Maggie Dougherty most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organizations at the National Security Council. In that role, she led White House efforts on multilateral diplomacy, United Nations engagement, and human rights policy.
From 2019 to 2025, Maggie was a Senior Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she directed the Committee’s work on human rights, democracy, and international organizations. Prior to that, she served as Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, with a focus on European affairs, humanitarian issues, and human rights.
She also worked as Senior Congressional Advisor at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., where she managed the UK’s engagement with the U.S. Congress.
From 2011 to 2016, she was a foreign policy advisor in the office of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
She holds a master’s degree in security studies from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and international relations from Seton Hall University. A native of St. Peters, Missouri, Maggie is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Project Proposal: This project will examine the vulnerabilities and strategic implications of the international human rights architecture amid intensifying geopolitical competition. It will analyze how authoritarian regimes increasingly exploit multilateral human rights institutions and mechanisms to advance their interests and erode democratic norms. The project will critically assess whether the existing human rights framework and tools remain effective—and if they can be meaningfully reformed to meet today’s challenges. Central to this analysis will be the positioning of human rights as a strategic asset in great power competition and as a cornerstone of credible, principled U.S. global leadership.