Jarrod Bernstein
Jarrod Neal Bernstein is a seasoned executive with over a decade of experience counseling a wide range of institutions with complex organizational structures. He served in the both Bloomberg and Obama Administrations in senior Community Outreach and Counterterrorism positions. In his current role he serves as the Senior Vice President for CarePoint Health, and integrated Hospital, Physician and Insurance provider.
In Washington his most recent role was as the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement responsible for outreach to the American Jewish Community. His work included liaising with senior public and private sector officials focusing on major domestic and international public policy issues. These issues included healthcare, tax policy and Middle East policy. In this role he was charged with clearly identifying and articulating Administration objectives and seeking to build consensus among the diverse segments of the American Jewish Community. He was responsible for developing targeted communication plans for outreach to these segments of the community as well as the governments of Israel and other Middle East nations.
From April 2009 to September 2011, Bernstein was a senior aide to Secretary Janet Napolitano, serving first as the Director of Local Affairs and then as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In this role, he coordinated DHS’s outreach to mayors and governors around key policy initiatives as well as crisis response. During his tenure at DHS, Bernstein worked extensively on numerous responses to significant events as well as worked to involve Mayors and Governors in the risk analysis process that drove grant allocations. With a staff of nearly 50 under his command, Bernstein was heavily involved in the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, earthquake in Haiti, the H1N1 outbreak, as well as the dissemination of intelligence information gathered by intelligence community to state and local governments during periods of increased threat. He also worked extensively on the build out of the Department’s cyber response policy.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Bernstein was dispatched by the White House to New York City to help coordinate the federal government’s response. He served as a liaison between the White House, FEMA, and the Mayor of the City of New York.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Bernstein served in the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He served as Deputy Commissioner for Community Affairs in the Office of the Mayor. There he was responsible for community crisis management and outreach around mayoral programs.
Also in the Bloomberg Administration, he served as the chief spokesman for the New York City Office of Emergency Management. In this role he was a senior aide to the Commissioner of Emergency Management while also responsible for managing the citywide public information campaigns around dozens of large scale emergencies including the 2003 blackout, multiple periods of heightened terrorist threat, multiple aircraft and boat crashes, dozens of building collapses, as well the 2006 anthrax scare. He was charged with managing the City’s Joint Information Center (JIC) that was the central clearing house for all emergency related public information during times of crisis. He was also responsible for writing New York’s Emergency Public Information Plan which is still in use today as well as the launch of the widely-acclaimed “Ready New York” preparedness campaign. Bernstein was heavily involved in the post-Katrina rewrite of New York City’s Hurricane plan that was implemented during Hurricane Sandy.
A New York native, Bernstein received his undergraduate education at the Johns Hopkins University, received a Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law, and a Certificate from the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He currently lives in New York City with his wife, Hildy Kuryk, and son Jake. Bernstein is a member of the Saltaire Volunteer Fire Company where he serves as the Captain of the Rescue Engine. He is also a board member of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, where he serves on the Executive Committee as well as chairing the Committee on Safety and Security. Bernstein serves as a member of the Johns Hopkins University Second Decade Society.
Social Media
Twitter – @jarrodbernstein
Instagram– @jarrodneal