Tracy Henke

Tracy Henke joined The Ashcroft Group, LLC as a Senior Advisor on November 1, 2006. Ms. Henke brings with her a distinguished record of successfully leading organizations in a focused strategic direction, designing innovative initiatives to produce real results, and directing a diverse workforce to meet identified goals with limited resources. President George W. Bush nominated Ms. Henke on July 13, 2005 and subsequently appointed her as Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Grants and Training (G&T) on January 4, 2006. As Assistant Secretary for G&T, Ms. Henke led a more than $3 billion annual agency with approximately 230 full-time employees, including staff located throughout the nation, to develop and implement national programs to prepare the Nation's first responders, localities, urban areas, states, and the private sector to deter, prevent, respond, and recover from terrorism and other catastrophic events. Tracy picked up the Secretary's charge and moved the Department towards a risk management approach and process to ensure resources were applied to areas with the highest risk and risk reduction efforts. She also served as Chair of the National Citizen Corps Council with membership in all 50 states, the territories, and relationships with 25 affiliate organizations. Prior to joining the Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Henke served under Attorney General John Ashcroft and Attorney General Gonzales at the Department of Justice. As the Deputy Associate Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice, Acting Assistant Attorney General and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department's Office of Justice Programs, Ms. Henke developed performance-based grants and budgeting guidelines related to all aspects of the criminal justice system, including victims and juvenile justice. She also initiated cost-savings, led efforts to renegotiate the union contract, coordinated related activities of multiple agencies, and forged relationships with law enforcement, victim organizations, and routinely worked with national organizations representing interests throughout the nation. Ms. Henke also served as the National AMBER Alert Coordinator and oversaw the program's efforts to expand its coordination to all fifty states. Ms. Henke has a proven track record of leadership, policy and procedure formulation, strategic planning, top-level negotiating, and is an accomplished public speaker. She is a native of Moscow Mills, Missouri and a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia.