Executive leadership
Progressive responsibility, documented decisions, and systems left stronger.
Dr. Kwawununu advanced from specialist-level work into lieutenant and deputy director leadership, managing complex campus safety functions in a large urban higher education environment while completing doctoral study.
Career timeline
Roles, scope, and outcomes
Expand any role for scope of responsibility, team size, budget, initiatives, measurable outcomes, and leadership lessons.
June 2022 – present
Deputy Director / Deputy Chief of Public Safety
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York
Senior public safety leadership for an urban Manhattan campus: daily operations, executive priorities, student support, regulatory expectations, institutional reputation, and employee relations.
- Team size
- Approximately 137 personnel (contract officers, dispatchers, sergeants, lieutenants, administrators, technical support)
- Budget responsibility
- Contributes to oversight of an annual departmental budget of approximately $8.5 million
2020 – 2022
Lieutenant, Public Safety
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York
Formal supervision and operational leadership across shifts, expanding from specialist responsibilities into command.
- Team size
- [Confirm span of control]
- Budget responsibility
- Not applicable
2019 – 2020
Public Safety Specialist
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York
Campus public safety operations, service delivery, reporting, community interaction, and institutional expectations.
- Team size
- Not applicable
- Budget responsibility
- Not applicable
[Confirm start date]
President and Chief Executive Officer
Global Bridge Holdings Co. Ltd.
Entrepreneurial and international platform connecting interests across the United States, the Bahamas, and Ghana, supporting work in agriculture, development, resilience, and cross-border partnerships.
- Team size
- [Add verified team size]
- Budget responsibility
- [Add verified figure]
Scope of responsibility
Eight dimensions of the executive role
Operational Leadership
Daily public safety operations across an urban campus: deployment, posts, dispatch, residence halls, academic facilities, and events.
Strategic Planning
Translating institutional priorities into staffing models, technology roadmaps, training plans, and measurable objectives.
Crisis Leadership
Rapid assessment, command coordination, documentation, communication, and stabilization during disruptive events.
Organizational Change
Repositioning public safety from an enforcement function to a strategic partner on resilience and student success.
Risk and Resilience
Connecting safety operations to continuity, infrastructure, workforce, technology, reputation, and strategic risk.
Stakeholder Management
Working relationships across student affairs, residence life, facilities, HR, Title IX, legal, IT, events, and executive leadership.
Team Development
Supervision, coaching, promotions, performance management, uniform and conduct standards, and supervisory accountability.
Governance and Accountability
Policy implementation, executive reporting, compliance-aware practice, and defensible documentation.
Selected outcomes
Proof points, not claims
- Progressed from Public Safety Specialist to Lieutenant and then Deputy Director within approximately three years.
- Contributed to a campus safety environment reported to improve from approximately twelfth to first in a national ranking. [Confirm ranking source and year]
- Supported operations for major campus events, including commencement at Central Park SummerStage, the Future of Fashion, student exhibitions, semi-formal events, and VIP engagements.
- Helped guide response and documentation for sanctioned and unsanctioned demonstrations, balancing safety, policy, student expression, continuity, and executive awareness.
- Led or supported after-action work following drills and operational disruptions, including a shelter-in-place exercise affected by emergency notification-system failure.
- Conducted or directed reviews of sensitive complaints involving unauthorized access, maintenance escorts, residence hall concerns, workplace conduct, harassment reports, and student support issues.
- Developed staffing-reduction and post-optimization analysis projecting annual savings of approximately $307,910 to $333,203 and five-year savings of approximately $1.54 million to $1.67 million.
- Supported access-control and infrastructure improvements, including camera deployments, electronic lock resets, badge and registration processes, visitor management, and technology upgrades.
- Prepared executive-ready reports and communications so that complex operational issues could be understood and acted upon quickly.
- Completed a doctorate with a 3.97 GPA while maintaining senior executive responsibilities.
- Produced doctoral research with practical relevance to flood risk, migration, resilience, urban governance, and policy in metropolitan Ghana.
- Served as moderator and speaker on themes including climate resilience, food security, sustainable development, fatherhood, leadership, public safety, and emergency management.
Leadership philosophy
How the work is done
Lead to Leave Stronger Systems
The measure of leadership is not only whether a problem was resolved, but whether the institution is more capable after the leader's involvement.
Facts Before Conclusions
Sensitive decisions require verified facts, fair process, clear standards, and restraint against premature judgment.
People and Systems Matter
Most organizational failures involve both human behavior and system design. Effective solutions address training, expectations, supervision, policy, technology, and culture.
Calm Is a Strategic Asset
In emergencies and conflict, a leader's calm presence helps others think, communicate, and act with discipline.
Communication Is Operational
A plan that is not understood cannot be executed. Clear communication is part of command, not an accessory to it.
Accountability Must Be Constructive
Accountability should protect standards and trust while also creating a path for learning, correction, and improved performance.
Service Builds Legitimacy
Public safety authority is strongest when people experience professionalism, fairness, responsiveness, and respect.
Strategy Must Survive Contact with Reality
Recommendations must reflect resources, workforce capacity, institutional culture, legal requirements, and frontline conditions.
Learning Must Become Action
After-action reviews, research, and training have value only when lessons are converted into assigned, funded, and measurable improvements.