Michael “Bret” Hood

Michael “Bret” Hood spent 25 years as an FBI Special Agent investigating complex cases while specializing in financial crimes, corruption, and money laundering violations. Upon his retirement in 2016, Bret opened 21st Century Learning & Consulting, LLC, a training and consulting business designed to help prevent people from making the mistakes that lead that first lead them down the slippery slope.

Bret was recruited to become an Association of Certified Fraud Examiners faculty member and was awarded the ACFE’s James R. Baker Speaker of the Year award in 2020. Bret was named the top-rated speaker at both the ACFE’s Global Fraud Conference as well as the Institute of Internal Auditor’s Global conference. In addition, Bret also serves as an adjunct professor of forensic accounting for Mt. St. Mary’s University and an adjunct professor of corporate governance and ethics for the University of Virginia. Bret has previously served as an adjunct professor of forensic accounting for the University of Virginia and Florida Gulf Coast University. Bret is also part of the Forensic Accounting Advisory Council at Mt. St. Mary’s University.

Some of the top public and private entities in the world have sought out Bret to assist them in creating, adapting, and modifying anti-fraud, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering programs in order to interweave the latest behavioral and neuroscience research into their prevention programs. Bret continues to publish articles on best practices in Fraud Magazine, Compliance and Ethics Professional magazine, ACAMS Today, National Mortgage Professional Magazine, and Law Enforcement Bulletin.

Bret is a federal-court certified expert in money laundering and financial crimes. Bret is also the author of the critically acclaimed books, Eat More Ice Cream: A Succinct Leadership Lesson for Each Week of the Year and Get Off Your Horse! 52 Succinct Leadership Lessons from U.S. Presidents.