{{Short description|Former American FBI spokesperson and special agent}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
'''Cassandra "Cassi" McWilliams Chandler''' (born ca 1958) is a retired special agent and spokesperson for the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. She was the first woman to be appointed an assistant director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs and the first African-American woman to be named a special agent in charge of a field office.
== Biography == {{Infobox person | name = Cassandra Chandler | image = Cassandra Chandler at Fort Sill.jpg | caption = Cassandra Chandler speaking at Fort Sill in honor of Black History Month, 2012 | birth_date = Cassandra McWilliams | alma_mater = Louisiana State University, Journalism and English<br> Loyola University New Orleans College of Law J.D. | years_active = 1985–2008 | employer = Federal Bureau of Investigation | known_for = FBI Agent | spouse = Special Agent C. Carl Chandler | children = 1 | website = https://www.vigeoalliance.com/cassi-chandler }} Cassandra McWilliams grew up in Compton, Los Angeles. When she was eight years old, her single mother moved the family to Geismar, Louisiana. As a child, she grew up wanting to be an attorney, thanks to her mother's urging.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sward |first=Susan |date=November 29, 1997 |title=Making History in the FBI / First black woman to hold high post in district office is assigned to S.F. |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Making-History-in-the-FBI-First-black-woman-to-2793050.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132924/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Making-History-in-the-FBI-First-black-woman-to-2793050.php |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=SFGATE |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>
Cassandra McWilliams went on to major in journalism and English at Louisiana State University, with the ambition of becoming a television news anchor before attending law school.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Celebrating Women Special Agents: Cassandra Chandler (2012) |url=https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/cassandra-chandler-women-agents-2012.mp4/view |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation |language=en-us}}</ref> As she planned, McWilliams went on to work as a television reporter and news anchor for a NBC affiliate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Holden |first=Henry M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gAtUeJbGzYC&dq=Cassandra+Chandler+fbi&pg=PA28 |title=To Be an FBI Special Agent |date=2005 |publisher=MBI Publishing Company LLC |isbn=978-0-7603-2118-8 |pages=28 |language=en}}</ref> She spent several years on-air before attending Loyola Law School in New Orleans.<ref name=":0" /> After receiving her Juris Doctor, McWilliams worked as a lawyer for the United States Army Corps of Engineers.<ref name=":1" />
=== FBI agent === While attending law school, McWilliams was working part time in a newsroom when a suspected bank robber called the station asking to be put on the news. Instead, the station manager encouraged her to call the FBI. The experience piqued her interest in a law enforcement career.<ref name=":0" />
In 1985, she became a special agent with the FBI. Shortly after joining the agency, she married her husband, Carl Chandler, also a Special Agent at the FBI.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Norment |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGhBnOWqtyEC&dq=Cassandra+Chandler+fbi&pg=PA80 |title=Cassandra Chandler, Assistant Special Agent, FBI. Ebony Magazine |date=April 1999 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |pages=80 |language=en}}</ref>
Her first postings were to the New Orleans and then the Los Angeles field offices, where it was rare for a woman, and especially a black woman, to be a FBI special agent.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Director Mueller Announces the Appointment of Cassandra M. Chandler as Assistant Director for Training |url=https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/pressrel/press-releases/director-robert-s.-mueller-iii-announced-today-the-appointment-of-cassandra-m.-chandler-as-assistant-director-ad-for-training |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=FBI |language=en-us}}</ref>
Chandler described an early encounter in the field: <blockquote>"I remember once while a new agent in New Orleans, I was working on huge financial institution fraud cases. Well, I needed help carrying boxes to the office. I asked a couple of guys in the office for help. The senior officer looked at me and said, 'Can you carry those boxes up?' I said yes. He then asked if I was a special agent and I said yes. Finally he said, 'Do you carry a badge and gun like the rest of us?' I said yes. So he told me that I was capable of bringing the boxes up myself. At first I was mad. He later took me aside and said, 'You don't want to develop a reputation that shows others you can't do the job because you're a woman.' From that day forward, I carried myself like a special agent. I walked in being like everybody else and people respected that"<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-02-23 |title=Fort Sill Celebrates Black History Month |url=https://www.army.mil/article/74361/fort_sill_celebrates_black_history_month |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=www.army.mil |language=en}}</ref></blockquote> thumb In 1994, she was named as a supervisor of white collar crimes in the San Diego field office.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Cassandra M. Chandler Named Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Norfolk Division |url=https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/pressrel/press-releases/cassandra-m.-chandler-named-special-agent-in-charge-of-the-fbis-norfolk-division |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=FBI |language=en-us}}</ref> There, she focused on cross-border crimes such as kidnappings and healthcare fraud.<ref name=":4" />
