Alejandro N. Mayorkas has led a distinguished and groundbreaking career at the highest levels of government and the private sector.  A political refugee from Cuba with a compelling family story, he most recently served as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security. In that position, he led 260,000 employees to achieve transformational change in a diverse set of missions, including counterterrorism and physical security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, trade and travel, immigration, and response to natural disasters. He has been lauded for his leadership skills, raising employee morale to historic heights while leading the workforce through unprecedented crises and challenges. He has traveled the globe, negotiating key security agreements with world leaders as the interests of homeland security and national security increasingly have converged. 

Alejandro Mayorkas’s tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security marks a capstone in a more than 20-year public service career in which he has held four different United States Senate-confirmed positions in the administrations of three presidents. His public service career began with his work as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where he distinguished himself as a trial lawyer and rose to become the first United States Attorney to be promoted from within the office and the youngest United States Attorney in the nation.

In the private sector, Alejandro Mayorkas has been named one of the 50 most influential minority lawyers in the country. He has advised boards of directors and top executives, represented Fortune 100 and other companies in their highest-profile and most sensitive matters, and helped lead civic organizations dedicated to the public interest. In the legal profession, he has been recognized for his leadership, excellence, and citizenship.

Alejandro Mayorkas has extensive public speaking experience both domestically and internationally, and has engaged extensively with international partners, the media, Congress, and other key public and private sector stakeholders in a wide array of fields.