Kathryn Insley is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation Programs at the U.S. Department of State and a member of the Senior Executive Service. Ms. Insley oversees the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation’s four foreign assistance program offices: Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR), Export Control Cooperation (ECC), Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism (WMDT), and the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF). Together, these programs prevent the spread of WMD, delivery systems, and advanced conventional weapons capabilities and protect critical and advanced technologies from malicious use.
Prior to this position Ms. Insley served as the Director of the Office of Export Control Cooperation, which administers the Export Control and Border Security (EXBS) Program and seeks to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and destabilizing accumulations and illicit transfers of conventional weapons in countries that possess, produce, or supply strategic items, as well as in countries through which such items are most likely to transit.
From 2015 – 2017 Ms. Insley served as the Director for Counterproliferation on the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House. Prior to serving at the White House, Ms. Insley served as Director of the Office of Transnational Threats within the Countering WMD Directorate in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSD/P) at the Pentagon.
From 2005-2011, Ms. Insley held several positions within the ISN Bureau at the Department of State, including Acting Director of the Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction. In this capacity she oversaw Department of State activities to reduce biological, nuclear, and chemical threats through the Global Threat Reduction program. During this period Ms. Insley served in various Embassies overseas and had extensive involvement coordinating U.S. and multilateral threat reduction activities.
Prior to joining the Department of State, Ms. Insley advised U.S. businesses on international trade regulations and export procedures at the U.S. International Trade Administration. Ms. Insley worked as an attorney in the private sector prior to her government service.
Ms. Insley is the recipient of numerous Superior Honor Awards, the 2022 Edward J. Perkins Memorial Award, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award. She earned a J.D and MPP from the University of Maryland Law School and School of Public Policy.