Elizabeth is a national security legal scholar and a public interest policy advocate. She serves as the Director of Congress Watch at Public Citizen and teaches remotely as an adjunct professor of counterterrorism law at the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law. Her analysis has been featured in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, Politico, Reuters, and The Guardian. She has also published several original works of scholarship in prominent law journals.

Previously, Elizabeth ran a consultancy that worked behind the scenes to strengthen leading national advocacy organizations in their work to lobby lawmakers, organize and train grassroots activists, and change the public narrative. Aside from her time as an independent consultant, Elizabeth has held senior advocacy and communications positions at the Quincy Institute, Indivisible, Amnesty International USA, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. She has previously served as a Senior Fellow with Data For Progress, and currently serves as Vice President of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s board of directors.

Elizabeth holds an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center in National Security Law with a Certificate in International Human Rights Law. She is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and received her Juris Doctor from Regent University School of Law. Her bachelor’s degree is in public relations and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Elizabeth frequently weighs in on debates over peace and security law and policy. Here is a sample of her op-eds, podcast appearances, and more:

 

Here are some highlights and case studies from Elizabeth’s legal scholarship and advocacy work. Click each image for more details:

“Elizabeth is one of the most talented people I’ve worked with. She’s a smart and strategic thinker who excels in a fast-paced environment. She’s great at project management, policy and political analysis, and working across teams to get things done. She’s a team player whose participation always adds value.”
— Angel Padilla, former Indivisible Policy Director
“Elizabeth is a joy to work with. She has deep expertise in national security issues, is an excellent advocate and strong strategist. She is driven to make impact, looks for solutions and is great working with teams. She is able to effectively handle rapid response scenarios as well as plan long term. She is also a very strong project manager, writer and media spokesperson. ”
— Zeke Johnson, Amnesty International USA
“Elizabeth is one of the most effective advocates I’ve ever worked with—not just with the colleagues who agree with her, but (more impressively) with those who might usually be unlikely allies. Elizabeth’s subject knowledge and humble approach allow her to open doors long closed to me and many other colleagues.”
— Matt Southworth, former FCNL lobbyist
“I absolutely love working with Elizabeth. She has helped us think strategically about how to reach Congressional representatives, key civil society organizers, and new members of the public with our research. And then she has carried out our strategies with boundless energy, professionalism, and efficiency.”
— Stephanie Savell, Co-Director, Costs of War Project at Brown University
“Working with Elizabeth has been a total joy. She has exceeded expectations at every level, developing clear and measurable benchmarks, staying on track and keeping us well informed of progress, and producing high-quality, high-value deliverables. Having been an independent consultant myself, I am in awe of her organizational skills, professionalism, and sheer depth and breadth of knowledge.

Among Elizabeth’s many strengths is her ability to speak effectively to different audiences – Congress, grassroots, and the media – and her clear-eyed, well-informed strategic approach to doing so. She understands how the Hill works and how to build a powerful campaign to influence change. Her writing is phenomenal, and she does it quickly, moving a piece from initial concept to publication-ready literally within hours. I give her my highest possible recommendation and would hire her again at the first opportunity.”
— Diana Ohlbaum, former Foreign Policy Director, FCNL
“We had an outstanding experience working with Elizabeth on a complex, multi-organization-and-constituent lobbying effort with a short turnaround. She is a masterful and comprehensive planner who knows how to break down a difficult project into its component parts and tie those to realizable deadlines, all of which she communicates with timeliness and professionalism. And we really appreciated a trait present from day one - she works hard to learn and adapt to a partner organization’s culture and ways of working on very short notice, seamlessly integrating herself into the team.”
— Sara Haghdoosti, Executive Director, Win Without War
“Words can hardly sum up how much respect and appreciation I have for Elizabeth Beavers. She is in three words: BRILLIANT, STRATEGIC and EFFECTIVE. As an advocacy advisor to Women Cross DMZ and the global feminist campaign Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War, she led a strategy that resulted in the first Congressional vote calling for an end to the Korean War. We would be at sea without Elizabeth; she brings so much inside the Beltway knowledge, deep and sophisticated understanding of how Washington works, but has kept her humanity and commitment to lifting up grassroots voices. She is indispensable to any campaign, initiative, organization. I hope to work with her for the rest of my life. That’s how much I deeply value her.”
— Christine Ahn, Executive Director, Women Cross DMZ