Bridget Bean has built her career solving the government’s most complex and challenging problems. Now the executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Bean uses her leadership and experience to drive institutional continuity and enterprise operational excellence to help the agency realize its full range of capabilities.

Her experience includes a five-and-a-half-year stint with increasing responsibility at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She also spent nearly 22 years at the Small Business Administration, culminating in a Senior Executive Service position of deputy chief operating officer and chief human capital officer.

Exclusive Bridget Bean Appearance

At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Cyber Summit on May 15, Bean will speak directly to the government contracting community. This is a priceless opportunity to learn from a high-ranking federal cyber official and discover what Bean has learned at CISA and its priorities going forward. Sign up today!

Let’s learn more about Bean ahead of her highly-anticipated appearance.

Bridget Bean’s Career Begins at SBA

When Bean started her federal career in 1994 with SBA, she never expected it to last more than a year. She had a baby, put her husband through graduate school and was going to attend law school herself.

Then life happened.

“(SBA) was a wonderful opportunity,” Bean told Federal News Network. “I continue to grow and learn about the federal government and the important work that federal employees do to serve the American people.”

Bean has managed a lot of contracts at SBA—she’s an expert on the contracting ecosystem and can speak to acquisition and procurement with informed detail. She oversaw a multi-million-dollar IT effort at the SBA, including the development of systems to manage the socio-economically disadvantaged 8(a) and Historically Underutilized Business Zone small businesses.

Bean managed the Washington metropolitan area’s district office, SBA’s largest field location with the nation’s largest portfolio, averaging more than $19 billion in contracts annually. Bean additionally collaborated with local lenders and firms across the mid-Atlantic, overseeing more than $1.4 billion in SBA-guaranteed loans and $34.2 billion in federal government contracts for goods and services purchased from local entrepreneurs.

Bridget Bean’s Natural Disaster Recovery Experience

As FEMA deputy administrator for resilience, Bean managed complex federal programs to reduce future losses to homes, buildings and other critical facilities from floods, earthquakes, tornados and other natural disasters.

In this position, Bean led over 1,600 people and managed an annual budget of $600 million. She developed and executed a $500 million grants management modernization initiative that created one secure platform and information repository with internal controls used to apply and manage grants, replacing 10 disparate systems.

As an assistant administrator for grant programs at FEMA, Bean worked with state, local, tribal and territorial governments seeking to build and sustain homeland security capabilities, lower the risk of terrorism and reduce vulnerability to hazards.

Bean was promoted up the ranks in the federal government because she focused on people. She said she would not have accomplished anything unless she had people who bought into her ideas and vision.

“You can’t do it alone. I don’t care if you’re a secretary or the head of administration,” Bean said. “It’s all about people and getting people to work together and have that collaboration. Otherwise, you will not be successful. You might be in the short term, but in the long term, you will fail.”

Bean’s personable communication style and people-first professional emphasis will be on full display at the upcoming Cyber Summit.

Learn More From Bridget Bean at the 2025 Cyber Summit

If you seek a more holistic view of CISA’s current priorities and what it has in store in the second Trump administration, don’t miss Bean’s opening keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Cyber Summit on May 15. The event’s lineup is full of high-ranking government officials from the U.S. Air Force, NSA and the Department of Defense’s Cyber Crime Center and covers topics including leveraging big data to enhance cybersecurity. This exciting event is expected to sell out quickly. Sign up today!