We are excited to introduce you to Jonathan Barsness, PhD, an Intelligence Analyst with Concentric Advisors. Joining our team in early 2020, Jonathan brings extensive intelligence knowledge and experience to our team supporting clients.
What is a typical day for you like at Concentric?
Typical usually involves responding to unanticipated events. Clients often come to us when there is an emerging challenge, so a typical day usually presents a mix of listening to clients express a need, formulating a strategy about how best to address that need, designing a product or deliverable, and coordinating within our various teams to make sure we execute the plan and exceed expectations. A typical day goes fast.
How long have you been at Concentric and what part of your job do you find most fulfilling?
I’ve been with Concentric for ten months. The most fulfilling part of my job is working with a very talented team of kind and down-to-earth people. When clients present us with a problem to solve, I get to watch multiple team members with very different skill sets attack it. Collectively, we have strengths in research design, data and query science, deep and dark web monitoring, investigations, language and regional expertise, as well as intelligence backgrounds that combine for really unique approaches to problem solving. But the best part is that we genuinely get along, unless we’re playing trivia. That gets quite competitive.
What is your educational and professional background before joining Concentric?
I have master’s in Conflict Resolution and a PhD in Political Science. I was embedded with Facebook’s Crisis Response team prior to joining Concentric.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Hiking in Washington and traveling to Mexico.
What are you most looking forward to over the next year?
Doing meaningful intelligence work in a time of intense domestic political upheaval and persistent global health challenges. I am fortunate to have a job that I think matters and I look forward to doing it. Also, after working in the service industry throughout most of my education, I miss going to restaurants. Hopefully that becomes possible in 2021.
