Kathleen Kiernan has taken on a new part-time advisory role with Advanced Weapons Systems, Inc., adding to an already extensive portfolio of ongoing leadership, academic, and advisory positions across the national security, defense, and preparedness communities.
Kiernan has served as an advisor to Advanced Weapons Systems since September 2025 according to her LinkedIn profile. The role is part-time and complements her continued full-time leadership as Founder and CEO of Kiernan Group Holdings (KGH), a risk management and preparedness firm she has led for more than 15 years.
She remains actively engaged in several concurrent roles, including Executive Advisor to NEC Corporation, where she supports global digital government and digital finance initiatives, and as Adjunct Faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security, where she has taught for more than a decade. Kiernan also continues her work as Founder of Preparedness Without Paranoia, a nonprofit focused on safety education, community resilience, and violence prevention.
Her advisory experience spans public safety, law enforcement, and national security organizations. She serves on advisory boards for the San Diego Harbor Police Foundation and the Center for Advanced Red Teaming at the University at Albany, and has held senior leadership roles with organizations such as InfraGard National Members Alliance, Business Executives for National Security, and the Police Foundation.
Before entering the private sector, Kiernan spent 29 years in federal law enforcement, retiring from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as Assistant Director for the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information. Her career has included leadership roles in intelligence, counterterrorism, critical infrastructure protection, and risk-based analysis.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)