WASHINGTON, D.C. – Catherine Chen, CEO of Polaris, was appointed by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas to the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Chen joins 32 other new members on the Council, the principal external advisory body to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“I am honored to be named to the Homeland Security Advisory Council under Secretary Mayorkas’s leadership,” said Chen. “With a seat at the table, the anti-trafficking field can help guide and inform public policy choices that can dramatically improve how this country supports immigrant victims of trafficking and keeps vulnerable people safe,” she added. To read her full statement, visit here.
“These distinguished leaders have agreed to serve our country as members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council at a critically important time not only for our nation, but also for the world,” said Secretary Mayorkas. “Together, we will ensure that the Department is best positioned to meet the challenges we confront today, foresee and be ready for the challenges of tomorrow, capitalize on the power of technological innovation, and serve our country by living up to our highest ideals. Our Department is privileged to benefit from the experience, vision, and creativity of these incredibly accomplished individuals.”
As a member of the Council, Catherine Chen and other Council members will provide strategic advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security, a member of the President’s Cabinet. DHS is the third-largest Cabinet department, responsible for a broad portfolio of domestic security matters from cybersecurity and emergency management, to aviation and border security, to countering child exploitation and the provision of the legal immigration system. Through the Council, Catherine Chen will help define DHS’s strategic vision, strengthen the Department to better meet the increasingly dynamic and rapidly evolving threat landscape, and harness technology and innovation to modernize the programs it administers.
Catherine Chen brings Polaris’s expertise to the table, acquired after nearly fifteen years of managing the National Human Trafficking Hotline and hearing directly from survivors of human trafficking, many of them workers in the United States under the temporary work visa system. For some years now, Polaris has suggested a redesign of temporary work visas in order to close the gaps that allow trafficking in these government-sponsored programs.
The Council was originally established in 2003 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a federal law that governs the establishment and operation of committees that provide consensus advice to a federal government agency. Secretary Mayorkas has reimagined the Council to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that an evolving homeland security landscape presents. The Council will convene for its first meeting on March 21, 2022. For more information about the Council, visit here.
Secretary Mayorkas has appointed the following individuals to the HSAC:
- Jayson Ahern, Principal, The Chertoff Group
- John Allen, President, The Brookings Institution
- Dmitri Alperovitch, Co-Founder and Chairman, Silverado Policy Accelerator
- Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
- Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, Chairwoman, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah
- Mary Barra, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, General Motors Company
- Tarika Barrett, Chief Executive Officer, Girls Who Code
- Noah Bookbinder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
- Safra Catz, Chief Executive Officer, Oracle Corporation
- Catherine Chen, Chief Executive Officer, Polaris
- Michael Chertoff, Former Secretary of DHS and Co-Founder, The Chertoff Group
- Carrie Cordero, Senior Fellow & General Counsel, Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
- Lynn Good, Chair, President & Chief Executive Officer, Duke Energy
- Jamie Gorelick, Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP
- Danielle Gray, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Legal Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
- Jane Harman, Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita, The Woodrow Wilson Center
- Robert Isom, Incoming Chief Executive Officer, American Airlines
- Carie Lemack, Co-Founder, Zed Factor Fellowship
- Scott Kirby, Chief Executive Officer, United Airlines Holdings, Inc.
- Michael Masters, National Director & Chief Executive Officer, Secure Community Network
- Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America
- Janet Murguía, President and Chief Executive Officer, Unidos US
- Leon Panetta, Former Secretary of Defense and Chairman, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy
- Ted Schlein, General Partner, Kleiner Perkins (KPCB)
- Sonal Shah, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Network Operations, United Way Worldwide, and Founding President, The Asian American Foundation
- Ali Soufan, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, The Soufan Group, LLC
- Todd Stern, Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
- Vincent Talucci, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
- Jonathan Thompson, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, National Sheriffs’ Association
- Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Chobani, LLC
- Lynda R. Williams, Immediate Past President, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)
- Patrick Yoes, National President, Fraternal Order of Police
- Wendy Young, President, Kids In Need of Defense (KIND)
