Bio

Dr. Kathleen Kiernan is the Founder and CEO of national security, education, risk management and training firm Kiernan Group Holdings, Chair Emeritus of InfraGard National Members Alliance, and adjunct faculty member at the Naval Postgraduate School. KGH serves customers across the US Government trade space, law enforcement, security, the risk management community. With a special focus on the ultimate soft-target, our Nation's schools, Kiernan believes preparedness is a mindset (see: www.gotpreparedness.com) that can be learned and when practiced, prevents ordinary days from turning into extraordinary ones due to an active threat in any form, including those posed by insiders. A 29-year veteran of Federal Law Enforcement, Dr. Kiernan retired as Assistant Director for the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information for ATF. She serves as a subject matter expert for the defense, intelligence and law enforcement communities. She works with organizations making a difference in the world including BENS, the AFCEA Intelligence Committee and the Center for Advanced Red Teaming (CART), University of Albany, SUNY. Dr. Kiernan believes experience brings an obligation to foster professional development in others through mentoring and education which she does both inside and outside of formal classrooms. She developed an approach to citizen engagement and education to increase confidence and decrease victimization in active threat environments (pwporg.org). Her dedication to public service includes her support to Veteran organizations and her 18-year participation in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research. Specialties: Law enforcement, active shooter/threat and risk-based analysis, critical infrastructure protection, scenario-based exercise development, insider threat, technology exploitation, Red Teaming, Crafty Bastard Workshops, Preparedness Without Paranoia® education and training, expert facilitation, executive tabletop exercises, e-learning, digital storytelling.