Shawn Henry,

Executive Assistant Director, FBI

As chief of the Computer Investigations Unit in the FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center, Shawn Henry worked across the U.S. intelligence community and the private sector to develop partnerships to address cyber threats. He had direct oversight for significant international investigations, including the “Lovebug virus” and substantial DDOS attacks against major U.S. companies ultimately attributed to “Mafia Boy.” Henry has also served on the U.S. delegation to the G8 as a member of the High-Tech Crimes Subgroup, focusing on international cyber-investigation policy. He later served in other positions in both field operations and FBI headquarters before his current position as FBI Executive Assistant Director responsible for all FBI criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, as well as international operations and critical incident response. Henry has overseen hundreds of cyber investigations, both domestically and internationally, from various perspectives. Public awareness is a key component in mitigating cyber threats, and Henry has addressed thousands of people as a keynote speaker at conferences, both domestic and international, over the last 10 years. He has also served as a panelist on think tanks examining the cyber problem, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

Lorna Koppel,

Director-IT Security, Kohler Co.

Lorna Koppel believes that those in IT security need to be senior business leaders, not technologists. She stresses the importance of holistic aspects related to IT security such as knowledge of financial acumen and budgets, communication skills with various styles of personalities and exerting influence up and down the chain of command. IT security leaders also need to be able to motivate their teams and develop them professionally, she contends. Koppel is Director-IT security at Kohler Co., which offers a breadth of products and services, including plumbing fixtures, furniture, tile and stone and primary and backup power systems, as well as hospitality and world-class golf destinations. Koppel gets involved in any teaching, leadership research or global learning initiative that allows her to influence others. Koppel takes small teams with no influence and programs with minimal effectiveness and transitions them into solid security programs. Koppel pushes for aggressive spending to address gaps. At Kohler, in the first three years, her team put in four major technical projects that have truly transformed the security team and its response and efficiency (three in IT security and one in SAP security).

Theresa Payton,

President and CEO of Fortalice, LLC, Former CIO of the White House

As Chief Information Officer for the White House from May 2006 to September 2008, Theresa Payton directed a program to overhaul and modernize key components of technology strategy and operations at the Executive Office of the President. Among the changes was the transformation of IT security, which included creating the first-ever 24/7/365 Security Operations Center for the Executive Office of the President. Building the operations center and establishing a new approach to information assurance and incident management required significant outreach and partnership-building with the Department of Homeland Security, White House Military Office, FBI Cyber Division, U.S. Secret Service, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Agency and the Defense Information Systems Agency. During her tenure, Payton implemented a “good to great” improvement strategy using industry best practices adapted for the government. Today she is the CEO of Fortalice, LLC, which assists organizations in making appropriate “risk versus reward” tradeoffs, balancing productivity, mission-critical activities and information protection. Payton recently assisted a federal organization with streamlining incident handling and management processes. In one process alone, the steps were streamlined to allow incident analysts to handle a ticket in five mouse clicks instead of 30. 

Denise Barndt,

Director, Corporate Security,

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Denise Barndt took a non-traditional career path to security by starting in emergency services and public safety. Now she leverages her emergency response experience and knowledge to provide proven business continuity and crisis management acumen for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world with an endowment of $33.5 billion. The primary aims of the foundation are to “enhance healthcare and reduce poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology.” Barndt manages the protective services for the foundation’s employees, contractors and guests at foundation offices, events and meetings, and also provides security for the foundation’s assets and offices. Barndt challenges usual “group think” practices and blends critical self-assessment and integrated design techniques to encompass all security disciplines. She encourages both her team and a networked community of colleagues in business, academia and thought leadership to challenge “usual practice” security approaches to achieve better strategic performance. 

Ronald E. Plesco,

CEO, National Cyber Forensic Training Alliance Foundation (NCFTA)

Ron Plesco is an information security and privacy attorney with 14 years of experience in information assurance/privacy, identity management and computer crime law. He is the CEO of the National Cyber Forensic Training Alliance Foundation (NCFTA), a nonprofit corporation funded by the private sector and federal funds that evolved from one of the nation’s first High Tech Task Forces. The NCFTA has established an alliance among more than 500 subject matter experts (SMEs) worldwide in the public and private sectors to address complex and often internationally spawned cyber crimes. To streamline intelligence exchange, the NCFTA regularly organizes SME and law enforcement interaction into threat-specific initiatives. The NCFTA then manages collection and sharing of intelligence about significant cyber crime trends with industry partners, law enforcement and other cross-sector SMEs. The object is to develop real-time intelligence to an actionable level. Hundreds of criminal (and some civil) investigations have been launched, and more than 300 cyber criminals have been successfully prosecuted worldwide. NCFTA has produced more than 400 cyber threat intelligence reports over the last three years, and corporate partners have prevented hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud loss. 

John Schafer,

Director of Security, InterAction

Humanitarian Policy & Practice

John Schafer is a pioneer in the security of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and his current activities have him frequenting Darfur, Yemen and Haiti implementing the theory that security does not exist until the entire community collaborates in the common cause. Certified by the United Nations Department of Safety and Security as a Field Security Coordinating Officer, Schafer provides coordination for the 190 members of InterAction, the largest non-governmental organization in the world. In this position, he facilitates security measures, coordination, information and training for the membership in some of the world’s most dangerous operating environments. Schafer is an acting Council Member of the State Department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council; and he is the liaison to the United Nations Safety and Security Office. Schafer’s unique blend of experience in private, United Nations and NGO operations sets him apart as one of the foremost authorities in both providing security and crafting policy for those committed to NGO operations. Examples of noteworthy projects and programs he has developed, or helped to develop, are “Saving Lives Together,” a framework of cooperation between the United Nations and NGO, “NGO Security Risk Assessment Guidance;” and “Security Collaboration Best Practices.”

