Interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

If youd like to read a TLDR version of this

interview, you can access it here.

When asking for input on questions for this interview, students and faculty alike said
they wanted to know more about your previous work experience. Depending on whom
I asked, you were either a former Navy SEAL, worked for defense intelligence, or,
vaguely, worked for the government in the Middle East. Can you discuss some of your
previous work, or would you have to kill me?

(Laughing) I do not ... I can discuss freely, so your life is not in danger in any way.

The third one is closest to the work that I did prior to coming to Newman. The company that I Commented [MK11]: Add syntax: [worked for the
worked with was a government contractor. We worked in the Middle East, but we also government]
worked in different areas: South America, the Caribbean, Africa and we did have one domestic
program here in the US.

I started out as a program manager for humanitarian portfolio projects that had to do with
relief and emergency response in Yemen, one in Sana'a and one in Hudaydah, which is the
more rural part of Yemen. I learned a lot there. And then one thing that I found was striking
that kept coming up through my career in my experience of working in those types of complex
environments, is how important the security angle is, but how common it is for companies to
think that [security is] a siloed thing -- as if its not present in everything that you do, and it
should be present in everything that you do. So that's when I started to make the shift towards
security and risk management.

How do you feel about your characterization around campus as a sort of shadowy
former spy?

(Laughing) Well, I don't feel great about it.

But sure, I can see I can see how that speculation would occur. Thank you. It's flattering that
people think that I'm interesting. I'm actually not. I think that it's just because I worked in
D.C., that's probably where that [characterization] comes from. Thank you for making me look
way cool.

So Director of Security Risk management is a new job at Newman. What does that job
entail and what do you do on a daily basis.

It is a new job at Newman, but after speaking to a lot of other K-12 schools I wouldn't say it's a
new thing. I would say over the last five years, boards have started to prioritize this position
in K-12 schools because there's so much confluence with risk management; it weaves into
everything that the school does -- from transportation to hiring practices to training to how
we run athletics -- all of that is really risk management at its core so I can see how a lot of
independent schools especially have started to make that position a priority.

What I do at Newman on a daily basis varies. I started off six months ago, and was really
looking at doing a risk assessment. I'm a huge fan of data driven approaches -- I don't think
that we should do things on a whim or just because we feel like it. There has to be a reason
for [everything] and it should be measured. What we do in response to that control should
also be monitored for its efficacy, and if it doesn't work, let's not do it. That's my personal
credo on that.

So it started off with a lot of risk assessments and policies: identifying the gaps in all of our
protocols not just in terms of how we as a school respond to larger-scale events but also how
we respond to small ones every day, and how we report that, and how we manage that data.
So there are many facets to the job, but I don't know on a daily basis if I can point to
something that I do consistently. I do everything from background checks to incident
management, and so many things in between.

I've heard a description of your job as just sitting in an office and looking at the camera
feeds making sure that everything's fine, nobody is leaving through the wrong gates,
anything like that. Is that an accurate description?

So that's a common misconception about security.

I think that yes security as a profession has that job function, and it's important. (Joanne Commented [MK12]: Is Joanne the right name? or is it
actually looks at the cameras if people want to know, so she monitors those camera feeds in like Ms. ________
terms of entrances and exits.) It's really not securitys not meant to be restrictive and Commented [MK13]: SCARY
oppressive, it's supposed to enable.

And that's what I did before was enable the company that I worked for, enable our teams and
our people to go into areas that really wouldn't be accessible without the proper planning and
the proper provisions laid out so that those teams can [have] access. So I think the same is
true here. [Security] doesn't have to be something that's restrictive. I'm not the wizard behind
the curtain, and there are no giant camera feeds that I'm looking at all of the time. Nothing like
that -- [my job is] more about looking at the community as a whole and seeing what we can
what we can do better to improve our standard of care for our students and our employees.
It's more of that.

Newman had some particularly note-worthy security incidents last year. What steps
have you and the administration taken to mitigate risk and to make the campus both
more secure and more able to respond in the event of a threat?

I think that when you look at these types of incidents that Newman dealt with, to be frank,
theres not a lot of physical security or hard line perimeter type stuff -- the guards, the gates,
the guns, all that stuff -- that you can actually put in place to fully mitigate these risks. These
are things that are usually more intangible. It's more of a cultural thing, its more of a -- to be
fully honest, students know so much more. So what I tried to do when I came on board was
shift this idea that responsibility for security and for one's own safety relies on the people that
wear that on their badge or in their title. That's not the case. It's the students responsibility as
much as it is mine to look out for yourselves, your friends, other students and your teachers.
So really it comes down to reporting those types of issues. If there's something -- if you hear
something in passing, or something that's uncomfortable or you hear something and you
think, That could be important later, or anything like that, those are really the preventive
measures that you can put in place to empower your population, whether it's the student
population or the faculty, to make those types of calls. I think that the biggest piece is that we
put in the incident reporting and incident management system.

