Michael Ivahnenko - Senior Manager
Mr. Ivahnenko leads projects related to risk assessment and intelligence. He joined Sentinel in January of 2008.
Before joining Sentinel, Mr. Ivahnenko served as a policy advisor within the Offices of Intelligence and Operations Coordination (OIOC) and Anti-Terrorism (OAT) at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from November 2003 to January 2008. As a policy advisor, Mr. Ivahnenko provided expert advice to the Executive Director, OAT, and the Assistant Commissioner, OIOC, on terrorism threats and trends related to border security concerns, operational responses to threat streams, and issues related to WMD and nuclear proliferation. In particular, Mr. Ivahnenko's responsibilities included:
- Advising on matters related to intelligence and its nexus to border security.
- Briefing senior staff on the nature and background of terrorism threats, including an analysis of available intelligence.
- Reviewing CBP's intelligence and information sharing capabilities and making recommendations for policy and operational priorities to the CBP senior leadership.
- Reviewing and developing operational response protocols related to potential terrorist threats or information, including participation in the working group that established current CBP practices in augmented primary.
- Leading efforts to develop and enhance intelligence/Information sharing partnerships with law enforcement, intelligence, and other international agencies, on matters such as:
- Operational Coordination with international partners during potential terrorist threats and incidents of national significance;
- Targeting/Risk Assessment Methodology and related threat factors; and
- Terrorism threat analysis and assessment, including terrorist group-specific protocols.
- Representing CBP at the U.S. - Japan - Australia Tri-Lateral Counterterrorism Talks in Sydney and Tokyo in 2007.
- Serving
as OAT's pandemic influenza policy advisor, including the design,
development and facilitation of three inter-agency tabletop exercises
for senior management.
In addition, Mr. Ivahnenko served as liaison to CBP's Office of Training and Development, responsible for designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating over two dozen anti-terrorism training courses for CBP operational offices. Mr. Ivahnenko has extensive expertise in this area and, as a Certified FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner, is qualified to design, execute, and facilitate table-top, functional and full-scale exercises to U.S. national standards.
Prior to joining CBP, Mr. Ivahnenko served as Special Assistant for National Security at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. While at the DOE, Mr. Ivahnenko was responsible for preparing and delivering briefings to the Secretary and Congress related to National Security and nuclear weapons issues.
Before his tenure at the DOE, Mr. Ivahnenko served as Chief Clerk to the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In this capacity, Mr. Ivahnenko was an assistant to the Chief Counsel, responsible for monitoring, researching, and tracking over 40 private immigration relief bills.
Mr. Ivahnenko received a BA from the University of South Carolina. He has attended programs at the National Defense University, CIA University, and the FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner program, where he was certified for exercise development and facilitation to U.S. standards.