The following individuals are members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) leverages the experience, expertise, and national and global connections of the HSAC membership to provide the Secretary real-time, real-world, and independent advice to support decision-making across the spectrum of homeland security operations.
Initially Appointed by Secretary Janet Napolitano - October 2010
Mr. William Bratton (HSAC Co-Chair) is the Executive Chairman of Teneo Risk, where he advises clients on risk identification, prevention, and response. He is one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues. During a 46-year career in law enforcement, he instituted progressive change while leading six police departments, including seven years as Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and two nonconsecutive terms as the Police Commissioner of the City of New York. He is the only person ever to lead the police agencies of America’s two largest cities.
Prior to assuming his role at Teneo Risk, Mr. Bratton was the 42nd police commissioner of the City of New York from January 2014 to September 2016. During that time, he oversaw 32 months of declining crime, including historic lows for murders and robberies. In the 1990s, Mr. Bratton established an international reputation for re-engineering police departments and fighting crime. As Los Angeles Police Chief from 2002 to 2009, in a city known for its entrenched gang culture and youth violence, he brought crime to historically low levels, greatly improved race relations, and reached out to young people with a range of innovative police programs.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Jamie Gorelick (HSAC Co-Chair) is presently a Partner at the WilmerHale law firm where she represents institutions and individuals in a wide array of matters, particularly in the regulatory and enforcement arenas, addressing issues as diverse as antitrust, environmental regulation, securities enforcement, and national security.
Ms. Gorelick was one of the longest serving Deputy Attorneys General of the U.S. In that role, she supervised the entire Department of Justice, including its litigation and law enforcement divisions and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Ms. Gorelick also served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense, where she helped structure the Department’s involvement in the consolidation of the defense industry. She was awarded the Secretary of Defense Distinguished Service Medal. Earlier in her career, Ms. Gorelick was Vice Chair of the Task Force on the Audit, Inspection, and Investigation Components of the Department of Defense. She was also Counselor to the Deputy Secretary of Energy and Assistant to the Secretary. Ms. Gorelick was a member of the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the “9/11 Commission”) and she has served on many government boards and commissions.
Initially Appointed by Secretary Jeh Johnson - May 2016
Ms. Karen Tandy (HSAC Vice Chair) has more than 40 years of leadership experience in the public and private sectors with executive board experience serving on for-profit and nonprofit- boards. She is the principal of KPT Consulting LLC, a government affairs consulting firm in the Washington DC area, and Executive Vice President of tele-health firm, NLW Partners.
During her public service, Ms. Tandy was appointed by President Bush as the first female to head the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Before that, Ms. Tandy was Associate Deputy Attorney General during the Clinton and Bush Administrations. She also led the nationwide Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces and served for more than 15
years as a federal prosecutor.
In the private sector, Ms. Tandy was Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at Motorola Solutions. In that capacity, she was Motorola’s top public policy spokesperson on issues related to global telecom policy, responsible for its country management and compliance in more than 70 countries, and director of its multi-million-dollar foundation.
Ms. Tandy was also a Commissioner on the 2021-22 Congressional Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Jayson Ahern is a Principal in Security Services at The Chertoff Group. Over the past 12 years, he has advised clients globally on a broad range of issues including homeland and border security management, business resilience and supply chain security, critical infrastructure protection, enterprise-wide risk management, and corporate security organization/planning/implementation.
Mr. Ahern served as a law enforcement professional for 33 years, rising through every rank in the former U.S. Customs Service and was the Assistant Commissioner of Field Operations at the time of the 2003 founding of the Department of Homeland Security. At the time that the Homeland Security Act was signed, Mr. Ahern was chosen as one of the few senior executives to be involved with the further stand-up of the operational aspects of the department and its components in a mere 4 months. Mr. Ahern continued in U.S. Customs and Border Protection as the Assistant Commissioner and was then promoted to Deputy Commissioner, the agency’s most senior career position. At the transition of government in 2009, he remained as Deputy Commissioner and was appointed Commissioner(A) of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). As Commissioner(A), Mr. Ahern was responsible for all agency operations in securing, managing, and controlling our nation’s borders. With operations in both domestic and foreign locations, he directed the agency’s 58,000 employee workforce to keep terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country, while also carrying out CBP’s other border-related responsibilities.
Mr. Ahern was a career member of the Senior Executive Service, a graduate of Northeastern University, and a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
General John R. Allen, USMC (Ret.) is a retired U.S. Marine Corps four-star general and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. General Allen served as senior advisor to the secretary of defense on Middle East Security as well as special presidential envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He is the first Marine to command a theater of war, as well as the first Marine to be named commandant of midshipmen for the U.S. Naval Academy.