So what happens on the second part of this questions is that when an incident is reported
there's a really streamlined management process that happens on the backend -- and that's
really when you look at any type of emergency response here or abroad. It doesn't matter.
(Now there are some really good trainings too if anyone wants to check them out, they're
called ICS -- Incident Command Systems for schools.) Shortly after 9/11, the federal
government made it a priority that all schools also have a similar command structure and
response mechanism in place because theyre just as vulnerable as any other type of entity or
institution. So that grew and grew and what Newman has now, today, six months later is this
very robust incident management system that's capable of handling treating those types of
incidents that come through -- whether theyre small whether they're more critical. So now
we're ready, which is good. Commented [MK14]: Damn she talks a lot jeez

So you talked a little bit about the incident reporting system, and I've seen posters up
around school, and the iNewman page, but coming into school, I didn't hear an
explanation of what it was and how to use it from the administration. So would you talk
a little bit more about what it is and how to use it?

I talked to Mr. Hesse about how we want to communicate this to students -- because it's really
your tool. It can be anonymous; it can be confidential. It is worth saying that [the incident
reports] only come to my office, so only I see it. It's not a huge audience, which I think is
usually the impediment to reporting. [And if students are concerned about reporting incidents
and think,] Well, I don't really want to get involved with this or I think it's important, but
maybe it's not and theyre not so sure -- I always just say report it.

So we're in talks in terms of how to socialize this tool amongst the student population, but I'm
looking for input from the students as well, so if students have an idea of the best medium or
way, whether it's in a meeting, an email, or an assembly, I'm open to any type of suggestions. I
love it.

About the tool itself - it's on the website, it's at the very bottom [of the homepage], so if you go
to the website, and you go down to the bottom, there's a link that you can access. This is
mobile friendly and it's HTML 5, so it doesn't matter what browser you're using. When you
report an incident, it takes anywhere from two to five minutes -- or however long you want to
spend on it -- [to fill out the form]. As you see the contact information, it can be anonymous if
you want to be. If you do put in your contact information, I'll follow back up with you to let
you know, Hey, I received it, I'm working on it. You just fill out date, time, and then there are
some categories -- physical health, mental health, things like that. If you don't know the
category, it doesn't matter; I can change it later. And then theres incident type -- and there are
a ton [to choose from,] you'll see things like bullying, which is a constant area of concern for
me -- and all schools. [And then there are also] things like social media use, thats another one.
The student population will have access to this type of information.

If you see something that's unsettling, absolutely, report it. [And you can report anything,] all
the way down to traffic concerns when you're walking home and you're like, Wait a second I
really would appreciate to have like a security guard or something like that at this crossing,
because cars are speeding. Any of those incidents are all here. It's easy. You just hit submit.

So back to some of the other new security policies. Some of the new security policies
that students have encountered around school, particularly restricting the use of
certain entrances and exits during the school day can often be viewed as an
unnecessary burden, and thus allegedly disregarded. Can you discuss the rationale
behind policies and could something like granting students swipe access to the
entrances other than the Jefferson gate be a mutually agreeable solution?

Yes sure. Well, Im glad it's allegedly disregarded. [Editor's note: She's onto us.] In the Commented [MK15]: SHOOT
physical security space, there are three main concepts, and this is true no matter where you
do security. Youve got protection, which is your compounds, those are your -- we'll call them
heavy weapons -- those are your K9 dogs, guard force, staff, third party vendors, things like Commented [MK16]: jesus
that. Then, youve got deterrence -- keys are a deterrent, usually signage like House Protected
by ADT falls in that category. And then last you have acceptance. Where we want to move and
where we see the most effective security systems is in acceptance. And sometimes you can
have pieces of deterrence [included] -- we're not going to leave the campus unlocked at night. Commented [MK17]: not necessary syntax
And, of course, you'll have pieces of protection but the bulk of your security system is really in
this acceptance, and what [acceptance is] defined by is every member of the community
playing an active and participatory role in their own safety and that of their colleagues.

