NDIA announces McAleer, Milam as new executive board committee members

Laura McAleer and Megan Milam

ARLINGTON, VA – The National Defense Industrial Association is pleased to welcome Laura McAleer, associate vice president, federal and Washington relations at the University of Notre Dame, and Megan Milam, head of government relations at Anduril Industries, as two new executive board committee members, the Arlington, Virginia-based organization announces today. They will serve a three-year term beginning March 31, filling two vacant seats, having both served on the organization’s board beforehand.

NDIA Board Chairman Arnold Punaro welcomed the members in their new roles. “Both bring extensive and proven leadership experience in the private sector as well as the legislative and executive branches, making them ideal candidates for the executive committee,” he said. “Laura’s depth of expertise in academia is an area of increased NDIA interest and attention, especially given academia’s role in the area of emerging technologies. Megan represents a leading innovative technology company, another area of intense interest for our association given the needed push for more non-traditional suppliers in the national security field.”

Appointed in January 2019, McAleer serves as Notre Dame’s spokesperson and representative in Washington. Most recently, McAleer served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Senate affairs and acting principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, leading the Department of Defense’s strategic engagement and advocacy with Congress. McAleer previously worked in the Senate as a national security and foreign policy advisor for more than a decade.

Milam is the head of government relations for Anduril Industries, a defense technology company. In this role, she is responsible for developing and implementing Anduril’s government affairs strategy with the legislative and executive branches. Previously, Milam served as the deputy comptroller (budget and appropriations affairs) at the Department of Defense in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) as well as a professional staff member for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. Most recently, she served as the director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning at the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.

For information, contact Evamarie Socha, NDIA communications director, esocha@NDIA.org.