Chris Cummiskey

Chris Cummiskey is the Chief Executive Officer of Cummiskey Strategic Solutions, LLC, a firm that specializes in cybersecurity, homeland security, government technology and acquisition consulting. Based in Washington DC, Mr. Cummiskey serves as a strategic advisor to Federal agencies, state governments, private sector companies and boards of directors. Mr. Cummiskey has 24 years of government experience in senior leadership positions at both the Federal and state levels.

Mr. Cummiskey served in senior leadership at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for six years (2009 – 2014), with his last position in the number three role at the department as Under Secretary for Management. During his tenure as Under Secretary (a) and Deputy Under Secretary, he had department-wide oversight and responsibility for budget/finance, cyber/IT, procurement/contracting, human capital, security, facilities and enterprise mission support. He also served as the department's Chief Acquisition Officer, overseeing $19 Billion in annual spending.

While at DHS, Mr. Cummiskey also co-led all the major cyber committees at the department including the Executive Steering Committee on the National Cybersecurity Protection System (Einstein), the Executive Steering Committee on Cyber Strategy, the Acquisition Review Board on government-wide Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) and the Executive Steering Committee on Cyber Hiring.

Mr. Cummiskey serves as a board member with the National Security Institute at Virginia Tech and as a Senior Fellow & Adjunct Faculty at their Hume Center for Emerging Technology. In addition, he serves as a Senior Fellow at the Auburn University McCrary Center for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. Mr. Cummiskey is also a senior advisor with the MITRE Corporation’s Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI).

Mr. Cummiskey serves on numerous boards including: The Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, as a Senior Advisor to Government Executives (SAGE) with the Partnership for Public Service and as an advisory board member with the Millennium Corporation.

In 2003, Mr. Cummiskey was appointed by the Governor of Arizona to serve as the state’s Chief Information Officer and Director of the Government Information Technology Agency. During his six-year tenure, he received the Distinguished Service to State Government award from the National Governor’s Association for his work in government innovation.

Prior to serving in the Governor’s cabinet, Mr. Cummiskey was elected to six terms in the Arizona State Legislature (1991-2003). As a state senator, he held numerous leadership positions and was credited with developing technology solutions to improve government efficiency and service delivery