Staff BiographiesClick here for the biographies of our regional staff.
Cliff Ainsworth Cliff Ainsworth joined the BENS staff in October 2008. He is responsible for writing and editing BENS publications, including the monthly Update, and updating BENS website content. Cliff has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in the Midwest and also has experience in the IT industry. He graduated summa cum laude with a master’s from the Missouri School of Journalism and holds a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Southern Indiana. Cliff has lived and studied abroad in Helsinki, Finland, and Beijing, China.
Jason Blake Jason Blake joined the BENS staff in February 2007 as a policy associate after interning the previous fall. He is responsible for monitoring BENS’ interface with Congress, providing supplementary work on nonproliferation and cooperative threat reduction (CTR), and working on policy projects related to the State Department and Business Response Task Force follow-up. Jason graduated cum laude from Florida State University with a BA in Philosophy and a BA in International Affairs. He has a MA in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University.
Danielle Camner Lindholm Danielle Lindholm manages a portfolio that includes terrorist finance tracking, intelligence transformation, homeland security, and federal outreach projects. Specializing in economic and commercial aspects of national security, she's worked in a comprehensive range of positions: doing international auto-standard harmonization at the Department of Transportation, as the Country Manager for the Middle East and North Africa at USTDA, as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs (doing worldwide commercial issues), and as an Advisor for International Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. She has also spent time as the Vice President of Government Affairs for BankUnited FSB, headquartered in Florida. Before joining BENS in January 2005, she served as the Senior Policy Advisor to a U.S. Congressman, working on issues that included financial services, national and homeland security, and foreign affairs. Danielle holds a BA (Classics) from Tufts University, a J.D. from the University of Miami, and she’s currently pursuing an M.I.P.P. at the George Washington University. She is a member of the DC and Florida Bar Associations, a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of Women in Housing and Finance’s International Task Force, and the founder of the Devi Society, a group for women and families in the National Security field. She is also serving as the Chief of Staff to the Legal Working Group of the Project on National Security Reform.
Michael W. Doubleday Mike Doubleday joined the BENS staff in April 2000. He is responsible for managing BENS policy work and developing communications strategies. A retired Navy public affairs officer, he served as the deputy spokesman for the Pentagon from 1995 to July 1999. During the Gulf War he was part of the military public affairs operation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Jeff Gaynor In May 2008 Jeff Gaynor joined BENS and brings to it 43 years of Government service. Jeff is a leading advocate for the advancement of resilience-based critical infrastructure and national preparedness policies. He directed the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Critical Infrastructure Task Force and as a Senior Executive on the Secretary of Defense Staff, served as the Acting Principal Director for Security and Information Operations and Director of Year 2000 (Y2K) Operations. In a previous Defense position, Jeff co-authored the Defense-wide Information Assurance Program. A retired Army Colonel, Jeff’s career spanned over 30 years of enlisted and commissioned service. Colonel Gaynor is the recipient of the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; and three awards of the Bronze Star Medal (two for Valor) and two awards of the Defense Exceptional Civilian Service Medal.
Reggie Gibbs Reggie Gibbs joined BENS in 2007 as Director of National and International Programs. Previously, he was a Marine infantry officer for six years, during which time he completed four overseas deployments – including a tour as head of the Babil province Iraqi police force in 2003. In 2005, he was a visiting scholar on Middle Eastern security issues for Sandia National Laboratories in Amman, Jordan. Following that, Reggie served at the Pentagon in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (Eurasian Affairs), where he managed U.S. defense partnership programs throughout countries of the former Soviet Union. Reggie holds a BA in international politics from The Citadel (1998), an MA in international security studies from the University of Kentucky (2006), and is currently pursuing a second MA in Russian government and foreign policy at Georgetown University.
David Guthrie David Guthrie joined BENS in January 2005. Previously, he was an account manager at COMSYS, Inc., an IT company, where he expanded the company’s language practice with several federal government programs. David also worked for companies specializing in data collection, data modeling and pattern recognition technology and authored an article advocating such technology’s use in fighting terrorists three years before Sept. 11, 2001. A former member of the United State Marine Corp Reserve, he attended the University of Texas at Austin and San Antonio College.
Butch joined BENS in June 2008 after serving more than 37 years with the U.S. Government Accountability Office where he examined how taxpayers’ dollars are spent and advised lawmakers and agency heads on ways to make government work better. For the past 13 years, as senior executive, he assisted the Comptroller General of the United States in directing the overall operations of the agency and overseeing GAO’s work during this period to improve the management and accountability for national security, space, and international affairs programs. Lynne Kidder Lynne Kidder oversees nation-wide implementation and operations of BENS’ Regional Partnership program. Begun six years ago as the BENS Business Force, the partnership model mobilizes and coordinates business resources and expertise with those of government partners, to strengthen resilience and disaster management capabilities. Kidder is responsible for providing management support to seven BENS-facilitated partnerships; for directing BENS’ consultative work in states with prospective or new partnerships; and for promoting and leading the development of resilience programs, public policy, and best practices that enable greater public-private collaboration in communities, states, and with federal agencies. Prior to joining BENS in 2005, Kidder served as the executive director of a non-profit business leadership organization in the CA Bay Area, where she led numerous collaborative initiatives between private employers, public officials and other civic leaders. Her previous experience also includes executive level management in state government, eight years as professional staff in the U.S. Senate, and corporate government affairs with Bechtel. She holds a B.A. from Indiana University, a Masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and continued graduate studies in public administration at George Mason University.
Steven W. Lowe Joining BENS in October 2002, Steve Lowe brings over twenty years of senior managerial experience in operations, finance and information technology. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and CFO of AIIM International where he oversaw acquisitions and mergers, designed a new Financial Reporting system, and led cost-cutting and consolidation operations. Steve earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Purdue University.
Susan C. Maybaumwisniewski Susan Maybaumwisniewski is Vice President for Policy. She brings over twenty years of senior management experience with the Department of Defense. During her thirty year career as a Naval Officer, Susan had the leadership responsibility for command at all levels. She has expertise in anti-submarine warfare, education and training, and facilities management. Prior to joining BENS in June 2008, She was a professor of Acquisition at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a college of National Defense University, Washington DC.
Steven J. Naplan Before joining BENS, Steve Naplan served as a counterterrorism and homeland security policy advisor to former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Advisor Samuel R. Berger. From 1995-2001 Naplan worked at the White House, including service as Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council. In addition to advising on policy matters and strategic planning, Naplan represented the White House on diplomatic missions to China, Pakistan, Indonesia, Laos and Thailand. Prior to his appointment at the NSC, Naplan served for two years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he worked on Operation Restore Democracy ( Haiti contingency) and NATO exercises Cooperative Nugget ’95. For these and other efforts, Naplan was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Steve Naplan graduated cum laude from the George Washington University in 1993 and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Paul E. Taibl Paul Taibl, a BENS staff member since 1994, is an expert in the defense industrial base, defense management reform, outsourcing and privatization of defense infrastructure, base closure issues and the defense budget. He has focused on implementation of Tail-to-Tooth Commission recommendations over the past several years. He is a retired Air Force officer and former command pilot, airlift planner and senior fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. Click here for the biographies of our regional staff.
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