Regional Director Shawn Graff oversees CISA Region 8 and is currently serving in the same capacity as the acting Regional Director for Region 9.
Since 2016, Mr. Graff has led operations across six states for Region 8, bolstering resiliency in both public and private sectors as stakeholders manage cyber and infrastructure security risk. Selected as Region 8’s first director, Mr. Graff develops protocols and procedures in alignment with directives of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, to guide a diverse team of geographically dispersed protective, cyber, chemical and election security advisors and inspectors. As the senior CISA official in the region, Mr. Graff is responsible for all aspects of the CISA mission implemented across Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. With the addition of Region 9, Mr. Graff also oversees CISA operations in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
To this work, Mr. Graff brings his dedicated experience including myriad roles focused on national safety and security. His responsibilities have ranged from directing program development at various posts in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to leading the City of Portland, Oregon in emergency management. He established the first CISA regional public-private information sharing forum, uniting government and private sector representatives in identifying common issues and best practices for critical infrastructure risk management.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Graff served as the director of the DHS National Infrastructure Coordinating Center, where he led the transformation of the Infrastructure Protection incident management plan to align response operations closer to the rest of the federal interagency and more clearly define expectations and responsibilities of response resources. Additionally, Mr. Graff served as the assistant deputy director of the Homeland Security Operations Center, now known as the National Operations Center, during the stand up of DHS. He also served in the intelligence community within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, information sharing within and amongst the federal interagency.
His civil service is complemented by his active-duty military service in the U.S. Army, where he served as a platoon leader and battalion staff intelligence officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Mr. Graff earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Oklahoma in 2014; a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in 2000; and an associate’s degree in fire protection from Fox Valley Technical College in 1996. While earning his degrees, Mr. Graff spent his summers as a federal wildland firefighter throughout the West, Southwest and Alaska, fighting fires on Hotshot, Heli-rappel, and Engine crews.