After serving 14 years as an agent, in 1997 Chandler became the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco Field Office. At the time, she became the FBI's highest ranking African-American woman in the field.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer |title=Making History in the FBI / First black woman to hold high post in district office is assigned to S.F. |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Making-History-in-the-FBI-First-black-woman-to-2793050.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132924/https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Making-History-in-the-FBI-First-black-woman-to-2793050.php |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=SFGATE |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> In San Francisco, Chandler specialized in financial crimes and health care fraud.<ref name=":2" /> thumb|Cassandra Chandler serving as FBI Office of Public Affairs Assistant Director in 2005 In 2002, she was named the Assistant Director for Training at the FBI, where she oversaw advanced training for thousands of the Bureau's employees.<ref name=":3" /> In 2003, Chandler was appointed the assistant director of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs, becoming the first woman to hold the post.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=2003-07-10 |title=FBI Chief Transfers Rebuked Agent |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-10-na-fbi10-story.html |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In this role, she became the first woman to serve as a national spokesperson for the FBI.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FBI Director Mueller Names Assistant Directors for Congressional and Public Affairs |url=https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-director-mueller-names-assistant-directors-for-congressional-and-public-affairs |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=FBI |language=en-us}}</ref>
In 2005, Robert S. Mueller III appointed Chandler as the special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Norfolk, Virginia.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> She would be the first black woman to lead the office.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Cassi Chandler |url=https://www.spymuseum.org/host-an-event/spy-speaker-series/cassi-chandler/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=International Spy Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-12-13 |title=A NEW SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE: NOT JUST ONE OF THE GUYS |url=https://www.dailypress.com/2005/12/13/a-new-special-agent-in-charge-not-just-one-of-the-guys/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=Daily Press |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Later career === Chandler retired from the FBI in 2008 after 23 years of service. Over the course of her career at the FBI, she received the "Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive Award,” the National Center for Women and Policing’s “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” Award, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives’ “Phenomenal Woman” Community Service Award.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cassandra Chandler Notable Alumni {{!}} LSU Manship School of Mass Communication |url=https://www.lsu.edu/manship/about/accolades/alumni.php |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=www.lsu.edu}}</ref> thumb|Interview with Cassandra Chandler produced by the FBI, 2012 After retiring from the FBI, In 2008, Cassi Chandler joined Bank of America to work in the bank's health care and insurance fraud divisions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cassi Chandler |url=https://www.vigeoalliance.com/cassi-chandler |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Vigeo Alliance |language=en}}</ref> After her retirement, Chandler founded Vigeo Alliance, a company focusing on leadership and risk management.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 4, 2022 |title=LEAFLY ANNOUNCES POST-COMBINATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1785592/000121390022000533/ea153458ex99-1_meridamerger1.htm |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=www.sec.gov}}</ref> Today she serves as a speaker on managing risk and executive leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fraud is Everyone's Business: Cassi Chandler on Corporate Security and Intelligence |url=https://cadencebank.com/insights-and-articles/business/podcast-season-5-episode-2 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=cadencebank.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cassi Chandler |url=https://conferenceconnect.com/speakers/cassi-chandler |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=conferenceconnect.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Don't Miss Former FBI Special Agent, Cassi Chandler Speak on Combating Financial Fraud at the Digital Banking Virtual Summit |url=https://www.lightico.com/blog/dont-miss-former-fbi-special-agent-cassi-chandler-speak-on-combating-financial-fraud-at-the-digital-banking-virtual-summit/ |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=Lightico |language=en-US}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Sylvia E. Mathis, first black woman special agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation * James Wormley Jones, recognized as the first African-American special agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation
== References == {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Living people Category:Date of birth uncertain Category:20th-century African-American lawyers Category:African-American women lawyers Category:Law enforcement officials from Louisiana Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation executives Category:Year of birth missing (living people)