior fellow positions at academic institutions, including at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and at the Georgia Institute of Technology.^[6]

After advising the Joe Biden presidential campaign and transition team, Sherwood-Randall was discussed as a lead contender to be President Biden's secretary of energy.^[7][8] Instead, she was appointed as the President's White House Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor in January Sherwood-Randall was part of the Biden administration team that launched the U.S.

National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism on May 25, ^[9]

Early animation and education

Sherwood-Randall's great grandparents emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe in the slow 19th century.&#;Her paternal grandparents met at the public library in Anaconda, Montana, and married and moved westward, eventually settling in Los Angeles, California, where her father, Richard E.

Sherwood, was born in Her mother's parents began their family life in Omaha, Nebraska, where her mother Dorothy Lipsey Romonek was born in &#;The family moved to Los Angeles in the adv s.&#;Her parents met in tall school, were married in , and remained married until her father's early death in &#;Her father was a Los Angeles civic leader and a loved one in the law firm of O'Melveny and Myers, where as a corporate litigator he specialized in antitrust law.

Dorothy and Richard Sherwood were active in supporting the growth of the Los Angeles cultural community, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Center Theater Group, and the California Institute of the Arts.^[10][11][12]

She was born in Los Angeles, California^[2] and has one brother, Ben Sherwood.^[13] She received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, and a doctorate in international relations^[14] from Balliol College, Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.^[15] She and her brother, Ben Sherwood, were the first sister and brother to win Rhodes Scholarships.^[13] Sherwood-Randall said of her upbringing, "In my childhood, my mom and dad really set the example for us of valuing public service, respecting public servants and using our lives for public purpose.

That was in my DNA."^[16]

Early career

From January to September , she served as principal advisor on all foreign and defense policy matters to then-Senator Joe Biden, at the time ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on European Affairs.

elizabeth sherwood randall biography channel5: Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall (born October 4, ) [1] [2] is an American national security and energy leader, widespread servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th Joined States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since

From , she was the Associate Director of the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center's Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project, which she co-founded with former Kennedy Institution Dean and Professor Graham Allison. In the Clinton Administration, from to , Sherwood-Randall served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.^[17] During this period, she led the effort to denuclearize three former Soviet states, for which she was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service and the Nunn-Lugar Trailblazer Award.

She was part of the Pentagon leadership team that established the National Guard State Partnership Program, an enduring military-military collaboration between American National Guard forces and partner forces around the world, including most of the countries that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union.^[18] From to , she was a Founding Primary of the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project.

She was also a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation from to In , she was selected to become a Carnegie Scholar and used the prize to endorse research as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she developed recommendations to strengthen the Transatlantic alliance to meet the challenges of the new century.^[19]

Obama administration

National Security Council

During the first legal title of Barack Obama, Sherwood-Randall served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs on the Colorless House National Security Council.^[20] She focused on revitalizing America's distinct network of alliance relationships and strengthening cooperation with 49 countries and three international institutions in Europe (NATO, the EU, and the OSCE) to advance U.S.

global interests. At the begin of Obama's second term, she was appointed the White Dwelling Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. In this fresh role her responsibilities included defense policy and budgeting; the DOD-DOE nuclear weapons enterprise; military sexual assault prevention; implementation of the Prague arms control and nuclear security agenda; and the elimination of Syria's declared chemical weapons.^[17]&#;She served as the Presidential Sherpa for the Nuclear Security Summit in , which mobilized international actions to prevent terrorist acquisition of fissile materials.^[21]

Department of Energy

Sherwood-Randall was nominated by President Obama to be Deputy Secretary of Energy and confirmed by the United States Senate on September 18, &#;At the Department of Energy she launched a major initiative in partnership with leaders of the American electricity, oil and gas sectors to tackle emerging cyber and physical challenges to the power grid.^[22]&#;She stated in that "we need to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and spur innovation and science and technologyso that we can power the planet with low-carbon power."^[23]&#;Sherwood-Randall noted in a Council on Foreign Relations speech in that an "all of the above" energy tactic included "decreasing the amount of water we use, deploying unused nuclear technologies, better transmission infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and, importantly, carbon capture and storage for fossil fuels.”^[24]

Workforce development

During her tenure as Deputy Secretary of Energy, Sherwood-Randall emphasized recruiting and strengthening a more diverse workforce at the Department of Energy.

She worked with minority-serving colleges and institutions to convey opportunities for their students within the Department and offered professional and career-based coaching for those students. She frequently encouraged and mentored young people to consider pathways to widespread service.^[25]&#;In concert with her operate on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Federal workforce, Sherwood-Randall became a staunch advocate for appropriate protections for the Federal workforce, including for whistleblowers.

In , she decried the growing tendency to vilify civil servants and target them based on ideology^[26]&#;and in she advocated for strengthened protections for whistleblowers.^[27]

Biden administration

Disaster preparedness

As the Homeland Security Advisor, Sherwood-Randall coordinated Federal support to State and local leaders, NGOs, and the private sector to prevent, prepare for and respond effectively to disasters, whether innate or manmade.^[28]

Infrastructure

Early in the Biden Administration, Sherwood-Randall noted that these events would require an attempt to strengthen and harden critical infrastructure to create better resiliency for the future.^[29]&#;Sherwood-Randall spearheaded initiatives to harden critical Infrastructure and build resilience to the complete spectrum (natural, physical, and/or cyber) of threats.