General Allen is the co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence as well as the co-author of Future War and the Defence of Europe. He holds a Bachelor of Science in operations analysis from the U.S. Naval Academy, where in 2021 he was declared a Distinguished Graduate by the Naval Academy Alumni Association. General Allen also holds a Master of Arts in national security studies from Georgetown University, a Master of Science in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College (now National Intelligence University), and a Master of Science in national security strategy from the National Defense University.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Dmitri Alperovitch is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a non-profit focused on advancing American prosperity and global leadership in the 21st century and beyond. He is a renowned cybersecurity expert and Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CrowdStrike Inc. In 2016, Mr. Alperovitch revealed the suspected Russian intelligence agencies' hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In 2010 and 2011, Mr. Alperovitch led the global team that investigated and brought to light Operation Aurora, Night Dragon and Shady RAT groundbreaking cyberespionage intrusions.
In 2013, Mr. Alperovitch received the prestigious recognition of being selected as MIT Technology Review's "Young Innovators under 35" (TR35), an award previously won by such technology luminaries as Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and Jonathan Ive. In 2021, he launched the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). As a recognized authority on cybersecurity, cyberespionage, online organized criminal activity, great power competition, and American foreign policy, Mr. Alperovitch has appeared on numerous television shows, including 60 Minutes, Face the Nation, CNBC documentaries, as well as several documentary features films. His writing on cyber issues and U.S. foreign policy has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and other national publications.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Marc Andreessen is a cofounder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is an innovator and creator, one of the few to pioneer a software category used by more than a billion people and one of the few to establish multiple billion-dollar companies.
Mr. Andreessen co-created the highly influential Mosaic internet browser and co-founded Netscape, which later sold to AOL for $4.2 billion. He also co-founded Loudcloud, which as Opsware, sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion. He later served on the board of Hewlett-Packard from 2008 to 2018.
Mr. Andreessen holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Mr. Andreessen serves on the board of the following Andreessen Horowitz portfolio companies: Applied Intuition, Carta, Coinbase, Dialpad, Flow, Golden, Honor, OpenGov, and Samsara. He is also on the board of Meta.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Cheryl Andrews-Maltais is currently on her fourth term as Tribal Chairwoman for Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah. In this role, Ms. Andrews-Maltais is responsible for the overall and general welfare of the Tribal Community. She represents the Tribal Government at Federal, National, International, State and local levels. Ms. Andrews-Maltais is also charged with addressing all aspects of the Tribal Community’s rights and responsibilities directly with the Federal Government and Federal Agencies. Ms. Andrews-Maltais is fiscally responsible for the operation of all the Tribal Government programs.
As Chairwoman, Ms. Andrews-Maltais also serves on the Board of Directors of the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) and serves on the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Self Governance Advisory Committee, the Indian Health Service Office of Self Governance Advisory Committee, the Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC), and she formerly served on the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (HHS-STAC). Ms. Andrews-Maltais also serves on the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribal Cultural and Historic Commission and is the Chairwoman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming Corporation (AWGC).
Before being re-elected as Chairwoman, Ms. Andrews-Maltais completed a Presidential appointment for the Obama administration as the first Tribal Leader to become a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Dr. Tarika Barrett is the CEO of Girls Who Code, an international non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology that has served over 450,000 students to date. In her role, Dr. Barrett oversees the organization’s free Summer Immersion Program and after-school clubs’ program, as well as the international programming, alumni programming, and people & culture teams. Dr. Barrett started her career as an educator and has spent two decades building educational pathways for young people at organizations like iMentor, the New York City Department of Education, New Visions for Public Schools, and New York University’s Center for Research on Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Barrett also served on the boards for CSforALL, Eskolta, McGraw Hill and she also sits on AT&T’s Accelerator Advisory Board. She is the recipient of the New York University’s Steinhardt School Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and was named one of Crain’s 50 Most Powerful Women in New York in 2021.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Catherine Chen is the CEO of Polaris, a leading anti-trafficking organization in the United States. She is a veteran anti-trafficking strategist who has spent two decades building innovative social justice programs and pushing for policy change to address the root causes of sex and labor trafficking.
Ms. Chen was previously Polaris’s chief program officer where she designed the organization’s 10-year strategy. Before joining Polaris, she was Director of Investments at Humanity United.
