All of us know the challenges to attract and retain cleared talent. Join us for a panel discussion with NSA Chief of Staff Marlisa Smith and Kristina Walter, Director of NSA’s Future-Ready Workforce Initiative, on how they are changing to ensure their workplace and staff are ready for the national security work to come.

 

Marlisa L. Smith
Chief of Staff, National Security Agency
 

CURRENT POSITION: Ms. Smith currently serves as the National Security Agency, Chief of Staff.  In this position, she advises the NSA Director and Deputy Director on pertinent administrative and general operations of the NSA workforce.  She is also responsible for direct oversight of all matters affecting the Senior Executives and serves as a member of the NSA Board of Directors. 

PREVIOUS POSITION:  Ms. Smith began her career in 1989 as a Security and Counterintelligence Special Agent.  Since that time, she has held a variety of key positions at the Agency and with each new assignment gradually increasing her level of responsibility. During a critical time of rebuilding for the organization, Ms. Smith became an investigator and counselor within the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). During her five-year career with the EEO organization, she was a member of the adjunct faculty at the National Cryptologic School and was selected to teach various courses as a subject-matter expert. Ms. Smith also worked as a Corporate Relations Representative within the Directorate for Plans, Policy and Programs where she was responsible for cultivating effective partnerships. Following that assignment, Ms. Smith was an Executive Assistant for several senior leaders. Ms. Smith was then named the Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) where she was responsible for managing the Agency’s alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program. Ms. Smith then served initially as Deputy Director and then Director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity (EEOD).  As EEOD Director her primary focus was to maintain a culture of inclusion and fairness which stands as the foundation of her leadership. She was then appointed by the Director to serve as the Senior NSA/CSS Representative (NCR) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) leading a dedicated team to strengthen the NSA and FBI partnership. Most recently Ms. Smith served as the Chief of Security and Counterintelligence (S&CI), a position ensuring the protection of NSA personnel, facilities and mission capabilities worldwide.

EDUCATION: Ms. Smith graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology. She is also a graduate of the Intelligence Community, Executive Training from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Executive Education and also a recent graduate of the “Leadership at the Peak” program from the Center for Creative Leadership. Ms. Smith is also a graduate of the Agency’s Security and Counterintelligence Special Agent’s training program and earned a mediation certificate from the Justice Center of Atlanta. Her ability to collaborate, inspire, and produce results are just a few of the reasons she was elevated to the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service in 2010.

AWARDS: Ms. Smith is a recipient of a 2015 Meritorious Presidential Rank Award and a 2016 recipient of the NSA Exceptional Civilian Service Award (ECSA), NSA’s highest honorary award.

PERSONAL: Ms. Smith, a native Marylander, resides with her husband and four adult children. She enjoys outdoor activities, reading, and staying current with community engagement through professional, cultural and business organizations to include Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

 

Kristina P. Walter
Director, Future-Ready Workforce Initiative
National Security Agency

Current Position: Ms. Kristina Walter is currently the Director for NSA’s Future-Ready Workforce Initiative, which is NSA’s response to improving the professional and personal experiences of its most significant resource: the people. It is designed to ensure NSA is a premier workplace that combines a fulfilling mission, engaged leadership, and a positive, healthy, and supportive work environment. Ms. Walter joined the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Services (DISES) cadre in January 2023.

Prior Positions: Prior to assuming this role, Ms. Walter served as the Chief of Defense Industrial Base (DIB) Cybersecurity in the NSA’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center. In this role, she led partnerships with the DIB to mitigate cyber threats that jeopardize intellectual property and other unclassified information on DIB networks. Ms. Walter also served as the Strategist for the Collaboration Center before standing up the DIB Defense organization.

Additional previous assignments include service as the Senior Strategy Officer in NSA’s Strategy office, where she led the team responsible for building NSA’s strategy to meet growing mission demands and creating business cases to justify resource increases to overseers. This team worked across the Agency to define actionable plans to effectively implement DIRNSA’s vision and strategic goals, and supported tracking progress with NSA Board of Directors. 

Other previous assignments include various positions within NSA’s Business Management & Acquisition (BM&A) Directorate. Ms. Walter has over 10 years of experience at NSA.

Education: Ms. Walter is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Supply Chain Management. She also holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration. 

 

Tiffany McDonald

2022-2023 Kickstarter Grant Recipient

Tiffany McDonald has a lifelong passion for education and broader learning.  She earned her M. Ed. From the University of Louisville and has focused on both pedagogy and andragogy and is active in a wide range of educational activities.  She is a member of the Board of Directors for several “Cyber Challenge” events focused on educating college students about cybersecurity opportunities in different market verticals (transportation, health, and infrastructure) as well as a Board Member of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has volunteered her time as a grant writer for three different schools (private, public and homeschool co-op).  She also volunteers as a teacher for Awana. She lives with her husband and two sons in Pasadena, MD.