Shannon O'Reilly
Shannon O'Reilly is Director of External Relations at the Center for New American Security (CNAS), responsible for directing the Center's media, congressional, and external outreach. She brings public affairs and strategic communications experience after serving as the Deputy Director of External Relations at CNAS and as a media strategist at The Rendon Group. Prior to joining CNAS, Ms. O'Reilly was a strategist supporting the U.S. Central Command's (CENTCOM) public affairs, J2, J8, and J5 divisions. She also provided communications support to Boeing, the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I), Combined Joint Task Force-82 (CJTF-82), and the 3rd Infantry Division. Ms. O’Reilly graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a B.A. in political science and Spanish. She also studied at the Universitario de Puerto Rico Mayagüez, where she researched local sentiment toward the closing of the U.S. Naval Base on Vieques.
She is an avid softball player, coach of the CNAS DefCons, and lives in Washington, D.C.
