2018 hazard mitigation stakeholder workshop...facilities map auditorium j j s121, s122, s123, s125,...

2018 Hazard Mitigation Stakeholder Workshop

Building Tomorrow’s Resilient Communities

March 12 – March 16, 2018

Facilities Map

Auditorium J

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S121, S122, S123, S125,

S127 S

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Dining Hall K302, K308, K318

Auditorium E 202 M E

A Pub &

Center Student

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Registration

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Announcements • Most breakout session presentations will be posted to

the Workshop Event Mobi App in pdf format after the workshop.

• Do not park in NETC staff parking spots (marked by blue or red signage). Do not park in handicapped parking spots unless you are authorized. Your car may be towed.

• Workshop certifcates for participants that complete a 119 form will be distributed after the closing remarks on Friday afternoon.

• ASFPM will award 12 CECs for attendance at the workshop for all fve days. Submit your workshop certifcate to ASFPM with the ASFPM CEC Verifcation form to be awarded the CECs.

• A photo release form was provided in the blue EMI folder on Day 1, please complete it and give it to a FEMA room ambassador in any breakout session.

• Still photography will be taken throughout the workshop. If anyone has a concern about this, please let the photographer know and you will not be the subject of the photo.

Dining Hall hours Breakfast Mon–Fri 6:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Sat 6:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Lunch Daily 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Dinner Mon–Sat 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

• The photos taken at the workshop will be used to promote future workshops and hazard mitigation on the FEMA website.

• Please use the Workshop App to “check in” to the workshop breakout sessions you attend. Your feedback helps us gauge interest in certain topics and plan for the next workshop.

• We are collecting feedback electronically this year with the Workshop App. Your feedback is important to us, please rate each breakout session you attend.

• Dinner will be served in the Student Center on Thursday, March 15

• The NETC wi-f signal is verdandi, the wi-f password is N7P2!Cre

Installing the Workshop App:

• Go to your phone’s app store (Google Play for Android, App Store for Apple).

• Search for “Event Mobi”.

• Install the app.

• Launch the app and enter the event code: FEMAHMSW2018

If you don’t have a SmartPhone, you can access the desktop version at: https://eventmobi.com/femahmsw2018

LOGIN

To login, click “Login”, the silhouette in the upper right hand corner. Enter the email you provided when registering for the event. If you did not provide an email, you can still view all pages on the app but will have limited capabilities.

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https://eventmobi.com/femahmsw2018

Welcome to the 2018 Hazard Mitigation Stakeholder Workshop Building Tomorrow’s Resilient Communities

The workshop is devoted to strengthening the partnerships between our community of hazard mitigation professionals through the sharing of ideas and experience.

The workshop brings hazard mitigation professionals together in a welcoming environment to discuss success stories and challenges associated with the delivery of the FEMA mitigation programs. The goal is to advance mitigation strategies nationwide and improve capacity to: address the impacts of natural hazards, effectively manage foodplains, implement HMA program requirements; and to provide tools and guidance to support decision-making at all levels.

The workshop includes 5 days of plenary and breakout sessions devoted to sharing program best practices and project case studies. Topics include:

• Panel discussions that encourage in-depth discussion of critical issues related to mitigation

• Mitigation best practices

• A keynote address by Leslie Chapman-Henderson at FLASH

• HMA subject area and Regional meetings with State partners

• Hot topics and challenges with the HMA grants process

• Mitigation approaches from Other Federal Agencies

• The Community Rating System (CRS) in the post-disaster environment

• Elevation, insurance, grants and mitigation

• Use of available food hazard information to guide recovery

• Enhancing the customer experience

This workshop provides an invaluable opportunity for Federal, State, Territorial, and Tribal offcials to come together to advance mitigation opportunities by: promoting foodplain management, adding value to existing partnerships, and forging new strategic relationships, all of which are critical to reducing risks from natural hazards nationwide.

Welcome, we are glad you are here.

Table of Contents Day 1: Monday, March 12 4

Day 2: Tuesday, March 13 8

Day 3: Wednesday, March 14 13

Day 4: Thursday, March 13 17

Day 5: Friday, March 14 20

Biographies 22

Save The Date 2019 30

Detailed descriptions for each day begin on page 5 of this document.

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Workshop at a Glance

Color Key Plenary Sessions Breakout Sessions Social Activity Listening Sessions

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Day 1: Monday, March 12 8:30a to 10:15a Plenary Room: Auditorium E

– Welcome and opening remarks from Mike Grimm, FEMA HQ – Logistics announcements by Steve Heidecker, NETC – Keynote Address by Leslie Chapman-Henderson,

Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) As the nation’s leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from disasters, the nonproft Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) ® has been at the forefront of the disaster safety and resilience movement for twenty years. From the beginning, FLASH and its legacy partnerships with FEMA and the greater emergency management community have been the cornerstone of their successful effort to increase mitigation public awareness, evolve mitigation policy and practices, and foster change through collaboration. The keynote presentation will feature FLASH President and CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson who will share insights on the organization’s groundbreaking programs and lessons learned, as well as her outlook on the challenges of establishing resilience as a social value in a changing world.