Ms. Chen led the Human Trafficking and Labor Migration team, spearheading a global campaign to raise the plight of migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. She also created the Partnership for Freedom, a multi-million-dollar public-private partnership to spur innovation in the anti-trafficking field.
Earlier in her career, she served as the inaugural global Anti-Trafficking and Child Protection Advisor for Save the Children, working across 17 countries to address child exploitation. She built a global campaign to tackle labor exploitation of South Asian migrant workers in Qatar while at Humanity United and led a nationwide training and technical assistance program for U.S. Department of Justice-funded anti-trafficking task forces.
As a first generation Chinese American, Catherine brings a deep commitment to racial and gender justice and economic equity and has a long track record of building up leaders who have lived experience. In addition to her leadership of Polaris, Catherine is Board member of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), and a founding member of Chief, a national network of 6,000 women executives.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009, Mr. Michael Chertoff led the country in blocking would-be terrorists from crossing our borders or implementing their plans if they were already in the country. He also transformed FEMA into an effective organization following Hurricane Katrina. At Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff provides high-level strategic counsel to corporate and government leaders on a broad range of security issues, from risk identification and prevention to preparedness, response and recovery.
Before heading up the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Chertoff served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Earlier, during more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, he investigated and prosecuted cases of political corruption, organized crime, corporate fraud, and terrorism – including the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In addition to his role at Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff is also senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Carrie Cordero is the Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow and General Counsel at the Center for a New American Security. Her research and writing interests focus on intelligence community oversight, transparency, surveillance, cybersecurity and related national and homeland security law and policy issues. She is also a CNN legal and national security analyst and has been an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law.
Ms. Cordero spent the first part of her career in public service, including as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Senior Associate General Counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice. She also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. After leaving government service, Ms. Cordero was the Director of National Security Studies at Georgetown Law, and was in private practice, handling matters related to surveillance, law enforcement response, security, and privacy. She has testified before the United States Congress on homeland security reform, foreign influence on democratic institutions, and foreign intelligence surveillance law and policy.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas – May 2023
Kristin M. Crowley is the 19th Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). With her wife and children by her side, Chief Crowley took the oath of office on March 25, 2022 – becoming the first female and LGBTQ Fire Chief in the LAFD.
Chief Crowley leads a diverse department – about 3,400 sworn and more than 350 civilians – in protecting four million people in Los Angeles (LA) – the Nation’s second-largest City. From the ocean to the mountains, the Valley to the Port of LA, the LAFD responds to over 1,300 emergency calls a day.
As a 22-year veteran of the LAFD, Chief Crowley has served as a Firefighter, Paramedic, Engineer, Fire Inspector, Captain I, Captain II, Battalion Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, Chief Deputy, and Fire Chief. She served as an executive board member for the Chief Officers’ Association and The Women in the Fire Service. Chief Crowley chairs the Fire Code Committee for Los Angeles and serves at the Los Angeles Fire Department Leadership Academy as a facilitator and instructor.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Lynn Good is chair, president, and chief executive officer of Duke Energy, one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Under her leadership, Duke Energy has intensified its focus on serving its customers and communities today while leading the way to a cleaner, smarter energy future.
Before becoming CEO in 2013, Ms. Good served as Duke Energy’s chief financial officer and earlier led the company’s commercial energy businesses during its initial development of renewable energy projects. She began her utility career in 2003 with Cincinnati-based Cinergy, which merged with Duke Energy three years later. Prior to 2003, she was a partner at two international accounting firms, including a long career with Arthur Andersen.
Ms. Good currently serves on the boards of directors for Boeing, the Edison Electric Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the World Association of Nuclear Operators, and the Business Roundtable.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Danielle Gray is Executive Vice President and Global Chief Legal Officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
Prior to joining WBA in September 2021, Ms. Gray served as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, overseeing operations related to legal, audit, government affairs, health policy, corporate compliance, external communications, marketing, and community engagement.
Previously, Ms. Gray was a Partner with O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, representing health care companies, financial services institutions, universities, and clients across diverse industries. She also held a number of public service roles in the White House and Department of Justice from 2009 to 2014, including Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary; Deputy Director of the National Economic Council; and senior counsel in the White House Counsel's Office and at DOJ’s Civil Division. She also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Merrick Garland on the U.S Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Jane Harman served as the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Director, President, and CEO from 2011-2021, a role she resigned from Congress to assume.
Representing the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security. During her long public career, Ms. Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues and has received numerous awards for distinguished service.
