Susan Markham is the Director of the Halifax International Security Forum (HFX). Markham is a policy expert, advocate and political strategist that understands the power of women and girls. At Smash Strategies, she helps companies and not-for-profit organizations that understand that gender equality is “good for business.” Clients succeed when they unleash the talent, skills and power of their employees and partners, and match their internal and external commitments, so that they can do well and do good. Previously, Susan served at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. In this position, she advised Agency leadership on gender policy issues, including the implementation of the USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy. Moreover, she led cross-sectoral program efforts in resilience, adolescent girls' education and energy, and represented the Agency to the White House and other departments, governments, civil society and private partners. Previously, she worked at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), EMILY’s List, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Participation 2000, and managed and raised funds for five U.S. federal and state political campaigns.

Stephenie Foster is the Founding Partner at Smash Strategies. With a career spanning government, the non-profit sector, and law, Ms. Foster has deep expertise in the economic and political empowerment of women, and how to effectively integrate a gender-focused approach into foreign policy. She is rejoining the Foreign Policy for America Board after serving at the U.S. Department of State as a Senior Advisor to the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE), with a mandate to ensure that women and girls are central to those efforts. Prior to that, Ms. Foster was a founding partner at Smash Strategies, which counsels corporations, institutions, and philanthropists to ensure that their investments in women and girls are  effective and transformational. Ms. Foster also served in the U.S. Department of State from 2012 to 2017; first as Women and Civil Society Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and then as Senior Advisor and Counselor in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. Ms. Foster served as the Chief of Staff to Senators Barbara Mikulski and Christopher Dodd, was appointed General Counsel of the U.S. General Services Administration by President Clinton, and has headed government affairs for several prominent non-profit organizations. She is an attorney, receiving a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and was a litigation partner in San Francisco, California. 

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