10:15a-10:45a – 30 minute break

10:45a to 11:30a Breakout Sessions (6 choices)

Keynote Speaker: Leslie Chapman-Henderson, Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) Leslie Chapman-Henderson is the president and chief executive offcer of the nonproft Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH), the country’s leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters. FLASH was founded in 1998 and brings together more than 100 diverse partners that share a vision of making the United States a more disaster-resilient nation. Leslie’s experience and expertise span creative, technical, and public policy initiatives. One of her recent projects includes the creation of the award-winning National Hurricane Resilience Initiative – #HurricaneStrong, presented by FEMA, FLASH, NOAA, and The Weather Channel. She promotes resilience through public speaking, testimony, publication of commentary papers, the Road to Resilience blog, and by bringing together disaster safety thought leaders to leverage collaboration on behalf of the cause. In 2016, she and her team organized the landmark National Earthquake Conference that inspired worldwide news coverage and $10 million in additional funding for the Earthquake Early Warning research effort.

Tribal Disaster Mitigation: Protecting Our People, Safeguarding Our Future. Room: S125 Alaskan Native communities have a long history of varied and intense impact from natural disasters, which can fnancially devastate already vulnerable economies and destroy abilities to sustain themselves from the land and the seas. Most native communities have few resources to respond, recover, or even mitigate those impacts despite having adapted to cyclic changes and surviving for thousands of years in isolated geographical areas. We will discuss how the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor is marrying traditional knowledge and western science to create a resilient community for its people. We are reaching out to Tribal communities and Tribal Nations as partners in disaster mitigation and emergency management, which can provide additional support for local and State governments in the development of local comprehensive plans, increasing the number of trained responders, and opening other Federal sources for mitigation strategy implementation. Speakers: Jim Cedeno, Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor, Emergency Manager and Hazard Mitigation Offcer

Willmer Andrewvitch, Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor, Alaska Native Elder and Emergency Management Program Volunteer Voices of State Silver Jackets Teams: What Works for Us. Room: K308 State and Federal Silver Jackets team representatives will share how their teams operate and how they develop interagency efforts, including opportunities to leverage varied resources to achieve mitigation. Representatives will present best practices for team formation, expansion, leadership, operation, focus, interagency project development, execution and open discussion with the audience about their challenges and successes. Speakers: Paul Sclafani, USACE, Floodplain Manager

Phetmano Phannavong, District of Columbia, NFIP Coordinator and Silver Jackets Co-Leader Manuela Johnson, State of Indiana, State Disaster Relief Fund Administrator Jennifer Dunn, USACE, Silver Jackets Program Manager

Emerging Resilience Concepts to Increase Mitigation Investment. Room: K302 An experienced resilience and risk reduction executive will discuss how to engage ideas and products from fnancial backers of community investment like insurance and banks (bonds) which are signifcant drivers of development/redevelopment at the local level and could be signifcant sources of funding and ideas in mitigation and resilience investment considerations. The discussion will address the value of risk transfer in insurance and reinsurance to drive mitigation and an emerging concept called the Resilience Bond which could be a new way to fnance mitigation and resilience projects as well as other innovative concepts such as Reef and Beach Resilience and Insurance Fund to insure a coral reef that provides storm surge protection. Speakers: Lawrence Frank, Atkins, Resilience Program Manager

Alex Kaplan, Swiss Re, V.P. of Global Partnerships

Behind the Scenes of Mitigation Success: What Makes Mitigation Happen? Room: M202 FEMA Region 10 will showcase the process of four communities that have implemented seismic mitigation. The discussion will explore their decision making process, what the path to funding looked like (triggering event/opportunity, sources, timing, application, etc.), and how political support was fostered. Speakers: Angie Lane, Oregon SHMO

Tim Cook, Washington SHMO Amanda Siok, FEMA Region X, Mitigation Planner

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http://www.flash.org/hurricanestrong/

https://lesliechapmanhenderson.blog/

http://earthquakeconference.org/

http://earthquakeconference.org/

Day 1: Monday, March 12 CONTINUED

Phasing Projects Is a Blessing and a Curse: Lessons Learned from Sandy 404 Mitigation. Room: Auditorium J Big disasters = more damage = more money available for hazard mitigation. To better capitalize on available funds, many of the Sandy Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) projects were phased. This allowed subapplicants time and money to perform the necessary studies and design work needed to implement better-than-traditional mitigation strategies. While overall a good strategy, the practice of phasing projects led to many unforeseen complications, including challenges with spending plans, cost-effectiveness, and period of performance. Speakers: Anni Shelton, FEMA Region II, Sandy HMGP Crew Lead

Ashley Hilton, FEMA Region II, Sandy HMGP Crew Lead

Virginia’s HMA Stakeholder Engagement Process. Room: Auditorium E Virginia revised the review and prioritization of HMA applications. Virginia Department of Emergency Management created a stakeholder group to create criteria and invoke a peer review process. The goal was to bring transparency and gain input from key local and regional stakeholders to drive the process. Speaker: Robbie Coates, Virginia SHMO

11:30a – 1:00p Lunch

Tribal Luncheon. Today, all Tribal meeting attendees are invited to sit together in the dining hall at a reserved table at lunch.

1:00p to 1:45p Breakout Sessions (6 choices)

The breakout sessions from 10:45a to 11:30a will repeat.

