Board of Directors

Aaron Bruce

Board Chair

Dr. Aaron Bruce, serves as the Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA.   He is an active member of the National Association for Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), Vice President of the Southern California Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (SCADOHE) and is a International Multicultural Institute certified diversity trainer, who has facilitated numerous professional development seminars in the U.S. and abroad.He serves on the National Advisory Council for Saving Students Saving Lives an anti-bullying conference for educators and school counselors.

Dr. Bruce has held management positions in Latin America and Africa. His passion for global understanding has afforded him with opportunities to conduct research on management strategies, public health and education in Cuba, Mexico, and Kenya. Prior to joining SDSU, he served as the Director of Multicultural Affairs at Rhode Island College, where he developed policies and programming supporting underrepresented students, faculty, and staff.

He holds a BA degree from Michigan State University where he majored in Economics and Political Science, and earned a certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. He holds a Master’s degree in International Business Administration from United States International University. Dr. Bruce completed his Ph.D. in Education from the joint Rhode Island College and University of Rhode Island Doctoral Program in Education. He is the first African American male to hold such a distinction. He is presently editing his first book titled Beyond the Black Horizon; African American Experiences Abroad. Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Dr. Bruce has traveled extensively and is committed to making a difference in the world. He volunteers for numerous organizations and is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He is an advocate for global education, who lives by the motto “Awaken the sleep, protect the weak, and guide the strong.”

Stuart Tryon

Board Secretary

Mr. Tryon is an active Cyber Enterprise Risk Management, Intelligence, and physical security leader serving in several capacities including as a board member, advisory board member, and as an officer in the private sector. His boardroom responsibilities include acting as the Chief Intelligence Officer for Axon Global recognized by the Department of Homeland Security, “as a leader in their field”. Axon Global is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD®) Full Board Member which serves Fortune 500 and Global 1000 board members in Cyber Enterprise Risk Management, Strategy, Innovation and Proactive Defense. As Chief Executive Officer of Tryon Security and Risk Advisors (TSRA), LLC, he leads a risk consulting firm which he started in 2017. TSRA brings state of the art consultancy to corporate clients, government agencies, major event providers, and individuals requiring physical security assessments, internal investigations, policy creation, strategy implementation reviews, and high-level environmental audits. In addition, he is currently the North America Regional Security Manager for Ferrero USA, where he leads all physical and cybersecurity efforts for the US and Canada.

Mr. Tryon has served in various levels of corporate security to include at Uber as the Head of Global Security Operations, at Crane Currency as the Vice President of Global Security, and as the Director of Regulatory, Risk, and Compliance for Fiserv, a Brookfield, Wisconsin, based financial technology company. He has served as both an auditor, a global thought leader, and crisis manager serving global leadership teams in NORAM, LATAM, EMEA, Australia, and APAC.

Mr. Tryon spent 25 years in the U.S. Government serving in progressive leadership roles culminating as the Deputy Assistant Director for Special Intelligence and Information for the United States Secret Service. A Senior Executive Service (SES) position that synthesized information and intelligence for use in the protective mission of the agency and the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, during his tenure with the Secret Service Mr. Tryon served as a Detail Leader on the Presidential Protective Division, a tenured member of the President’s Counter Surveillance Team, a member of the White House Security Branch, and the global leader of The Criminal Investigations Division (CID), one of his two SES positions. In CID he directed global investigations of network intrusions, financial fraud cases, and consulted on national policy for the financial services sector.

Mr. Tryon has advised and/or briefed Congress, the U.S. Treasury Department, the White House, and worked with hundreds of State, Local, and Federal Law Enforcement members around the world.  Mr. Tryon is a former member of the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; ASIS and the ACFE.  He’s also an experienced speaker with a variety of interest groups including financial technology boards, CIOs and the media on subjects ranging from information sharing, trends, tactics, board governance, and cybersecurity. He is a current Advisory Board Member to the Kogod School of Business, American University Cybersecurity Governance Center.

Mr. Tryon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Management from The Johns Hopkins University.

Stuart Tryon

Board Secretary

Mr. Tryon is an active Cyber Enterprise Risk Management, Intelligence, and physical security leader serving in several capacities including as a board member, advisory board member, and as an officer in the private sector. His boardroom responsibilities include acting as the Chief Intelligence Officer for Axon Global recognized by the Department of Homeland Security, “as a leader in their field”. Axon Global is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD®) Full Board Member which serves Fortune 500 and Global 1000 board members in Cyber Enterprise Risk Management, Strategy, Innovation and Proactive Defense. As Chief Executive Officer of Tryon Security and Risk Advisors (TSRA), LLC, he leads a risk consulting firm which he started in 2017. TSRA brings state of the art consultancy to corporate clients, government agencies, major event providers, and individuals requiring physical security assessments, internal investigations, policy creation, strategy implementation reviews, and high-level environmental audits. In addition, he is currently the North America Regional Security Manager for Ferrero USA, where he leads all physical and cybersecurity efforts for the US and Canada.

 

Mr. Tryon has served in various levels of corporate security to include at Uber as the Head of Global Security Operations, at Crane Currency as the Vice President of Global Security, and as the Director of Regulatory, Risk, and Compliance for Fiserv, a Brookfield, Wisconsin, based financial technology company. He has served as both an auditor, a global thought leader, and crisis manager serving global leadership teams in NORAM, LATAM, EMEA, Australia, and APAC.

 

Mr. Tryon spent 25 years in the U.S. Government serving in progressive leadership roles culminating as the Deputy Assistant Director for Special Intelligence and Information for the United States Secret Service. A Senior Executive Service (SES) position that synthesized information and intelligence for use in the protective mission of the agency and the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, during his tenure with the Secret Service Mr. Tryon served as a Detail Leader on the Presidential Protective Division, a tenured member of the President’s Counter Surveillance Team, a member of the White House Security Branch, and the global leader of The Criminal Investigations Division (CID), one of his two SES positions. In CID he directed global investigations of network intrusions, financial fraud cases, and consulted on national policy for the financial services sector.

 

Mr. Tryon has advised and/or briefed Congress, the U.S. Treasury Department, the White House, and worked with hundreds of State, Local, and Federal Law Enforcement members around the world. Mr. Tryon is a former member of the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; ASIS and the ACFE. He’s also an experienced speaker with a variety of interest groups including financial technology boards, CIOs and the media on subjects ranging from information sharing, trends, tactics, board governance, and cybersecurity. He is a current Advisory Board Member to the Kogod School of Business, American University Cybersecurity Governance Center.

 

Mr. Tryon holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Management from The Johns Hopkins University.

Edwin C. Cruz

Board Treasurer

Mr. Cruz is a Principal and Founder of CruzCampbell Financial (CCF) and is responsible for new business development as well as leading client engagements. Mr. Cruz brings several years of leadership and strategy experience to CCF. After serving in the U.S. Army for 10 years, Mr. Cruz would go on to enjoy several years of progressive financial leadership experience within some of the largest multi- national corporations in the world. After spending four years in Financial, Planning, & Analysis (FP&A) roles with Hewlett-Packard and Qwest Communications, he joined Ford Motor Company’s Ford Credit organization as a multi-branch manager, where he was responsible for credit issuance, risk management/underwriting, and the development of branch personnel. Mr. Cruz would later lead the global audit engagements at Ford Credit locations throughout the world.

Mr. Cruz received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management and Marketing from St. Bonaventure University and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Illinois.

Michael Files

Board Member

Michael is a retired U.S. Navy Human Resources Officer. He graduated from the U.S. Naval
Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and from Troy University
with a Master of Science degree in International Management. His concern for people has
grown out of his lifetime commitment of helping others. Michael joined the Embrace team
in 2013.

Adam Braverman

Board Member

Adam L. Braverman is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense and Commercial Litigation + Trial groups.  Adam formerly served as Associate Deputy Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. 

Adam currently represents companies and their executives in internal and government investigations, white collar criminal defense matters, and parallel civil litigation related to allegations of bribery, government procurement fraud, COVID-19 and CARES Act fraud, anti-money laundering violations, and matters involving organized crime.  

Before joining the firm, Adam spent 13 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) where he served in senior level leadership positions in multiple administrations. As Associate Deputy Attorney General, he advised the Deputy Attorney General on litigation and policy matters and was designated to coordinate DOJ’s efforts to investigate and prosecute fraud in connection with COVID-19 and CARES Act relief funds. During his tenure, he worked closely with all of DOJ’s law enforcement agencies, other federal agencies, INTERPOL, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), as well as state and local law enforcement associations.  During this time, he led DOJ’s efforts to create and implement a nationwide policy on the use of body worn cameras by federal agents and federal task force officers.   

Adam also served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California where he managed one of the largest and busiest U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the country comprised of nearly 300 employees. In this role, Adam was responsible for enforcing all violations of federal law in the District and defending the Nation in all civil lawsuits. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, Adam was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief where he led complex investigations and prosecutions of large-scale international criminal organizations. Prior to joining the government, Adam was an associate at a leading global law firm where he dedicated his practice to civil litigation, white collar criminal cases, and internal investigations. 

Adam received his J.D. from The George Washington University School of Law and his B.A., cum laude, from The George Washington University.