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The Future of American Security

Sam Assad '03 (4th from left) meeting with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) exchanging information on customs and border security matters in Washington, D.C.,
June 2023.

Sam Assad (3rd from left) at a bilateral meeting with the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), the Mexico Secretariat of External Relations (SRE),
and the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM) in Mexico City, June 2023.

Caroline Bracken '15 pictured with colleagues at the 2023 Eradicate Hate Global Summit.

Meghan Barrett Welch '05

  • Alumni
The Future of American Security
Catherine Shakin '19

How Tabor Alums are Helping Out

The Tabor values of care, collaboration, courage, and curiosity are ones that many alumni have taken to heart as they have spent their careers working towards the greater good for our country. Sam Assad ’03, Meghan Barrett Welch ’05, and Caroline Bracken ’15 share how Tabor prepared them well for jobs in government and public service, specifically in United States Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security, and government consulting. 

Assad, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and a concentration in the Modern Middle East, has been working for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for 16 years.  

Assad now holds the title of Special Advisor to the Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, where he provides subject matter expertise on issues that affect the agency and assists the commissioner with strategic decision making. Prior to this role, he worked at Washington-Dulles International Airport as a Customs and Border Protection Officer, Director for North America in the Office of International Affairs, and in the National Targeting Center. 

When reflecting on why he chose a path in security, Assad credits Tabor. “A lot of the exposure to the international students and the international community through Tabor … piqued my interest in exploring that career path,” he says. 

When he went to Penn, he wanted to study the Middle East. Assad is Lebanese, “So the Middle East was … a natural fit for my interests,” he says. “When you’re focusing in a post-9/11 environment on that region, you … gravitate towards that sort of government work whether it’s security or diplomacy.” 

Assad was a junior at Tabor when the events on 9/11 occurred. He remembers being in a rowing shell in Providence and watching the planes flying overhead towards the airport, but not landing.  

“When I look back at my course of study in college, it was … pointing me towards something like this. I focused on the Middle East, and by nature of that there was a focus on terrorism and counterterrorism,” he notes. “[The job] allowed me to use those skills that I learned through my education and apply it in the real world.” 

Meghan Barrett Welch was a freshman at Tabor when 9/11 happened. It was her first day on campus, and she was standing in the hallway of the Stroud Academic Center when they made the announcement over the loudspeaker.  

“My mom was dropping me off to have a whole new life at the same time that the actual world was changing,” she remembers. “I think that the combination of those two things certainly drove me in that direction [of public service].” 

My mom was dropping me off [at Tabor] to have a whole new life at the same time that the actual world was changing

Meghan Barrett Welch

Barrett Welch also credits her beginnings at Tabor for inspiring her to want to work in public service. “I think Tabor having a background as a Naval Honor school and having a rich history of people going into the services … also contributed towards it,” she says. 

Barrett Welch went to George Washington University, where she studied political science and geography. She is now a Director at the Systems and Information Integration Office in the Department of Homeland Security, where she oversees the strategy for financial, real property, human capital, and purchasing data.  

What drew her to Homeland Security was its mission. “I think the mission of Homeland Security is so important,” she said. “A lot of people’s first interaction with America is through Homeland Security, and I think that that’s really important from a global perspective.” 

 

Similarly, what brought Caroline Bracken into the security sphere was impact. Bracken graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in political science and minors in international studies and geography. After graduating from college, she worked at a nonprofit called the Feminist Institute, where she spent two and a half years before transitioning over to Guidehouse, which is a government consulting firm. 

“When I was working at the Feminist Institute, I really liked the concept of working at a nonprofit, and I really liked being able to do something and see the impact of that work,” shares Bracken. As she started to transition towards the security space, she wanted to make sure she was continuing with work that was significant.  

“The nice thing about consulting—especially at Guidehouse—is that you’re working very closely with your clients,” she says. “I’m able to see the impact that [our clients are] making and know that they wouldn’t be able to make that impact without me and my team helping them on the back end.” 