1:45-2:15p – 30 minute break


Florida’s CRS/CAV Pilot Program: Getting Return on Investment. Room: S125 Florida’s CRS/Community Assistance Visit (CAV) Pilot Program, as designed by the State Floodplain Management Offce, was approved as a 30-month project by FEMA/Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) to encourage all communities in Florida to participate in the CRS. The program targeted communities not participating in CRS and required them to be compliant and adopt seven performance measures. The program produced dynamic results in improved foodplain management with documented return on investment despite some communities not joining the CRS. Speakers: Steve Martin, Florida State NFIP Coordinator and Floodplain Manager

Teaming to Reduce Flood and Erosion Hazards after Wildfres. Room: K302 While most of the country has focused on the hurricanes that struck the southeastern United States, wildfres have affected signifcant acreage in the northwestern and western portion of the country in the past several years. While signifcant information about post-wildfre recovery and assistance opportunities is available, identifying appropriate resources and coordinating activities to effectively mitigate the risks can be challenging for local jurisdictions and the public. The panel will share lessons learned from a FEMA-led post-wildfre response in Washington State supported by a Washington Silver Jacket Team. This multi-agency effort showcases an effective model for coordinated risk reduction that can be used in other watersheds to assist local jurisdictions and the public in identifying appropriate resources, reducing redundancies by sharing data and analytical results, and increasing community awareness of risks. Speakers: Ellen Berggren, USACE, National Silver Jackets Deputy Program Manager

Katherine Rowden, National Weather Service, Service Hydrologist Dennis Staley, US Geological Survey, Landslide Hazards Research Scientist Craig Nelson, Okanogan Conservation District, Washington, District Manager Travis Ball, USACE, Hydraulic Engineer

Planning to Action. Room: K308 The session will explore the connection between Mitigation Planning, Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), and the CRS to demonstrate how local communities can incentivize resilient development and mitigate the long-term risks to people and property from the effects of fooding by cross-walking program requirements to improve foodplain management programs at the local level. Speakers: Paul Brewster, Thurston Regional Planning Council, Senior Planner

Nicole LaRosa, FEMA HQ, Senior Policy Specialist Kate Skaggs, Michael Baker, Natural Hazard Mitigation Planner Amanda Sharma, FEMA HQ, Mitigation Planner

Turning Water into Groundwater: Salinas Aquifer Storage and Recovery. Room: Auditorium J Puerto Rico received the frst ever HMA grant for aquifer storage and recovery in the FY2017 grant cycle. The project consists of a combination of new and old infrastructure that provides a cost-effective solution to mitigate drought hazards in the region. The aquifer project will provide water for 31,000 residents of Salinas, agricultural and industrial users, and the Camp Santiago National Guard base. The session will end with a debut video FEMA made about this project. Speakers: Sonny Beauchamp, FEMA Region II, Emergency Management Program Specialist

Carel Velazquez-Pola, Puerto Rico Hazard Mitigation Offcer Gregory Morris, GLM Engineering, Partner

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Day 1: Monday, March 12 CONTINUED

Why Duplicate Efforts? Integration of the Hazard Mitigation Plan Risk Assessment and Threat and Hazard Identifcation and Risk Assessment (THIRA) in Wisconsin. Room: M202 FEMA requires that State hazard mitigation plans include a risk assessment of all natural hazards that affect the State. States must also complete a THIRA, which identifes risks to the State’s core capabilities from natural, technological, and human-caused hazards. For its 2016 State plan update, the State of Wisconsin combined these two risk assessments into one document. This session will explain the process used, and challenges and opportunities encountered along the way. Speakers: Christine Meissner, FEMA Region V, Mitigation Planner

Vincent Parisi, FEMA Region V, Regional Preparedness Offcer Katie Sommers, Wisconsin SHMO

Status of Grants Management Modernization (GMM). Room: Auditorium E FEMA’s GMM program is a multi-year effort to simplify and coordinate the Agency’s business management approaches to grants and establish a common grants life cycle. The ideal grants modernization solution will improve staff productivity and allocation of resources across the Agency. The GMM effort is a user-centered, business-driven approach that engages with stakeholders to fully capture needs, gaps, and transformation opportunities. The GMM effort will streamline a data architecture currently managed by nine primary information technology (IT) systems into a single grants management platform. An integrated approach will improve oversight and monitoring of funding allocations and support integrated data analytics across the program areas for improved effciencies. Speakers: Oz Turan, FEMA HQ, GMM Program Manager

3:15-3:45p – 30 minute break


The breakout sessions from 2:15p to 3:15p will repeat.

