“Just as no nation can wall itself off from the world, no one nation—no matter how large, no matter how powerful—can meet these challenges alone. Nor can governments alone. Today’s threats demand new partnerships across sectors and across societies—creative collaborations to achieve what no one can accomplish alone. In short, we need a new spirit of global partnership.” — President Barack Obama, September 22, 2009
Executive Order 13629: The President established the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council on October 26, 2012 to maximize the Federal Government’s ability to develop local partnerships in the United States to support homeland security priorities. The Council will provide advice and information to the White House and Federal departments and agencies in support of the development of homeland security partnerships.
Why an Executive Order? Executive Orders have been used for a number of different goals, such as setting foreign policy, protecting infrastructure and trade, and recovering from domestic disasters. Broadly speaking, Presidential orders give focus and energy to efforts they address, and Executive Order 13629 reinforces the importance of partnership and collaboration in achieving homeland security objectives.
Existing Efforts: The Council represents a new, across-government mechanism for tapping into local partnership expertise from a variety of Federal agencies and highlights the importance of partnerships as a tool for achieving objectives. The Council will not direct or coordinate Federal Government partnership activities, nor will it direct, supersede, or command any Federal, state, or local official. This Council is an advisory body and will operate strictly within the mission and function outlined in Executive Order 13629. Nothing in this Executive Order will affect the authority granted by law to any executive department or agency.
Council: This Council is different from other Federal advisory bodies and information sharing entities in that it draws upon field-based Federal employees from across the United States who are recognized for their expertise in building robust partnerships. The Council will provide an opportunity to recognize individuals who already have excelled in building partnerships, raise the visibility of their efforts and the model of partnership building, and establish a forum to share best practices. By focusing on efforts and expertise outside Washington, D.C., the establishment of the Council will provide new perspectives to support homeland security priorities.
Local Networks: The best partnerships often are conceived and created in local communities. By serving as a local network of Federal Government partnership specialists, the members of the Council will help capture best practices and insights that are not always visible to Washington, D.C. It will assist the Federal Government in learning from these partnerships, replicating successes across the country, and taking partnerships to scale. Council members will constitute a national network of partnership experts who can exchange ideas, build upon their expertise, and create new innovative partnerships.
National Leadership: The Federal Government has established a community of interest on homeland security partnerships at the national level through a White House-led Interagency Policy Committee, which is responsible for developing national policy for homeland security partnerships and enabling departments and agencies to more effectively build cross-sector collaboration.