Meet the Team

Our team is comprised of former Secret Service agents, Homeland Security agents, Green Berets, Navy Seals, law enforcement officers, and a support staff passionate about our mission.  We are parents, community advocates, former teachers, and business owners.  We are proud to serve thousands of organizations across the country including childcare centers, workplaces, schools, houses of worship, medical centers, municipalities, and public spaces.  You can trust SEC to bring the highest level of security and protection to you and your teams. 

Meet the SEC Team

Our team has hundreds of years of combined expertise at the highest level of security and law enforcement. No team is more highly trained and no team is more experienced at providing custom safety and security solutions.

Jason Russell

Founder + President

A former Secret Service agent, Jason Russell brings White House-level security expertise to every one of our clients. Since SEC’s inception in 2013, Jason has provided hundreds of security assessments to schools, businesses and organizations across the United States. and in several other countries – and has been called in to assist during crisis situations, including mass shootings and security threats. He has worked with the Michigan Legislature to bring forward critical funding for site assessments at K-12 schools throughout the state and serves on Michigan’s School Safety and Mental Health Commission. He also is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences across the country on topics such as emergency preparedness, active shooter response and safety and security procedures. Before joining the Secret Service, Jason served as an officer with the Lansing (Michigan) Police Department. The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 26 people dead – mostly children younger than 7 – and questions about his own children’s safety at school inspired Jason to start Secure Education Consultants.

Marc Connolly

Executive Vice President

A highly accomplished security and law enforcement professional, Marc Connolly spent 27 years with the Secret Service, rising to deputy assistant director and retiring as deputy special agent in charge of the presidential protection division. Marc planned, directed, coordinated and implemented protective operations for the president and was instrumental in developing contingency plans and overseeing threat assessment for Secret Service protectees. He supervised a workforce of more than 1,000 law enforcement officials protecting the White House and supervised the development and deployment of technological advances to further the Secret Service’s mission. Marc has directed and implemented security at the highest level – and brings his commitment to security to SEC.

Dave Pass

VP of Professional Services

A longtime educator and school administrator, David Pass wanted to make an even greater impact in the lives of students and staff following the mass shooting at Oxford (Michigan) High School, so he joined the SEC team. David began his career as a middle school math teacher in the Waterford (Michigan) School District and later became an assistant middle school principal, elementary school principal, director of employee services in the Troy (Michigan) School District and then deputy superintendent of human resources at Oxford Community Schools. In this role, he was able to assist with employee needs to ensure they had the support they needed to serve students. At SEC, he leans on his experiences in education and unique perspective as a teacher, administrator and human resources professional to work with school districts toward lasting impact on policies and procedures around school safety and security, firmly believing preparation saves lives. David has a doctorate in education from Oakland University and holds a School Administrator Certificate with a Central Office Endorsement and a Michigan School Business Officials Human Resources Specialist certification.

Kendra Bylsma

Director of Marketing

Before joining SEC, Kendra spent more than 20 years in corporate wellness, designing strategies to drive healthy company cultures and inspire others to live balanced, fulfilling lives and developing innovative new wellness products and services for organizations in the U.S. and across the world. She also owned a personal training business in West Michigan that grew from a one-employee shop into a successful company of over 30 employees. Kendra brings her passion as a change agent for transforming lives to SEC, fully embracing our mission to equip and empower schools to create safer environments for students and staff. She leads with a focus on collaboration and ongoing training and development for true behavior change and engagement. A regular national and local keynote speaker, Kendra received the 2019 Top Women Owned Businesses in West Michigan award from the Grand Rapids Business Journal and the Top 5 West Michigan Fitness Studios honor from Revue Magazine six years in a row.

Kylee Haywood

Director of Sales

Kylee brings more than 20 years of sales and business development expertise to SEC, as well as a commitment to providing solutions that help align clients’ needs with their goals. She’s a big believer in developing and maintaining long-term relationships with clients to ensure they feel supported every step of the way. Kylee has worked closely with K-12 superintendents and finance administrators, architects, engineers, business and municipal leaders, attorneys and many other professionals to better understand their needs and help them meet their unique needs. She has vast experience in tracking and anticipating consumer market trends and then developing and implementing marketing plans that align with enterprise strategies and business goals. Kylee has built her career on being a trusted resource with deep knowledge of products and services to ensure organizations find the right solution within their budget.

Sharon Connolly

Assistant Vice President

Following a 20-year career with the U.S. Secret Service, Sharon now serves as the Assistant Vice President for SEC. As Senior Protective Intelligence Research Specialist, she led a team of junior analysts in managing protective intelligence casework and specialized in writing threat assessments for the President and other U.S Secret Service protectees. Sharon served in lead roles during multiple National Special Security Events, providing actionable intelligence briefings and reports to agency officials while monitoring events in real time from various sources. For the purpose of identifying behaviors of concern directed toward the U.S. Secret Service and its interests, Sharon reviewed social media and open-source information for situational awareness and protective planning purposes. In a special assignment to the Select Committee on Homeland Security, Sharon served as an agency liaison evaluating new developments in legislation and policy involving the U.S. Secret Service mission. At SEC, Sharon leads all our Social Media Monitoring services, manages complex security project deliverables and provides high-level support to our President and the Vice President.

Empowering protection for all people.

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