Heather A. Conley is an expert in international relations, specializing in Russia, the post-Soviet space, and the geopolitics of the Arctic, Baltic, and Central Europe. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her Master of Arts in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University.

Conley began her career in the U.S. Department of State and later worked at the international consulting firm Armitage Associates, L.C. From 2001 to 2005, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, focusing on Central Europe during a period of NATO enlargement and the Iraq War. Since 2009, Conley has been with the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), initially as the director and senior fellow of the Europe Program. She later became the Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic, as well as the Director of the CSIS Europe Program. In November 2021, Conley was appointed as the President of the German Marshall Fund (GMF), a nonpartisan American think tank that promotes cooperation between North America and Europe.

In 2022, she is also set to become the Sol M. Linowitz Professor of International Affairs at Hamilton College, focusing on analyzing alliances in U.S. national security since World War II.