Sharon M. Lazich

Sharon Lazich is a strategy, governance, and program leader with 15+ years of federal experience managing complex portfolios at the intersection of policy, technology, and international affairs. As a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with USAID, she provided strategic and operational leadership across multibillion-dollar portfolios in Pakistan, Kenya, and Ukraine, leading cross-functional teams of more than 30 professionals in conflict-affected and politically complex environments. She holds Top Secret clearance and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

In Ukraine, Sharon helped lead a government-wide review of more than $3 billion in foreign assistance, preserving critical programming amid rapidly shifting U.S. policy priorities. During the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, she served as USAID's Mission Disaster Relief Officer in Pakistan, coordinating humanitarian response efforts across diplomatic, development, and interagency partners. In Kenya, she led the Program Office responsible for strategic planning, performance, and resource management across a roughly $3 billion portfolio of more than 100 initiatives.

Across these assignments, Sharon has worked at the intersection of strategy and execution: aligning resources with policy priorities, managing institutional risk, strengthening accountability and performance systems, and bringing government, technical, and international stakeholders together around difficult decisions. Much of that work has taken place in environments where information was incomplete, timelines were compressed, and decisions carried significant operational and political consequences.

Sharon earned her master's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and began her federal career as a Presidential Management Fellow. During the fellowship, she served with USAID in Washington and Indonesia and completed a leadership rotation as a Policy Analyst in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

She is now completing a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence Management and Policy at Purdue University, building on her experience in governance, national security, and institutional transformation to focus on the policy and management challenges created by emerging technologies. Her current interests include AI governance, space and defense technology, responsible technology adoption, and the organizational systems needed to translate emerging capabilities into real-world outcomes.

Outside of work, Sharon reads widely across history and science, maintains a long-standing interest in astronomy and systems thinking, and takes direction from her Resident Dog Advisor, Ollie-Wan Nairobi.