Laura Kupe

Laura Kupe is a Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation. Besides serving as a WCAPS Youth Ambassador, she currently serves as a Transatlantic Expert Group Leader for the Truman National Security Project and a foreign policy expert for the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies’ project "A German-American Dialogue of the Next Generation" for 2018-2019. Laura previously served as a Special Assistant at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the Office of International Engagement within the Office of Policy as a presidential appointee in the Obama Administration. In her role, Laura served as a subject-matter expert on the Department’s engagement with European Union (EU) member states and the Five Eyes on topics including immigration/migration, border security, and counterterrorism. Previously, she was detailed to the Office of Presidential Personnel in the White House and served as Domestic Director. Before her detail, Laura served as the Briefing Book Director to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. Prior to her time in the federal government, Laura served as a legislative fellow for Congresswoman Karen Bass, Ranking Member of the Africa Subcommittee on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Laura's parents are originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and she was born in Germany and raised in Luxembourg before moving to the United States. Laura speaks German, French, and Luxembourgish and is a self-proclaimed “Afropean-American.” She graduated with a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.