Arlene Patel
Special Assistant to the President
for Homeland Security Initiatives
  601-977-4435
  apatel@tougaloo.edu

Biography
Ms. Arlene A. Patel currently serves as Special Assistant to the President, Tougaloo College for Homeland Security Initiatives. Tougaloo College has a national reputation for academic excellence and social commitment and is a critical educational and community resource for the State of Mississippi and the nation. Ms. Patel is on loan from DHS under an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment to Tougaloo College. She is a certified practitioner in the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the Incident Command System for Higher Education through the DHS FEMA Emergency Management Institute.

Ms. Patel is a former Policy Advisor in the Office of the Special Counselor, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA); and is a senior level management professional with over 25 years of diverse Federal service in civil rights and liberties, transportation, human resources management, and conflict resolution. Ms. Patel was among the first team of professionals to assist in the start-up activities of the TSA headquarters operations in the aftermath of the 911 national tragedies; under the leadership of the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary of the Department of Transportation.

Prior leadership positions include the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Safety where she facilitated regulatory negotiation and rule-making activities and as a transportation investigator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While on special assignment to the National Mediation Board in Washington, DC, Ms. Patel developed interest-based bargaining training for the railroad and airline industries. As the Administrator, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Programs with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), Ms. Patel created the FMCS external Ombudsman Program providing specialized conflict interventions services to Federal executives, congressional staff, and agency legal counsel.

As Special Assistant in the Office of the Chairman, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Ms. Patel co-chaired the ADR Committee that developed the groundwork for the agency’s internal ADR Pilot Project. Ms. Patel received the EEOC Chairman's Organizational Award for her leadership of the ADR systems design team.

In her home state of Maryland, Ms. Patel served as a member of the Mass Transit Citizens Advisory Board, and was appointed by the County Executive as Commissioner, Howard County Commission for Women. She has worked internationally in the field of conflict resolution having presented workshops in Belgium, Panama, China, England, Costa Rica and Canada.

She is a graduate of the Simmons Graduate School of Management, Boston and Masters in Conflict Resolution, Antioch University, Ohio, and the Federal Executive Institute Program. Ms. Patel is fluent in American Sign Language, learned from her grandmother, a member of the Maryland Piscataway Native American community. Ms. Patel is active in community issues involving environmental justice, diversity, civil rights/civil liberties, and intervention protocols in racial, ethnic and religious-based conflict. She is married to Dr. Amratlal P. Patel, a Neuropharmacologist with the National Institutes of Health.