Bryan Strawser

Principal Consultant & CEO Bryghtpath LLC

  • Saint Paul MN

Experienced dynamic speaker & trainer. A leading expert on organizational resiliency, crisis management, & business continuity.

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Biography

Bryan Strawser is Principal Consultant, Founder, and Chief Executive Officer for Bryghtpath LLC, a Saint Paul, Minnesota based global risk & resiliency consultancy.

In this role, Bryan leads a global distributed network of executives and subject matter experts that help public, private, and non-profit clients develop stronger organizational preparedness and resilience to disruptions around the world. His areas of expertise include business continuity & resiliency, crisis & emergency management, enterprise risk management, crisis communications, global security, and public/private partnerships.

Bryan has more than twenty-one years of experience as a business, risk, and resiliency professional. He began his career with the Fountain County (Indiana) Sheriff’s Department, later joining Target Corporation where he managed security teams and investigations in eight states. In 2005, he moved to Target’s headquarters-based corporate security team and held roles in Crisis & Emergency Management, Global Security Operations, Innovation, and Planning & Design.

While at Target, Bryan spent several years leading the retailer’s Global Crisis Management & Business Continuity Team, with responsibility for all aspects of Target’s organizational resiliency, preparedness, response, and recovery globally. Under his leadership, Target received numerous awards, including the Business/Industry Preparedness Award from the International Association of Emergency Managers, FEMA’s Individual & Community Preparedness Award, and Business Continuity Team of the Year (Highly Commended) from the Business Continuity Institute.

Bryan is professionally certified as a Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP) and as a Certified Business Continuity Vendor (CBCV) by the Disaster Recovery Institute International and as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) by the International Association of Emergency Managers. He is a Member of the Business Continuity Institute (MBCI).

Bryan holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He is a graduate of the Senior Executive Leadership Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative Program at Harvard University’s JFK School of Government.


Industry Expertise

Public Safety
IT Services/Consulting
Management Consulting

Areas of Expertise

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
Crisis & Emergency Management
Enterprise Risk Management
Crisis Communications
Crisis and Issues Management
Resilience
Business Continuity
Risk Management
Security
Iso22301
Iso27001
Training

Accomplishments

Business Continuity Institute Awards - "Highly Commended", Business Continuity Team of the Year

2014-04-07

Target Corporation's Global Continuity & Resiliency Team was awarded the "Highly Commended" designation in the 2014 Business Continuity Institute awards for "Business Continuity Team of the Year"

IAEM: Global Business/Industry Award

2012-09-03

Target's Corporate Command Center - India (C3i) project won the 2012 International Association of Emergency Manager's Global Business/Industry Award under Mr. Strawser's leadership

Security Director News: Top 20 Under 40

2009-01-01

Mr. Strawser was recognized by Security Director News in 2009 as one of the Top 20 security executives under 40 for his work in leading Target Corporation's Corporate Security Innovation Team

Education

University of Phoenix

Bachelor of Science

Criminal Justice Administration

Harvard University - JFK School of Government

Executive Education Program

National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI)

2012

Project Title: "Public/Private Sector Collaboration Toolkit"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Barry Dorn, MD, MPH, Harvard Graduate School of Public Health

University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management

Masters of Business Administration (MBA)

Business Administration

2014

International Residency: Sao Paulo & Rio, Brazil

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Affiliations

  • FBI Infraguard
  • Retail Industry Leader's Association
  • National Emergency Management Association
  • Upper Midwest Security Alliance
  • International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM)
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Languages

  • English

Testimonials

Sr. Manager, Regional Security, Asia-Pacific

http://target.com

Target

Bryan is an exceptional leader that delivers excellent work . I worked for Bryan for nearly two years and learned a significant amount on how to plan for, execute and market strategic initiatives. Bryan holds very high expectations and leads his team to accomplish great things.

Bryan is exactly the leader you want owning a large company initiative to ensure it is executed and marketed flawlessly.

Director, Loss Prevention

http://cvs.com

CVS/Caremark Corporation

I have had the pleasure of working with Bryan for more than fifteen years in a number of capacities. He is a proven leader that has illustrated the highest level of talent management and development. Bryan is perhaps the most analytical thinker I have had the joy of working with and have seen his positive impact on a large number of corporate initiatives ranging from Crisis Management/Business Continuity to Shortage Reduction and Training.

