Jake Braun is Executive Director for the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Cyber Policy Initiative where he works at the center of politics, technology and national security to advance the field of cyber policy. He is the author of Democracy in Danger: How Hackers and Activists Exposed Fatal Flaws in the Election System and has co-authored two award-winning and seminal works on election infrastructure cyber vulnerabilities.

In addition to his role at Harris, Mr. Braun is co-founder of the DEF CON Voting Machine Hacking Village, in the President’s Circle on the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and a strategic advisor to the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon on cybersecurity.

Prior to joining the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy faculty, Mr. Braun was appointed by President Obama as White House Liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and served on the Presidential Transition Team for the Obama Administration as Deputy Director for the National Security Agencies Review.

Mr. Braun holds an MA in International Relations from Troy St. University, an MA in Education from National-Louis University in Chicago, and a BA in Philosophy from Loyola University of Chicago.