
Erin Bruening joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in April of 2020 as the foundation and government grants manager. In this role, she oversees the portfolio of all foundation and government grants and contracts across the center, working with external partners in the U.S. government and at philanthropic foundations. Prior to joining CSIS, she served as the associate director of development at Council for a Strong America (CSA), an organization of over 10,000 members promoting evidence-based policies that strengthen the United States through the next generation. Before transitioning to the development field full time, she worked on the programmatic side of the nonprofit space, running Shepherding the Next Generation, a sibling organization at CSA for six years. At Shepherding the Next Generation, she organized faith leaders on behalf of early childhood investments at both federal and state capitols. She received a bachelor of arts in political science, international relations, and religious studies from the College of Wooster and spent some time at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.