Jana Ondraskova is a Washington, DC-based program assistant on the Geostrategy North team. She provides programming and research support on Nordic, Arctic, and transatlantic security issues. Prior to joining GMF, she was a research associate at Business Executives for National Security, where she worked on US shipyard modernization, the US role in West Africa, and broader energy security and defense questions. She was a trainee at EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy.

Ondraskova is also a research affiliate at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs, where she analyzes Arctic security.

Ondraskova holds a master’s degree in security policy studies from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Her work there focused on hybrid threats against undersea infrastructure, the future of Nordic and Arctic security, great-power competition, and counterterrorism strategies affecting the “Global South”. She also holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in international relations from the University of New York in Prague and the other in public Affairs from Empire State University.

November 01, 2024

A Prepared Union

Julita (Jul) Thanapalasingam is GMF’s government relations program coordinator. She previously interned at the American Maritime Congress and US Department of Homeland Security, where she focused on congressional relations and government engagement. She also worked for the New Jersey state legislature. 

Her policy and research interests include transatlantic security and cooperation, NATO, defense capabilities and development, the prosecution of war crimes, and international humanitarian law.

Thanapalasingam graduated summa cum laude from American University (AU), earning a bachelor’s degree in justice and law with a concentration in counterterrorism and security studies. She was a member of the School of Public Affairs honors program. She also studied in Belgium under AU’s EU In Action program and interned during that time for Edelman Global Advisory.