Member Spotlight: Lilly Donahue

Today we're spotlighting Lilly Donahue, and new FBI AIA Member and one of our first former Staff Operations Specialist (SOS) members!

Did you know we expanded membership to former FBI SOS/Tactical Specialists? Learn more here and apply today!

Welcome to the FBI AIA, Lilly! Thanks for chatting with us. We're excited to share your story with our membership and wider community. Let's start with your FBI career - can you tell us about your time in the Bu?

I started with the Bureau as an Honors Intern in Summer 2018 in the Counterterrorism Division (CTD), returned in Spring/Summer 2019, and continued working with the Bloomington, Indiana Resident Agency during the school year. After graduation I was hired as an SOS with CTD, where I worked from August 2020 to September 2022. I first worked international terrorism cases and then shifted to another squad where I served as a domestic terrorism targeter, which was my favorite role I had with the Bureau. I made the difficult decision to leave the Bureau in August 2023 to enroll full-time in law school, but I'm incredibly grateful for the professional and personal experiences I had during my time with the FBI.

What an exciting transition from your Honors Internship to joining full time as an SOS! What inspired you to go that route after graduation?

When I was an intern I worked closely with a fantastic SOS, Nicole, who showed me the importance of conscientiousness and attention to detail in terms of case management. I was especially interested in the tactical, case-level analysis performed by SOSes, so when the opportunity to stay with the Bureau after undergrad came up, I jumped at the chance! More broadly, I knew I wanted to be part of the FBI’s counterterrorism mission and protect the public from mass violence and related threats.

Absolutely, and that mission is so incredibly important. What are some highlights from your time with the FBI?

In all three units where I worked, one of the biggest highlights was the people. Each unit had people with wide-ranging experiences and styles that taught me so much about being a professional and a person, especially coming into the Bureau straight out of undergrad. There is a great culture of mentorship that offered me so many key lessons. I’d also say that the internal humor in the Bureau is underrated, and that the shared laughs over otherwise dark topics made even the most challenging cases manageable.

On a professional level, I found targeting to be some of the most fulfilling work because we engaged directly with raw reporting and used targeting methodology to transform that into actionable intelligence for the field. My biggest personal highlights were working with my team to disrupt mass shooting plots, working on emerging threats like 764, and deploying to multiple field offices to lead extraction and analysis efforts on devices seized from DT subjects. It gave me an opportunity to meet amazing people in the field and to do the nitty gritty analytical work of digging through a device for relevant evidence.

Agree with your reflections on the balance of the very serious work of the FBI and the humor and light moments shared with genuinely great people. You never truly understand what that's like unless you were there, and for many of us that is a life-changing experience and unique to our time in government.

What did you do after the FBI?

After leaving the Bureau I pursued a long-time goal of enrolling in law school. I’m currently in my final semester at William & Mary Law School and will graduate in May 2026. I was especially interested in exploring the legal side of the many questions that come up during the investigatory process (and I now finally understand why NSCLB would kick so many leads back to us :)). While in law school, I’ve had the opportunity to return to the government through internships with the Navy JAG Corps and the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as prosecuting domestic violence offenses in bench trials through the York County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.

Congrats on your upcoming graduation - what an amazing accomplishment! What's next?

In April 2025, I commissioned as an Ensign into the United State Navy through the Navy JAG Student Program, which places me in inactive reserve status during law school. After graduation/passing the bar exam, I will become an active-duty Naval Officer and begin my career as a Navy JAG! I’m still waiting to find out my duty station/specific legal speciality, but I’m excited for the opportunity to serve my country and return to the government.

Incredible! We are so excited to see this next chapter unfold, and you will continue to do amazing things in service to our country! What advice can you share with those who are considering leaving government service?

Take the leap! In law and other fields, the draw of private sector salaries can be alluring, but I firmly believe that nothing beats public service. Even on the most monotonous days, it was incredibly rewarding to know every task I did went towards keeping the American people safe.

Love that, and you are so right - public service is so rewarding. What are 3 things you wish you knew when you started thinking about your transition post-Bureau?

One of the biggest challenges for me was transitioning from a mission-driven organization like the Bureau to the academic environment of law school. I missed the tempo and fulfillment of the Bureau, especially in my first year of law school. With that in mind, the three things I learned were:

1. The importance of finding a new mission for yourself in whatever’s next;

2. Finding people with similar experiences (my class has a lot of veterans and former government employees who can relate); and,

3. Recognizing that you have a valuable perspective coming from the FBI and not being afraid to share it in your new workplace.

That is fantastic advice, thank you. What intelligence skills did you develop or further grow after you left the Bureau?

Attention to detail and a willingness to dig through voluminous information have served me well in law school, especially once I began working in practical spaces, such as W&M’s domestic violence clinic, veteran’s benefits clinic, and internships. All three of these experiences required me to be willing to sift through various types of evidence and synthesize it into something actionable, which was exactly what many days as an SOS looked like.

If anyone is interested in the transition from the Bureau to law school, I’m always happy to chat!

Thank you for sharing your story, Lilly, and thank you for being a member of the FBI AIA! We look forward to watching what you do next!