Lise Clavel was a Karsh Institute Practitioner Fellow from 2023 to 2024. She has worked in politics, government, and advocacy for the past 15 years. Most recently, she served in the Biden White House as deputy assistant to the president and senior advisor for migration, and before that as chief of staff at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In those roles, Clavel led policy development in response to Southwest border challenges and other national security issues related to trade and travel.

From 2015 to 2019, Clavel worked on education policy and advocacy in the United States as a senior program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In the second term of the Obama administration, she served as special assistant to the president and director of public engagement for the vice president. Clavel has also managed federal campaigns in Virginia and served in leadership roles in both the Biden and Obama presidential campaigns. She got her start in politics working on Tom Perriello's campaign in Virginia's 5th district, which encompasses Charlottesville. She also served as Perriello's chief of staff on Capitol Hill following his 2008 victory. Clavel graduated from Yale University with a degree in English.