WASHINGTON – The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation welcomes its new Director of Hostage Advocacy and Research, Elizabeth Richards, who will lead the foundation’s research program and support families of Americans held captive unjustly abroad in their advocacy to secure their loved ones’ freedom.
Diane Foley, President and Founder of the Foley Foundation, called Richards “an excellent researcher whose extensive experience ranging from clinical psychology to national security and hostage affairs will make her a key leader in our efforts to help hostage families gain the safe return of their loves ones and continue our ground-breaking research that has helped shape the government’s policies and actions to return all Americans unjustly held abroad.”
“Elizabeth is deeply committed to the Foley Foundation’s mission of securing freedom for Americans wrongfully held abroad, preventing future hostage-taking, and promoting journalist safety,” Foley said.
An Air Force veteran, Richards joined the Foley Foundation from the research and strategy firm Fors Marsh, where she conducted research on such sensitive topics as sexual assault and harassment in the military, capturing qualitative data and transforming it into actionable insights and policy recommendations.
Before joining Fors Marsh, she was a Crisis Operations and Readiness Planner at Booz Allen Hamilton, working for the Defense Intelligence Agency on crisis action plans in the European Theater.
While in the Air Force, she served as a National Security Agency Hostage Events Mission Manager, leading a team that managed worldwide hostage cases, coordinating with multiple federal agencies and ensuring the safe recovery of individuals under extreme circumstances.
She also was Chief, Antiterrorism/Force Protection Intelligence at the Royal Air Force Base Alconbury in England, where she led force protection/antiterrorism intelligence efforts protecting nine installations across the United Kingdom and Norway.
She earned a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from the American Military Institute and a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from Townson State University. She graduated summa cum laude with two Bachelor of Arts degrees, in Criminal Justice and in Psychology, from Norwich University.
Richards said, “I am fiercely committed to bringing Americans home and making tangible changes through research and advocacy. I am eager to bring my background in intelligence, crisis management, and advocacy to the Foley Foundation and contribute to impacting public policy and enhancing the safety and rights of Americans on a global scale.”
She will be based in Washington, D.C.
