Tess McEnery is a Director for Democracy and Human Rights at the U.S. National Security Council (NSC). Ms. McEnery joined the NSC from the U.S. Department of State, where she served as the Global Affairs Section Chief in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, advancing democratic and rights-respecting foreign policy to counter authoritarianism, democratic subversion, and democratic backsliding. McEnery was previously a Senior Conflict Prevention Advisor at the Department, developing policy frameworks to combat global fragility. She also served as a Director at the NSC in 2017-2018, focused on democracy and human rights, fragile states and stabilization, and countering violent extremism. Prior to her first stint at the NSC, McEnery worked for over a decade at the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) as a democracy, conflict, and political transitions advisor.