TJ Kennedy, Board Member, NGCC PSN
At the intersection of leading innovative government agencies and modern Software as a Service (SaaS) technology companies, TJ has a unique set of leadership capabilities that drive mission success while building great teams. TJ started his career as a professional firefighter, flight paramedic and a state trooper. TJ was fortunate to work these roles in an overlapping way which brought his unique experiences together to lead key public safety activities for the 2002 Winter Olympics. TJ then made the transition to the private sector when he took on a leadership role for an international program to build out 30 different technologies for the Hellenic fire, EMS and police agencies headquartered in Athens, Greece. TJ has brought these experiences to a range of well-known companies, including executive roles at Fortune 500 ® companies like SAIC (saic.com) and Raytheon (now RTX.com) before leading the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet.gov). FirstNet is an independent authority that was created by the U.S. Congress to design, build, operate, and upgrade a nationwide public safety broadband network for 25 years. FirstNet grew like an independent authority startup inside the federal government to successfully create a $100 billion public-private partnership contract that built and now operates the nationwide public safety broadband network, supporting more than 29,000 police, fire, and other emergency agencies and 6.4 million connections across the U.S. After successfully driving all 56 U.S. states and territories to opt in to the FirstNet network, he went on to lead publicly listed companies like Qumu (acquired by Enghouse) and Wrap Technologies (NASDAQ: WRAP) as CEO and as a board member. Bridging the gap between the fast-moving startup world and the larger, more methodical world of government agencies is one of TJ’s specialties. TJ has been supporting the acceleration of innovation for Sourcewell and has been leveraging his capability to drive successful change in government and the private sector to the government leadership and operations domains. TJ is on the Next Generation Critical Communication board of directors overseeing the Public Safety Network for New Zealand. He is also on the board of GeoComm and SkyfireAI. He holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah. He enjoys outdoor sports, including downhill and cross-country skiing, paddle boarding, and hiking. He also holds an international sailing certificate and charters sailboats around the world.