Ms. Harman serves on the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Advisory Board of the Munich Security Conference. She also co-chairs the Homeland Security Experts Group with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Prior to serving in Congress, Ms. Harman was Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Deputy Cabinet Secretary to President Jimmy Carter, Special Counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Robert Isom is the CEO and current president of American Airlines Group and American Airlines, its principal subsidiary company. In his current role, he oversees American’s operations, planning, marketing, sales, alliances, and pricing until his role as CEO begins in March of 2022.
Mr. Isom previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at American after holding those same positions at US Airways. Prior to joining US Airways, he served as chief restructuring officer for GMAC, LLC. and as senior vice president – Ground Operations and Airport Customer Service, vice president – International and vice president – Finance for Northwest Airlines. Between 1995 and 2000, Mr. Isom was with America West Airlines and held executive roles in Revenue Management, Operations and Finance.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Scott Kirby is chief executive officer of United Airlines. He served as the company’s president from 2016 to 2020 and was responsible for United’s operations, marketing, sales, alliances, network planning and revenue management. As president, he played a pivotal role in enabling United’s cultural transformation and executing the Company’s strategic growth plan. Elected in December 2020, Mr. Kirby serves as the Chairman of the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board (CEB). Mr. Kirby is also a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of Governors.
Prior to joining United, Mr. Kirby was president of American Airlines from 2013 to 2016 and president of US Airways from 2006 to 2013. He is a well-known industry veteran, with a broad and accomplished three-decade-long career in significant leadership roles within the airline industry. Mr. Kirby started his career at the Pentagon and in the technology sector, is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and is an Air Force veteran.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Carie Lemack is co-founder of the Zed Factor Fellowship. Building on more than two decades of experience in entrepreneurial endeavors, advocacy and security policy, Ms. Lemack serves as an advisor to some of today's leading aerospace and deep tech companies. Ms. Lemack focuses on strengthening national and homeland security via three pillars: (1) she advises, mentors and invests in aerospace and deep tech startups to keep our nation leading in cutting-edge technology and space dominance; (2) she serves as co-founder of the Zed Factor Fellowship program, building a more diverse and innovative workforce by engaging with students from underrepresented backgrounds through hands-on experience, leadership training & community service; and (3) she spearheads new incentives for companies to select first-time female and minority board members, creating a cadre of experienced and diverse national corporate leaders.
Ms. Lemack previously co-founded Global Survivors Network, an organization for victims of terror to speak out against terrorism and radicalization. As a part of her unique approach to countering violent extremism, Ms. Lemack produced an Academy Award-nominated documentary film, Killing in the Name. In 2001, she co-founded and subsequently led the Families of September 11th organization.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Michael G. Masters is the National Director & CEO of the Secure Community Network (SCN). SCN, a non-profit 501(c)(3), is the official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America. SCN works across 50 national partner organizations, 146 Jewish Federations, and over 300 independent communities representing over 90 percent of the Jewish community in North America, as well as with other partners in the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors.
Prior to joining SCN, Mr. Masters served as the Senior Vice President of The Soufan Group, and as the CEO of CivicScape. Mr. Masters previously served as the Executive Director of the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Cook County, Illinois, and as the Chief of Staff for the Chicago Police Department. Mr. Masters has also served on the DHS Foreign Fighter Task Force, the Faith Based Security and Communications Advisory Subcommittee and supported the Department’s Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee, as the Vice-Chair of the Grants Review Task Force, and on the Executive Board of the FBI’s Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force.
A Truman and a Gates Cambridge Trust Scholar, Mr. Masters received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School where he served as Managing Editor for the Harvard International Law Journal.
Certified as a peace officer and a Special Weapons and Tactics operator, Mr. Masters continues to serve his community as a part-time police officer. Mr. Masters received an officer’s commission in the United States Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of Captain.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Janet Murguía is the President and CEO of UnidosUS, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. In that role, she has strengthened UnidosUS's work and enhanced its record of impact as a vital American institution. Ms. Murguía has also worked to amplify the Latino community's voice on issues such as education, health care, immigration, civil rights, and the economy.
Ms. Murguía grew up in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, KS, and began her career in Washington, DC as legislative counsel to former Congressman Jim Slattery. She later served in the Clinton Administration as a deputy assistant to President Clinton and deputy director of legislative affairs. Ms. Murguía went on to serve as deputy campaign manager and director of constituency outreach for the Gore/Lieberman presidential campaign. Ms. Murguía was the University of Kansas (KU) as Executive Vice Chancellor for University Relations, where she oversaw KU's internal and external relations with the public, prior to joining UnidosUS.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Leon Panetta co-founded The Panetta Institute for Public Policy with his wife in 1997. Reflecting the Secretary’s ideals and personal example, the nonpartisan, not-for-profit study center seeks to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service and prepare them for the policy challenges of the future.
