Timothy L. Beres

Timothy Beres has led CNA’s Institute for Public Research since 2015. During this period, CNA’s research portfolio for civilian federal, state, and local government agencies has doubled in size. He has developed new areas of support to government—including corrections, pandemic response, and supply chain analysis—based on previously overlooked capabilities in the organization. He also redesigned the Institute for Public Research organizational model, creating an environment to foster cooperation and empower individual leadership around shared values.

Over the previous eight years, Beres led CNA’s Safety and Security portfolio, which spans criminal justice, homeland security, emergency management, and emergency public health. Under his leadership, CNA Safety and Security developed and advanced the practice of Smart Policing nationally, conducted data-driven analyses of major events such as Hurricane Sandy, developed the first National Preparedness Reports for the President, and pioneered the application of operations-based analysis to help local law enforcement agencies experiencing issues with use of force, racial bias, and community legitimacy. The portfolio of work in this area grew significantly over these years.

Before joining CNA, Beres served in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a member of the Senior Executive Service. He was responsible for implementing a national preparedness capabilities assessment and strategy process for the governance of over $3 billion annually in federal preparedness grant funding. He also developed and implemented the Urban Areas Security Initiative, established the first interoperable communications and terrorism prevention technical assistance programs, established the first Transit Security Grant Program, and redesigned the Port Security Grant Program into a risk-based initiative. Beres has also worked in various senior management positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and was a revenue officer for the State of North Carolina Department of Revenue.

Beres holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Virginia Tech and has participated in the Leadership for the 21st Century program at the Harvard Kennedy School.