Heather T. Kowalski began her appointment as Chief Information Officer (CIO) of INTERPOL Washington, the United States National Central Bureau, in August 2018. INTERPOL Washington serves as the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) on behalf of the Attorney General. INTERPOL Washington is the official U.S. point of contact in INTERPOL's worldwide, police-to-police communications and criminal intelligence network. As CIO, Ms. Kowalski leads the U.S. Government’s information technology efforts to share and exchange international criminal investigative, border security, and humanitarian assistance information within the United States and the 194 other INTERPOL member countries. She oversees systems that operate 24/7/365 and support more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States as well as their foreign counterparts seeking assistance in criminal investigations that extend beyond their national borders.

Ms. Kowalski joined INTERPOL Washington from the Office of Personnel Management where she was the Director of Mainframe Infrastructure. She has held leadership positions at the Department of Homeland (DHS) Cybersecurity & Communications (CS&C) and DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In addition, Ms. Kowalski has extensive private sector experience. She Kowalski earned a Bachelor’s degree in Western European Studies from Wells College, an MBA from the University of Hartford, and a Master’s degree in Information Systems Management, specializing in Information Security, from Carnegie Mellon University.