2026 Duke Sanford Graduates: Kaitlyn Ostrom Ross

“Both of my parents served as Foreign Area Officers in the U.S. Army, and I was fortunate to spend many formative years abroad, including in Ukraine and Singapore, immersed in different cultures and perspectives.”

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That early exposure stayed with her. It led her into intelligence and analytic work supporting national security and federal law enforcement missions, often in investigative and operational settings. Over the years, her work focused on the individuals and networks behind transnational threats, including cyber- and crypto-enabled activity, illicit financial networks, counterterrorism and counterproliferation efforts.

“I’ve always been drawn to that collaborative dimension, where technical analysis, operational insight, and geopolitical context come together to understand the people and relationships that shape complex global challenges,” she said.

But even as she built a career in high-stakes operational environments, Ostrom Ross found herself asking bigger questions.

“Over time, however, it became increasingly apparent that many of the challenges we encountered in investigations were shaped by decisions made much further upstream, at the policy and strategy level,” she said. “That curiosity ultimately led me to Sanford.”

Stepping back to see the bigger picture

After several years in the field, she decided to pursue Duke’s Master of National Security Policy program to better understand how governments interpret intelligence, weigh competing priorities and translate complex information into strategy.

“I was looking for a program that would allow me to step back from the tactical level of my work and think more deliberately about the strategic context shaping the threats we face,” she said.

That decision also came at a pivotal moment in her life. After major medical challenges, including brain and spinal surgery, Ostrom Ross said she gained a renewed perspective on how she wanted to invest her time and energy. As she recovered, returning to school felt like the right next step.

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The MNSP program offered what she needed: a rigorous academic experience that also gave her the flexibility to continue working. More importantly, it gave her new ways to connect the world she had experienced firsthand with the systems and institutions that shape national security policy.

Connecting operations to strategy

“One of the most meaningful shifts for me has been connecting operational experience with broader strategic frameworks,” she said. “In investigative work, the focus is often on solving the immediate problem, identifying a threat actor, mapping a network, or supporting a case. My experience at Sanford gave me the opportunity to step back and ask larger questions about the systems, incentives, and institutional dynamics that shape those threats in the first place.”

Several courses left a lasting mark. She pointed to classes with Dr. Burke and Professor Candreva as especially important in sharpening her understanding of institutions and budgeting, while Dr. Grasmeder’s methods of policy analysis course helped build a strong foundation for engaging in high-level research and analysis, setting the cohort up for success in subsequent coursework. Together, they helped her better understand how authorities, processes and funding mechanisms interact, and how leaders can navigate those systems to achieve strategic outcomes.

Other classes pushed her to think more deeply about the human side of policy. Courses with Professor Jentleson and Admiral Blair deepened her interest in decision-making, relationships and timing, and in what she described as the importance of understanding the “human terrain” of both partners and adversaries.

“National security challenges often look very different depending on where you sit in the system, whether at the operational, institutional, or policy level,” she said. “Learning to integrate perspectives from multiple vantage points is critical for effective decision-making.”

Learning through perspective

That lesson became even more tangible through her classmates. Learning alongside military service members, private industry professionals, analysts, Hill staff and elected officials reinforced just how much perspective matters in national security work.

“One of the most meaningful lessons I’ll carry forward is how much context and perspective matter in national security decision-making,” she said. “That experience deepened my appreciation for how important it is to communicate across institutions and bring those different insights together, especially when dealing with complex, transnational challenges.”

Defining leadership on her own terms

She also found space at Sanford to think more intentionally about leadership. Dr. Hillen’s course, she said, stood out because it turned inward, asking students to reflect not only on systems and strategy, but on how they lead within them.

“It pushed me to think more intentionally about how leaders operate within complex systems, how they balance competing priorities, communicate across organizations, and exercise judgment under uncertainty—and about the type of leader I want to be,” she said.

His class also helped her define leadership on her own terms.

“I especially appreciated his emphasis on developing an approach that is both effective and authentically aligned with your values and how you lead others,” she said. “That was a meaningful shift for me, moving away from trying to match someone else’s idea of what a leader should look like and toward being more deliberate about how I want to lead.”

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Recognition and what comes next

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This year, her work and promise earned national recognition when she was named a 2026 Shawn Brimley Next Generation National Security Fellow. The honor recognizes emerging leaders in the field, and for Ostrom Ross, it affirmed the kind of long-range thinking that first drew her to Sanford.

“The fellowship is especially meaningful to me because it brings together people who are thinking seriously about the long-term strategic challenges facing the United States and its partners,” she said. “National security work often requires responding to urgent crises, but programs like this create space to step back and reflect on the broader trends shaping the global environment.”

She sees the fellowship as a chance to keep building on the connection between operational experience and strategic thinking that has defined her time in the MNSP program.

“I’m especially interested in continuing to explore how analytical insight, interagency collaboration, and an understanding of the human dimension can inform more effective national security policy,” she said.

Grounded in service

As she looks ahead, Ostrom Ross returns often to the idea of service, a principle that shaped her upbringing and continues to guide her work.

“Growing up in a military family, one of the many lessons my parents emphasized was the importance of going where the need is,” she said. “That idea has stayed with me throughout my career.”

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Whether she was supporting investigations, working across agencies and international partnerships, volunteering in her community or studying policy at Sanford, she said that same principle has remained constant: contributing where the work feels most meaningful. That sense of responsibility also shapes how she talks about the field itself and why it matters.

“Public policy matters because it reflects the trust the American people place in their government to act in their best interest, and that trust comes with the responsibility to serve with integrity, humility, and a long-term commitment to the country’s future,” she said. “In national security especially, the decisions of these public servants influence conflict, stability, and opportunity across entire regions, and getting them right requires not only strategy and analysis, but also a genuine understanding of the human realities behind geopolitical competition.”

For Ostrom Ross, that understanding started early, shaped by the world she saw as a child. At Sanford, she strengthened it, adding the policy tools, strategic frameworks and leadership reflection to match a career already rooted in service.

And for anyone considering the same path, her advice is simple.

“Stay grounded in the idea of service,” she said. “It’s easy to focus on strategy, policy, and competition, but at its core, this work is about serving the public and making decisions that have real consequences for people. Keeping that perspective in mind is what makes the work both meaningful and worth doing.”