That being said, I would say yes to your second question [granting swipe access to students is]
feasible, and it's absolutely mutually agreeable, and that's absolutely what I want for
Newman. But you have to look at the history of it. [Considering] what the community went
through last year, limiting those spaces of ingress and egress is absolutely vital. There's no
way to do access control if you don't have points of entry. And here's how this works: other
points of entry can come online, like Henson door -- which I know you want to leave out
through for lunch, but there's a trust factor. It's a reciprocal relationship and if we give you a
badge with swipe access then it means that only you are coming back in through that entrance
and you're not holding it open for someone who's unbadged, because [if you do,] the guard
force can't do its job. And so that's the trust relationship we need to get to. It's a culture thing
and I think we will get there over time.

So you're saying not this year.

Probably not this year, but I love the suggestion and I'm right there with you. I'm not against
it at all. But you can see how it has to go both ways. When you look at data -- which I base
decisions on -- there are so many incidents of people letting other people in behind them. So if
we can get those data points and [those] numbers of unauthorized accesses down, then that's
showing us that that trust can take place. Commented [MK18]: OK NOW IM GENUINLY
WORRIED. She collects data on us oh my

Back to your previous work experience. In Tulane's Masters of Disaster webinar, you
discussed experiences working Blumont where you oversaw 17 tactical security teams
in 9 countries. How has your experience operating in combat zones and assessing the
operational risk posed by extremist groups like ISIS Taliban and al Qaeda prepared you
for dealing with noncompliant high school students? Commented [MK19]: Get her

(Laughing) Um, I need more training. I don't know. I don't know if the training I received in
how to recognize and do risk assessments and to asses operational zones on non-state actors,
if that's in direct correlation to noncompliant high school students.

I think, ultimately, everything comes down to risk assessment. That should be how
individuals, managers, and, ultimately, all levels of an organization make their decisions.
When I was working in complex areas it was extremely important to know exactly what the
impact of a decision, especially a bad decision would be.

I think what would be interesting here is over time to see how noncompliant high school
students, as you worded it, actually see their own responsibility within the space of decision-
making and how they actually see, ultimately, the risk of the impact on their own lives. So, [for
example] if I choose to make a decision and it's a risky one I know and I'm taking a gamble on
it because it's going to make me look cool or whatever, and it ends up being a bad decision. I
wonder how that affects high school students over time, from freshman to senior year to
beyond. I'm curious to see.

So I would say that's the only correlation. Risk should be a factor in your decision-making,
[you should think] How is it going to affect me or my family if I make this decision, because I
know that that was always a burden of responsibility on my shoulders and my team's
shoulders too. [In my personal experience,] if you say OK we can operate in this area, what
risk are you ultimately taking on?

What inspired your career change?

I love New Orleans; this is my fourth time living here. I've been in and out between DC and
here. I love this city. I got married and my husband and I are looking for the next type of
adventure. You know, mowing the lawn and stuff like that. We're excited. So it's just a new
adventure, I think. That was what we were looking for.

Whats one fun fact that most people dont know about you?

Well, I'm learning to play the ukulele.

What's your favorite thing about working at Newman?

It's got to be my colleagues for sure. I've worked at a lot of different offices and I can say that
when I come to work every day, I'm always amazed by how committed my colleagues are to
this place. It's incredible because it's an anomaly, it's not everywhere, I can say that.

Finally, what's your favorite fun fact to tell in a corporate-mandated bonding setting?
I mean, my husband and I like to SCUBA dive. Oh, and we got to see a lionfish on our last dive,
which was really cool.

Is there anything else that you want the student body to know?

Really just this of incident reporting system; information is key. [Information is] always the
key player in every type of incident. Students have such a tremendous power, and I don't
think they fully realize that they can use it for good. Your finger's closer to the pulse and you
are the pulse. And usually everyone else is hearing everything secondhand, so I think that out
of concern for the safety of not only your fellow students, but also the continuity of the school,
[its important for students to] own that responsibility and feel empowered without fear of
retribution or retaliation, because that shouldn't and does not occur with this [tool].

And just to know that [the incident reporting system is] a reliable tool, because to be honest,
information's the name of the game and if we don't know [about something] then I can't look
into it and correct it. I'm a member of this administration, but I'm also an ally and a tool
myself. My office is always open, so come in and use me as that. I'm happy to help in any way,
so if there's something unsettling or concerning, I'd love to know about it before it escalates.
Commented [MK110]: Im a little confused about what to
edit since it is direct quotes so we dont want to misconstrue
what was said. Overall I think this interview is really great!
Maybe we could do like a highlights or things to know
for everyone at the top and include the interview below or
something just so it isnt overwhelming for people

If you would like to report an incident, you can do so here. If you would like to visit Mrs.
Erazo for a chat about incident reporting, ukuleles, or international espionage NGOs, her email Commented [MK111]: good
is JenniferHardin@newmanschool.org and her office is located on the second floor of the
Jefferson building near the business office.