White House Insider Billy O'Brien, '01, Makes Homeland Security a Priority

Working at the White House wasn’t one of Billy O’Brien’s goals when he graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in leadership studies. But that’s exactly where O’Brien, ’01, has spent much of his career.

Currently O’Brien is a director on the president’s Homeland Security Council, but he has held several different positions within the current administration including working as a personal aide for Vice President Dick Cheney during an election year.

In his current position, O’Brien spends his days staying up-to-date on – and responding to – national events by monitoring news and intelligence sources, receiving briefings from federal departments and agencies and meeting with government and industry experts to better protect the nation’s communications infrastructure and federal computer networks from attack.

“My primary responsibilities are to further the policy agenda of both the president and his homeland security advisor with a principal focus on telecommunications and cybersecurity and to ensure that they remain informed on priority issues,” O’Brien said.

Although he admits that he routinely works 14-hour days – and sometimes even weekends – O’Brien says he relishes the opportunity to serve by working in the government.

“Government service is a rewarding career choice and I have been grateful to serve in this administration,” he said.

O’Brien is no stranger to service. During his time at Jepson, he served as a senator and then as president of the Jepson Student Government Association. He also says his experience at Jepson and his leadership studies degree has helped him in his career.

“I think one of the best qualities of the Jepson School is that you have a study of leadership with a focus on social responsibility, experiential learning and teamwork,” he said. “You realize once you graduate that regardless of your career choice you’re going to be working in teams, so having that experience has been helpful in the real world.”

In addition to working for the federal government, O’Brien has also spent time in the private sector, most recently as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. Immediately after graduation, he went to work for David Kearns, a former CEO of the Xerox Corporation who later became the deputy secretary of the Department of Education.

O’Brien assisted Kearns with the writing of Kearns’ most recent book, The Memoirs of David T. Kearns, as well as with the establishment of the Kearns Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Kearns Center for Diversity at the University of Rochester.

Working for Kearns provided him another good connection as well. He met his wife, Jennifer, during that time. The two were married in November of 2006 and are expecting their first child in July. Jennifer is currently employed with the Discovery Channel.

As for future plans, O’Brien says he’s simply letting them unfold.

With the election fast approaching, he knows that he will most likely be looking for a job come next November. Fortunately for him, he’s comfortable with change. He has considered going back to school for an advanced degree. Even if he decides not to, though, he says he’s not worried about finding a job thanks to his career background.

“The government never has a recession. You can always find a place to serve,” O’Brien said. “You’re not going to be a millionaire, but that’s not really the goal either.”