The 2025 Rising Stars of the Profession: Kelsey Picciuto

Kelsey Picciuto is a Director in the Strategic Communications segment of FTI Consulting based in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Public Affairs practice and joined FTI Consulting in 2023 after serving as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Air Force for more than 11 years. As an Air Force Officer, she led teams conducting intelligence analysis and production to present assessments and briefings to senior military leaders and policymakers. Ms. Picciuto managed projects encompassing international airfield policy development, signals and technical intelligence support to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, multipartner military exercises and human intelligence operations while stationed both in the United States and abroad. She also built critical adversary capabilities studies and authored Congressional testimonies for Air Force Generals. Ms. Picciuto holds a bachelor’s degree in Chinese from Tufts University and a master’s degree in international security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School.