Bracken got her current job through a connection in the Tabor alumni network. She attended a virtual Tabor Forecaster Series event, where she saw Tabor Trustee Jackie Shire ’84 speak about her experience working in the United Nations. Once they connected, Shire acted as a mentor to Bracken, reviewing her resume, giving advice, and being candid about opportunities in the field. Ultimately, Shire helped her land the job at Guidehouse, where Bracken is now a Senior Consultant. 

At Guidehouse, Bracken is able to work with clients focused on targeted violence and terrorism prevention. They work out in the field developing state strategies to work with officials and schools to prevent targeted violence before it happens. 

As Bracken reflected on the differences in the security space since she entered it nearly three years ago, she noted that the industry appears to be moving in a more holistic direction.  

“When you look at counterterrorism since 9/11, a lot of that was focused on foreign actors, and it’s kind of transitioned in more recent years to domestic terrorism,” says Bracken.  

She notes that recently there has been an increase in lone actors committing acts of violence like mass shootings, which falls in the category of domestic terrorism. The approach to trying to stop these acts of violence before they happen is by educating communities on different indicators of violence. That way, if they see the warning signs, they can provide the help a person needs before committing an act of violence. 

“It’s not just a law enforcement issue or a government issue, it’s working with schools, working with mental health professionals, working with families,” explains Bracken. “Now I think there’s a more holistic approach to it, and it’s something that I think the prevention space is doing really well.” 

Barrett Welch had a similar thought to Bracken, mentioning that in the security sector, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that everyone is a person. Yet, she remarks, most of the time the root cause of any national security issue revolves around humanity, and people wanting their basic needs met. 

“If we can get to a people-centered mindset versus an ideologically-centered mindset in how we look at groups of people,” she continues, “I am hopeful that that’s the direction international security goes in.” 

Something that has invariably changed is the technology surrounding the job. According to Assad, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is the largest game-changer for CBP.  

 As an agency, Customs and Border Protection processes over 1 million travelers, 250,000 passenger vehicles along land borders, and 4 million cargo shipments each day. AI and machine learning enable the government to be more efficient and to identify patterns that people can’t without the help of technology. 

“By the nature of the work that we do, we sit on so much data that one person or a group of people can’t do it on their own. We have to rely on technology to do risk-based targeting, which is weeding out, [for example] lower-risk everyday travelers versus people coming from conflict areas that pose a higher risk,” explains Assad. “With where artificial intelligence is now, we have the ability to look at the entire history of data to identify patterns that are indicative of anomalous behaviors.” 

Barrett Welch has had comparable experience when it comes to technology in the workplace. 

“I never thought that I wanted to go into technology and data, and I’m still not totally convinced,” she admits. “But then I started to realize how much data and technology is actually what is driving strategy forward, and … a good knowledge base of how to connect the two is going to propel not just my career, but also the work that we’re doing, forward in a really meaningful way.” 

She also points out that committing to using artificial intelligence as a resource is critical to staying ahead in the overall security space. AI is being used from an automation and expedition standpoint to streamline operations and help root out biases. It is a supplemental tool for work that they are already doing. 

“I think there’s a big shift towards realizing that having data about operations or security is so critical to being successful. If we’re not going to be using it, other people certainly are, and they may not be the people you want using the data that’s out there,” emphasizes Barrett Welch. 

“Tabor really instilled a strong sense of ethics and responsibility in me, which carried over to college, and has carried over to my career in public service,” says Assad. “That’s critical when you’re working in public service because decisions that we’re making here can have significant consequences.” 

While the future of the security and public service space remains uncertain, all three alumni credit much of their success to the skills and qualities they picked up while at the School by the Sea.

 

Tabor really instilled a strong sense of ethics and responsibility in me, which carried over to college, and has carried over to my career in public service …

Sam Assad