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Day 2: Tuesday, March 13 8:00a to 8:30a Plenary Room: Auditorium E

HMA update from FEMA Headquarters. Speaker: Kayed Lakhia, FEMA HQ, HMA Division Director



Government-to-Government Protocols: How It Works with Indian Nations. Room: M202 Government offcials often lack understanding of how to work with Tribal governments. By sharing Declarations of Sovereignty Treaties with Tribal Nations (Public Law 280), we can better understand the government-to-government relationships and how the law applies. Speaker: Dan Martinez, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Tribal Emergency Manager

Post-Disaster Coordination. Room: S125 In the aftermath of numerous disaster declarations across FEMA Region III, many communities received Federal assistance; however, many of these communities did not invest in safer, smarter, and stronger rebuilding. The overwhelming permit and enforcement procedures hindered the ability to rebuild stronger and safer. FEMA Region III recognized that post-disaster coordination between disaster recovery programs could promote safer and stronger rebuilding. In 2015, the Region formed a Post-Disaster Work Group of subject matter experts from different divisions to identify courses of action to improve post-disaster coordination. Speakers: Craig “Julius” Lockhart, FEMA Region III, Floodplain Management and Insurance Specialist

Nicole Lick, FEMA Region III, Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch Chief

National Surveys of Local and State Floodplain Managers. Room: K308 In 2016 and 2017, the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) surveyed the Nation’s local and State foodplain managers to better understand current capabilities, demographics, and issues. The local offcial’s survey is the Nation’s frst and provides important insights as to the identity of the Nation’s local foodplain managers and their needs. The State survey is the sixth, with the frst survey reported in 1989. In this session, ASFPM will discuss the results of both surveys. Speakers: Chad Berginnis, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Executive Director

Bill Brown, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Flood Science Center Director

Rising from the Floodwaters: Louisiana’s Regional Watershed Approach to Project Development. Room: K302 This discussion-based session will provide an opportunity for attendees to share ongoing regional approaches to identifying and solving water control issues within HUC-8 watersheds. Topics for discussion include the Louisiana Watershed Study initiative and the Louisiana Resilient Recovery Pilot (activities). A representative from the Louisiana Governor’s Offce of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness will discuss how the jurisdictions within the watersheds are combining efforts to promote resilient mitigation activities to enhance protection and regionalize group mindsets to effectively and effciently utilize funding. Speakers: Jeffrey Giering, Louisiana SHMO

Shona Gibson, FEMA Region VI, RISKMap Engineer

Capacity-Building for Resilience: A Regional Approach. Room: Auditorium E Strategies to plan for and respond to natural disasters and a changing climate must provide multiple benefts, promote equity, and protect communities and the assets that underpin their well-being. Successful strategies are built on strategic partnerships across public and private sectors. This session will focus on local- and regional-level approaches that demonstrate effective resilience-building and collaborative efforts centered on high-impact practices and transformational change. Speaker: Kristin Baja, Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Climate Resilience Offcer

Mitigation Café: Improving and Innovating HMGP through Private Sector Investment. Room: Auditorium J The Mitigation Café is a facilitated forum where a panel of relevant subject matter experts will engage participants in a two-way dialogue. Each topic will be presented once. This session will focus on exploring creative approaches for increasing investment in mitigation and how various roles (e.g. Floodplain Manager, Hazard Mitigation Offcers, local businesses and organizations) may contribute to achieving the Mitigation Moonshot. Speakers: Stephanie Schmelz, US Department of the Treasury

Julie Shiyou, Smart Home Michael Grimm, FEMA


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Day 2: Tuesday, March 13 CONTINUED


The breakout sessions from 9:00a to 10:00a will repeat except for the Mitigation Café, which will be replaced with the topic below.

Mitigation Café: Exploring Connections between Floodplain Management and Mitigation Programs. Room: Auditorium J The Mitigation Café is a facilitated forum where a panel of relevant subject matter experts will engage participants in a two-way dialogue. Each topic will be presented once. This session will focus on exploring how the relationship between foodplain management and mitigation is being strengthened, especially post-disaster, and what works well in places where these efforts are integrated. Speakers: Robbie Coates, Virginia SHMO

Chad Berginnis, ASFPM Jason Hunter, FEMA Region IV

11:30a – 1:00p Lunch


Regional Planning Organizations as a Tribal Resource for Hazard Mitigation Planning. Room: M202 The Oneida Nation in Wisconsin has formed a strong benefcial hazard mitigation planning partnership with its regional planning organization (RPO). RPOs are quasi-governmental agencies that coordinate work between Federal, State, and Tribal partners and can be useful partners to assist tribes with hazard mitigation planning. The Oneida Nation has tapped into the resources of the RPO to get help with submitting FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grant applications and developing its hazard mitigation plan and updates. The Oneida Nation’s current Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan is used as an example in Emergency Management Institute’s core Tribal Curriculum for Tribal pre-disaster planning. Speakers: Angela Kowalzek-Adrians, Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission, Natural Resources Planner

Kaylynn Gresham, Oneida Tribe of Indians, Emergency Management Director

Mitigation Plan Implementation: Opportunities and Challenges. Room: Auditorium E The Hazard Mitigation Planning Program can demonstrate aspects of program delivery effectiveness, as identifed in 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 201 Mitigation Planning, in terms of compliance (i.e., plan approval status and population coverage), but currently lacks a mechanism to capture how mitigation planning leads to direct or indirect long-term risk reduction for communities (i.e., plan implementation). FEMA Mitigation Planning is seeking input on how to demonstrate the benefts associated with mitigation planning by capturing the linkage between planning and mitigation strategy implementation. Speaker: Leslie Tomic, FEMA HQ, Mitigation Planning Specialist

