Bridget Bean is a proven federal leader, which is why it’s no surprise that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency chose her to succeed the long-tenured Brandon Wales as executive director in August. Bean’s experience includes government work in human capital, emergency management and economic development and she’s highly skilled at — and passionate about — cutting through bureaucracy to deliver tangible results.
At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 13, the newly appointed Bean will kick off the event as the opening keynote speaker and will unveil her priority areas in helping to lead CISA. This is an invaluable opportunity to network with a powerful official and learn about the future direction of CISA, so don’t miss out — save your spot today.
Let’s learn a little more about Bean ahead of this exciting engagement.
30 Years of Federal Service
Bean has devoted her life and career to the federal government. But she’s also committed to making it more effective and is extremely results-focused and devoted to bolstering national security.
“It’s not a question of if, but when,” Bean told ClearanceJobs regarding impending threats. “We’re facing increased ransomware attacks, all kinds of things that are the nontraditional 9/11 terrorist activities.”
Small Business Administration
Her time in the government started in 1994 at the Small Business Administration, where she began as a deputy assistant administrator with oversight of SBA contracts and grants management worth more than $250 million. These included warrant authority, facilities, security and records management, among other areas. Over two decades, she eventually graduated to the senior executive service and became SBA’s deputy chief operating officer and chief human capital officer.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Subsequently, Bean joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In her eventual role as deputy administrator for resilience, she commanded an annual spend of $600 million and led a team of over 1,600.
Crucially, she also spent time running FEMA’s Grants Program Directorate, where she was in charge of judiciously matching $20 billion in available homeland security funds with the latest, most daunting threat situations. This prepared her well for her next agency assignment, and for her remarks at the forthcoming Homeland Security Summit.
CISA
Bean came to CISA in 2022 as the agency’s first-ever chief integration officer. This position entailed rallying local and regional components and ensuring they operated cohesively to protect the digital infrastructure that the U.S. depends on.
“My team on the ground across the nation has the responsibility and the wonderful opportunity to bring together stakeholders, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and state and local government officials, to really tackle the problems that are facing our nation in cyber and physical,” she said of her work as chief integration officer.
Recent CISA Developments
CISA is an extremely active agency with a lot of responsibilities to manage. Below are some of its most recent efforts to strengthen the resilience of the American cyberspace:
- Last week, CISA published a guidebook that helps inform federal civilian agencies how they can align their work to cybersecurity best practices. It’s named FCEB Operational Cybersecurity Alignment, or FOCAL.
- New threat warnings are unfortunately a common occurrence for the agency. On Sept. 6, alongside the National Security Agency, the FBI and international partners, CISA released an advisory about the Russian GRU Unit 29155 suspected cyber criminal group. The unit was behind the WhisperGate malware, which was deployed in Ukraine and other nations.
- In order to try and improve cyber incident reporting processes, CISA created the CISA Services Portal and Voluntary Cyber Incident Reporting on Aug. 30. It is outfitted with a user interface accommodating easy filing, saving, updating, searching and sharing functionality.
- Follow along with more updates on CISA!
Bridget Bean to Kick Off 2024 Homeland Security Summit
If you want a more complete picture of what CISA is working on now and what it has planned for the future, as well as a peek at how Bean is approaching her new job, be sure to catch her opening keynote address at the 2024 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 13, from Potomac Officers Club.
“We really want to work with our partners to make sure they’re taking all those precautions to best protect themselves,” Bean shared.
The event’s lineup is packed with high-profile names from across DHS and its topics will include everything from AI to IT to customer experience to 3D simulation. Check out the full lineup and register before there are no slots left!
