Whitney Grespin

Visiting Scholar, Institute for African Studies at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs

Whitney Grespin is a Visiting Scholar at George Washington University’s Elliott School for International Affairs’ Institute for African Studies, and a PhD candidate at King’s College London’s Defence Studies Department, where her work focuses on the USG use of contractors to train partner militaries. She has worked in contingency contracting, educational programming, and institutional development on five continents.  She most recently worked as an advisor to the Somali Ministry of Defense in Mogadishu, before which she supported the U.S. Army War College’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) as a Peace Operations Analyst. Whitney holds a BA from Duquesne University, a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, a professional certificate in Project Management from Georgetown University, a secondary education social studies teaching licensure from Pennsylvania State University, and is pursuing a graduate certificate in Criminal Justice in addition to her doctoral work. She is an active member of the International Studies Association and the Army and Navy Club, a sustaining member of the Junior League of Washington DC, a prior Board Member of and flag carrier for the Society of Woman Geographers, a Researcher at the UK Centre for Military Ethics, and holds a Term Membership at the Council on Foreign Relations.