Alex Kahan is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). In this role, she leads strategic planning efforts to support the organization to meet its dual mandate to drive development impact and advance U.S. foreign policy interests.
Ms. Kahan has more than 15 years of experience in policy and management positions in the public and private sectors. Most recently, she was the Chief of Staff for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security at the U.S. Department of State, where she supported efforts to strengthen global coordination on the pandemic response and oversaw activities that enabled the donation of more than 687 million vaccines to 117 countries. From 2017 to 2021, she worked at a management consulting firm where she supported senior government and private-sector leadership on strategy and operations priorities focused on health and defense.
From 2009 to 2016, Ms. Kahan served in national security roles at the White House and Department of State. At the Department of State, as Special Assistant to the Counselor she coordinated priority diplomatic initiatives for the Western Hemisphere and Africa, and prior to that, was Senior Advisor for Ebola Response during the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak. Previously, at the White House she served on the National Security Council as an aide to the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor and on the Vice President’s staff as Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor.
Ms. Kahan holds a Master in Public Policy from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a B.A. from Cornell University. She is a Term Member on the Council on Foreign Relations and former CNAS Next Generation National Security Fellow.