Preserving Our Historic Building Stock Using Nonstructural Measures and Green Infrastructure. Room: Auditorium J This inter-agency panel will address potential impacts of fooding on historic buildings, discuss opportunities to mitigate future food damages, and weigh concerns over preserving those architectural features that are important to our American heritage. The panel will initiate a discussion on the importance of implementing food risk adaptive measures, such as elevation, relocation, food proofng, rain gardens, and green spaces, to reduce the effects of fooding while protecting and preserving structures of historic signifcance. Speakers: Randall Behm, USACE, National Nonstructural Committee Chairman

Stephen O’Leary, USACE, National Nonstructural Committee Executive Secretary Beth Burgess, Howard County, Maryland, Resource Conservation Division Chief

Rebuilding with Greater Resiliency: The Incident Resource Inventory System (IRIS) Viewer and the Compilation of Data Behind It. Room: K302 Following Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, resilience became a priority for many New Jersey municipalities and provided an opportunity to begin the tough conversations with communities understanding their risks to future storm events. A team at Rutgers University, with acknowledgements to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Offce of Emergency Management, developed a three-dimensional elevation model of all homes, businesses, and infrastructure in Ocean County shoreline communities located within Zones A and V on Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps. An online viewer was developed to visualize the mobile-based LiDAR collected in these areas. First foor elevations were estimated and examined against elevation certifcates. These data can be viewed alongside previous damage data (collected by the National Flood Insurance Program [NFIP] and FEMA Substantial Damage assessments) and projected food hazard data to understand which properties are at risk from future storm events. Speakers: Jennifer Whytlaw, Rutgers University, GIS Manager

Jie Gong, Rutgers University, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

HMA Grant Applications Reviews: Lessons Learned from a Federal and State Perspective. Room: K308 In December 2017, the engineering and construction company CDM Smith reviewed project applications for FMA and PDM grants on behalf of FEMA as part of the National Technical Review process. Several applications were not recommended for further consideration due to technical and/or beneft-cost analysis defciencies. Since 2014, the State of Florida has successfully utilized the Program Administration by States authority to establish a more streamlined grant approval process, allowing communities to get the hazard mitigation funds they need faster. Since being delegated grant approval responsibilities, the State of Florida has approved hundreds of projects and helped obligate millions of dollars in Federal funding. This session will include a summary of lessons learned, common problems, recommended potential fxes, recommended resources for application development, and examples of “Best in Class” applications. The goal is to provide guidance on improving applications submitted, thereby increase their funding potential. Speakers: Eric Kenney, CDM Smith, Senior Project Manager

Manny Perotin, CDM Smith, Senior Project Manager

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Fast and Furious: Use of Remote Damage Assessments during Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Room: S125 The 2017 hurricane season has been intense, with three major hurricanes hitting the United States over a 4-week span. FEMA contracted with Dewberry to develop rapid inundation and other geospatial products that the Agency could use for decision-making, including payment of $17 million in expedited rental assistance within 10 days of Hurricane Harvey. This session will describe the process and data sources used to create these products and how they were applied for remote damage assessment. The session will also cover how FEMA and its State and local partners could use these products for mitigation and resilience, including early outreach, substantial damage assessment targeting, project identifcation, and loss avoidance studies. Speaker: Catherine Bohn, Dewberry, Associate Vice President

1:45p-2:15p – 30 minute break





Mitigation Planning Training: Let’s Educate and Train! Room: Auditorium J This session will showcase the implementation, revision, and adjudication of training for Mitigation Planning partners. The presenters will explore the current training environment, areas for growth and development, system access/adjudication, and what works well. They will also discuss the future of training and the process for continuing professional development within the Mitigation Planning Program, including upcoming events and opportunities, resources, and timeframes. Speakers: Bronwyn Quinlan, FEMA HQ, Mitigation Planner

Cathleen Carlisle, FEMA HQ, Mitigation Planner Christine Caggiano, Resilience Action Partners, Senior Mitigation Strategist Mark James, Michael Baker, Planner

North Carolina No-Rise Guidance Document. Room: Auditorium E North Carolina has prepared a detailed guidance document to assist engineers and permitting offcials with the preparation, certifcation, and review of No-Rise Certifcations used to demonstrate compliance with foodway encroachment regulations under 44 CFR 60.3(d)(3). Recent updates include guidance for small stream restoration projects. Speaker: Dan Brubaker, North Carolina, NFIP Engineer

BCAs Can Be Easy, I Promise: A Crash Course in the Fundamental Concepts That Drive Beneft-Cost Analysis. Room: S125 This session will use fun examples to give participants a better understanding of the fundamental concepts that drive FEMA’s Beneft-Cost Analysis (BCA) software. The primary goal is to dismantle preconceived notions that BCA is diffcult to understand by making it more relatable to those working in HMA. Speaker: Anni Shelton, FEMA Region II, Sandy HMGP Crew Lead

How Hurricane Matthew Helped North Carolina Think Differently about Recovery and Resilience Planning. Room: M202 This session will discuss recent recovery efforts initiated by the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management (NCEM) in the wake of Hurricane Matthew to help 50 counties develop resilient redevelopment plans. The plans identify projects centered on four pillars of resilience: Housing, Economic Development, Infrastructure, and Environment. These plans are helping NCEM to prioritize needs and obligations across multiple funding sources. Speakers: Stacy Wright, Atkins, Senior Technical Manager

