Brian Garrison provides senior leadership in the Department of Information Technology at the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, a metro-Atlanta government of nearly 3000 employees and an IT staff of 84. As the Chief Information Security Officer since February 2020, he leads the Office of Information Security which includes Cybersecurity Operations, Network Operations, Technical Operations, and Archives and Records.

Brian began working for Clayton County government in 2013 as the Court Information Technology Coordinator. He joined the Information Technology Department in 2014 as the Division Manager of Business Intelligence and Enterprise Services, where he directed business intelligence, web development, and eventually Service Desk. In 2017, Brian was promoted to Assistant Director of Information Technology where he managed IT operations performed across five divisions.

Brian has over 18 years of Information Technology experience in both private and public sectors. His first 10 years in information technology in the very early days of MindSpring Enterprises, an Internet Service Provider startup in Atlanta where he served as a CCNA network engineer and managed the technical buildout of EarthLink’s 350,000 square foot headquarters in midtown. In his current role as CISO, Brian is developing Clayton County’s first cybersecurity program.

Brian is an Atlanta native who received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Clayton State University and is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). He began working with the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program under the guidance of the Atlanta Regional Commission in 2019 and currently serves as co-lead of the Cybersecurity Platform Project since February 2020. In this role, Brian collaborates with other Metro-Atlanta agencies and organizations to advance the standardization and hardening of security infrastructure in the region. He and his wife, Michelle, have four children and three dogs which keep them plenty busy outside of their work.