William Flynn is the president of GARDA Risk Management LLC specializing in homeland and national security policy and operations with a focus on critical infrastructure security and resilience. Mr. Flynn is also a partner at the digital firm The Power of Preparedness (TPOP) a next generation e-learning provider of preparedness and security training. He serves as a Senior Fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security. Mr. Flynn previously served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Infrastructure Protection, where he led the coordinated national effort to reduce risk to our nation’s critical infrastructure posed by acts of terrorism. Following the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012, he was the DHS lead to the White House task force on reducing gun violence. He was nominated by the Secretary of Homeland Security and selected to chair a North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) committee responsible for coordinating and monitoring national and NATO arrangements for civil emergencies, crisis management and critical infrastructure protection. Mr. Flynn joined the federal government after 24 years with the NYC Police Department. On September 11, 2001, he responded to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center where he oversaw the collection and custody of recovered evidence and property, the biometric identification of recovered victims and the deployment of emergency response equipment. Mr. Flynn is also a retired Captain with over 35 years of active and reserve service in the United States Navy, with deployments to the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and the Philippines. He holds a Baccalaureate degree in Criminal Justice from St. John’s University and a graduate degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Among his numerous military and civilian awards are the Legion of Merit, the Director of National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation and the prestigious Senior Executive Service Presidential Meritorious Rank Award which honors career executives for sustained extraordinary accomplishments.
