Juliette Kayyem

Juliette Kayyem is a national leader in homeland and national security. She presently serves as CEO of Zemcar, a lifestyle company focused on connecting busy parents with qualified drivers to solve their family’s transportation needs. A frequent on-air national security analyst for CNN, Kayyem also serves as the Faculty Director of the Homeland Security Project at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where she is also the Robert and Renee Belfer Lecturer in International Security.

Previously, Kayyem served as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She played a pivotal role in major operations including the handling of the H1N1 pandemic and the BP Oil Spill response; she also organized major policy efforts in immigration reform and community resiliency. Before that, Kayyem was Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s homeland security advisor, guiding regional planning and the Commonwealth’s first interoperability plan, while overseeing the National Guard. She is the recipient of many government honors including the Distinguished Public Service Award, the Coast Guard’s highest medal awarded to a civilian.

Kayyem also uses her decades of experience in both public and private sector risk management and preparedness and resiliency planning to provide strategic consulting to Fortune 500 companies and start-ups in technology, risk management, mega-event planning, and cybersecurity. Some of her clients include Airbnb, Rave Mobile Safety, UPS’ Americans for Securing All Packages, and CyPhy drones.

Kayyem’s memoir Security Mom: My Life Protecting the Home and Homeland, tells stories of her professional life in homeland security and her personal life as a mother. In 2013, she was named the Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial columns in the Boston Globe focused on ending the Pentagon’s combat exclusion rule against women, a policy that was changed that year.

She is a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Global Cyber Alliance, and formerly served on the DHS Secretary’s Homeland Security Advisory Committee. Kayyem is also a board member of MassINC and the Red Cross of MA.

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, she is the mother of three children and married to First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Barron.

Outside Professional Activities

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Outside Professional Activities For Juliette Kayyem

Juliette Kayyem is the founder of Kayyem Solutions, LLC, which provides strategic consulting to Fortune 500 companies and start-ups in technology, risk management, mega-event planning and cybersecurity. These companies include AirBnB, Zemcar, UPS’ Americans for Securing All Packages, Rave Mobile Safety, and CyPhy.

Juliette Kayyem is an on-air national security analyst for and op-ed contributor for CNN. She also hosts a bi-weekly podcast called The SCIF with WGBH News and is a weekly guest on Boston Public Radio.

Additionally, Juliette is a board member of MassINC, the International Centre for Sport Security, and the Red Cross of MA. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Global Cyber Alliance, the Trilateral Commission