Susan C. Lavrakas

Susan is Director, Workforce, at the Aerospace Industries Association. She joined AIA at the end of January 2011 in order to work full-time on STEM education and workforce issues.

Susan has enjoyed a forty-year professional career in national security affairs. Having studied political science and international affairs, she started her career at the Central Intelligence Agency. She did graduate studies at the University of Southern California, conducted research at the RAND Corporation, and then was recruited into the defense industry by the Northrop Grumman Corporation, where she was employed for nearly two decades. From 2003 – 2011 Susan worked in Government Relations at BAE Systems.

Susan chaired the AIA Industrial Base and Workforce Committee from 2007, and was also a member of the AIA Workforce Steering Committee from its founding in 2009, until she joined the AIA staff. At the same she also served as Vice President for Legislative Liaison of the Workforce Division of the National Defense Industrial Association.

Susan is a member of the board of directors of Virginians for the Arts and also serves on the board of directors of the Theatre of the First Amendment.