Allison McManus is a managing director for the National Security and International Policy department at American Progress. She oversees the strategic direction of the department in advancing principled and pragmatic approaches to national security and foreign policy.
McManus’ career has been dedicated to bolstering democracy, human rights, and security in U.S. foreign policy, with a focus on the Middle East. Prior to joining American Progress, she was the managing director at the Freedom Initiative, where she oversaw the organization’s operations and advocated on behalf of political prisoners in the Middle East and North Africa. She also served as the research director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy from 2014 to 2019. Her work has been published in Foreign Affairs, The American Prospect, The Intercept, and The Hill, among other publications, and she is a frequent commentator in print and television media.
McManus holds a Master of Arts in global and international studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University.