Samantha Vinograd

American foreign policy commentator (born 1983)

Samantha Vinograd

Vinograd in 2021

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Counterterrorism, Threat Prevention, and Law Enforcement Policy
In office
December 2022 – December 2023
Acting: July 2021 – August 2022
President| Joe Biden
Succeeded by| Jeohn Favors
Personal details
Born|

Samantha Erin Vinograd

(1983-02-17) February 17, 1983 (age 42)
Connecticut, U.S.
Education| University of Pennsylvania (BA)
Georgetown University (MA)
Occupation| Government official
Known for| National Security Analyst at CNN

Samantha Erin Vinograd (born February 17, 1983)[1] is a former American government official and presently a foreign policy commentator. She served as the Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism, Threat Prevention, and Law Enforcement Policy at the Department of Homeland Security from July 2021 to December 2023.

## Early life and education

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Vinograd was born and raised in Connecticut in a Jewish family, including her father who is a Holocaust survivor from France.[2][3] Vinograd graduated from the Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2001.[2]

After high school, Vinograd attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian and Middle Eastern studies.[4] She later received a Master of Arts in security studies from Georgetown University.[5]

## Career

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After her studies, Vinograd joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury, working as deputy attaché to Iraq and as an International Economist during the George W. Bush administration.[5][6]

In August 2009, during the Obama administration, she began her tenure at the National Security Council, where she served as director for Iraq, director for international economics, and as senior advisor to National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon.[7][5][8]

In 2013, she began to work for Goldman Sachs focusing on public-private sector partnerships. She later worked at Stripe, leading global public policy before joining CNN as a national security analyst.[5] For several years, Vinograd was also a Senior Advisor at the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware.[9][10]

She has worked as an advisor to the US Fund for UNICEF, was named a David E. Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission, a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and serves on the board of the Women's Foreign Policy Group.[11] She co-founded Global Opportunity Advisors, a geopolitical risk and policy advisory firm, with Morgan Ortagus.[12]

### Biden Administration

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Vinograd began serving in the Biden administration as senior counselor for national security and acting assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the Department of Homeland Security in February 2021.[13] She was promoted to assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention in July 2021.[14]

Vinograd left DHS in December of 2023 and joined the Brunswick Group.[15]

## References

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1. ^ Daniels, Eugene; Palmeri, Tara; Lizza, Ryan; Bade, Rachael (17 February 2021). "POLITICO Playbook: The best (and worst) of Biden's town hall". Politico. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
2. ^ a b Tellides, Theodore (3 November 2017). "Two Holocaust Survivors Speak at Hopkins Assembly". Hopkins School.
3. ^ Vinograd, Sam (January 30, 2017). "President Trump, You Have the Wrong Enemy - Welcome to a less secure America". Marie Claire.
4. ^ "Actionable Intelligence". The Pennsylvania Gazette. June 23, 2020.
5. ^ a b c d "Samantha Vinograd, Global Public Policy Lead, Stripe". Concordia Summit.
6. ^ Burstiner, Emma (28 December 2020). "A Conversation with Samantha Vinograd". The Gate. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
7. ^ Vinograd, Samantha (27 July 2020). "Why the national security adviser's Covid-19 infection is a national security problem". CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2021. See "Editor's Note".
8. ^ Haberman, Maggie (September 19, 2016). "Letter From Former Officials Urges Donald Trump to Detail Foreign Dealings". NYT. Retrieved July 25, 2020. "Michael J. Morell, a former acting director of the C.I.A., and Michael G. Vickers, a former under secretary of defense for intelligence, put together the letter with input from Samantha Vinograd, a former senior adviser to Thomas E. Donilon, a former national security adviser."
9. ^ "Samantha Vinograd, Senior Adviser, Biden Institute". University of Delaware \- Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, Biden Institute. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
10. ^ Bade, Rachael; Lizza, Ryan; Palmeri, Tara; Daniels, Eugene (10 February 2021). "POLITICO Playbook: Trump is furious, and McConnell might vote to convict". Politico. Retrieved 30 April 2021. "Samantha Vinograd will be senior counselor for national security at DHS. She most recently was at CNN and the Biden Institute..."
11. ^ "Escalation, Deterrence, and Brinkmanship: A Conversation on Iran". Women's Foreign Policy Group. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
12. ^ Deutch, Gabby (April 24, 2020). "For the State Dept's top spokeswoman, her journey to Judaism began in Baghdad". Jewish Insider. Retrieved July 28, 2020. "In 2018, Ortagus and Vinograd founded a consulting firm, flaunting what they saw as their unique brand of bipartisanship. They briefly wrote a Marie Claire column titled 'Opp-ed' — as in, 'opposing political sides' — in which they discussed and explained their political disagreements."
13. ^ Sands, Geneva (18 February 2021). "Biden administration looks to FEMA to help combat domestic terrorism in wake of Capitol attack". CNN. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
14. ^ "Samantha Vinograd". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
15. ^ "DHS Vet Signs on at Brunswick Group". O'Dwyer's. 2 January 2024.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samantha Vinograd.

* Samantha Vinograd on Twitter
* "Women In National Security: Morgan Ortagus and Samantha Vinograd". Center for a New American Security.
* "Presidential Weekly Briefing Weekly column by Samantha Vinograd for CNN.