Biography

Mr. Goldenberg, President of Cardinal Point Strategies, is Senior Fellow at Rutgers University and Chief Policy Advisor to the Rutgers Center on Policing, responsible for Policy and International Policing matters. Mr. Goldenberg is a highly decorated 30-year criminal justice and global security professional recognized by America’s leading national security publication as the Most Influential Person in Homeland Security for 2021.

In 2011 President Obama appointed Mr. Goldenberg as a senior advisor to US Department of Homeland Security and was again reappointed in 2016 by President Trump’s administration serving over ten years as senior advisor to six sitting Secretaries. During his service he led some of the department’s most complex initiatives, such as the 2019 Subcommittee for the Prevention of Targeted Violence Against Faith Based Communities, where several of his recommendations were adopted by US Congress for implementation. He also chaired the DHS National Cyber Security and Foreign Fighter Task Forces. 

During Europe’s recent wave of terror attacks, senior police and government officials from the UK, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and France, requested his guidance for the purpose of building capacity between vulnerable communities and national police service. Mr. Goldenberg and his team worked on the ground in Europe throughout and in the wake of some of Europe’s worst terrorist attacks.

His public career includes more than two decades as a former senior official for the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office, Commissioner/Director of the nation’s 6th largest social service and juvenile justice system, and as principal law enforcement officer heading investigation efforts for nationally renowned cases of domestic terrorism, hate crimes, political corruption, and organized crime. His law enforcement experience included serving five years as a deep undercover agent for the South Florida Strike Force where he often operated out of hostile environments and carried out complex assignments, including the infiltration of organized crime cartels engaged in gun trafficking and stolen vehicles. For his efforts, Paul was recipient of Florida’s most distinguished law enforcement medal of valor: South Florida’s Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. His on-the-ground works led to the prosecution and arrest of over 150 offenders.

In 2004, at the request of members of US Congress, Mr. Goldenberg spearheaded an international law enforcement mission for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest government security organization, during which he operated in more than eight European nations including Ukraine, Hungary, Kosovo, and Croatia tasked with counseling government and NGOs on topics such as community conflict, hate crimes, and the advent of transnational extremism. Many of his recommendations were implemented throughout Europe. Mr. Goldenberg has received numerous honors while working as a law enforcement officer in urban Essex County, New Jersey.

Mr. Goldenberg has testified before the U.S. Congress, Presidential Commissions, the British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, EU, Helsinki Commission, and appeared as an expert panelist and guest speaker at transnational security forums, both in the U.S. and abroad. He has been profiled, interviewed, and has also contributed to leading tv shows and publications worldwide, including Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Der Spiegel. He has received numerous honors from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, African American and Asian Indian advocacy groups, and organizations here in the USA and abroad.

Since 2005 Mr. Goldenberg has led Cardinal Point Strategies, a public policy firm working with government, NGO, and corporate clients. Cardinal Point concentrates on new and innovative public safety technologies seeking to advance the safety and security of democratic institutions. Mr. Goldenberg also serves as policy advisor to the NCRI Network Contagion research Institute.