THE BURNHAM GROUP
LISA ARAFUNE
202-412-2809 ǀ www.linkedin.com/in/arafune
Lisa Arafune is at the intersection of industry, government, and academia, she is an organizational innovator and industry thought leader dedicated to transforming STEM-sector capacity, visibility, and impact. As a consultant and collaborator, Lisa empowers scientists and technologists to change the world by organizing and advocating their mission in a way that maximizes resonance within and outside the STEM community.
Prior to consulting, Lisa spent more than 10 years as Director of Federal Relations for Purdue University, launching and leading the University’s engagement across Washington, DC. A natural relationship builder, Lisa developed new bonds for the University in Federal research agencies, on Capitol Hill, and non-profit organizations & advocacy groups. She advanced the University’s organizational objectives in visibility and funding – with a highlight of securing an annual average of $18M for congressionally directed projects. She also previously served on Capitol Hill as Chief Clerk for the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Government Reform.
Lisa serves as Chair of the XSEDE Advisory Board, an international high performance computing resource funded by the National Science Foundation at $20 million per year. She is a Founding Member, Executive Board Member, and Director of Communications & Outreach for Women in High Performance Computing. Lisa was Government Relations Lead for the 2018 and 2019 Supercomputing Conference Series to produce the 15,000 attendee event, and has volunteered for the Professional Women in Advocacy’s annual conference since 2015. She previously served on the Board of Directors for The Science Coalition. She is a sought after speaker on government relations and diversity topics for various events.
Lisa earned her Master of Business Administration from Budapest University of Economic Sciences, and holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Management from Purdue University.