Dr. Jennifer Hesterman

Vice President, Education Services

Jenni provides oversight on company efforts to assess and enhance business resiliency in organizations, and oversees Watermark’s portfolio providing educational support to the government and private sector.

Dr. Hesterman retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Her last assignment was Vice Commander at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, where she led installation security, force support, and the 1st Helicopter Squadron. She regularly escorted the U.S. president and other heads of state on the ramp.

After retiring in 2007, she started work as a private contractor in Washington, DC, studying international and domestic terrorist organizations, transnational threats, organized crime and the terrorist and criminal exploitation of the Internet. She is senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University and advises the Homeland Security Training Institute at the College of DuPage in Chicago.

Dr. Hesterman holds a doctoral degree from Benedictine University, Master of Science degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Air University, and a Bachelor of Science from Penn State University. In 2003, she was a National Defense Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. where she studied the terror-crime nexus. She is a 2006 alumnus of the Harvard Senior Executive Fellows program.

An award-winning writer, her book Soft Target Hardening: Protecting People from Attack was the ASIS Security Book of the Year for 2015 and the second edition of the book won the same award in 2019. She also authored Soft Target Crisis Management (2016) and The Terrorist-Criminal Nexus (2013). Dr. Hesterman is dynamic and sought-after public speaker for ASIS, FBI, DHS, ASIS, DoD, state and local law enforcement agencies, Major League Baseball and others.

Working with Watermark

Risk Management

It can be challenging to see the “big risk picture.” We can help. We provide asset identification; threat vulnerability and risk assessments; strategic planning; security system specification; and security force design.

Training and Education

Training, education and follow up are the most effective way to drive change. We design and deliver training and education programs that make a measurable difference.

Organizational Optimization

Need to drive more efficiency in your processes? Grow your business? Transition a new contract? Increase your margins?

Government Services

Watermark has been providing subject matter expertise and program support across federal, state and local governments since our very first year.

After acquiring deep, hands-on experience in antiterrorism, critical infrastructure protection, physical security strategies, and risk management, Matt went on to develop executive government and business leadership and management skills that enable him to formulate strategy for Watermark’s clients.

Matt retired as a Colonel after serving 22 years in the U.S. Air Force. His military assignments included assignments as the senior U.S. government security official responsible for security oversight of our nation’s nuclear weapons program and as the senior security officer for the US Air Force Special Operations Command.

After retiring, Matt created and grew the integrated security consulting service division at a Fortune 500 company; within 3 years it was yielding >125% annual growth. He left that position to become VP/Chief Security Officer at Brinks Inc., one of the world’s largest risk-management companies. After establishing Watermark, he served for two years as Chairman of the Board and CEO of one of the largest security services companies in the U.S. At Watermark, he is responsible for overall business strategy, growth, and customer satisfaction.