Barbara Alexander

Barbara Alexander has been an intelligence officer for over 40 years, serving in the Defense Intelligence Agency and in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security, where, as a member of the Senior Executive Service, she directed the Department’s intelligence collection program and analysts addressing chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and cyber threats. Upon retirement from the Federal government, she continued supporting the Intelligence Community (IC) in the private sector.

In 2022, she became the inaugural President of the OSINT Foundation, a professional association for Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) practitioners.

Barbara holds a B.A. in Political Science from Wheaton College; an M.A. in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies, the Johns Hopkins University; and an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College. She served on the Wheaton College Leadership Council and the Alumni Association Board, and currently serves on the board of the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics. She lectures regularly on intelligence in the College’s Department of Politics and International Relations.

An accomplished musician, she sings in Choralis, a symphonic chorus in Northern Virginia, and in church choirs in the DC area. She and her husband, Jim, a clinical social worker, live in Annandale, Virginia, and are active at The Falls Church Anglican. They have two married sons and four grandsons, and chaperone their West Highland White Terrier and two cats.