Chief of Staff

Lara Hau serves as Chief of Staff at the Institute for Strategic Risk and Security (ISRS), bringing nearly three decades of national security and public-service experience to the organization's leadership.

Her career began in the U.S. Air Force, where she attended the Defense Language Institute and learned Russian. She went on to support U.S. intelligence agencies, serving as an operations team leader in Doha, Qatar, and working as an intelligence processor in Afghanistan, roles that placed her close to the operational realities of national security work overseas. From 2014 to 2025, she continued her public service at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, rounding out a career that spans military service, intelligence work, and federal government service.

That range of experience now informs her role guiding ISRS's operations and strategy.