Heather A. Conley is the sixth President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). Previously, she spent twelve years at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she most recently served as Senior Vice-President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and as Director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program. At CSIS, she developed the acclaimed The Kremlin Playbook series, a dedicated research effort that examined the doctrine and methodology of Russian economic behaviour and its methodology across Europe. She also is a recognised expert on the Arctic region, focusing on the Russian Arctic, climate transformation and US policy toward the region.

She previously served as Executive Director of the Office of the Chairman of the Board at the American National Red Cross. From 2001 to 2005, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibilities for US bilateral relations with the countries of Northern and Central Europe. She co-led the US interagency effort to enlarge NATO and secure Senate ratification of an Amended NATO Treaty She also created a High-Level US Dialogue with the eight Nordic and Baltic states, the Enhanced Partnership in Europe (e-PINE). She began her career in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the US Department of State and since then she has received two State Department Meritorious Honor Awards.

She received her BA in International Studies from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).