Elsa Lee was the 2012 Recipient of the 7th Annual National “Meeting the Challenge” Award, from the FBI’s InfraGard Program. One of only 10 nationally recognized awardees, Elsa was presented the award at a special ceremony on August 20, 2012, during the 2012 InfraGard Congress, held in Atlanta, Georgia, August 19-23, 2012. On hand to give her the award were Dyann Bradbury and Kathleen Kiernan, President and Chairman of the Board, respectively, of InfraGard.

(Pictured are: Dyann Bradbury (l.), President of the InfraGard National Members Alliances; Elsa Lee (c.), President & CEO of Advantage SCI; and Kathleen Kiernan (r.), Chairman of the Board of InfraGard)

Elsa was nominated for the National “Meeting the Challenge” Award by members of the Los Angeles Chapter of InfraGard and received notification of the honor prior to the ceremony. She was invited to accept the award in person as a guest of the InfraGard Congress, but no public announcement of recipients was made prior to the ceremony. Cited for her dedication to educate the public through her book, her interaction with students in her UCLA Extension Program courses on homeland security, and her leadership in the course of doing business as the CEO & President of Advantage SCI as a premier company providing our services to the government, Elsa was chosen for the prestigious award.

The awards program was instituted by InfraGard in 2003 to honor chapters around the country and individual members of InfraGard who demonstrate resolutions and mitigation practices that prevent detrimental effects of imminent threats against the United States. The intent of the award is to bring recognition to an InfraGard Chapter or a member of a Chapter that conceives and executes a unique initiative and achieves a specific goal.

InfraGard is an information sharing and analysis effort begun in the FBI Cleveland Field Office in 1996. Serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members from the information technology industry and academia, its members have supported FBI investigative efforts in the cyber arena.

At its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the private sector. InfraGard is an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States. Chapters are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories.