Stephanie Yanta joined NEC NSS in September 2022 and directs NEC NSS’s Strategic Alliances Program. Amongst other duties, Stephanie expertly aggregates partners and technologies to fill existing and emerging technology gaps for all of the U.S. Government including the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources, FVEY partners and trusted allies. Stephanie develops and nurtures NSS’s partner relationships including marshalling and amalgamating necessary resources to fill mission- critical needs and achieve a high degree of customer satisfaction. Stephanie is part of NSS’s Countering Insider Threat Team and is a staunch supporter of countering all forms of human trafficking and forced labor.
Stephanie has extensive experience within the Intelligence Community and government service having retired from
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with ~25 years of service.
While at the FBI, Stephanie held several leadership positions and worked a variety of violations including as a member of the Cold Case Homicide Squad, the Safe Streets Task Force, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), and Cyber Engagement Unit. Notably, Stephanie was an integral part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) and served as a Certified FBI BAU “Profiler.” As a Profiler, Stephanie focused on providing behavioral-based support to matters of counterterrorism and other crimes involving acts or threats of targeted violence.
Stephanie mastered working alongside other certified Profilers, Mental Health Professionals and case teams to both dissuade and disrupt potential offenders’ efforts to engage in violence. Stephanie was regularly sought and often requested to provide BAU-related training to a myriad of consumers within law enforcement, the Justice Department and communities both in the U.S. and overseas – a trend that continues today.
During her FBI tenure, Stephanie was the case agent of the largest drug seizure in the history of the D.C. area, and she was a member of the Hazardous Materials Response Team. Stephanie has extensive experience operating in overseas environments having deployed to the Middle East, Afghanistan three times, Europe and Africa.
Remarkably, Stephanie earned the highest award within the Department of Justice, the Attorney General’s Award, for her leadership during the May 2010 Times Square attempted bombing/terrorism event. As a true believer in teamwork, Stephanie was a co-founder of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Touchstone group – an FBI-led private sector outreach effort.
She earned her Master’s Degree in 2012 from the Naval Postgraduate School having completed her Master’s Thesis on the Touchstone Project. Both a revolutionary and evolutionary endeavor, many of Touchstone’s engagement and information sharing principles are still being leveraged by the FBI.
Stephanie is originally from Valparaiso, Indiana and earned Bachelors of Arts degrees in both History and Political Science from Indiana University. She was a member of the Indiana University ROTC program through which she earned her commission as a Military Intelligence (MI) officer in the Indiana Army National Guard. Stephanie achieved the rank of Captain (O-3). Amongst a variety of assignments as an Intelligence Officer (G-2/S-2), a highlight of Stephanie’s military service included her selection as the first – and first female – Company Commander (HHC) for the then newly formed 638th MI Battalion in Indiana.
