Megan Ortagus is the Director of Communications at the Institute for the Study of War where she leads ISW's outreach to Congress and the media. Ms. Ortagus recently embedded with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and visited Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kunar Province along the Pakistani border.

Prior to joining ISW, Ms. Ortagus was the Director of Policy Coalitions for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. She traveled to Baghdad, Iraq as an embedded journalist with the Army 1-4 Cavalry and 2-4 Infantry at Forward Operating Base Falcon.

Ms. Ortagus is also an analyst for London’s GMTV and a commentator for FOX News, MSNBC, al Hurra and al Jazeera English.

In addition to project management and media relations, she has extensive experience in electoral campaigns and the legislative process. Her political career includes fundraisers, events and campaigns for Presidential, Congressional (both House and Senate), and state wide races.

Ms. Ortagus is a master’s candidate at Johns Hopkins University. She graduated from Southeastern University with a degree in Opera and now resides in Washington, D.C.