Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin Welsh is the director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she analyzes the drivers and consequences of food and water insecurity around the world, including for U.S. national security. Her specific areas of focus include the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global food security and nutrition, food insecurity in the U.S. military, and the coherence between U.S. global water security policy and U.S. global food security policy. Prior to joining CSIS, Ms. Welsh served for over 12 years in the U.S. government, including at the National Security Council and National Economic Council as director for global economic engagement with responsibility for the G7 and G20, and at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Food Security, where she served as acting director. Ms. Welsh was a presidential management fellow at the U.S. African Development Foundation and a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. She has testified before Congress on global food security on multiple occasions, and her analysis has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, NPR, PBS, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, BBC, Newsweek, and other outlets.

Ms. Welsh received her BA from the University of Virginia and MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.