Michelle Strucke

Director, Humanitarian Agenda and Human Rights Initiative
Michelle Strucke

Michelle Strucke is the director for the Humanitarian Agenda and the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Throughout her career, she has focused on humanitarian affairs, human rights, and development issues at the intersection of conflict. Prior to joining CSIS, Michelle was appointed by the White House to serve as the first deputy assistant secretary of defense for global partnerships from 2022 to 2023. In this role, she led the development of Department of Defense (DOD) policy and strategy for a holistic range of policy tools for advancing U.S. national security partnerships, including humanitarian affairs and disaster response; the department’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic; global health engagement; human rights issues; women, peace, and security; and the multibillion-dollar security cooperation enterprise. In 2021, she served as principal director for stability and humanitarian affairs, where she oversaw, among other issues, civilian protection and peacekeeping and stability operations. In these roles, she played a pivotal role in initiating historic, systemic reform efforts to improve the DOD’s approaches to civilian harm mitigation and security cooperation. Prior to her government service, Michelle served for a decade in civil society in policy and programmatic leadership roles at Oxfam America, Islamic Relief USA, and the Syrian American Medical Society. Michelle was a Virginia gubernatorial appointee from 2016 to 2021, serving as vice chair of the Virginia Council on Women, where she led the council’s efforts to contribute to the elimination of racial disparities in maternal mortality in Virginia. An Arabic speaker, she holds a master’s degree in international human rights law from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Ithaca College.

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Executive Education

Decoding D.C.: Policy, Power, and People

Decoding D.C.: Policy, Power, and People offers embassy, business, and nonprofit professionals the tools and knowledge necessary to better navigate the Washington policy ecosystem.

Course Date: March 24, 2025
Registration Closes: March 12, 2025

The Future of Democracy and Human Rights in American Foreign Policy

The change in Administration offers an invaluable time to examine the future of U.S. foreign policy and how democracy and human rights promotion fits into it. This event will discuss the importance of such promotion for U.S. interests and national security.

Event — December 19, 2024

Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis: What Was Old Is New Again

It is critical that in its final days the Biden administration set in place a functioning structure that will carry over to the next administration and ensure no gap in attention or response to Sudan’s crisis.

Report by Cameron Hudson and Michelle Strucke — December 17, 2024

Global Conflicts to Watch in 2025: Escalating Humanitarian Needs

This discussion brings together humanitarian experts, policy leaders, and field practitioners to reflect on the landscape of humanitarian need, particularly in conflict settings, in 2024 and look forward to which areas need attention in 2025.  

Event — December 13, 2024