Claire Powell

Claire Powell serves as the Communications Manager for the Mars Program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she leads and manages a multi-disciplinary team focused on integrated communications planning and execution for the Mars Sample Return and the Mars Exploration Programs across an array of communications media and channels.

Previously, she was the Director of Communications for BAE Systems’ Platforms & Services Sector where she helped enable a wide portfolio of mission systems to support the warfighter, including artillery and missile launching systems, advanced precision strike munitions, energetic materials, combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, and other technologies for U.S. and international customers. In this realm, she has worked with executives and military leaders to refine and strengthen their message for a wide range of audiences, including Congressional testimony, national and local media, investor relations and internal communications.

Claire is passionate about national security and mentoring the next generation. She is a co-founder of The Boardroom, an organization that helps women reach higher levels of leadership, serves on the Board of Advisors to the Women’s Aerospace Network, and a fellow of the International Women's Forum, a program that partners with Harvard Business School and INSEAD.

She is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a B.A. in English, holds an Editing Certificate from the University of Chicago and is pursuing a M.A. in Intelligence and Security Studies from The Citadel. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband Jeff.