James Kennedy

Kennedy serves as the Director of BENS New York Metro region. In this role, he coordinates membership activities within the greater tri-state area.

Prior to joining BENS, he was the Military and Intelligence Programs Coordinator at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he managed the fellowships for senior military and intelligence officers. His policy work also includes experience at the Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor.

Kennedy is a veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served as a Signals Intelligence Analyst and later as a Non-Commissioned Officer and Intelligence Advisor with the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB), deploying in support of missions across the Indo-Pacific region. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and has pursued graduate studies in intelligence analysis at Johns Hopkins University. A native of Queens, James is proud to lead the BENS mission in his home city.