Dana LaFon

As the former senior executive ranking civilian for influence psychology at the National Security Agency (NSA), Dr. LaFon originated and led the Cyberpsychology U.S. Intelligence Community and allied partners’ Community of Interest, which was established for sharing methods, interchanging of ideas, and collaborating beyond borders. She has supported the National Security Council’s (NSC) Interagency Policy Committees and has provided numerous briefs to the senior government and military officials on influence campaigns, resilience, influence inoculation, and integrating mission psychology strategies to enhance policy and program development.

Dr. Dana LaFon started her career in government as a Special Agent at the National Security Agency (NSA). Mid-career, she moved over to mission where she founded and served as the Chief of NSA’s Office of Operational Psychology (OPSYCH), which was responsible for scaling psychological-based insights for whole of government operations to counter some of the most egregious national security threats. She has deep expertise in remote psychological assessment, influence psychology, and malign influence campaigns. She completed a joint duty assignment with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit for cyber and, most recently served as the Council on Foreign Relations Senior Intelligence Fellow in New York City, where she advised on national security, disinformation, and resilience for corporate executives, scholars, and government officials. She published multiple expert briefs as well as served on panel discussions for member organizations and academic webinars. Her publications centered on

countering manipulation tactics and influence attempts by adversarial state actors.

As a university professor for 15 years (concurrent to government service), Dr. LaFon developed curricula and taught courses in Psychology of Counterintelligence/Counter Terrorism, Psychology and the Legal System, and Cyberpsychology. She served on numerous doctoral dissertation boards and university advisory boards. She earned a Doctorate of Psychology from Loyola University Maryland as well as a Master of Science in Psychology and a Bachelors of Business Administration in Information Systems.

Prior to her government service, Dr. LaFon was a clinical forensic psychology practitioner and researcher at The Johns Hopkins University, MedStar Health, University of Maryland, and in private practice. Additionally, she worked in public service providing clinical services at the Maryland Division of Corrections and various State institutions/hospitals as well as consult to Baltimore City Police’s

Hostage/Crisis Negotiations team. In her earlier career, she was a senior systems analyst and computer project manager in private industry.

Her 25+ year career experience in multiple fields (i.e., Intelligence, psychology, graduate professor, systems analysis), settings (i.e., U.S. government, academia, state/local agencies, and private industry), and foreign partnerships has enabled her to apply a broad perspective to a wide array of national security issues and foreign policy topics.

Dr. LaFon has received numerous awards throughout her career including multiple National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citations and achievement awards, the FBI ANT award for superior case impact, and the esteemed Dr. Louis W. Tordella Award for outstanding achievement and significant contribution that

distinguish Dr. LaFon as performing at the highest levels and delivering remarkable, high-impact results.

As Dr. LaFon leaves government service, she is anticipating sharing what she has learned, crafted, and honed to communities outside of government. Countering the negative impacts of manipulation tactics and applying the skills and abilities she has leveraged over the past 25 years to help people truly resonate their message and achieve measurable change are front and center for her next chapter. Her IAE advisory council position allows her to assist in safeguarding against manipulation and stay true to her core values of integrity, transparency, and diversity of input. Post-government service, Dr. LaFon hopes to contribute more substantively to IAE because she believes in IAE’s core mission. It is exactly

where she wants to be at this stage in her career.