Amy Hess

Amy Hess currently serves as Special Assistant and Advisor at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training, where she leads reviews, makes recommendations to leadership, and oversees the implementation of changes designed to train and develop public safety professionals.

Since 1991, Hess has held a wide range of public safety and leadership roles across federal, state, and local government. She previously served as Louisville’s Chief of Public Safety, overseeing the police and fire departments, corrections, emergency management, and other key operations.

Prior to that, Hess spent 29 years as a special agent and senior executive with the FBI, with assignments in Kansas City, Louisville, Tucson, Afghanistan, Memphis, Quantico, and Washington, D.C. Over the course of her career, she has regularly given presentations on leadership, public safety, crisis management, and related topics. Her FBI career culminated with promotion to Executive Assistant Director, one of the agency’s highest positions, on two separate occasions. In this capacity, she was responsible for operational and organizational strategy, national policy, and interagency coordination while overseeing the FBI’s criminal and cyber investigations, science and technology capabilities, and worldwide response to crisis events.

She is a native of Jeffersonville, Indiana, and holds a degree in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University where, as a co-op student, she worked for IBM Space Systems Division supporting NASA’s space shuttle program.