Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Janice Ayala

Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Ms. Janice Ayala is the Special Agent in Charge (SAC), of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Antonio, Texas. As such, Ms. Ayala is responsible for one of the largest districts that encompasses 58 counties, over 500 miles of international border between Mexico and the United States, and two Federal Judicial Districts (Western & Southern Districts of Texas). Additionally, HSI San Antonio contains three Customs and Border Protection sectors and responds to some of the busiest and most challenging ports of entry in the country. Human and contraband smuggling, financial and bulk cash smuggling are but a few of the programmatic areas that characterize the work in this area of responsibility. Ms. Ayala has served in several key management positions. In Washington, D.C., Ms. Ayala served as the Assistant Director of Investigative Programs within HSI. In this capacity, Ms. Ayala was responsible for strategic planning, national policy implementation and the development and execution of operational initiatives spanning major investigative program divisions.

Prior to this assignment, Ms. Ayala served as the Assistant Director of Domestic Operations and had previously served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Financial, Narcotics and Public Safety Division. In both positions, Ms. Ayala had oversight of investigative efforts of over 7,000 HSI special agents assigned to 26 SAC offices, investigating matters related to national security, terrorism, export enforcement, money laundering, drug and bulk-cash smuggling, human smuggling and trafficking, customs fraud, child pornography, and other financial and immigration fraud. Prior to her Headquarters assignment, Ms. Ayala served as Deputy Special Agent in Charge in Laredo, Texas, where she directed investigations conducted by some of the busiest southern border offices in the nation, specifically Laredo, Falcon Dam, McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville, Texas. She also served as the Associate SAC and Assistant SAC for HSI San Antonio. Additionally, Ms. Ayala has served as the Resident Agent in Charge and the Acting Assistant Regional Special Agent in Charge, for the former U.S. Customs Service, Office of Internal Affairs in El Paso, Texas.

Ms. Ayala began her federal service career with the U.S. Customs Service as an Intelligence Research Specialist, first in Mississippi then in Washington, D.C. and later served a four and a half year tour in Puerto Rico, where she was assigned as a Senior Special Agent and Caribbean Liaison Officer. Prior to her federal civilian career, Ms. Ayala served four years in a United States Air Force Intelligence Squadron as a Spanish Linguist and Analyst Reporter. Ms. Ayala serves as the Vice President for the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Executive Committee (WIFLE), is a Lifetime Member of WIFLE, and is a Senior Advisor to the WIFLE Foundation. During Ms. Ayala’s previous stay in Texas, Ms. Ayala was engaged in extensive volunteer work with the Boys and Girls Club, Crime Stoppers of Laredo, and was a Certified Rape Crisis Counselor for the State of Texas.

Kendall R. Beels

Supervisory Special Agent/Chief of Investigations, Bureau of Diplomatic Securities

Special Agent Kendall R. Beels joined Diplomatic Security in 2005. She was assigned to the New York Field Office for 2 years, where she investigated a large visa fraud/marriage fraud ring out of Guangzhou, China. After her time in the field office, she went to the Criminal Fraud Investigations Division at DS Headquarters. Her first overseas assignment was as the ARSO/I in the Consular Section at U.S. Embassy Cairo. After she returned from Cairo, she was the Special Assistant to the former Assistant Secretary of Diplomatic Security. She was then assigned as the Chief of Investigations for the Consular Integrity Division. This month she will be the DS Criminal Investigative Liaison for Children’s Issues and Crimes Against Children.

Elizabeth M. Casey

Board Member, WIFLE Foundation, Inc. and WIFLE, Inc.

Ms. Casey started her career with the federal government in October 1973 with the United States Secret Service (USSS) Personnel Division. From that time until 1986, she worked in the Staffing and Recruitment Branch and Employee Relations. During this period, she served as the USSS Federal Woman’s Program Manager and became involved with the then titled Interagency Committee on Women in Federal Law Enforcement. She served as Conference Co-Chair for two annual training conferences, as well as the Department of Treasury Chair for the Committee.

