TJ Kennedy

TJ Kennedy had already had a distinguished career in public safety when he was first hired as the deputy general manager of FirstNet in 2013. He has more than 10 years’ experience as a firefighter, reaching the rank of captain in the Park City Fire Department while also serving as a flight paramedic at Life Flight in Salt Lake City. Immediately prior to joining FirstNet, Kennedy was the director of the public safety and security area for Raytheon.

When he left FirstNet at the beginning of 2018 as its president, he did so having helped build a team that overcame many roadblocks. His steady leadership helped guide FirstNet to the point where all 50 states, five territories and the District of Columbia opted in.

Kennedy helped assemble a team of technology and public safety officials from both the public and private sector, helping lay the groundwork for the success of the network.

“I’m most proud of the incredible team we built at FirstNet with talent from the public safety, wireless technology community and all levels of government, who were absolutely committed to providing the most advanced mission-critical broadband network to police officers, firefighters and paramedics across the country,” Kennedy said.

“The team executed every day on our strategic road map to deliver the largest public-private partnership our country has ever seen and it has resulted in an unprecedented partnership with AT&T that is already delivering a nationwide public safety 4G LTE network today with priority and pre-emption to our nation’s first responders.”

Kennedy is widely recognized for his steady leadership and guidance of FirstNet, which four to five years ago was viewed by some through concerned, even skeptical eyes. In good part, because of Kennedy, the network is now on solid ground.