Elizabeth B. Foster currently serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Force Resiliency for the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)). In this role, Ms. Foster is the principal staff advisor to the USD(P&R) and the Secretary of Defense for developing policies, providing oversight, and integrating activities in the areas of sexual assault prevention and response; suicide prevention; domestic Violence and child abuse prevention; harassment, including hazing and bullying; diversity management, equal opportunity; and drug demand reduction. She also oversees the Department’s Violence Prevention Cell and integrated violence prevention policies.

Ms. Foster works with counterparts from across the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD); the Military Departments (including the Chiefs/Directors of the Reserve Components); the Joint Staff; the National Guard Bureau; the Defense Agencies; the Combatant Commands; staff members from other Executive Branch Departments, and Members of Congress.

From January 2021 until November 2021, Ms. Foster was appointed as the Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (P&R) and as a non-career member of the Senior Executive Service. Prior to re-joining the Department of Defense in January 2021, Ms. Foster was the Military Legislative Assistant to Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) from 2017 – 2021. In this role, Ms. Foster served as the Senator’s principal advisor for all DoD related issues, to include the Senator’s work as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee (SAC-D), work surrounding the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and the defense-related work on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Prior to her work in the Senate, Ms. Foster served in the Department of Defense as a political appointee from 2013 – 2017. During this time, she served in a variety of roles, including in OSD Legislative Affairs and in OSD Policy. Her time at DoD culminated by serving nearly two years as the Special Assistant for P&R issues to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. She was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for her work. Ms. Foster holds a B.A. in History from Hamilton College.