Gregory Michaelidis

Guest Author

Gregory Michaelidis (@gregmichaelidis) is Chief of Staff at Cambridge Global where he manages serves as a program and project manager, directs personnel and contractors, and provides high-level client support to government agencies and companies operating within the cybersecurity, homeland security, and national security environment. For more than fifteen years he has worked at the intersection of security policy, research, and public affairs, and has led or contributed to more than two-dozen local, national, and global multi-channel strategic communications campaigns. He regularly writes and speaks on topics including information security, human factors in cybersecurity, disinformation, and countering violent extremism.

Michaelidis served as an appointee for both terms of the Obama-Biden Administration. From 2009 until 2013 he was Director of Speechwriting for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. As a key member of the Secretary’s public affairs team he helped in the U.S. response to natural disasters and attempted terrorist attacks, and played a major role developing DHS messages on countering violent extremism, cybersecurity, border and aviation security, and science and technology policy. From 2014 until 2017 he served as Senior Advisor for Public Affairs in the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), predecessor to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he helped senior DHS officials communicate with the public and private sectors about the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and incidents including the Petya, Office of Personnel Management, and Home Depot cyber attacks.

After leaving the Obama-Biden Administration, Michaelidis advised multiple public and confidential clients on increasing public understanding of information security through his own consultancy, Security Awareness Lab, LLC. Most recently, he led a team at MITRE responsible for increasing the impact and public understanding of innovative programs and initiatives in homeland security and public health.

From 2006 until 2009, Michaelidis was chief communications aide to University at Buffalo, SUNY President, Dr. John B. Simpson, helping to spearhead UB2020, the most ambitious growth plan in the school’s 170-year history. He began his career as a foreign policy research assistant at the Brookings Institution, and also has been an advisor at the Center for Global Development, a Truman National Security Fellow, and a consultant to numerous international foundations. Gregory has BA and MA degrees in history from the University at Buffalo, SUNY, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland, College Park.

He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and two daughters.