Brian Kitching

Brian M. Kitching is one of the most decorated and dimensionally accomplished soldier-scholars of his generation - a Silver Star recipient who has commanded under fire in over 200 combat engagements, shaped policy from inside the West Wing of the White House, and now leads global operations strategy at one of America's fastest-growing financial technology companies. Featured in James Patterson's #1 national bestseller "American Heroes," Kitching's story is the rare American narrative that spans the battlefields of Afghanistan, the corridors of national power - and the quiet courage required to acknowledge a hidden wound.

THE BATTLEFIELD

On the morning of October 4, 2012, in the dense cannabis fields of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, then Captain Brian Kitching stood in the open - exposed to the fire of ten to twelve enemy insurgents, and chose to sprint one hundred meters across an open field to pull security for his advancing soldiers. He had already ordered the medical evacuation of two wounded men. He had already directed his platoon's suppressive fire. Now, under withering enemy contact, he cleared a safe corridor through an IED field with his own hands. For his conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity, the President of the United States awarded him the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest decoration for battlefield valor.

That morning was not an aberration. Over the course of more than 50 months deployed in combat, Kitching led his soldiers through more than 200 battles, earning six Bronze Stars, two for valor, along with the Legion of Merit. His final battalion command brought 800 soldiers through live fire operations and preparation for a potential European deployment in support of Ukraine, engineering the rapid mobilization of 6,000 troops, attack helicopters, and armored vehicle fleets. He served with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the 75th Ranger Regiment, commanding multinational special operations task forces across denied regions and 22-nation interagency environments. He is a Downing Scholar at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and a military research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London.

LEADERSHIP - BUSINESS, SPORTS & GOVERNMENT

The crucible of combat is perhaps the world's most unforgiving classroom in leadership, and Brian Kitching has spent his post-military career translating those lessons into transformative insights for audiences across the private sector, professional sports, and government. He has delivered keynote addresses to professional and NFL, NHL, and NCAA athletic programs, Fortune-level corporations, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations, exploring the architecture of high-performance teams, the psychology of decision-making under pressure, and the discipline of leading through uncertainty.

Kitching's corporate credentials are equally formidable. As Vice President of Global Operations & Military Enterprise Strategy at SoFi Technologies, he steers agent performance, employee experience, and strategic operations across one of the nation's premier fintech platforms.

As a White House Fellow serving in the West Wing, Kitching worked at the intersection of national security and domestic policy, contributing operational analysis and strategic guidance to senior NSC and Domestic Policy Council staff on counterterrorism priorities and federal program performance. He directed the evaluation and enhancement of more than $70 billion in federal grants programs, deploying data analytics to reduce redundancy, detect fraud, and optimize mission impact at national scale. It was a vantage point afforded to fewer than a thousand Americans in the program's six-decade history.

COUNTERTERRORISM & GEOPOLITICAL EXPERTISE

Few voices on national security carry the convergence of field experience, academic rigor, and institutional access that Brian Kitching commands. He brings to every engagement the operational instincts of a career Special Operations officer who has personally directed intelligence missions in some of the world's most dangerous denied environments, and the analytical depth of a scholar trained at Harvard, Tufts, and West Point.

As a Lifetime Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Kitching participates in elite policy forums alongside heads of state, cabinet secretaries, and the world's foremost geopolitical strategists. His scholarship at the Combating Terrorism Center and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization has placed him inside the institutions that shape global counter-extremism doctrine. His perspective on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and national security resilience is consistently sought by government leaders, think tanks, and the private sector.

COMMUNITY, VETERANS & SOCIAL IMPACT

Kitching's most personal contribution to American life began not on a battlefield, but in a clinical program. After returning from his fifth and most challenging combat deployment, he confronted what so many warriors never name, and sought care at Home Base, the nationally recognized veteran mental health initiative founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Boston Red Sox. That act of courage, and its life-changing outcome, transformed him into one of the organization's most vocal advocates, inspiring his brother, decorated Green Beret Sergeant First Class (Ret.) Julian Kitching, to seek care as well. Today, Kitching speaks openly and powerfully on veteran resilience and the imperative of mental health care within the military community.

He serves on the board of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE), Georgia's premier nonpartisan education advocacy organization, where he leverages his networks across defense, technology, and finance to advance workforce development and statewide education reform. He is a board member of Raising the Village, directing strategic guidance to an organization alleviating extreme poverty in rural Uganda and Tanzania through sustainable community-led development. He also serves on the advisory board of the Ben Franklin Global Forum, which supports U.S. Special Operations Gold Star Families navigating the transition from service to civilian life.

EDUCATION & RECOGNITION

Kitching holds a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Alabama A&M University. He is a member of the Leadership Georgia class of 2025, an active member of the White House Fellows Foundation and Association, and was recognized as Distinguished Soldier of the Year by the Ben Franklin Global Forum. His story was selected for inclusion in American Heroes, the #1 national bestseller by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann, alongside Medal of Honor recipients and the nation's most celebrated warriors.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Brian Kitching and other top speakers and celebrities.