Kayla Rose (’22): Counterterrorism for the State Department

Kayla began her M.A. at IWP with a job at a State Department contractor that she landed thanks to IWP students. During her master’s program, she pursued her interest in counterterrorism in a variety of classes.

Today, Kayla works with the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, where she leads counterterrorism drone policy and advises State Department leadership and international partners in the drone mission area. Kayla’s work directly contributes to protecting U.S. personnel and facilities overseas from terrorist drone attacks.

Below, Kayla shares how she found her niche in the national security community thanks to her IWP professors, how her work has taken her all over the world, and how she has become a crucial connector for those working on counterterrorism and drone issues.

From IWP Intern to State Department Contractor

Growing up in California, Kayla developed an interest in international affairs through family travel and participation in Model United Nations in high school.

When her older sister, Chelsea, enrolled in IWP’s M.A. program, Kayla began the IWP internship program. “That internship solidified my desire to work in government and foreign affairs,” said Kayla. “I liked the chessboard that is foreign affairs, and it felt like a way I could serve our country and do my part.”

During her internship, Kayla accompanied her sister to a Saturday “office hours” session with Prof. Quattrocki and the students in his counterintelligence class. The group met in IWP’s historic Marlatt Mansion, and the students spent the day listening to “Q,” as he is called by his students, and asking him questions. “Professor Quattrocki interacted with the students almost as peers, with such a high level of respect,” said Kayla. “The whole day felt almost like something out of Hollywood.”

During her internship, Kayla befriended a few current IWP students who were working on a State Department contract. They let her know when opportunities arose on an adjacent contract, and they submitted references for Kayla as she applied. She applied in the summer of 2019. By January 2020, Kayla was employed and onboarded, with an expedited Top-Secret clearance.

National Security Studies at IWP

Kayla began her graduate studies at IWP in the summer of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I had an amazing time,” she said. “It is so fun to get to study what you’re really interested in. The curriculum is well balanced – you get a holistic review of policy, government, and American founding principles, while also having the ability to dive into your niche interests.”

Inspired by family and friends who served in the War on Terror, Kayla’s primary focus within her national security degree was counterterrorism. She also enjoyed studying this topic in Africa.

“Counterterrorism is an interesting area to navigate in today’s complicated security environment,” said Kayla. In each of her courses, she examined a different aspect of counterterrorism.

A National Security Career

Following her initial role as a State Department contractor, Kayla served with the Department of Defense and Department of Energy before returning to the State Department.

“When I ended up back at the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, it felt like home,” she remembered. Today, she serves as the Bureau Policy Lead for Unmanned Systems within the Counterterrorism Bureau’s Homeland Security and Technical Policy office.

Kayla has been primarily focusing on exporting our domestic counterterrorism drone policies to international partners, while ensuring alignment of those policies with foreign policy. Her international engagements directly contribute to the protection of U.S. personnel and facilities overseas from drone threats.

Part of Kayla’s role involves briefing senior State Department leadership before they meet with their foreign counterparts. She ensures they understand U.S. counter-drone policy, as well as the use of drones for counterterrorism operations.

Kayla also engages with working-level counterparts through subject matter expert exchanges, work on joint products, and a foreign assistance portfolio. The latter involves helping prepare civilian law enforcement to respond to potential drone issues, such as airports or major events, and leveraging drones for border security management.

Kayla’s work allows her to travel regularly. Recently, she has been doing counterterrorism work with partner nations in the Quad (Australia, India, and Japan), as well as advising NATO on its efforts regarding Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). She took a trip to Mexico for a trilateral engagement to counter UAS in preparation for the World Cup. Her most recent visit was to Australia. Kayla has also done engagements in Colombia, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Latvia, Spain, and the UK. She is looking forward to future travel to the Czech Republic, Egypt, and Uzbekistan.

Impacting Global Security

Amidst a rapidly evolving drone threat, legislation development often falls behind the newest iteration of technology innovation. “To mitigate risk to our homeland and to Americans overseas, it takes open and honest coordination among our department, other agencies, and foreign partners,” Kayla noted.

Kayla has been working hard to establish this essential coordination and move policy in the right direction. She has been a key part of U.S. leadership on this issue with our international partners. “It is a proud moment when we have an international engagement on UAS issues with a whole team of interagency partners to speak to this,” said Kayla. “We have seen success in our efforts. It’s a whole of government, whole of society issue.”

Kayla finds it rewarding to connect people who can help each other on a given issue. “I enjoy being an enabler for all of our experts, operators, and diplomats to make our country safer and stronger,” she said. “The fact that I am perceived as available to help with that mission is gratifying.”

Reflections on the IWP Education

It is thanks in part to her IWP education that Kayla finds herself in a role where she can use her abilities to connect people. When she first came to IWP, Kayla had been intrigued by the idea of being an intelligence analyst – a role usually focused on heavy research and writing.

Through her practitioner-led courses, she soon discovered that this work would not suit her temperament, and she began to consider other options to serve in government.

“I feel more professionally fulfilled in my current role,” said Kayla. “I feel lucky to be able to do a combination of research, policy development, coordination of domestic policy meetings, and international communication.”

When asked about the most valuable part of her IWP education, Kayla points to the fact that IWP helped her learn to write for a government context. Coming from a liberal arts college and a successful academic career, it was a transition to learn to convey a topic clearly in two pages.

“IWP prepared me to step straight into my government role,” she said. “Being an effective communicator and briefer has been incredibly helpful. It demonstrated to my leadership that I could act independently and take on more responsibility more quickly. I didn’t need to be mentored about formatting, briefings, interagency communication, etc., because we had practiced this at school.”

One opportunity Kayla particularly enjoyed was the Baltic Storm crisis simulation that was run by two IWP alumni. “Wargaming in general is a great way to practice how to read intelligence, how to brief, how to communicate knowns and unknowns,” noted Kayla. “Playing the game was so much fun. It inspired me to create my own.”

Kayla has created a wargame for the counterterrorism course at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. “Without IWP and Baltic Storm, I wouldn’t have had any idea where to start,” she said.

Advice to New IWP Students

Kayla advises new IWP students to “lean in as much as you can.” While many students are working full-time jobs during graduate school, it is still valuable to attend alumni mentoring programs, engage with professors outside of class, and make connections with fellow students and alumni.

“Being in the IWP ecosystem is a great leg up,” she said.