Women in Security - Caress Kennedy

Caress Kennedy

President, Northeast Region/Allied Universal

Caress Kennedy is always seeking out the next business challenge. She was hoping that her career would lead her to a company that she is proud to work for --a market leader, innovator, trend setter offering superior client relations initiatives as well as positive employee support. This is why she joined Allied Universal®.

Starting out as Vice President/General Manager for the New York region, she was later promoted to Managing Partner and now is President of the Northeast region where she oversees more than 26,000 security professionals in eight states.

“Working in the security industry is extremely rewarding as we make a huge difference in our security professional’s lives, offering them competitive wages, benefits, top-of-the-line training and promotional opportunities,” said Caress. “We also provide meaningful impact on our customer’s environments, protecting their assets and their people.”

Throughout her career, Caress has been instrumental in leading high level initiatives such as creating best practices to improve productivity and reduce costs in her leadership role and initiated the Emergency Response program and Special Consortium for School Superintendents after the Sandy Hook tragedy. In 2017, she was honored with the City and State New York’s Above and Beyond Award for Outstanding Women in Business for her exemplary leadership. And, most recently, she was appointed a member of The committee of 200 (C200) -- a prestigious network of top-level women entrepreneurs and corporate inventors.

She was recently asked what advice she would give to someone starting a career at Allied Universal.

“Always strive to enhance your expertise in order to become a subject matter expert, listen to your clients and provide strong support for your employees,” said Caress. “This will make you a better leader. In addition, joining ASIS and earning credentials like a CPP designation is important to your credibility and establishing your personal brand.”

Caress is a current member of the following nonprofit organizations: NYPD Law Enforcement Explorers (board member); New York City Workforce Development Board (member of the executive committee) and the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City.