Michael Garcia currently manages the National K-12 End User Business for HID Global and serves on the board of the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (www.PASSK12.org). Since 2005, Michael has been combining Mental Health Programs with School Hardening and Emergency Operations Procedures to deliver comprehensive solutions that expand throughout every layer of a school district’s operations including transportation, events and spectator sports. He has assisted hundreds of K-12 districts across the country in implementing unified physical security command centers delivering districtwide access control, school district hardening programs and districtwide mobile credentials for law enforcement and EMS to access school campuses during a lockdown event, rapidly, using their mobile phone and wearable device. In 2003, he assisted in developing automated cybersecurity vulnerability testing and a districtwide risk management framework for school districts.
Last year, Mr. Garcia was named one of the Most Influential People in Security by Security magazine based on his achievements in protecting our nation’s schools. In July of this year, he was awarded the SecurityInfoWatch, Security Business and Security Technology Executive magazines Security Innovators Award for combining behavioral intervention, threat assessments, school culture, school hardening, emergency response and cybersecurity practices into a holistic, full-spectrum K-12 approach. Mr. Garcia currently serves on the board of the Institute for Rural Mental Health Initiatives (IRMHI) at Texas A&M University’s Kingsville College of Education and Human Performance, focusing on both prevention programs and helping communities cope when tragedy strikes.