Ryan Cox, North Carolina, Hazard Mitigation Planning Supervisor

HMA Core Competencies: Do They or Don’t They Exist? Room: K302 This discussion is based on the collaboration of States, local governments, tribes, and territories, and the work of our Federal partners. Given past catastrophic events and anticipated future climate disruptions, HMA Core Competencies are more important for affected areas that will need these types of resources, which will come from a wide variety of capable elements via Federal missions and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. Core task identifcation, training, exercises, task booklets, shadowing, and documentation are key to HMA Core Competencies. Speakers: Tom Hughes, Pennsylvania SHMO

Chris Blinzinger, City of Provo, Utah, Emergency Manager Karen Helbrecht, FEMA HQ, HMA Grants Implementation Branch Chief

Efforts to Maximize 404/406 Mitigation in Region 7. Room: K308 This session presents the efforts of Region 7 to maximize mitigation to build a resilient community. The Mitigation Division hired a 406 engineer (406PE) in the HMA Branch. The HMGP Resource Coordinator trained the 406PE on BCA methodology and sent him to do Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) for the spring 2017 fooding event in Missouri (DR 4317 MO). The HMA Branch Chief deployed a team, including the 406PE, to “front-load” mitigation efforts by making them part of the PDA team. The 406PE was deployed to the disaster and was immersed in recovery scoping meetings and site inspections. This session will examine what was involved and what gains, if any, were made. Speakers: Stacy Robarge-Silkiner, FEMA Region VII HMA Branch Chief

Elizabeth Weyrauch, Missouri SHMO Ashok Samuel “Sam” Sunderraj, FEMA Region VII, Program Manager

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6:30p to 7:30p Trivia Night. Location: Student Center

So you think you’re smarter than a mitigator? All are invited to join a fun night of trivia that will test your knowledge of all things mitigation and resilience and how these topics intersect with pop culture, geography, and history. This informal competition will pit teams against each other for bragging rights the rest of the week. Gather a team or join one there.

LET’S TAKE

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Day 3: Wednesday, March 14 8:00a to 8:45a Plenary – Room: Auditorium E

Remarks from FIMA Deputy Associate Administrator. Speaker: Roy Wright, FEMA HQ, Deputy Associate Administrator for Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration



Cover Your Arts: Incorporating Arts and Culture into Comprehensive Planning. Room: M202 Emergency managers are accustomed to planning to protect hard assets and infrastructure. But how do you plan to protect intangible cultural heritage, the artistic expression of what it means to be human? It begins with the acknowledgment of the arts as an integral and necessary component of our communities. A vibrant arts sector contributes to the health and welfare of a community in the best of times. In the wake of a disaster, art can offer comfort and connection, helping a community heal, move forward, and become more resilient. Speakers: Lori Foley, FEMA HQ, Heritage Emergency National Task Force Administrator

Thomas Song, FEMA Region II, Outreach Consultant

Contour Land Stewardship for Habitat Regeneration, Flood Mitigation, and Groundwater Recharge. Room: K308 In 2010, a juniper-clearing project began on Joint Base San Antonio Camp Bullis Training Area to convert 2,800 acres of dense woodland into an open savanna. No signifcant soil disturbance and no digging was allowed. Three different treatments were chosen: using Skid Steer equipment to make large brush-piles, using a forestry mulcher to mulch the trees in-place, and using “beaver biomimicry” and ancient contour farming practices to lay the forestry debris down in contour lines. The brush piles were then mulched to form long contour mulch piles that signifcantly slow the movement of runoff and allow water to infltrate into the soil. These mulch berms have required little maintenance, are still functioning quite well after 7.5 years, and may provide a beneft to the landscape and the hydrologic cycle for 25 years or more. Speaker: Bryan Hummel, USEPA, Sustainability Advisor

From Drought to Flood and Back Again: Using HMGP to Address Climate Change through Groundwater Recharge. Room: S125 California Governor Jerry Brown has directed all State agencies to prioritize climate change into all funding decisions and requested that the Governor’s Offce of Emergency Services (Cal OES) be more creative with disaster funding. In response, Cal OES used the disaster grant funding from three federally declared disasters this past winter to fund a novel drought resiliency project. A small internal team collaborated with FEMA to engage State and Federal subject matter experts to discuss groundwater recharge project feasibility using HMGP funding. This project is an example of how a small team in any State can create community resiliency to future droughts exacerbated by climate change. This session will explore the State/Federal collaboration to encourage similar projects in other States. Speakers: Nicole Meyer-Morse, California, Science and Technology Advisor

Jeff Lusk, FEMA Region IX, Mitigation Division Director

BRA2C2E (Building Resilience through Advocacy, Action, Convening, Collaboration and Education). Room: Auditorium E Using its BRA2C2E model, Smart Home America increased resiliency in Alabama through building code and policy adoptions and outreach and education, and empowered the creation of a State-based mitigation program. This session will present an in-depth analysis of how and why Alabama leads the Nation in FORTIFIED Home designations, which increases resilience and mitigation activities so communities can better withstand a high-wind and water event and recover more quickly after a disaster. Speakers: Julie Shiyou-Woodard, Smart Home America, President and CEO

Alexandra Cary, Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, Manager of the FORTIFIED Coastal Program

