Malaina Kapoor

Malaina Kapoor is the founder of Women in National Security (WINS). In 2022, she served as a Defense Innovation Scholar at the Gordian Knot Center, where her research focused on how terrorist groups train female combatants, employ female recruiters, and create female victims to further their organizational goals. Malaina is the co-author of Defiant Dreams, a book about women's rights in Afghanistan forthcoming from Penguin Random House. 

Previously, Malaina served as a Free Expression Fellow at PEN America. In that role, she advocated for international human rights, press freedoms, and election integrity. Malaina also previously served on the management team of PRERNA, an Afghan refugee resettlement organization, and was the producer of In Deep, a nationally-syndicated public affairs radio broadcast program.