Hagar Hajjar Chemali is founder and CEO of Greenwich Media Strategies, which offers communications strategy, media engagement and public-relations consulting in areas including national security and counter-illicit finance. She comments and writes on national security and is an expert in sanctions and counter-illicit finance. Chemali is regularly featured on American TV news networks such as MSNBC and CNN.

Chemali held a number of senior public-affairs and policy-making positions over the course of 12 years in the US government. She is the former director of communications and spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations and for Ambassador Samantha Power. Prior to that, she was spokesperson for terrorism and financial intelligence at the treasury department.

From 2010-2012, Chemali was director for Syria and Lebanon at the national security council at the White House. She was also a Middle East policy advisor at the treasury department’s office of terrorist financing and financial crimes.

Chemali received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Barnard College at Columbia University and a master of international affairs from its School of International and Public Affairs.