Creating Wildfre Resilience with HMA Grants. Room: K302 As droughts intensify and wildfre impacts continue to increase across the Nation, more communities are seeking assistance to mitigate their wildfre risk. The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, or Cohesive Strategy, offers an all-hands, all-lands framework for addressing wildfre risk. Project and planning activities eligible for funding under the HMA program align closely with the Cohesive Strategy, and can assist communities in achieving wildfre resilience. Join Federal and local experts as they describe current initiatives and share successes and challenges in achieving community wildfre resilience using HMA funding. Speakers: Patti Blankenship, FEMA US Fire Administration, Technical Advisor

Ed Keith, Deschutes County, Oregon, County Forester Brett Holt, FEMA Region X, Mitigation Planning Program Manager Kristen Meyers, FEMA Region X, HMA Branch Chief

Mitigation Café: Increasing Flood Insurance Coverage. Room: Auditorium J The Mitigation Café is a facilitated forum where a panel of relevant subject matter experts will engage participants in a two-way dialogue. Each topic will be presented once. This session will focus on considering innovative approaches for increasing food insurance coverage, ways that various roles (e.g. Floodplain Managers, Hazard Mitigation Offcers, local offcials) may contribute to achieving the Insurance Moonshot, and the impact of increased food insurance coverage on community recovery. Speakers: Paul Huang, FEMA, FIMA Flood Insurance Directorate

Angie Gladwell, FEMA, FIMA Risk Management Directorate Eric Letvin, FEMA, FIMA Mitigation Directorate

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Day 3: Wednesday, March 14 CONTINUED



The breakout sessions from 9:00a to 10:00a will repeat except for the Mitigation Café, which will be replaced with the topic below.

Mitigation Café: Partnerships with Other Federal Agencies. Room: Auditorium J The Mitigation Café is a facilitated forum where a panel of relevant subject matter experts will engage participants in a two-way dialogue. Each topic will be presented once. This session will focus on examining the benefts, challenges, and impact of coordinating and partnering with other federal agencies. This session will also focus on understanding where partnerships with other federal agencies has previously worked well and how that can be leveraged moving forward. Speakers: Kristin Ransom, NOAA Offce for Coast Management

Tracy DePew, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians

11:30a – 1:00p Lunch


U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program and Mitigation Assistance. Room: M202 The SBA provides low-interest, long-term disaster loans to homeowners, renters, and businesses of all sizes following a declared disaster. In addition to providing affordable loan assistance for uninsured or uncompensated private property losses, SBA also provides mitigation assistance. Private property owners may be eligible for up to 20 percent of the total physical damages, as verifed by SBA, to complete mitigation measures. SBA mitigation assistance can also include the construction of safe rooms and storm shelters. Speaker: Alejandro Contreras, US Small Business Administration (SBA) Offce of Disaster Assistance, Program Analyst

Use of Stream Restoration to Build Resilient Natural Communities. Room: S125 Fluvial geomorphology is the science behind how rivers and streams shape the earth’s surface. Streams naturally form to be stable and resilient such that the stream system can transport the water and sediment being delivered by the watershed. The science of stream restoration focuses on principles of fuvial geomorphology to design stream systems and their associated foodplains to function naturally and be self-sustaining. This session will present the principles of fuvial geomorphology along with case studies of designing streams to be resilient. Speakers: George Athanasakes, Stantec, Ecosystem Restoration Service Leader

Rich Pfngsten, Stantec, Senior Restoration Ecologist

The ASFPM CRS Green Guide. Room: Auditorium E The CRS can be daunting for community offcials wanting to enroll in the program, and some communities are undertaking activities to protect their foodplain, coastal, and water resources. The Green Guide, an interactive, web-based resource, is a point of entry into the CRS that focuses on activities and elements that have co-benefts of earning points in the program and doing something good for the environment. Speaker: Chad Berginnis, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Executive Director

Mitigation Reconstruction: Building a Resilient Housing Stock. Room: Auditorium J Jefferson Parish, Louisiana has been awarded over 60 mitigation reconstruction projects. Each project and owner is unique; however, each mitigation project has evolved to enable owners to build new houses that exceed minimum food code requirements as well as create an overall beneft for sustainable housing in the community. The implementation model for our reconstruction programs could beneft other communities by helping them understand how new construction may be an alternative to acquisition or elevation. Speakers: Michelle Gonzales, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Director of Floodplain Management and Hazard Mitigation

Mike Stewart, Bryant Hammett and Associates, Hazard Mitigation Manager Melonie Ellzey, Disaster Resilience Specialists, Owner and Technical Specialist

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) and Mitigation: Survivor Assistance. Room: K302 Repair and rebuild organizations within NVOAD provide assistance in a number of ways and want a collaborative initiative with FEMA to enhance services to survivors. The organization can provide volunteer labor, donated building supplies, and case management services. Some States track in-kind donations and volunteer labor for cost-matching purposes for Public Assistance (PA) grants. Speakers: Tom Vencuss, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Volunteer

Jerry Grosh, Mennonite Services, Volunteer Liz Gibson, FEMA HQ, Voluntary Agency Coordination Section Chief

Mitigation (MT) eGrants Live Help Desk: An Informal Chat and Q&A Session. Room: K308 Join Shawn Servoss from FEMA HQ to discuss the ins-and-outs of the Mitigation eGrants system in an informal setting. Speaker: Shawn Servoss, FEMA HQ, MTeGrants Sustainment Lead


