Jennifer M. Plozai serves as the Deputy Director of Governmental and Public Affairs for the U.S. Coast Guard, where she is responsible for communications and engagement with Congress, the media, the public, the workforce and other inter-governmental entities. She is a senior executive responsible for overseeing a team of professional communicators to include Congressional Affairs, Public Affairs, Partnerships and Engagement and Coast Guard Heritage.
Previously, Ms. Plozai served as Director of the Office of Communications at the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice. In this capacity, she served as the principal executive overseeing communications and liaison with the public Congress, media and governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
Prior to joining Justice Programs, Ms. Plozai served for five years as the Public & Media Affairs Chief for the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at the U.S. National Science Foundation. In this capacity, she provided strategic direction for the foundation’s external and internal communications and served as a senior agency spokesperson.
Previously, Ms. Plozai served for five years as Director of External Communications for the Office of Public Affairs at the Transportation Security Administration. She supervised public affairs activities on national and international scales including media relations, strategic communications, web and social media divisions. In addition, she is a social care champion and customer experience advocate who spearheaded the creation of the AskTSA social care program to provide assistance to more than 1,000 travelers per day on Twitter and Facebook Messenger in real-time 365 days a year.
Ms. Plozai served as the Chief of Strategic Communications and Speechwriter for the Inspector General, Department of Defense at the Pentagon for eight years. In this capacity, she managed an agency-wide strategic communications program and served as a primary spokesperson for the Inspector General. In addition, she served as a member of an assessment team in Islamabad, Pakistan responsible for reviewing Coalition Support Funds provided to the government of Pakistan. Prior to joining DoD IG, she worked for Air Force Pentagon Communications Agency.
Ms. Plozai began her government service with the U.S. Coast Guard and is a proud USCG veteran. She served as a member of a small boat search and rescue crew in St. Petersburg, Fla. before working on the National Boating Safety Campaign while based out of Coast Guard Island, Alameda, Calif.
Additionally, Ms. Plozai is an Adjunct Professor at American University and teaches strategic communications within the School of Public Affairs.
Ms. Plozai is the recipient of the DHS Customer Service Award, Partnership for Public Service BLAIR Award as well as Defense Distinguished and Meritorious Civilian Service Medals. She was identified as a government change-maker by the White House in July 2016 and attended a retreat at Camp David to work pressing government challenges.
Ms. Plozai holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from University of Michigan Dearborn and a master’s degree in policy management from Georgetown University. In addition, she graduated from the Defense Information School, Partnership for Public Service Fellowship Program, DHS SES Candidate Development Program and Harvard Senior Executive Fellows Program.