Bio - Michael Verden 081125

With an extensive career as a police officer, Secret Service agent, Senior Director of Security for the NBA, and security advisor, G. Michael Verden, founder and CEO of The Lake Forest Group, a strategic security consultancy company, understands how to apply security best practices to your unique setting to safeguard people, property, and assets.

Mike employs methodologies learned in a 21-year career as an agent for the United States Secret Service protecting the President, First Lady, and other heads of state and large-scale events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl to identify vulnerabilities and implement proper risk management techniques.

Mike was a Special Agent with the United States Secret Service for 21 years and finished his career as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Dignitary Protective Division at USSS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This assignment allowed him to be an event coordinator for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and a security adviser to the 2003 and 2004 Super Bowls. Other assignments in Washington, D.C. were to the Presidential Protective Division responsible for protecting the President and First Lady and the Counter Assault Team. Additionally, he assisted with creating security plans for major events such as the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500, Breeders’ Cup, and the Women’s Soccer World Cup.

Mike is a member of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Security Council, American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), Association of Former Agents of the United States Secret Service (AFAUSSS), Illinois Security Professionals Association (ISPA) where he currently serves as the First Vice President, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police (ILACP), Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), and International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS).

Mike was born in Tipperary, Ireland, grew up in Chicago, and graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in Law Enforcement Administration and Indiana State University with an M.S. in Criminology. He began his professional career with the Skokie, Illinois Police Department and then became a Secret Service agent in the Chicago Field Office.