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Day 3: Wednesday, March 14 CONTINUED





Morton Street Channel Restoration/Flood Reduction. Room: K308 This session highlights a multi-agency and multi-departmental project for the City of Lincoln, Nebraska and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District. In addition to infuencing the 5-, 10-, and 20-year food levels, this channel restoration and food reduction project for an industrial part of Lincoln is adding riparian benefts and restoring the channel to a natural state with the removal of debris and other obstacles. Speaker: Mary Baker, Nebraska SHMO

Designing for the Future: New York City’s Climate Design Guidelines. Room: K302 New York City (NYC) released preliminary guidelines on how to integrate forward-looking climate data into design processes to increase the resiliency of City facilities. This session will discuss results of an assessment of the preliminary guidelines in eight pilot projects and how the guidelines interact with NYC Building Code and design standards. Speakers: Mat Mampara, Dewberry, Associate Vice President

Rahul Parab, Dewberry, Associate

Optimizing the SDE Process to Streamline Compliance-Driven Recovery. Room: M202 After Hurricane Harvey FEMA established a Substantial Damage Estimation (SDE) Task Force and supporting Geo-Analytics Cell to quickly design, pilot and deploy a data-driven process to identify structures that were likely substantially damaged. This presentation will show how the SDE Task Force and Analytics Cell achieved their objectives, helped expedite the rebuilding process, and will provide recommendations for how to deploy this approach for future disasters. Speaker: Quentin Cummings, FEMA HQ, Program Analyst

Implementing Hazard Mitigation Measures for Water and Wastewater Utilities. Room: S125 The District of Columbia Water and Sewerage Authority (DC Water) serves as the sole water and wastewater provider in the District of Columbia and processes wastewater from the wider metro area in Maryland and Virginia. During recent FEMA PDM program application cycles and with HMGP post-disaster allocations, DC Water pursued and was awarded funding to harden and protect stormwater, water, and wastewater facilities against fooding and power failure. The hardening of these facilities serves the dual purpose of protecting critical assets from damage and ensuring that the service population receives continuous potable water, stormwater, and wastewater services during and after future natural hazard events. In this session, a representative of DC Water will discuss the method used by the team to identify funding strategy elements and the importance of hazard mitigation measures for critical infrastructure. Speakers: Jonathan Reeves, D.C. Water, Offce of Emergency Management Chief

Edward Fernandez, Arcadis, Senior Planner

Stories of Shared Coastal Resilience: Making Progress on Mutual Goals. Room: Auditorium J Coastal communities are vital to the national economy, yet they are vulnerable to natural hazards such as sea level rise and fooding events. It is now more important than ever for coastal communities to be resilient to dynamic coastal and climatic processes. With the goal of “bouncing forward” as we face natural hazards, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides science, stewardship, and education to States and local communities. NOAA’s Offce for Coastal Management administers the National Coastal Zone Management Program, and provides data, tools, training, and technical assistance to help communities prepare for coastal hazards and recover in ways that make them stronger. Speakers: Kristin Ransom, NOAA, Coastal Management Specialist

Brett Holt, FEMA Region X, Mitigation Planning Program Manager Jennifer Kline, Georgia, Coastal Hazards Specialist




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Day 4: Thursday, March 15 9:00a to 10:00a Breakout Sessions (6 choices)

“Ready-to-Use” Resilience Planning Approaches: Lessons from EPA Partnerships. Room: Auditorium E This session highlights approaches developed in EPA partnerships to enable effective inclusion of environmental and social resilience into hazard mitigation planning. This session will cover EPA’s role in mitigation, what a Regional Resilience Framework can look like, “what” and “where” clean water protection might best ft in a hazard mitigation plan, how to work with a community to design a nature-based hazard mitigation project, and how to focus resources for drought emergency management. Regional Resilience Framework pilots are underway with FEMA Region IX, EPA, and the Bay Area Metro, incorporating hazard mitigation, adaptation, sustainability, and equity into a single-process action plan. Although structured to ft California planning requirements, the Framework is transferable to any State, territory, or tribe, to facilitate implementation with site-specifc requirements and funding streams. Speakers: Abby Hall, USEPA, Policy Analyst

Jason Bernagros, USEPA, Landscape Architect Brian Pickard, USEPA, Team Leader Laura Bachle, USEPA, Offce of Water Brett Holt, FEMA Region X, Mitigation Planning Program Manager

Lessons Learned Related to Building Performance and Building Codes Following the 2017 Hurricanes. Room: M202 The FEMA Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) Program is managed by the Building Science Branch at Headquarters. Following a natural disaster, the team conducts feld assessments and makes technical observations on the performance of buildings subjected to the effects of the natural hazard event. The MAT’s observations are used to recommend changes to building codes and standards groups, prepare recovery advisories, gather information to improve guidance and infuence construction practices during repair, support the integration of hazard mitigation measures into the repair process, provide technical assistance related to codes and standards, and contribute to research efforts. In this session, a representative of the Building Science Branch will summarize lessons learned with respect to building performance and also illustrate the impact that code adoption and enforcement has had on reducing damage. Speakers: Dan Bass, FEMA HQ, Mitigation Assessment Team Program Manager

Manny Perotin, CDM Smith, