Elisa Basnight, Founder

“My entrepreneurial goal has long been to maintain the dual mission of doing exceptional work for our customers and doing good for the betterment of society.” ~ Elisa Basnight, Founder

Elisa Basnight, founder of StrategyServ LLC, is a workforce strategist, operator, and technology entrepreneur focused on one of the most urgent questions in the AI era: if entry-level work is disappearing, how do organizations build the workforce needed for mid-level roles and beyond?

Her perspective is grounded in decades of leadership across the U.S. Army, federal government, NGOs, and Fortune 50 environments, where she has P&L experience, led large-scale operations and experienced firsthand the growing disconnect between talent supply and workforce demand. That gap, already underway prior to AI, is now accelerating across critical sectors of the economy.

She has led teams of up to 7,000 people and managed portfolios generating $2 billion in annual revenue.  Her leadership philosophy promotes employee and stakeholder engagement in creative problem solving and design thinking to contribute to organizational success and repositioning small, medium and large-scale corporate, governmental and nonprofit enterprises for growth. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as SVP of Supply Chain, Biomedical Services, she led a team responsible for production and distribution of 40% of the U.S. blood products. Elisa has served as a two-time U.S. Senior Executive Service Presidential Appointee and is a licensed attorney. 

Prior to her White House appointments, Elisa served as corporate commercial counsel at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, where she was a member of the corporate finance team and her practice included corporate and commercial contracts (manufacturing, engineering & construction, supply chain); government relations; small-owned businesses; healthcare and technology; was an associate with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, NY, where her practice focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions, cross-border transactions and technology in domestic and international markets; and spent several years in operational roles at Prudential Financial and Bankers Trust.  

Prior to her industry work, Elisa served as the Director of Resource Center for Workforce Essentials, Inc. in Clarksville, Tennessee where she developed and led the conception and implementation of an innovative and award-winning career development center to assist downsized military service members redeploy into civilian employment.  

She has lectured at the Brookings Institution, is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is an independent corporate board director.  Elisa is a West Point graduate, Army Airborne qualified and former Army Intelligence Officer with a JCS badge. She holds a JD from Rutgers Law School, an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School, and a Master’s in International Relations from Boston University - Brussels.  

Elisa leads with a purpose-driven focus to unlock the potential of others and institutions. She has authored publications. is a requested speaker, and been recognized for her community service and professional accomplishments.