Welcome NSFers to a new year, a new decade, and yes…Election Year 2020! We decided to kick this year off with a presentation that should put your minds at ease a bit when you gear up to participate in the upcoming election processes that are so vital to our democracy.

After the challenges our nation faced during the 2016 Presidential elections, the Department of Homeland Security established the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (DHS-CISIA) and in 2017 designated the infrastructure used to administer the Nation’s elections as critical infrastructure. DHS-CISA works collaboratively with state and local governments, election officials, federal partners, polling machine vendors, and others to assess threats, identify vulnerabilities, and take action to ensure our elections are resilient to attack and foreign influence.

To walk us through what this means for Nevadans going to the polls in 2020, we are honored to have Michael Mathews, the DHS Protective Security Advisor for Nevada, with us to discuss what is being done to ensure that our election infrastructure is secure from new and evolving threats. Mike will discuss the current threat environment, what DHS and the State of Nevada are doing to mitigate risks, and why citizens should feel confident in our election processes. This is a unique opportunity for NSF participants to hear directly from a homeland security official and to pose questions to him that should increase your confidence and enthusiasm for exercising your right to vote as an active member of our democracy.

Come join us for an enlightening presentation and bring on the questions!

Mike Matthews is a Protective Security Advisor (PSA) with the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). PSAs are senior DHS officials who are trained in critical infrastructure protection and vulnerability mitigation subject matter experts. They facilitate local field activities in coordination with other Department of Homeland Security offices as well as advise state, local, and private sector officials and critical infrastructure facility owners and operators. Prior to DHS, he was a Regional Emergency Manager with the US Department of Transportation, a former FEMA Operations Planner, Department of Defense (DoD) Contractor (both overseas and in the US), Deputy Sheriff, and a US Navy Veteran. Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University and completed the Naval Post Graduate School’s Pacific Executive Leadership Program. He is a Certified Business Continuity Planner with the Disaster Recovery Institute, a registered Subject Matter Expert and a research reference for the DoD Homeland Defense Information Analysis Center. Michael has been personally recognized by FEMA Administrator, Craig Fugate; the Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao; and the San Francisco Federal Executive Board.