Gregory Starr,

United Nations, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security

At a time when the United Nations faces heightened and serious security risks around the world, Gregory Starr provides the benefit of extensive experience managing the global security operations of a civilian organization, developing security policy and setting organizational standards. As Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, Starr has been tasked with strengthening the performance-based accountability of the post. He also seeks to continue the cooperative relationship between the United Nations and the host government (U.S.) during the crucial period of renovations at U.N. headquarters in New York. His duties include improving security of at least 20 United Nations outposts in dangerous corners of the world that suffer from inadequate security despite rising threats to the organization. These include U.N. Offices in Iraq and Afghanistan and also outposts in Somalia, Sudan’s Darfur region, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon. Starr has advocated an increase in the use of private security firms in Pakistan, where U.S. relief workers have been the target of kidnappings and killings. Starr formerly worked as Director of the Diplomatic Security Service and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security for the Secretary of State.

Charles Allen,

Former Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, DHS

Charles Allen spent 20 years as an intelligence officer in the CIA before he was tapped as Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis and Chief Intelligence Officer for the Department of Homeland Security in 2005. At the DHS, he defined and established the intelligence architecture and developed DHS all-source intelligence analytic capabilities to meet the needs of the Department, state and local governments, and the traditional intelligence community. Allen also integrated DHS’ intelligence activities and ensured that the intelligence offices of the Department were aligned with the goals and priorities of the Secretary of Homeland Security. Allen developed a homeland security program that focused on security of U.S. air, land and sea borders; movement of WMD materials and diseases across U.S. borders; protection of U.S. critical infrastructures; demographic flows that pose security challenges; and radicalization within the U.S. Allen is a nationally recognized expert in counterterrorism, homeland security, warning intelligence and information sharing. Presently, he is an independent consultant and principal of the Chertoff Group, and he serves as senior adviser to the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.  

Eric J. Boswell,

Assistant Secretary of State,

Bureau of Diplomatic Security

The sheer scope and scale of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s responsibilities and authorities have grown immensely over the past decade in response to emerging threats and security incidents worldwide. Assistant Secretary of State Eric J. Boswell, who accepted his present appointment in 2008, also previously served in the same position from 1995 to 1998. He came to his current assignment on the heels of senior security management roles with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and at the United Nations in New York, after retiring from a 25-year Foreign Service career with the rank of Ambassador. Now in its 25th year of operation, Diplomatic Security (DS) provides the most secure environment possible for the conduct of America’s foreign policy. The Department currently operates diplomatic missions in locations where, in the past, the post would have been closed and all personnel evacuated. The number of DS special agents has tripled since the 1990s, and the bureau’s current budget of more than $2 billion is vastly larger than it was then. DS relies on a Worldwide Protection Services (WPS) contract to provide protective security, aviation support and fixed guard services in Iraq, Afghanistan and other high-threat zones.

Dr. Thomas Cellucci,

Chief Commercialization Officer, DHS

Thomas Cellucci, Ph.D., literally wrote the book on the value of public-private partnerships. Or, more accurately, he wrote the books. His two-volume “The Future of Government: Harnessing the Power of the Private Sector for Public Good” is being released this year. Cellucci, who is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s first Chief Commercialization Officer, is a recognized expert on the practical commercialization of new and emerging technologies in both the private and public sectors. Since he received the non-political, five-year appointment in 2007, there have already been significant results for the benefit of the DHS and taxpayers through partnering with the private sector to spend $3.6 billion thus far in R&D to develop, at private sector cost, products and services for the DHS, first responder and critical infrastructure and key resource markets. Success has included recently developed federal programs such as SECURE and FutureTECH. The Requirements Development Initiative will save more than $2.5 billion in DHS resources; the commercialization process will save more than $10 billion annually at DHS at full implementation; and the Science and Technology (S&T) Private Sector Outreach program will save more than $350 million in S&T budget and opportunity costs. Cellucci also re-engineered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s First Responder Requirements Development Framework for all U.S. First Responders (federal, state, local and tribal). 

Michele M. Leonhart,

Acting Administrator Drug Enforcement, DEA

From combating drug cartels in Central and South America to fighting narco-terrorists in Afghanistan to attacking pill mills and violent gangs in the United States, Michele Leonhart has demonstrated her understanding of the significant role drug law enforcement plays in global security. Under her leadership, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has successfully investigated drug-related crimes and brought criminals to justice. Totaling more than 30 years of experience, Leonhart’s career as a DEA Special Agent has led to several senior leadership positions as she advanced through the ranks of DEA, serving in numerous capacities. Since November 2007, she has served in a dual capacity as both Acting Administrator and Deputy Administrator of the $2.7 billion agency commanding a worldwide law enforcement organization of nearly 10,000 people in both the U.S. and more than 60 countries worldwide. Leonhart has testified before Congress on the threat that transnational drug enterprises represent to global stability and U.S. national security. Leonhart also works with regulatory and law enforcement entities, Internet providers and the pharmaceutical industry to fight prescription drug abuse and rogue on-line pharmacies.