Kathleen L. McChesney
Executive Assistant Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Law Enforcement Services Division

Dr. Kathleen L. McChesney is Vice President for Threat Assessment and Crisis Management for The Walt Disney Company. In that capacity she is responsible for identifying threats and vulnerabilities to the Company’s assets, properties, employees and guests. She leads a global team that prepares and implements crisis management and business continuity plans for the Company’s diverse operational regions and business segments. As a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Commercial Sector Facilities Coordinating Council, she works with other private sector representatives to provide enhanced methods of communication between U.S. corporations and government agencies.

Dr. McChesney served in the Federal Bureau of Investigation for over 24 years, retiring as Executive Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services, the third highest position in that organization. From 1999 – 2001, she served as the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s fourth-largest field office in Chicago, Illinois, and was Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Portland, Oregon Field Office from 1996 – 1999. In those positions, she was responsible for directing investigations of violations of federal criminal law, matters that impacted the national security of the U. S., and for providing assistance to state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies. Other assignments included Supervisory Special Agent positions in Los Angeles, California, FBI Headquarters, and as the second-in-command of both the Detroit and Los Angeles Field Offices. Prior to her employment with the FBI, Dr. McChesney was a police officer and detective with King County Police, Seattle, Washington. She instructed courses at Seattle University and the King County Police Academy.

Before joining The Walt Disney Company in 2005, Dr. McChesney served as the Executive Director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection (OCYP) of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Appointed to this new office in December, 2002, Dr. McChesney was responsible for establishing programs to prevent abuse of children within Church environments and for developing and overseeing an audit mechanism to ensure that Catholic Bishops were responding to reports of abuse in conformance with the law and church standards. She developed the unprecedented national study of sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church in the United States conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and prepared a series of public reports on the crisis of sexual abuse of children in church settings.

Dr. McChesney earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Police Science/Administration from Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Seattle University, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California. She is also the recipient of an honorary Ph.D. from Anna Maria College, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Dr. McChesney is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the FBI National Executive Institute, and the Society of Former and Retired Special Agents of the FBI. She also served as Vice-Chair of the Chicago Federal Executive Board. She is a member of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, the Advisory Board of the Villanova University Church Management Program, and the Law Enforcement Fusion Center Private Sector Advisory Board.

Dr. McChesney is a recipient of the (US) Presidential Meritorious Achievement Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Center for Women in Policing, the Illinois Security Chief’s Association Public Service Award, the Anti-Defamation League’s Community Service Award, the Oregon Consular Corps’ International Citizen Award and the Hildegard Bingen Woman for the World Award.