Shea Bradley-Farrell, PhD (formerly Garrison) is a foreign policy and national security consultant in Washington, D.C.and the President of Counterpoint Institute for Policy, Research and Education (CIPRE). Recently, she was professor and subject matter expert for the Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU) of the Department of Defense (DoD). Dr. Shea possesses an active U.S. security clearance. She is also Affiliated Faculty and Policy Fellow at George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government and a member of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Border Security Coalition. Her career has focused on international development, national security, foreign policy and aid, women’s empowerment, and human rights.
As a policy expert and strategist, Dr. Shea provides analysis and recommendations to senior government and private sector officials. Former VP of International Affairs at a DC-based public policy organization, she is highly experienced in meeting with cabinet secretaries, senior executive branch officials and congressional leadership. She has extensive experience in writing formal testimony, white papers, and academic articles. Dr. Shea regularly publishes Op-eds in outlets such as National Review, The Washington Times, Daily Caller, the Hill, Washington Examiner, Daily Signal, the Federalist, and The European Conservative. She is a frequent guest on TV news and radio and presents to venues such as Wilson Center for International Scholars, U.S. Department of State, the Heritage Foundation, CPAC Hungary 2022, and the Gulf Studies Symposium.
As an international development professional, Dr. Shea has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America delivering capacity building and training assistance to international partners. She has hands-on experience with project design and management, budgeting, curriculum design and development, recruitment, and grants management. She is well-schooled in USAID programming and policies has worked with a variety of international donors including World Bank, Exxon, FedEx, and Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Shea holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Tulane University, where she was Adjunct Lecturer in the International Development Studies Program in 2015. In 2014, she was Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Gulf Studies at the American University of Kuwait.
