Michael Garcia Honored as 2023 Security Industry Innovator

HID announced that Michael Garcia, national end user manager, K-12 Safe Schools, has been named as a SecurityInfoWatch.com, Security Business and Security Technology Executive magazines’ 2023 Security Industry Innovator Award winner.

HID’s customer-centric roles and end-user vertical specific solutions approach to security and risk mitigation have positioned Garcia and his team as security industry leaders to watch through 2023 and into 2024.

At HID, Garcia serves as a dedicated K-12 end user market resource, focused on assisting HID partners, integrators, OEMs, resellers and consultants in identifying and delivering solutions that meet school districts’ unique safety and security needs.

His primary focus is to educate school districts so they better understand where to invest their security funding based on a layered, open and unified approach to security, a role which has enabled Garcia to help hundreds of school districts become safer and more secure.

“School aged children are our nation’s most precious and priceless resource — and keeping students, teachers and staff safe must remain a priority at every level of school decision-making, district leadership and board governance,” said Garcia. “No teacher or child should have to attend school in fear. This is why the HID Education End User Team informs and empowers schools to assess risk, then assists them in selecting and implementing unified safety and security in a district-wide solutions approach.”

Garcia began his career by assisting in the design and launch of cybersecurity products and managed security services for the US Government. Prompted by the increased threats to school districts and the Virginia Tech mass shooting in 2007, he designed and launched LearnSafe, a school safety and security initiative that combined people, process and technology to deliver multiple layers of protection across diverse campuses with dynamic risk profiles.

The pioneering program combined behavioral intervention (a K-12 mental health first-aid program custom-developed by a trained school psychologist), behavioral threat assessments, school physical security hardening with unified access, video and intrusion detection, remote automated school lockdown capabilities, bus fleet security, sporting event security, emergency operation programs, SRO’s and re-unification.

“A multi-layered and tiered approach to school safety considers more than just products,” said Garcia. “Climate, culture, equity and a social-emotional learning program combined with a trauma informed approach are critical considerations when protecting school students and staff; making programs that focus on behavior and a safe school environment, key components to a successful solution.”

As a testimony to his thought leadership in this area of school health and safety (prevention), he was recently chosen to serve on the Board of the Institute for Rural Mental Health Initiatives at Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK). Last year, Garcia received Most Influential People award by Security Magazine for his dedication of time and energy to educating administrators and school stakeholders on safety and security topics. 

As a board member with the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS), Garcia uses his passion, deep expertise and broad system mindset to help develop security guidelines and educate school security directors, superintendents, trustees and stakeholders for K-12 schools across the nation.   The PASS guidelines, funded and endorsed by the Security Industry Association and National Systems Contractors Association, are utilized by the Department of Homeland Security and thousands of public, private and charter schools.