Todt to depart as CISA’s chief of staff, replaced by DHS science official

One of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s most public-facing executives is planning to depart the agency for the private sector, CISA announced Tuesday, and will be replaced by a key science adviser to the Homeland Security secretary.

Kiersten Todt, who has served as CISA’s chief of staff since 2021, will continue to work with the agency in a senior advisory capacity. In addition to setting a strategic vision for the agency, Todt has made regular appearances representing CISA at panels and conferences.

She will be replaced by Kathryn Coulter Mitchell, currently the deputy undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), CISA said.

Thrilled to announce that Kathryn Coulter Mitchell is joining team @CISAGov as our new Chief of Staff! She brings a wealth of experience & expertise to our team, both from the private sector and as the former Chief of Staff of @dhsscitech. Welcome aboard, Kathryn! pic.twitter.com/C6RWItExX7

— Jen Easterly (@CISAJen) April 18, 2023

Coulter Mitchell “brings the perfect combination of experience and expertise to the job, and I look forward to working with her as CISA grows and matures as an agency,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement.

Prior to her current role at S&T, Coulter Mitchell served as chief of staff for the S&T directorate, and temporarily performed the duties of undersecretary in 2021 and 2022. Before joining the Homeland Security Department, she worked as a public affairs specialist for a Washington, D.C., PR firm and as the director of policy for an association of federal contracting companies.

Although Todt did not say what her next job in the private sector may be, she has held several roles outside of government, including as managing director of the nonprofit Cyber Readiness Institute and the chief executive officer of Liberty Group Ventures.

She served in the Obama administration as the executive director of the bipartisan Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, and assisted the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the development of a key cybersecurity framework called for in a 2013 Obama executive order.