Brett Holmgren Receives IC OSINT Advocate Award

The OSINT Foundation awarded the Dr. Joseph Markowitz IC OSINT Advocate Award to the Honorable Brett Holmgren, CISSP for his sustained efforts in support of the OSINT discipline as Assistant Secretary of State - INR. The award was established to recognize the senior leader in the Intelligence Community who has advanced the OSINT discipline, demonstrated advocacy of the OSINT practitioner profession, and taken steps to establish or strengthen a program of record for OSINT in the leader’s agency. The criteria for this award are so high that we do not present it annually.

During his tenure at the U.S. Department of State, Mr. Holmgren established an Open-Source Coordination Unit to empower INR to use open-source intelligence more efficiently, effectively, and responsibly, improve how it shares analysis with diplomats, and serve as the focal point for policy, training, and tradecraft. His work helped INR access publicly to meet the requirements of U.S. diplomats for unclassified assessments and help in information sharing. INR’s first OSINT Strategy, released in May 2024, outlined goals to establish governance and policy for OSINT, invest in OSINT capabilities, strengthen OSINT training and tradecraft, and deepen collaboration with allies, partners, industry, academia, and non-governmental entities. Mr. Holmgren currently serves as the Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Presenting the award is OSINT Foundation President Barbara Alexander and Director of Operations Eliot Jardines, Ed.D.