Leadership

Heather McMahon

Independent Director

Heather McMahon is one of the nation’s top experts on counterintelligence, security, cyber, supply chain risk management, and critical technology protection for the defense and intelligence communities. Heather is the founder and CEO of Artemist Advisory Group where she advises on security risks to business and creates market development strategies for operational security technology companies. She currently serves as a senior advisor to Privoro LLC, a company producing a hardware root of trust for commercial mobile phones, allowing people to defend themselves from cyber-attacks against smartphones. She also serves on the advisory council for NightDragon, a venture capital company focused on cybersecurity. 

Previously, Heather served in the White House as Senior Director to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) where she advised the Executive Office of the President and National Security Council on national security, counterintelligence, risk management, industrial security, and insider threat matters. In 2023, she was recognized with the Presidential Rank Order Award for her service there.

Prior to the White House, Heather served as a senior defense intelligence executive for the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and the Department of the Army’s Intelligence Staff where she devised, implemented, and led programs to protect DoD technology, information, personnel, facilities, and critical infrastructure from internal and external threats. Heather also served previously as a business development executive at a cybersecurity company. 

Heather is a seasoned U.S. Army combat veteran and highly skilled human intelligence and counterintelligence officer with nearly three decades of global operational experience. This includes extensive tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Europe, and Asia, serving the Army at every echelon between platoon and corps as well as in the IC’s strategic enterprise. For her exemplary service, she received the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (3), DoD Counterintelligence Award for Best Counterintelligence Operations Team (2006; Iraq), and Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service (2021), among other awards.

Today Heather applies her experience and expertise to corporations on how to manage risk and defend against state-sponsored cyberattacks, insider threats, and intellectual property theft. She currently serves as on the grant committee for the Gula Tech Foundation, a civic effort focused on closing the cyber skills gap in America, and advises nonprofit technology-based initiatives supporting effective community responses to emerging challenges.

Heather is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point along with numerous advanced Intelligence Community and military schools including the Army’s Jumpmaster School and Airborne School.

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