EAD Larissa Knapp

Larissa L. Knapp was selected as Executive Assistant Director (EAD) of the National Security Branch at FBI Headquarters (FBIHQ) in Washington, D.C. on May 23, 2021. As EAD, Ms. Knapp will oversee all national security investigative and intelligence operations, including counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and weapons of mass destruction cases, as well as the Terrorist Screening Center.

Ms. Knapp started her FBI career in 1997 as a Special Agent in the New York Field Office, where she investigated criminal computer intrusion and intellectual property matters. She later transferred to the FBI office on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 2003 to work counterterrorism.

In 2006, Ms. Knapp transferred to FBIHQ where she was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent. While assigned to the Counterterrorism Division (CTD), she served as an FBI detailee to the CIA in varying capacities until 2010. In 2011, she became field supervisor of a counterterrorism squad at the Washington Field Office (WFO). From that role, Ms. Knapp was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of intelligence at WFO in 2014.

Returning to FBIHQ in 2016, Ms. Knapp was promoted to Section Chief of CTD’s Counterterrorism Internet Operations Section. In this role, she led the coordination, support, and oversight of FBI investigations to detect and disrupt cyber terrorist networks and operatives.

Named Deputy Assistant Director of the Intelligence Operations Branch in the Directorate of Intelligence in 2017, she oversaw strategic technology applications to improve agility and ensure cutting-edge technical capabilities were available to the workforce. Within this role, she also led all program management, policy, and outreach efforts to ensure the FBI’s corporate intelligence business practices were standardized and integrated across the organization.

In 2018, she returned to WFO as the Special Agent in Charge of counterterrorism and was later promoted to Assistant Director of the Security Division at FBIHQ in 2020.

In February 2021, Ms. Knapp was named EAD of the Human Resources Branch, which includes the Human Resources, Security, and Training divisions. While serving as the EAD, she also led the FBI’s business functions as the acting Associate Deputy Director.

Ms. Knapp served on the Asian Pacific American Advisory Committee and the Cross-Cultural Mentoring and Sponsorship Program. She grew up in upstate New York and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Union College in New York and a Juris Doctor from Hamline University in Minnesota.