Laura Taylor-Kale
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
Laura Taylor-Kale (pronounced “Kah-lay”) was born and raised in Illinois. She earned an undergraduate degree from Smith College, and an M.P.A. at Princeton University, and an M.B.A. from New York University. She received a Ph.D. at Stanford University.
She has served as a career foreign service advisor with the U.S. State Department in India, Côte d’Ivoire, and Afghanistan. She also served on the World Bank executive board, and in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. In President Obama’s administration, she served as a senior advisor to the president. She then served as assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing.
President Joe Biden nominated her to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy in May 2022. After the first nomination expired, the president renominated her, and she was confirmed by the Senate in March 2023 and sworn into office the following month.
In the News…
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Laura Taylor-Kale announced the National Defense Industrial Strategy Implementation Plan (NDIS-IP) this week. The plan outlines details for achieving goals and mitigating risks in the near, medium, and long term. Six initiatives within the plan incentivize “the development of a modernized, resilient defense industrial ecosystem that has resilient supply chains” and a ready workforce.
“The defense industrial base serves a larger purpose than any single action or investment dollar,” Assistant Secretary Taylor-Kale said. “Progress and acceleration happen in months and years. The implementation plan for the National Defense Industrial Strategy is a roadmap for integrating our priorities under leadership-driven initiatives. Each implementation initiative assigns primary responsibility, estimated resources, key metrics and risks.”
