As a Senior Advisor, Ellen Lord shares her expertise after more than thirty years of experience holding senior positions in the defense industry. At The Chertoff Group she provides counsel regarding defense programs, homeland security and the protection of critical infrastructure.
Until recently, Ms. Lord served as the first Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S), leading the Department of Defenses personnel, policies and processes involved in Pentagon acquisition, contracts, logistics, and the defense industrial base.
Prior to this appointment, from October 2012 – June 2017, Ms. Lord served as the President and CEO of Textron Systems, a subsidiary of the Textron Company. In this role, she led a multi-billion dollar business with a broad range of products and services supporting defense, homeland security, aerospace, and infrastructure protection. Earlier in her career, Ms. Lord served as Vice President of Integration Management for Textron Systems and Vice President of Intelligent Battlefield Systems for Textron Defense Systems, in addition to other business and operations positions.
Ms. Lord is a former Vice Chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association, as well as a former Director of the U.S.-India Business Council. She has served on the industry steering committee for the Center for New American Security’s (CNAS) task force on “Strategy, Technology and the Global Defense Industry,” as well as CNAS’s DoD-Industry collaborative project ‚“Future Foundry: Forging New Industries for Defense,” which was formed to examine key technological trends and challenges facing the global defense industry. Ms. Lord has also served on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Naval Institute Foundation.
Ms. Lord earned a Master of Science degree in chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Connecticut College.
