The Security Foundation

1. How did your life and career path lead you to OSAC?

My path to OSAC really started with a combination of two things I’ve always been drawn to: service to my country and a curiosity about the world’s diverse cultures.

I studied Classical Civilizations at Franklin and Marshall College and that early exposure to history and culture planted a seed.

After graduation, I joined the Marine Corps and served as an infantry and reconnaissance officer. I deployed with both the 24th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units, and that experience gave me a foundational understanding of security, leadership under pressure, and operating in complex, dynamic environments. It also showed me the international dimension of service that I knew I wanted to pursue.

After completing my active duty service, I received a Master’s in Technology Management from Stevens Institute of Technology, and stayed in the Marine Corps Reserve.

I joined the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) in 1999, and was fortunate enough to serve in number of diverse locations both domestically and overseas. Domestically I served in the New York and Miami field offices, the Mobile Security Division, the DS Command Center, and eventually as Division Chief of the Project Coordination Division.

But it was my overseas service that really called to me. I was able to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan, Peshawar, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Casablanca. I was also fortunate to attend language training three times for French, Japanese, and Portuguese.

As a Regional Security Officer (RSO), OSAC was always one of my most enjoyable programs. I was the point of contact for American businesses operating in-country, and the OSAC Country Chapter , was the mechanism through which we built those relationships and shared critical information.

I saw firsthand how valuable that public-private partnership could be. Whether it was briefing international schools in Tokyo on the U.S. COVID response, or urgent outreach during the Algeria hostage crisis when I was in Casablanca. Every time, OSAC delivered timely information to help our partners make informed decisions. So when the opportunity came to lead the organization from D.C., it felt like a natural next step; a chance to give back to something that has been a meaningful part of my career for over two decades.

2. Grounding in the perspective of your career experiences, particularly as a former Regional Security Officer (RSO), what do you see as OSAC’s primary value to the public side of this partnership?

The value of OSAC becomes very clear when you are helping our U.S. business partners or international schools during a crisis.

After postings in diverse areas from Peshawar, Pakistan, to Tokyo, I saw that no two threat environments are the same. OSAC helps to bridge that gap. We take the information around us and translate it into actionable, unclassified, information that helps both corporate security directors and RSOs protect their people and operations.

When I was a student at the Naval War College, there was an emphasis on thinking strategically and how trusted bonds and alliances can create power. OSAC, in many ways, demonstrates that concept. Creating a bridge from the public to private sector, and working with our partners, we are stronger together and provide the information and shared resources to best mitigate and manage risks.

OSAC is a valuable and powerful resource. Having lived it from the RSO perspective, I will do my best to grow OSAC and continue to work together with our private sector partners.

3. TSF funds go directly to supporting OSAC’s 150+ Country Chapters (CCs) and 13 Common Interest Committees (CICs). Why are these meetings so essential?

Country Chapters are OSAC membership groups where Regional Security Officers, and diplomats at U.S. embassies and consulates, around the world can meet with OSAC members who are operating in the same countries. These are incredibly valuable as some Chief Security Officers (CSOs) are regionally based and don’t have as much country-specific information as our posts do.

Common Interest Committees focus on shared concerns by entire regions and sectors like Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East or Energy, Academia, Hotels & Lodging etc…

These groups empower OSAC members to directly connect, benchmark, and share timely information with peers operating in their operational sphere.

Country Chapters and Common Interest Committees are where the real work happens. When you bring CSOs and RSOs together, you create an environment devoid of corporate competition, where people can discuss specific threats and ask candid questions that might not get raised in other settings. Participants are focused on OSAC’s shared mission of protecting all U.S. organizations’ information, facilities, and personnel. It’s this collective understanding that also helps the U.S. Government better grasp the immediate and long-term challenges U.S. companies face, and enables those companies to make better-informed decisions about their present operating posture and future business planning.

OSAC membership is free to any U.S. organization conducting business overseas, and The Security Foundation helps to cover the many costs of hosting a meeting, that means even America’s smallest companies, NGOs, faith-based groups, and nonprofits are just as able to participate as major U.S. corporations.

And the on the public side, sometimes it’s those smaller organizations’ insights that are the most vital to what we do. They operate in some of the most remote and conflict-ridden areas where the U.S. Government may at times have less of a presence. The indicators shared by those members can really help to inform our assessments on a global scale.

When tensions in the Middle East started escalating at the start of this year, and American companies in the region were being targeted, OSAC was able to push information out rapidly through our membership groups to help U.S. companies make critical decisions about whether to keep personnel in place or bring them home. The infrastructure that was already in place, the relationships, the communication channels, the trust were the keys to our collective success.

You can’t manufacture trust in a crisis. You have to earn it beforehand. That’s what OSAC does and The Security Foundation helps to make all of that possible.

4. What surprised you the most when you started up at OSAC?

Honestly, it was the sheer volume of support this organization provides. As an RSO, I focused on my geographic area but OSAC makes very clear how the intersection of individual perspectives from various industries and locations provides a deep understanding of threats and how to navigate them.

Seeing the program from this side, in headquarters, I wasn’t aware of how much work takes place behind the scenes. We have an incredible staff of analysts, program managers, comms specialists and admin support here in the Program Office that dedicate themselves to serving every member’s individual needs. Now that I’m on this side, I really have a deep appreciation for everything the team does: from organizing summits to spinning up snap calls on a moment’s notice, to staying on top of the wide breadth of issues our members face every day. I’m just really impressed with this whole organization: members, leadership, and staff.

5. What are you most excited to get into in your new role?

I’m excited about our role at the FIFA World Cup. The tournament is an unprecedented model with 48 teams playing matches across a huge geographic area from the U.S. to Canada to Mexico. That means we’re combining our traditional international security role with coordination on the domestic side in a way we haven’t done before. We have a team embedded in the Joint Coordination Center (or JCC) in Mexico, communicating continually with our private sector partners, who are also feeding information back to the JCC, and relaying interagency awareness of protests, cyberattacks and other threats. It will be a really powerful and demanding collaboration on all sides.

And I’m also excited to continue to work with the incredible people of this public-private partnership. Every interaction I’ve had so far with the OSAC Board, our Country Chapter and Common Interest Committee leadership, our members, and everyone at TSF has reinforced just how remarkable this community is.

The impact we’re making here is immediate and tangible. We are assisting American organizations of every kind to grow, innovate, and form prosperous partnerships grounded in the rule of law. That advances a model of commerce and cooperation built on transparency, and democratic values.

After more than 25 years in this business, I’m excited to contribute to OSAC’s mission. We have an excellent foundation here at OSAC. And I can’t wait to build on it.