Penny’s reputation is flawless. Colleagues see her as an exemplary, bipartisan public servant with a strong moral compass.
Persevering Penny
P
enny is highly regarded by government officials and NGOs alike as being a loyal nuclear security advocate who can reach across the political chasm irrespective of who is in the White House. In 2024 Penny marked a decade in her role as senior research associate. She’s spent the last seven years of that decade at a widely respected nonproliferation think tank. As an “heir apparent” to the leadership position at her organization, Penny prides herself on her ability to connect lessons from the past to challenges in the present.
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Her relationships span generations and she is staunchly loyal, with longstanding professional relationships. However, Penny is most pleased by opportunities to champion the work of young people in the field. Penny has done groundbreaking work at the nexus of emerging technology and nuclear security, forging unconventional partnerships with private-sector tech companies and their funders. As a result, she has developed an extraordinary international network with innovators in the public and private sectors and in
DISSATISFACTION > VISION > FIRST STEPS > RESISTANCE
civil society. Her partners value her skillfulness in navigating these different arenas to find mutual benefit. Penny always seems to know where the power is in a room, yet somehow she uses it not for her own gain but to advance the most important or strategic idea. She’s a natural mentor who enjoys helping colleagues navigate their careers. Penny is pretty much indefatigable, persevering in service of her organization’s mission even though she privately describes the field as being “embedded in iron.”