Dr. Alexis Lasselle Ross is the President of Apex Defense Strategies, LLC, a strategic advisory firm that guides companies as they navigate the defense market. She has served more than two decades as an executive in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, she performed strategic planning at General Dynamics, advising corporate leadership on managing critical issues and navigating government business.
Prior to entering the private sector, Dr. Ross served in a variety of senior positions including as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, advising the Secretary and ensuring execution of Department of Defense (DoD) policy, programs, organizational restructuring, and external communications. During her tenure, she performed the duties of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, leading the department’s healthcare and human resources systems during the early response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Strategy and Acquisition Reform, where she designed and implemented improvements to the Army acquisition system, including new policies on intellectual property and advanced manufacturing.
Before her appointments to the DoD, she served as a professional staff member on the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, the deputy director for healthcare policy at the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission, and as a civil servant in the Department of the Army.
Dr. Ross is a non-resident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a senior fellow at the National Defense Industrial Association, a member of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS), and a Principal at Pallas Advisors.
EDUCATION
George Mason University, Ph.D., Public Policy
U.S. Naval War College, M.S., National Security and Strategic Studies
Bucknell University and Oxford University, B.A., International Relations