BOOK REVIEW: AGENTS OF CHANGE: The Women Who Transformed the CIA
By Christina Hillsberg / Citadel June 24. 2025
Reviewed by: Jennifer Ewbank
The Reviewer — Cipher Brief expert Jennifer Ewbank served for over three decades at the Central Intelligence Agency, culminating in her tenure as Deputy Director for Digital Innovation. Her prior roles included four tours as Chief of Station and several leadership roles in Washington, DC. A recipient of numerous government and industry awards, including the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal and the Presidential Rank Award, Ms. Ewbank has been recognized for her exceptional leadership in intelligence operations and technology transformation. Since retirement, she has continued to contribute to the national security mission through board roles, speaking engagements, and writing on intelligence matters, leadership, and digital transformation.
REVIEW — In the shadowed halls of the Central Intelligence Agency, where America's most sensitive secrets are guarded, women have long operated with skill and dedication, their contributions sometimes overlooked. Author Christina Hillsberg's "Agents of Change" attempts to illuminate these stories, chronicling the experiences of several women who served in the CIA across different decades and roles.
As a retired senior operations officer who led one of the five directorates that comprise the CIA, I approached this review with a bit of trepidation. Indeed, I have declined previous requests to review books about women in the CIA, because the books inevitably bring forth a complex web of personal experiences and perspectives that are nearly impossible to unravel. This tension between personal experience and objective assessment creates a unique challenge in evaluating works on the subject. In this case, however, I was pleased to review the book for The Cipher Brief and deeply appreciative of Hillsberg's effort to document women's journeys in intelligence. My perspective in this review is shaped by decades of service in human intelligence operations—arguably the most extreme of the intelligence careers discussed in the book—followed by my leadership of the CIA's digital technology mission. While Hillsberg's book covers a range of experiences across different directorates, my comments naturally reflect my particular journey through the operational and technological aspects of intelligence work.
Structured chronologically by decade, "Agents of Change" strives to contextualize women's experiences at the CIA within broader societal shifts. Hillsberg, who spent about eight years at the Agency – half as an analyst in the Directorate of Analysis and half working with the Directorate of Operations – has compiled a collection of women's stories that span from the secretarial pools of the 1960s, to the post-9/11 counterterrorism fight, to the pandemic era and beyond.
Each chapter opens with reflections on American culture and women's changing roles before transitioning to individual accounts. This approach, while conceptually sound, sometimes feels disjointed in execution. The references to pop culture tropes like Bond girls, alongside more serious societal issues, while perhaps intended to draw in the general reader, struggle to establish a meaningful context for the women's experiences that follow.
The book succeeds significantly, however, in bringing forward a valuable collection of individual stories that showcase both inspiration and struggle. We meet women who joined as secretaries despite advanced qualifications, operations officers who faced skepticism about their ability to do the work, and others navigating work-life balance in high-pressure environments. Their stories highlight the many sacrifices made and obstacles encountered – from explicit discrimination in early decades to more subtle barriers in recent times and, sadly, even sexual harassment and assault in a few cases. These narratives provide valuable snapshots, and readers will certainly benefit from learning about these warriors who served silently to protect our nation.
For context, it is worth noting that Liza Mundy's well-researched 2023 book "The Sisterhood" also explores women's contributions to intelligence, offering another valuable perspective on this important topic. While Hillsberg's work focuses more on personal narratives, both books contribute to our growing understanding of women's vital roles in the world of intelligence.
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Despite the book’s many strengths, the stories of these extraordinary women, while compelling, occasionally lack the depth and complexity that characterized what must have been their actual experiences. The operational world, my home for decades, is portrayed somewhat flatly, missing the intricate texture that defines a real life in the world of espionage. The reality of this unique sisterhood – those few of us who spent decades in the shadows running espionage operations – holds far more complexity, drama, and subtlety than the book captures. Additionally, the digital world of cyber and artificial intelligence — the leading edge of intelligence operations today and a place where women have made significant contributions — has largely been overlooked.