Over the years, Ms. Casey served in various positions and assignments at USSS and in May 2001 she was selected and reassigned to the position of Staff Assistant to the Assistant Director, Office of Human Resources and Training. In March 2002, Ms. Casey transferred to the newly formed Transportation Security Administration as Program Analyst (Human Resources Liaison), Office of Strategic Management and Analysis. She retired from federal service in February 2006, but in April returned to work as a federal contractor working for the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Chief Security Officer, as a Security Analyst.

Ms. Casey holds a B.A. in Business Administration (Management) from Mount Vernon College (now part of George Washington University) in Washington, DC. She currently serves as co-editor of the quarterly WIFLE E-news and is the Treasurer of WIFLE, Inc.

Margaret H. Coggins Ph.D.

M.H. Coggins, LLC, Strategic Consulting & Advisory Services

WIFLE Foundation Senior Advisor

Dr. Coggins retired from Federal service in April 2012, following a distinguished 32-year career in Federal law enforcement where she served in senior executive and leadership positions for the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) and the United States Secret Service.

In May, 2012, Dr. Coggins began a private consulting practice, offering advisory and leadership expertise in areas of program development and evaluation; risk assessment and threat management; law enforcement/security operations; applied/operations research; policy; workforce planning and management; model workplace programs; organizational behavior and culture; employee wellness; and diversity and inclusion. Also in May, 2012, Dr. Coggins was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) Foundation. In this capacity, she provides consultation to the Foundation and Executive Committee on matters of policy, advocacy, program administration, strategic planning, and executive leadership development.

Prior to her retirement, Dr. Coggins served as a Deputy Assistant Director for 10 years with the Federal Air Marshal Service. There, she managed and directed numerous programs and divisions, including workforce management, succession planning, executive resources, occupational health, and quality of work life initiatives. Most recently, Dr. Coggins directed the Office of Workforce Programs, where she also had responsibility for the Ombudsman and Diversity Programs and FAMS operational research initiatives. In 2002, she was appointed to the Senior Executive Service. Prior to joining the Federal Air Marshal Service, Dr. Coggins served as a senior manager and researcher for the United States Secret Service. Dr. Coggins began her career with the Secret Service in 1984 as a staff psychologist. She was promoted to various positions within the Office of Protective Research where her areas of responsibility included: providing risk assessment research, consultation, and training in support of the Secret Service protective mission, and the study of threatening and high-risk behaviors directed toward the President of the United States.

Dr. Coggins earned Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts degrees in psychology from the Catholic University of America. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Dickinson College. In 2001, Dr. Coggins was certified as a Senior Executive by the Office of Personnel Management. Her work has been published in several scientific journals and she is an adjunct Full professor for the George Washington University. In 2010, Dr. Coggins was awarded the “Outstanding Advocate for Women in Federal Law Enforcement” award by the Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) organization. In 2011, Dr. Coggins received the President’s Award for Leadership and Diversity Excellence, from the Arizona Chapter, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the President’s Commendation for Continued Support and Commitment to Diversity from the National Asian Peace Officers Association.

Dorene F. Erhard

Board Member, WIFLE Foundation, Inc. and WIFLE, Inc.

Dorene F. Erhard began her career with the Federal Government in New York, New York in 1970, with the then Treasury Department’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division of the Internal Revenue Service (now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In 1972, she transferred to the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC where she held positions drafting explosives and firearms regulations, overseeing research and development efforts on the tagging of explosive materials, and planning and analysis for the ATF Assistant Director for Law Enforcement.

Ms. Erhard transferred in 1987 to the position of Senior Advisor to the Director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, charged with overseeing economic sanctions programs and freezing assets of hostile foreign countries, terrorists, and international narcotics traffickers. This national security and foreign policy-related position was followed in 1999 by service on the newly formed Office of Professional Responsibility assigned to Treasury’s Under Secretary for Enforcement. Her duties included oversight of operations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture; review of departmental studies on the United States Secret Service and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; and service on an interagency working group to develop and implement the Federal Government’s General Counterdrug Intelligence Plan. In 2001, Ms. Erhard was appointed to act as the Chief of Staff to the Acting Under Secretary for Enforcement during the transition from the Clinton to the Bush Administration. Initially expected to be a three-month detail, the term extended to ten months due to delays in the confirmation of the new Treasury Under Secretary. Shortly after the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) following the tragic events of 9/11, Ms. Erhard transferred to assist in the set-up of the new agency and remained with TSA until her retirement in 2005 as Director of the Office of the Executive Secretariat supporting the TSA Administrator.

