Kevin Higins

Kevin Higgins has more than 30 years of leadership across the intelligence community and global business. Kevin retired from the CIA in 2022 after a distinguished multi-decade career, capped by his service as Chief of Staff to the Director. In that role he helped execute the CIA’s global intelligence mission and confront the nation’s most intractable security threats. Earlier, as the CIA’s Assistant Director for Africa, he led the intelligence enterprise of the Africa Mission Center. His other senior executive roles include Chief of Base at an expeditionary site in Afghanistan, Chief of Operations of the Counterterrorism Center, and four foreign tours as Chief of Station. Over his career, Kevin led thousands of officers, managed multi-billion-dollar budgets, and briefed U.S. presidents, foreign heads of state, and senior congressional leaders.

Kevin Higgins has more than 30 years of leadership across the intelligence community and global business. Kevin retired from the CIA in 2022 after a distinguished multi-decade career, capped by his service as Chief of Staff to the Director. In that role he helped execute the CIA’s global intelligence mission and confront the nation’s most intractable security threats. Earlier, as the CIA’s Assistant Director for Africa, he led the intelligence enterprise of the Africa Mission Center. His other senior executive roles include Chief of Base at an expeditionary site in Afghanistan, Chief of Operations of the Counterterrorism Center, and four foreign tours as Chief of Station. Over his career, Kevin led thousands of officers, managed multi-billion-dollar budgets, and briefed U.S. presidents, foreign heads of state, and senior congressional leaders.

Kevin’s numerous awards and distinctions include the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, CIA’s Excellence in Leadership Award, the George W. Bush Award for Excellence in Counterterrorism, the CIA Director’s Award, the CIA Director’s Award for Distinguished Service, and is a three-time recipient of the most prestigious honor in federal civilian service, the Presidential Rank Award.

Kevin founded KSTK Enterprises, a boutique advisory firm that guides clients through complex governance and crisis challenges and brokers the relationships that turn introductions into deals. He also serves on several corporate and advisory boards spanning defense and national security technologies, wireless communications, critical minerals, and the nonprofit sector. With Kevin’s continued commitment to the intelligence community, Kevin is a board member of the Third Option Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides critical support to paramilitary officers and families of the CIA’s special operations cadre and serves on the advisory board of the International Spy Museum.

Married with two children, Kevin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Grambling State University, where he played NCAA Division I tennis, and holds a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College. He is proficient in French and maintains an active security clearance in support of his government-facing board roles.