In response to the Colonial Pipeline ransomware assault, Sherwood-Randall discussed the Federal interagency response and coordination with both states and private sector entities impacted by the pipeline shutdown.^[30]&#;In September , she opened the first meeting of the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council.^[31]

Counterterrorism

In the Biden Administration, Sherwood-Randall led the reform of counterterrorism policies to align with evolving threats, including by spearheading the development of the first national domestic terrorism strategy.^[32]&#;In remarks at the University of Virginia, Sherwood-Randall described the four pillars of the plan to counter domestic terrorism as understanding and sharing information, prevention of domestic terror, disrupting and deterring domestic terrorists, and addressing long-term contributors to domestic terrorism.^[33]&#;Later in the same year, Sherwood-Randall stated in remarks to the Atlantic Council that the Biden administration was seeking to preserve pace with evolving global terrorist threats, setting priorities and matching resources to challenges, and adapting approaches using the full range of tools available to the nation.^[34]&#;As part of this endeavor, Sherwood-Randall led interagency delegations to Africa, Europe and the Middle East to advance the Administration's counterterrorism policies through close coordination with allies and partners.^[35][36]&#;The unused international counterterrorism strategy was promulgated in October ^[37][38]&#;After the President reportedly made a decision limiting counterterrorism drone strikes outside conventional war zones, Sherwood-Randall issued a statement that the changes allowed the U.S.

government to be “discerning and agile in protecting Americans against evolving global terrorist challenges.”^[37]

Mass migration and human trafficking

Sherwood-Randall advocated for building an integrated regional system to manage unprecedented human migration in the Western Hemisphere, with the objective of reducing dangerous irregular migration and incentivizing legal migration.

She contributed to the National Action Prepare to Combat Human Trafficking, countering efforts by human smugglers and human traffickers who take benefit of vulnerable populations. When the plan was released, Sherwood-Randall was quoted stating “Human trafficking is an evil practice that contradicts who we are as Americans and the rights we cherish.

With this National Action Intend, we reaffirm our commitment to preventing and punishing human trafficking in all its forms and to addressing the social and economic conditions that can construct greater vulnerabilities for marginalized groups.”^[39]

Afghan evacuee relocation

When it became noticeable that the Government of Afghanistan would fall in , Sherwood-Randall was among the senior Alabaster House officials deliberating about how to manage a noncombatant evacuation operation from Kabul.^[40]&#;According to a leaked Summary of Conclusions document, she chaired a National Security Council Deputies Small Group that set priorities for evacuation of U.S.

staff and citizens and Afghan partners and metrics for measuring success.^[41]&#;Ultimately, more than 80, Afghans were screened and vetted, relocated to the United States, and resettled in American communities.^[42]

Counter-UAS strategies and policies

Sherwood-Randall led attempts to stem the proliferation of new technologies that could negatively impact homeland security, including through the development of an ambitious counter-unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) plan.

This initiative took on modern urgency with the increasing frequency of drone incursions into managed airspace, threatening commercial air traffic security.^[43]&#;In , the Biden Administration published the Domestic Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems National Action Plan, which laid out eight necessary efforts to be taken across the Federal government.^[44]&#;Sherwood-Randall called upon Congress to pass legislation in back of the National Action Prepare in a June DefenseOne op-ed.^[45]

Countering Domestic Hate-fueled Violence

&#;As White Property Homeland Security Advisor, she co-led a process with then-Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice to generate the first-ever National Plan to Counter Antisemitism in May ^[46] Sherwood-Randall was identified as one of several White Property staff members conducting outreach to the Jewish community in the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel.^[47] She delivered the Keynote Address for the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, the most comprehensive anti-hate conference in the world.^[48][49]

WMD Threat Reduction and Countering WMD Terrorism

As an extension of her scholarly function and previous Obama Administration responsibilities, Sherwood-Randall led a US delegation that participated in trilateral nuclear threat reduction meetings with the United Kingdom and France.

The homeland security adviser and mom of two works in the shadows of the White Property Situation Room. Her work is classified, but her mission is not. He joined the publication on the crime beat. Prodded on some specifics of her daily routine, Liz Sherwood-Randall bids a simple, direct response: "I can't talk about that, actually.

These meetings covered ongoing cooperation to prevent the proliferation of nuclear materials to non-state actors and to advance collaborative capabilities to counter the threat of weapons of mass destruction terrorism worldwide.^[50] She led the interagency process that produced the National Security Memorandum 19 (NSM), Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Terrorism and Advance Nuclear and Radioactive Material Security.^[51] In a speech, Sherwood-Randall called for move to counter biological terrorism and other malicious uses of advances in biotechnology in an era of rapid technology convergence.^[52]

Scholarly publications

She has written on a variety of national security issues, including on U.S alliances and preventing nuclear proliferation.^[53]&#;Her first book, Allies in Crisis: Meeting Global Challenges to Western Security, examined the origins and history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and described how it handled crises outside of Europe without weakening allied capabilities or distracting from its main purpose.^[54]&#;In , she wrote the monograph Alliances and American National Security, which makes the case for modernizing U.S.

alliances as a means to reach the nation's national security goals.^[55]&#;In , she authored "The Age of Strategic Instability: How Novel Technologies Disrupt the Nuclear Balance", which was published in Foreign Affairs.^[56]

Personal life

She is married to neurosurgeon Jeffrey Randall.

They have two sons.^[21]

References

External links