Lara Crouch Parker

Lara Crouch Parker started her career at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in 2009 and rejoins the organization as a senior associate in the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department after more than 15 years crafting and advising on U.S. strategy in Asia in the U.S. government, private sector, and research community. She is currently the director of U.S. Policy Practice at Garnaut Global. In 2025, she served on the National Security Council as director of Southeast Asia, where she led coordination of policy options for trade, supply chain resilience, and U.S. defense cooperation. From 2019 to 2025, Lara served as a senior professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC). In that role, she was a key adviser to SFRC Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) and chief negotiator for all China and Asia legislation, including the most significant U.S. law passed on Taiwan in more than four decades. Lara has also worked in the Department of State’s Office of Policy Planning, the Department of Defense, and at Beacon Global Strategies. She held research roles at the American Enterprise Institute, CSIS, and the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing. Lara earned a BA with distinction from the University of Virginia and an MA in Asia studies from Georgetown University and studied Mandarin Chinese for seven years. Lara lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, Jake. She is a proud alumna of the Leonine Forum and an avid horseback rider.