Erika Lafrennie is a global strategist and founder of Cypher Strategies, where she serves as a Fractional Chief Geopolitical Risk & Opportunity Officer (fCGRO²) for boards and CEOs navigating complex geopolitical terrain.

Her expertise spans two decades in US intelligence, Special Operations support, and high-trust strategic advisory across over 40 countries. Erika specializes in decoding strategic signals, adversarial psychology, and power dynamics that shape global risk and opportunity.

Through Cypher Strategies, she embeds elite-level geopolitical foresight into the private sector, delivering clarity amid global complexity.

She is also the creator of Xinanigans, a premium intelligence brief on Beijing’s internal politics, propaganda, and strategic behavior - built for US national security professionals and private-sector decision-makers alike.

Erika currently serves on the board of the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. In 2024, she completed a non-resident fellowship at Joint Special Operations University, advising on strategy in an era of great power competition.

Previously, she co-founded Luminae Group, the first wholly woman-owned geopolitical risk firm in the US, and held senior intelligence roles at the Department of Defense and other government agencies, shaping national security strategy at the highest levels.

She continues to advise the families of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, offering strategic support to augment US government efforts.

Erika holds an M.A. in Strategic Intelligence and Middle Eastern Studies from American Military University, with additional study at the University of St. Andrews and the Arabic Language Institute in Fes, Morocco.