Meet Stephenie Foster

Stephenie Foster is a women’s rights advocate with extensive experience in government, policy, and the law. She is a recognized voice on the critical importance of women’s leadership and a leading thought leader on feminist foreign policy and transformative women’s initiatives.

She is a Founding Partner of Smash Strategies, a firm dedicated to advising businesses, foundations, and nonprofit organizations on how to achieve more effective and impactful results by investing in women’s leadership and gender equality.

Following the fall of Kabul through early 2023, Stephenie returned to the U.S. Department of State to support Afghan relocation efforts, with a specific mandate to prioritize the needs of women and girls. Previously, she served at the Department of State from 2012–2017 as Senior Advisor and Counselor to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI), and at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she focused on advancing women’s rights and civil society.

While serving in the S/GWI office, Stephenie managed a broad portfolio of key policies and programs, including women, peace, and security initiatives; women’s political participation; and women’s economic empowerment. As a senior official, she represented the United States in multilateral and bilateral forums and traveled extensively throughout Afghanistan to work directly with individuals and organizations advancing the role of women in society.

Earlier in her career, Stephenie served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT). She was also appointed General Counsel of the U.S. General Services Administration, founded her own consulting firm, and held senior leadership roles in the nonprofit sector. She began her career as an attorney and was a litigation partner in San Francisco, California.

Stephenie is also an accomplished author and a highly sought-after public speaker, regularly engaging audiences around the world on women’s leadership, feminist foreign policy, democracy, and social change. Her first book, Take Action: Fighting for Women & Girls, was published in October 2021. Her second book, co-authored with Susan Markham, Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice, was published in September 2023.

She currently serves on the board of Foreign Policy for America, where she chairs the Political Committee, and on the board of the Mead Center for Performing Arts (Arena Stage). Through her writing, speaking, and advocacy, Stephenie continues to dedicate her career to advancing equality and opportunity for women and girls worldwide.

To learn more about Stephenie’s speaking topics or to request her for your upcoming event, please visit her AAE Speaker Profile HERE.