While highlighting an insider's perspective, "Agents of Change" sometimes reads more like peeking in from the outside. And to be fair, this may be inevitable for any author, since even we few members of that elite sisterhood struggle to articulate the full scope of our experience. The challenges. The victories. The all-consuming flame of commitment that fills our souls even as it destroys what one might call a normal life. A career guided by the goddess Kali — both birth and death, creation and destruction. A career we embrace willingly even as we endure pain. I give the author credit for bravely taking on what might just be an impossible task.
One area where additional perspective would have strengthened the book is in its portrayal of CIA leadership. The book sometimes presents leaders as uncaring bureaucrats afraid to defend women who encounter challenges in the service. Each officer naturally interprets their leaders' actions through their own experience, but the book would have benefited from seeking the perspectives of women who led the organization. During my tenure leading one of CIA's five directorates, for a period of time my four counterparts were also women, as were the Director herself, the Chief of Staff, General Counsel, Inspector General, Chief Operating Officer, and many other senior executives. Indeed, of the eight top positions in the organization, six were filled by women, three of whom were operations officers. The insights from even one or two of these leaders would have added valuable context.
Similarly, the book occasionally perpetuates an image that deserve more nuanced treatment. The notion that "women treat women badly" appears without sufficient acknowledgment that difficult interpersonal dynamics in the workplace exist regardless of gender. The CIA, while unique in many ways, still reflects broader societal dynamics and is not immune from the challenges people face in the outside world. This is not a woman thing. It is a human thing.
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Reading "Agents of Change" evokes conflicting emotions for those of us who devoted our lives to the intelligence mission. I deeply admire and respect the women portrayed in the book, many of whom displayed remarkable courage and resilience under challenging circumstances. Their stories deserve to be told, and I applaud Hillsberg's attempt to share these important narratives with a broader audience.
For readers unfamiliar with the intelligence mission, it may be helpful to note that the world of espionage can be intoxicating, all-consuming, characterized as it is by mystery, intrigue, and a privileged insider's view of power dynamics around the world. It also taps something deep in the soul for many officers, providing a profound sense of purpose to their lives. But yes, it is undeniably challenging – not because the CIA makes it so, but because the very nature of the work demands it.
A fundamental mistake for the reader would be to expect life as a CIA operations officer to be anything but difficult, whether that officer is a man or woman. It is an extreme career with all that implies, much as one would face by choosing to become a fighter pilot, astronaut, or firefighter. Our lives are dominated by factors beyond our control: terrorist threats, planned coups, narcotraffickers' plots, endless travel, and clandestine meetings that operate on the spy's schedule rather than our own. It never has been and never will be a 9-to-5 job with a predictable routine. That is not the fault of the CIA – that is the reality of espionage.
What the book could amplify more effectively is the remarkable progress women have made in recent decades. The Agency has transformed significantly, with women now serving at the highest levels throughout the organization. This evolution is mentioned but deserves greater acknowledgment as part of the full picture.
"Agents of Change" makes a worthwhile contribution by bringing attention to women's experiences in the world of intelligence. Hillsberg has made a valiant attempt to document these important stories, and her work deserves recognition for bringing them to light. For general readers seeking to learn about the CIA, this book provides an accessible introduction to women's historical struggles and contributions. I would certainly recommend it to those curious about what it means to serve in the secret world of intelligence.
The book is best approached as one perspective among many needed to fully appreciate the complex realities of women in intelligence. For readers truly interested in deeper understanding, "Agents of Change” and books like "The Sisterhood" should serve as starting points – a few threads in a much richer tapestry of experiences that continues to evolve. The women who serve, and have served, deserve to have their stories told with all the complexity, nuance, and depth that characterized their remarkable careers. While respectable efforts have been made to achieve this goal, including this valuable book, such a definitive volume has yet to be written.
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