Bryan is someone that has illustrated the ability to problem solve some of the most complex business needs while adapting to an ever-changing environment.

He is always at the top of my list as someone that I can reach out to for his opinion or advice!

Sr. Group Manager, Corporate Security Services

http://target.com

Target

I have the pleasure to work with Bryan over the last few years and witnessed his leadership and strategic thinking in multiple roles. Bryan led multiple initiatives and teams at Target that delivered organization wide changes and improvement. Time and time again Bryan showed his strategic thinking and ability to work successfully with cross functional teams at HQ and the field to deliver great results. Bryan has demonstrated a great ability to keep the team focused and delivers on strategic goals for the company in a timely manner. He excels in managing high stress situations when dealing with business disruptions that can impact the company reputation and performance.

Bryan continue to play a vital role in enhancing our company reputation by representing Target Corporation in Business Continuity and Crisis Management conferences and joining different regional and national organizations board of directors.

Bryan makes every team and organization better

Media Appearances

APEC Workshop focuses on Disaster Preparedness

Japan Times  online

2011-08-03

Online version of a print story covering this conference with a quote from Mr. Strawser.

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Target has 'Command Center' for Hurricane Sandy, other emergencies

KARE-11 TV  tv

2012-11-07

Online version of a story that aired the week of November 7th featuring on-air interviews w/ Mr. Strawser and his team about Target's response to Hurricane Sandy.

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Event Appearances

Superstorm Sandy: Lessons Learned for Business & Community Resiliency (Keynote)

Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) - Loss Prevention Conference  Orlando, Florida

2013-05-20

Public/Private Partnerships: Where to start?

Emergency Management Magazine Summit  Minneapolis, Minnesota

2013-11-04

21st Century Resiliency Challenges

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) - 2013 Symposium and Train the Trainer Workshop on Promoting SME Business Continuity Plans  Taipei, Taiwan

2013-08-19

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Style

Availability

  • Keynote
  • Moderator
  • Panelist
  • Workshop Leader
  • Host/MC
  • Corporate Training

Fees

$2500 to $15000*Will consider certain engagements for no fee

Courses

ISO22301 (Organization Resilience - Business Continuity) - Certified Lead Implementer

The ISO 22301 Implementer certifications are professional certifications for professionals needing to implement a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) and, in case of the ISO 22301 Lead Implementer Certification, needing to manage an implementation project.

The principal competencies and knowledge skills needed by the market are the ability to support an organization in implementing and managing a Business Continuity Management System as specified in ISO 22301: risk management, risk management plan, implementation, surveillance, re-examination and operation of a BCMS, continual improvement of BCMS, management's commitment, follow-up and review.

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ISO27001 (Information Security) - Certified Lead Implemeter

The ISO/IEC 27001 Implementer certifications are professional certifications for specialists needing to implement an Information Security Management System (ISMS) and, in case of the ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer Certification, needing to manage an implementation project.

ISO/IEC 27001:2013, Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management systems — Requirements, specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system within the context of the organization. It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks tailored to the needs of the organization. The requirements set out in ISO/IEC 27001:2013 are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations, regardless of type, size or nature.

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ISO21500 (Project Management) - Certified Lead Implementer

This five-day intensive course enables the participants to develop the necessary expertise to support an organization in implementing guidance on Project Management as specified in ISO 21500. Participant will also gain a thorough understanding of best practices used to implement project management processes. This training is consistent with the project management practices in ISO 1006 (Quality Management Systems – Guidelines for Quality Management in Projects).

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Articles

When a drip becomes a flood: Lessons learned from Target Corporation’s first large-scale business disruption

Journal of Business Continuity and Emergency Planning

2014-12-01

Business continuity practitioners routinely determine which teams in their companies are critical and undertake extensive and rigorous planning processes. But what happens when a business is faced with an unanticipated long-term disruption that primarily affects non-critical teams? How can a company use the essential principles of business continuity and crisis management in order to respond? This paper explores a 2013 business disruption experienced by Target Corporation at one of its headquarters locations caused by a leak in the water line for an ice machine. Challenges encountered and reviewed include supporting non-critical teams, leadership of a multi-week business disruption and how remote work technologies have changed traditional continuity alternative workspace solution planning. Lessons learned from this activation are presented with implications for business continuity and emergency management planning that are applicable to any industry.

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