Former Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration Patty Cogswell joined Guidehouse in September 2020 as a senior strategic advisor, working in the areas of innovation, organization and mission transformation and redesign across the national security sector. She became a partner at Guidehouse in 2022. Ms. Cogswell is a homeland and national security executive with 25 years of experience;13 years as a senior executive. She has led programs at the White House, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice, in transportation, intelligence, policy, border security, screening, and information sharing initiatives. She possesses substantive expertise in: aviation, maritime, and surface transportation security, US government and foreign partner screening and vetting programs, counter terrorism, transnational organized crime, intelligence, information sharing and associated technology architectures, and immigration and border processes. She has led multiple organizations through strategy, policy, technology execution, and operations in support of national security missions, as well as how to construct and implement both business and technical architectures. She led complex initiatives across the federal government and with international partners. She negotiated international agreements. Prior to her arrival, she served in a number of roles within the Department of Homeland Security, including as the Deputy Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, Assistant Director for Intelligence at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Acting Undersecretary within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy Integration and Implementation, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Screening Coordination. She previously served at the National Security Council as Acting Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and as Special Assistant to the President for Transborder Security.
9/11 reshaped how we think about and pursue Homeland Security. Before 9/11, we often saw “security” as separate lines of effort – with formal touch points into policy, operations, and private sector investments, or as a response after something went wrong. After 9/11, we recognized that to ensure our Nation’s safety, prosperity, and well-being, we needed to change the culture. We need to unify and align our efforts in the a era of security as a team sport.
In the years since 9/11, we matured the Homeland Security apparatus to a highly skilled, professional, and innovative ecosystem. We are more strategic, technologically enabled, and collaborative. At the same time, threat networks have also matured, constantly adapting to shifts in our environment and taking advantage of weaknesses with creativity and unpresented sophistication.
We recognize that our communities are now at risk from a dynamic array of threat actors, whether at home or abroad, nation state to criminal, and through a variety of threat vectors, whether physical or cyber. We also recognize that the vulnerabilities to and impacts of those threats differ by community. Most importantly, we recognize that protecting against and mitigating those risks requires dedicated professionals:
- With a variety of backgrounds and expertise, collaborating across disciplines;
- Who are willing to use that wealth of expertise to better understand the threat, the vulnerability, and the potential impact – at the local community level as well as across sectors and geography; and
- Who will collaboratively build and implement an integrated set of actions to effectively respond.
Over the course of my career, I’ve been inspired by this type of collaboration again and again as we faced a rapidly evolving threat environment. I’ve seen the connections made crossing federal and local, critical infrastructure and industry, international partners and academia. And I’ve seen the incredible results when we take advantage of these diverse yet interconnected communities and networks to meet these challenges, using them to create or apply a more holistic set of solutions.
I now regularly have the opportunity to mentor and give career advice to those who have followed after me, and to those just entering the workforce. The first question I ask is usually – “what do you want to do?” The answers I get are remarkably consistent. “I want to help make a difference.” “I want to work in an environment where we solve hard problems.” “I want to serve and protect my community.”
Each time – I am inspired again. This drive – to purpose, to community – is exactly what we need for the challenges we will face in the years ahead. To the next generation, thank you for your dedication to the team.