Earlier this year the Foundation was pleased to establish our new Graduate Fellowship Alumni of the Year Award. The creation of an alumni award was a concept that Secretary Rumsfeld and our team had discussed over the years, knowing it would only be a matter of time before our alumni would be contributing to our nation in significant ways as they advanced in their careers and feeling that it would be important for the Foundation to honor and celebrate such achievements and the dedication they require. Now nearly 15 years into our program, we are delighted to bring this idea to life.
The Alumni of the Year Award annually recognizes one Graduate Fellowship alum who has demonstrated their commitment to public service as well as their active engagement in the Fellowship Network. Nominations are made by both alumni and program Advisers who have followed the accomplishments of their peers or former students.
In the time since their Fellowship, awardees have translated the knowledge gained from their graduate education into professional contributions for the benefit of our nation and the American people. Awardees champion the Foundation’s overarching principles of individual liberty, free systems and American leadership and have continued to steadfastly demonstrate the qualities for which they were nominated for their original Fellowship: outstanding intellectual ability, integrity, moral character and leadership potential.
The Foundation is thrilled to have this new opportunity to recognize Fellowship alumni whose character and ethos of service exemplify the quality of individuals the program aims to support and who represent some of the best and brightest of our nation’s next generation of public service leaders.
This fall, we were delighted to award the inaugural Alumni of the Year Award to Stephanie Koeshall!
Meet Stephanie: 
- Stephanie is Director of Homeland Defense and Resiliency, within Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and has worked in numerous roles within the Department of Defense.
- In 2020, Stephanie received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award for her work supporting the implementation of the National Defense Strategy, Missile Defense Review, and Policy priorities for the Department.
- Stephanie was selected to serve as a founding member of the Graduate Fellowship Program’s Alumni Leadership Council and works with Foundation staff and other Councilmembers to shape the future development and initiatives of the Graduate Fellowship Network.
- Stephanie was a member of the Foundation’s first Fellowship cohort during the 2009-2010 academic year, during which she pursued an M.S.S. degree in Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University.
About Stephanie’s work:
Stephanie was nominated as the 2022 Alumni of the Year for her leadership, public service and outstanding contributions to Operation Allies Welcome (OAW). When Stephanie served as Chief of Staff for the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, she volunteered to deploy to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to support the U.S.’ effort to shelter and reunify Afghan minors after the fall of Kabul. She worked diligently to establish operational capacity at the Dulles Airport to process the influx of unaccompanied minors. Shortly thereafter, Stephanie was appointed the Office of Refugee Resettlement interagency coordinator between the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense, and Health and Human Services and assembled a team to identify, interview and process unaccompanied minors within the evacuee population. Stephanie worked to identify and solve critical gaps including creating a network of local non-profits, volunteers and veteran groups to surge needed supplies to the airport. She leveraged each connection, network and resource to ensure Afghan children received immediate care. Upon returning to the Pentagon, Stephanie transitioned to supporting the Defense Department's OAW homeland operation. From March to September 2022, Stephanie led a team of policy professionals to develop and implement a new policy position for the housing and care of Afghan evacuees. This included advocating across the U.S. government to move all support operations off DoD installations. Her recommendations led to the opening of a new domestic Safe Haven that could provide a higher level of care and support for Afghan evacuees. Stephanie’s efforts directly impacted 76,000 Afghans, now resettled across America.
This year’s Annual Graduate Fellowship Conference, held over September 22nd-23rd in Washington, D.C., served as the ideal setting to present the inaugural Alumni of the Year Award, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of our flagship alumni gathering. Over dinner, attendees heard recorded remarks from Stephanie and her nominating Adviser (as pictured in the header photo.) We are looking forward to continuing this new tradition of the award presentation at our annual conferences moving forward.
In congratulatory remarks, Stephanie’s nominating Adviser shared the following:
“Stephanie is a dedicated public servant working for the public good. She has demonstrated this repeatedly in her government service. Volunteering for this most recent capacity assisting Afghan refugees was not about career advancement or compensation. It was instead putting these goals aside to help people in real need on behalf of the U.S. government. This is the most generous definition of a public servant. How many of us think along these lines and then sacrifice to make it happen? Stephanie did…That is why I was so pleased to nominate her for this award and so proud that the Rumsfeld Foundation has recognized her with this honor.”
In her acceptance remarks, Stephanie shared the following:
“I am deeply honored to receive the inaugural Alumni of the Year Award. I want to thank the Rumsfeld Foundation and the Board of Directors for selecting me for this honor. I was nominated for this award by my program Adviser. Over the last 14 years he has been a mentor and advocate. In many ways I would not be where I am today without his guidance and continued support. I am most thankful that he challenged me. Uncompromising in his standards, he taught me that excellence is more than what you do, it is a part of who you are - your speech, your attitude, and how you treat others. Thank you to my Adviser for shaping my education, my career and my character.
I had the exceptional opportunity to support the largest non-combatant evacuation of the 21st century. This mission allowed me to step away from the paper drills and bureaucratic processes of crafting defense policy and into the arena - the spaces and places that policy making directly impacts. It recentered my calling on public service. Each encounter illuminating a path from policy to personal impact.
As alumni and Fellows of this program, we carry Rumsfeld’s name and legacy. We are the ones, nominated and selected to join this distinguished body, to lead and serve with integrity and advocate for the values of liberty and free systems around the world.
When I reflect on my time supporting Operations Allies Welcome (OAW), I am grateful that I had mentors like my Adviser that taught me the value of a centered gyroscope – a moral compass that guides my decision making and informs my worldview. I had my career plotted – with milestones and timelines for each next step, but with the flood of images of Afghans fleeing for their lives, my inner compass pushed me to take a different path. To step outside of the perfectly dotted career line, and to serve.
Like Rumsfeld, I am optimistic. I am optimistic about the people I served in OAW. I am optimistic about the people I serve with in the Department of Defense – public servants dedicated to defending the nation and upholding the Constitution. And, I am optimistic about this Fellowship – peers seeking education, professional, and personal growth across a range of high-impact vocations.”
The Foundation is immensely proud to have Stephanie as an alumna of our program. There is no doubt that she embodies the type of leader that Secretary Rumsfeld envisioned supporting when creating our Graduate Fellowship Program.
Congratulations, Stephanie, and thank you for your important work!