Mr. Panetta began his long and distinguished public service career in 1964 as a U.S. Army intelligence officer. Over the intervening years before his election to Congress in 1976, he worked a variety of public service jobs and practiced law. Mr. Panetta represented his district in Congress for 16 years before leaving, in 1993, to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget for the incoming Clinton administration. A year later Mr. Panetta accepted an appointment as the president’s chief of staff where he remained until 1997 when he co-founded his namesake institute.
Mr. Panetta returned to public service at the start of the Barack Obama administration as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and then, as Secretary of Defense until 2013 at which point, he returned to assume the role of Chairman for his institute. Mr. Panetta published his memoir, Worthy Fights, in 2014 and has been the recipient of hundreds of awards and honors.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Ted Schlein is a general partner at Kleiner Perkins, and executive chairman and founding partner at Ballistic Ventures. Mr. Schlein has spent the last 35 years helping to create transformative companies.
A Midas of investing and the former chairman of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), Mr. Schlein has served on over 50 public and private company boards, which include many of the world’s greatest cybersecurity companies. As a company leader, he was the founding CEO of Fortify Software, which was later acquired by Hewlett-Packard.
Prior to Kleiner and Ballistic, Mr. Schlein served as vice president, Enterprise Solutions at Symantec. There he led the company’s earliest antivirus effort, which included a move into the software utilities market with the launch of a commercial antivirus solution that became the industry gold standard. Mr. Schlein is an active member of the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, National Security Institute Advisory Board, and the Council on Foreign Relations, Independent Task Force on Cybersecurity.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas – November 2022
Elizabeth H. Shuler is president of the 58 unions and 12.5 million members of the AFL-CIO, and the first woman leader of America’s labor movement. A visionary leader and longtime trade unionist, Shuler believes the labor movement is the single most powerful vehicle for progress and that unions are a central force in leading lasting societal transformations. She is committed to busting myths about labor, leveraging the labor movement’s diversity for innovative approaches to social justice and making the benefits of a union voice on the job available to working people everywhere.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler was elected by acclamation to serve as the first woman leader of the federation on June 13, 2022. She first held the office after being elected by the AFL-CIO Executive Council on Aug. 20, 2021, following the unexpected and untimely passing of her predecessor, Richard Trumka.
In 2009, Shuler became the first woman elected to the position of secretary-treasurer at an AFL-CIO convention and the youngest woman ever on the federation’s Executive Council. As secretary-treasurer, she served as the chief financial officer, turning deficits into surpluses and steering the federation through multiple fiscal crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to her stewardship of the federation’s finances, she led the AFL-CIO’s initiatives on the future of work, retirement security, the clean energy economy, public safety reform, workforce development, and empowering women and young workers.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Ali H. Soufan is the Chairman and CEO of The Soufan Group, LLC, and has been a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council since September 2012.
Mr. Soufan is a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent who investigated and supervised highly sensitive and complex international terrorism cases, including the East Africa Embassy Bombings, the attack on the USS Cole, and the events surrounding the 9/11 attacks. In addition, he served on the Joint Terrorist Task Force, FBI New York Office, where he coordinated both domestic and international counterterrorism operations.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Vincent Talucci serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the IACP. As the chief staff executive, Mr. Talucci is responsible for leading a staff of over 140 professionals and providing strategic guidance to the IACP’s volunteer leadership, membership and stakeholders on critical issues confronting the global policing profession.
Prior to being appointed Executive Director in 2014, Mr. Talucci was IACP’s Deputy Executive Director, Director of IACP’s Programs and Research Activities Directorate, and oversaw a broad range of core association services: police operations and management evaluations; promotional testing; executive search and placement; and oversight of federally supported programmatic efforts.
From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Talucci served as Principal Advisor for Law Enforcement, State and Local Government Practice, with SAS, a worldwide software industry leader in analytics. From 2002 to 2010, Mr. Talucci served with the IACP, progressing to Director of the Division of State and Provincial Police (S&P), and worked to forge strategic directions to address critical issues facing state and provincial law enforcement, and led efforts in information sharing, homeland security, and innovative technology. Before joining IACP, Mr. Talucci worked with the United States Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice, where his responsibilities included the substantive management of criminal justice initiatives.
Mr. Talucci is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington and is a Certified Association Executive (CAE).
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Jonathan Thompson is the Executive Director and CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA). Immediately prior, Mr. Thompson was a principal with Refero Communications, helping organizations to plan and implement their communications strategies on a wide variety of public affairs, public relations, and government outreach endeavors.
Mr. Thompson has also served as the Director of External Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. In this role, he oversaw all elements of communications and outreach for the agency, including public affairs, community affairs, legislative, international, and intergovernmental affairs, as well as all web and social media communications. Prior to that role, Mr. Thompson was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, responsible for the design, development and oversight of communications planning for the Department’s Iraq and Global War on Terror.
Prior to his Government service, Mr. Thompson served in senior management positions with two national trade associations, and he also led communications for the Consumer Electronics Association.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Hamdi Ulukaya is the founder and CEO of Chobani, one of the fastest growing food companies in the last decade and a pioneer in making better food that’s delicious and accessible for all. Raised in a dairy-farming family in a small village in eastern Turkey, Mr. Ulukaya launched Chobani in 2007. In less than five years, Chobani became the No. 1-selling Greek Yogurt brand in the U.S. with more than a billion dollars in annual sales.
Mr. Ulukaya immigrated to the U.S. in 1994 to study English. With a loan from the Small Business Administration, he bought a yogurt plant in 2005, began selling Chobani yogurt in 2007, and achieved over $1 billion in annual sales within 5 years.
Mr. Ulukaya is also the founder of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, which encourages businesses to help integrate refugees economically into their new communities. Further, Mr. Ulukaya is a signatory of the Giving Pledge and has committed the majority of his personal wealth to helping refugees.
Mr. Ulukaya is the recipient of numerous awards, including receiving the United Nations Foundation Global Leadership Award. In recognition of his leadership and efforts to help refugees, in 2017 Mr. Ulukaya was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and Forbes’s 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Lynda R. Williams is currently the Professor of the Practice at Middle Tennessee State University in the Department of Criminal Justice Administration; with this appointment in 2017, she became the first individual bestowed this title in recognition of the breadth and depth of her knowledge and expertise in the field of criminal justice and executive security.
In her role within the Department of Criminal Justice Administration, Ms. Williams’ curriculum subject matter includes foreign/domestic terrorism studies, criminal justice processes, community and public service engagement and executive law enforcement leadership speaker symposiums.
Prior to joining the faculty of Middle Tennessee State University, Ms. Williams led an accomplished career as a veteran of the United States Secret Service, from 1988 until she retired, as the Deputy Assistant Director in 2017.
As President of NOBLE, Ms. Williams focused on achieving the organization’s goals through a three-pillar platform on police reform, gun violence, and voter engagement. Most notably, she established The Reimagining Public Safety Task Force/Report to give voice to the inequities in policing, and the seeming disconnect of understanding, engagement and communication between public safety and the community. This Report is a blueprint that provides meaningful solutions of public safety and community standard engagement that edifies against and dismantles the impetus for its creation.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Mr. Patrick Yoes was elected National President at the 64th Biennial Conference of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) in 2019. Mr. Yoes has since made it his mission to lead the FOP in these changing and dynamic times to find solutions to the real issues facing the law enforcement profession.
After nearly 36 years as an active law enforcement officer, Mr. Yoes retired in 2020 from the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office. During his career with the agency, Mr. Yoes worked as a patrol deputy, patrol sergeant, school resource officer, and detective in the criminal investigation division, becoming commander of the Special Services Division.
Since joining the St. Charles (LA) local FOP lodge, Mr. Yoes has held nearly every elected position, including eight terms as Lodge President. Mr. Yoes is also active on the state level, having served on the Louisiana State Lodge Executive Board for more than 22 years, 10 as President. For 14 years preceding his election as the National President of the FOP Mr. Yoes served as the FOP National Secretary.
Appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - March 2022
Ms. Wendy Young has led KIND since 2009, and brought extensive immigration policy experience to the organization.
Prior to KIND, Ms. Young served as Chief Counsel on Immigration Policy in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees for Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She held prior immigration policy positions with organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Women’s Refugee Commission, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the National Council of La Raza. She has also written extensively on the plight of unaccompanied children.
Ms. Young has received numerous awards and honors for her work on immigration rights over the years. She also earned a joint law degree and master’s degree in international relations from American University in Washington, DC.