Courtney Cano

Senior Associate
Washington, DC

Courtney Cano

Senior Associate
Washington, DC

Quick Facts

  • Supports the firm’s national security, tribal and international affairs teams
  • Nationally awarded, federally-funded counterterrorism and violent extremism expert and researcher
  • Former Cornerstone appropriations and OpsWatch intern

Courtney's Bio

Courtney Cano joined Cornerstone as a senior associate after completing her Master of Arts degree in international policy & development, data evaluation & analytics and counter terrorism double-specialization from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. At Cornerstone, she provides issue monitoring, facilitates legislative advocacy and outreach, and conducts policy research and analysis for clients.

Prior to Cornerstone, Courtney led a team in the development of Diverting Hate, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funded and award-winning venture aimed at addressing major issues facing violent extremism today, including algorithmic radicalization on social media and social isolation of men. She also previously served as an appropriations and OpsWatch intern at the firm in both fall 2021 and spring 2022 before joining as a full-time senior associate.

Courtney also interned at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Immediate Office for the Director of Quality Assurance. In this role, she collaborated with a team of five to overhaul existing practices and successfully develop and launch a congressionally mandated enterprise risk assessment program.

Before that, she served in the Peace Corps as a rural education development agent in Zambia, where she collaborated with community members to address critical needs by developing and writing a construction grant of $7,500 to update the local school, providing increased access to education to over 250 students within one year.

Originally from Newport Beach, CA, Courtney graduated from Middlebury College in May of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, specializing in political philosophy and religious extremism. Outside the classroom, Courtney was the president and varsity men’s coxswain of the Middlebury Rowing team.