In addition to her position on the WIFLE Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors, since her retirement, Ms. Erhard has served as Co-Editor of Women in Federal Law Enforcement E-News. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York.

Tamra L. Goldsmith

Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge, Federal Air Marshals Service, Office of the Director

Ms. Goldsmith joined the Office of Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshals Service (OLE/FAMS) in May 2002. She is currently assigned as the Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge (SAC) in the Office of the Director, where she supervises five Supervisory Federal Air Marshals (SFAMs), the budget and administrative functions, as well as oversees the OLE/FAMS Tasking Section and the Law Enforcement Culture Section. She also serves as the Office Emergency Coordinator for OLE/FAMS Headquarters. Ms. Goldsmith began her career in May 2002 with the FAMS at the Orlando Field Office, where she flew missions and was later detailed as an Operations Officer and certified as a Physical Training Coordinator. In 2005, she was selected for a lateral position with the Information Coordination Section (ICS) at the Freedom Center. She served as an Eastern Region JTTF Coordinator where she collaborated with numerous external sources and FAMS field offices to fulfill requests for Special Mission Coverage (SMC) missions. In 2006, she was selected for promotion to SFAM at the Atlanta Field Office and managed a squad of 20 flying FAMs. She was responsible for squad scheduling, time and attendance reports, voucher approvals and issuing minor disciplinary actions. She served as SFAM within the ICS from 2008-2010 where she managed up to 30 FAMs assigned to the Transportation Investigations Branch (TIB) and the Counterterrorism Branch (CTB) units.

Ms. Goldsmith was selected for promotion in 2010 to Assistant Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge (ASAC) within ICS where she supervised nine SFAMs assigned to the TIB and the CTB units. She managed administrative duties within ICS to include human resources, training and disciplinary actions. She also supervised the FAMS/JTTF Program, the Special Mission Coverage Program and the Tactical Information Sharing System (TISS) Program.

Prior to joining the Federal Air Marshal Service, Ms. Goldsmith served eight years with the Virginia Beach Police Department. She was a Master Police Officer and worked in several units to include patrol, mountain bikes and motors. She was certified as a breath technician, a radar operator, a Field Training Officer, a School Resource Officer and was part of the Community Policing Unit. Ms. Goldsmith holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Graphic Design from Radford University in Radford, Virginia. She attended this Division I university on full athletic scholarship. She was also honored with an academic scholarship for having the highest grade point average among female athletes.

Jessie L. Lane

Deputy EEO Director, United States Secret Service

WIFLE, Inc. Past President and WIFLE Foundation Sr. Advisor

On January 8, 1979 Ms. Lane began her career with the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as a Stay-in-school clerk with the Richmond Field Office. A native of Richmond, VA, she attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications in 1982. Ms. Lane’s perpetual interest in the field of law enforcement, led to her subsequent transfer to the Secret Service Headquarters in Washington, DC. In 1985, she accepted the position of Writer/Editor in the Office of Government Liaison and Public Affairs, where she wrote speeches and press releases on behalf of the agency’s director and his executive staff.

In 2002, Ms. Lane was elected to serve as the agency’s employee population, thus validating the mission related benefits derived from their work and employing people with diverse backgrounds. Ms. Lane has been featured in several publications, including Diversity/Careers in Engineering and Technology, Black College Today, and In Brief Solutions for Government HR Challenges.

Ms. Lane is a 2007 Graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, where she completed the requirements for a Master of Science in Management. Ms. Lane served as the 2011 WIFLE, Inc. President and was the first woman to hold that position from the non-sworn ranks of women working in the federal law enforcement agencies.

Barbara D. Linney

Member, Miller & Chevalier

General Counsel, WIFLE Foundation, Inc. and WIFLE, Inc.