Press Release
The Homeland Security Project has announced the appointment of the Project’s Fall fellows:
- Alan Bersin, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer
- Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama
- Christine Heenan, former Senior Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy at the Rockefeller Foundation
Led by Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security and former DHS Assistant Secretary Juliette Kayyem, the Homeland Security Project will continue to focus on the unique challenges and choices around protecting the American homeland. The Project’s recent and ongoing initiatives include:
- The upcoming MIT Press publication of “Beyond 9/11: Homeland Security for the 21st Century,” a comprehensive collection of essays written by experts on various homeland security topics, which includes recommendations to address the changing nature of America’s homeland security enterprise.
- Launching the Mexico Business Forum Program, which aims to enhance the focus on US-Mexico policy issues at the highest levels of academia and policy analysis. The Program will not only provide a highly-visible platform for leading Mexican practitioners to share their ideas with peers at Harvard University, but also ensure that these insights are developed through rigorous and well-funded research to induce significant policy changes and become a major voice in Mexico-US affairs.
- Continued work on our soon-to-be-published volume “North America 2.0,” the collaboration among El Aspen Institute Mexico, the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, the Hunt Institute at the University of Texas El Paso and the Belfer Center to explore the potential opportunities and challenges of North American economies, trade, policy, and the flow of people within and without our borders.
“We are thrilled to announce these Fall Fellows, who all have made tremendous contributions to protecting our homeland. From the border, to climate change, to crisis management, this team will be invaluable to our efforts of building a premier homeland security,” Juliette Kayyem said.
Jeh Johnson served as Secretary of Homeland Security, the head of the third largest cabinet department of the U.S. government, consisting of 230,000 personnel and 22 components, including TSA, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Services, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and FEMA. Johnson's responsibilities as Secretary included counterterrorism, cybersecurity, aviation security, border security, port security, maritime security, protection of our national leaders, and response to natural disasters. In three years as Secretary of DHS, Johnson is credited with management reform of the Department which brought about a more centralized approach to decision-making in the areas of budgets, acquisition and overall policy, and for raised employee morale across the Department. Prior to becoming Secretary of Homeland Security, Johnson was General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2009-2012).
Alan Bersin served (at various times) as Assistant Secretary for Policy & International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In those capacities, he led DHS’s transnational engagement, served as the principal advisor to the Secretary on international affairs, and oversaw strategic planning and policy formulation functions. Between 2012 and 2015, Bersin served as Vice President of INTERPOL for the Americas Region and as a member of the INTERPOL Executive Committee. He currently serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the INTERPOL Foundation based in Geneva.
Previously, Mr. Bersin served as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2010 to 2011, a position from which he oversaw the operations of CBP’s 58,000-employee work force and managed an operating budget of more than $12 billion. Bersin guided CBP’s efforts to secure the nation’s borders and mitigate threats while expediting lawful trade and travel. In 2009, Bersin served as Assistant Secretary and Special Representative for Border Affairs. Prior to his DHS experience, President Bill Clinton appointed, and the U.S. Senate confirmed, Bersin to serve in the Department of Justice as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California a position he held for nearly five years. During this time, he was the Attorney General’s Southwest Border Representative (the so-called Border Czar) responsible for coordinating federal law enforcement on the border from South Texas to Southern California.
Christine Heenan was the Senior Vice President for Global Policy & Advocacy at The Rockefeller Foundation. In her role there, she led several key programmatic and external functions for the Foundation, including leading its global policy and influence, strategic partnerships, and communications teams, as well as its Bellagio and Fellows team and regional teams in Asia and Africa. Heenan is founder and president of Clarendon Group, a strategy and communications firm helping global organizations with communications and social impact strategy. Clarendon has advised notable global organizations including Harvard University, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ballmer Group, the Broad Institute, philanthropist Donald Sussman, and others. From 2008 to 2015, Heenan was Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications for Harvard University. Previously she served in the White House as a senior policy analyst and speechwriter in the Clinton Administration focused on health care policy, health reform, and women’s issues. Heenan has taught communications and public policy at both Brown and Harvard, and received the Bok Center Certificate Of Teaching Excellence for her contributions to teaching undergraduates at Harvard College.