Dee Neely
Dee Neely is a highly accomplished security and law enforcement professional with more than two decades of experience spanning executive protection, criminal investigations, and homeland security. She is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Neely Solutions Inc., where she provides physical security assessments and strategic guidance to a diverse range of clients. She most recently served as Senior Manager of Executive Protection at Delta Air Lines, where she led the company’s executive protection program, directed comprehensive security assessments, and developed enterprise-level risk mitigation strategies, including authoring the organization’s Active Aggressor Plan. In addition to overseeing operations within a 24/7 Security Operations Center, she contributed to corporate culture initiatives as a member of the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, reinforcing her commitment to both safety and organizational excellence.
Neely’s career in public service was shaped by a lifelong commitment to law enforcement, a goal she set for herself as early as first grade. She began her federal career as an administrative assistant with the U.S. Secret Service before advancing to the Uniformed Division, later becoming a Special Agent and ultimately a Supervisory Special Agent. Over approximately 30 years of service within what became the Department of Homeland Security, she led complex protective operations, conducted high-level financial and counterterrorism investigations, and delivered critical briefings across government and private-sector partners. Her experience also includes a detail with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where she supported national security investigations and efforts to counter evolving threats.
Following her retirement from federal service around 2020, Neely transitioned her focus toward education and mentorship. A graduate of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School, where she earned her Master’s degree in Security Studies, she remained deeply engaged with the program and now serves as an instructor, co-facilitating the Emergence Program for developing homeland security leaders. Through both her instructional role and consulting work, she continues to empower professionals to navigate complex security environments, strengthening organizations through leadership, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous learning.
• University of Maryland - BA, English Language and Literature, General
• University of Phoenix - MBA
• Naval Postgraduate School - MA, Security Studies-Center for Homeland Defense and Security
• Community volunteering with daughter
• Senior center volunteering
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to tenacity. I knew when I was young that I wanted to be a police officer, literally from the first grade when you had to write down what you want to be when you grow up. When you know you want to be a police officer that young, you carry your life like that. You don't get in trouble, you don't do things that are going to thwart what you believe that you want to be. My wants for what I thought was a successful adult and a successful career kept me on a straight and narrow. I had an uncle who was a police officer, and I looked at how he carried himself. I looked at the few women that I saw also in the career, and I read a lot. Those things are probably what kept me focused. Once I became an adult and had a girl child, I wanted her to see the strength in her mother, so she knows that she also has inherited that same strength and can do and be whatever she wants to. I started that pretty young with her too, just feeding into her. The things that I taught her in her youth, she still remembers, and she still doesn't do things that are against what I believe and also against our faith.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to someone going into security, be secure in who you are. Know your stuff, and don't let someone else try to talk you into or out of something that you know is right or wrong. Just be very secure in yourself, because this is a type of profession that if you don't show that you are secure in what you're doing, then no one else will trust you to help them do what it is that you would do in terms of a secure environment, whether you're a police officer or an agent or just anybody. You just have to show that you are secure in what you're doing, and then just learn. Just continue to learn. That's one of the things that I really appreciate about CHDS, because it allows people to be in a place and a space to slow down and learn some things, and learn more about your own profession, so you can go back and do it better.
Locations
Neely Solutions Inc.
Mcdonough, GA 30253