Dr. Kathleen L. Kiernan, NAWLEE Foundation President

Dr. Kathleen L. Kiernan is recognized as an expert in strategic thinking, strategy development, anomalous behavior detection, and facilitating critical incident management exercises across the government and private sector organizations. She’s a 29-year veteran of Federal Law Enforcement and is currently the President of NEC National Security Systems (NSS), a subsidiary of NEC Corporation of America, and the CEO and founder of Kiernan Group Holdings.

At NEC National Security Systems, she’s responsible for the design and implementation of an identity management eco-system, including world-class multi-modal biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and computer vision applications for federal government agencies in defense, intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security agencies.

She is the founder and CEO of Kiernan Group Holdings (KGH), a women-owned global consulting firm specializing in intelligence, law enforcement and national security. Her company was built by practitioners, for practitioners to bring a common-sense approach to the most complex problems confronting society. An educator at heart, Dr. Kiernan believes that the first line of defense is always a prepared individual from the classroom to the boardroom. She has delivered operational and educational capabilities across the globe and developed a methodological based approach to the resiliency cycle at an individual and organizational level.

Prior to her current roles, she served as the Assistant Director for the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Dr. Kiernan has developed and trademarked four approaches to complex national-level issues (Fuciferi Versuiti®, Emerging Technology Innovation Center TM, PWP® and G.O.T. Preparedness®). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Security Today Platinum Award for Best Educational Program in Homeland Security from 2017 through 2023 and the recipient of Private Sector Innovator of The Year award in 2021. She is an adjunct faculty member of the Johns Hopkins School of Education and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School.

She was the Chair Emeritus of InfraGard National Members Alliance (INMA) and a graduate of the FBI Executive Institute. She’s an active member of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and on the Advisory Board at the Center for Advanced Red Teaming (CART) at SUNY, Albany.

Dr. Kiernan holds a Doctor of Education from Northern Illinois University, a Master’s Degree in International Transaction from George Mason University, and a Master’s of Science from the National Defense University.