Meet Stephenie Foster
Diplomat | Advocate | Thought Leader and Author
Stephenie Foster has extensive experience in government, policy, and the law. She is a recognized voice on the critical importance of women’s leadership and a 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 non-profit organizations on how to achieve better results by focusing on women’s leadership and gender equality.
After the fall of Kabul through early 2023, Stephenie returned to the U.S. Department of State focusing on Afghan relocation, with a mandate to prioritize the needs of women and girls. Stephenie had previously served at the Department of State from 2012-2017 as a Senior Advisor/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 women and civil society.
In the S/GWI office, Stephenie managed a wide range of key policies and programs, including the women, peace, and security initiative, women’s political participation, and women’s economic empowerment. As a senior official, Stephenie represented the U.S. in multilateral and bilateral forums. In Afghanistan, she traveled extensively to work with individuals and organizations advancing the role of women in Afghan society.
In addition, she served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT). She was also appointed as General Counsel of the U.S. General Services Administration, founded her own consulting firm, and served in senior management positions in the non-profit sector. She began her career as an attorney, and was a litigation partner in San Francisco, California.
Stephenie is an author and sought-after public speaker. 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.
Stephenie currently serves on the board of Foreign Policy for America, where she chairs the Political Committee, and of the Mead Center for Performing Arts (Arena Stage).