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Ellen Howe

Assistant Administrator for Strategic Communications/Public Affairs

Ellen Howe joined TSA in March 2006 as assistant administrator for Strategic Communications & Public Affairs. She manages communications and messaging and is a member of TSA's senior management team tasked with collaborative risk-based decision making and using metrics to measure performance.

Howe serves as a senior spokesperson for TSA. She leads a team of 40 public affairs professionals responsible for media relations, public liaison, graphic arts, employee communications, & TSA.gov. Howe has worked to reposition the seven-year-old agency from reactive to strategic, highlighting risk-based, layered approach to transportation security with a focus on people, process and technology. Under her leadership TSA launched the groundbreaking Evolution of Security blog, and developed both internal and external communication strategies for Checkpoint Evolution, the first significant checkpoint redesign since the 1970s, aimed at calming the security environment.

In 2006 Howe managed nationwide crisis communications in the wake of the August 10 London liquid bomb plot. Her team successfully developed and implemented public information efforts related to liquid restrictions for carry-on bags. That public awareness effort reached more than 50 million Americans through more than 3,200 radio, television and print outlets, 1,155 media interviews and more than 70 media events across the country. Howe also developed communications strategies for the limited liquids policy "3-1-1" and "SimpliFLY" pack-smart public awareness campaigns.

Prior to joining TSA, Howe owned and managed a public affairs firm in the state of Washington for 11 years where she designed and implemented communications strategies for a wide-ranging clientele. Howe has applied that experience at TSA by shifting the department's energies from a traditionally reactive role to a more strategic focus, highlighting agency's initiatives, including workforce improvements, technology innovations and security enhancements.

Howe has a bachelor's degree in journalism from The Ohio State University