René Bardorf is the Senior Vice President for Business Executives for National Security.
Ms. Bardorf is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, where she served as a principal advisor to three Secretaries of Defense on matters and policy related to public affairs and community outreach.
She founded Wyoma7, a corporate, nonprofit and government sector consulting and executive coaching group.
In service to America’s fallen heroes, she has served as a Senior Advisor for Communications and Government Relations at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).
Ms. Bardorf was SVP of Government and Community Relations at Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) where she invested over $34.9 million in grants, provided positions on over 70 bills, submitted 14 written statements, and delivered oral testimony at four Committee hearings and two joint sessions of the Senate and House Veteran’s Affairs Committees.
She has served as Chief Communications Officer for the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the largest and longest-standing global defense industry association and led as the Executive Director of Women in Defense.
Previously, she was the founding Executive Director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. She served as the senior civilian advisor to the U.S. Marine Corps on injured support policy and is a founding “plank-holder” of the Marine Corps’ Wounded Warrior Regiment. In partnership with a small group of women, she was a co-founder of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, where she executed financial grants for over 500 families of combat wounded.
Ms. Bardorf serves on the Advisory Council of the George W. Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative. She has served as an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for New American Security (CNAS). She is a board member at the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), and a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
She has a degree in psychology and marketing and has earned certificates in Nonprofit Management from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is certified in Corporate Social Responsibility from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. She has earned a certificate in Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance from American University and was an appointee to the National Security Seminar program at the United States Army War College.
She is the recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the second highest award presented to non-career federal employees, private citizens, and foreign nationals.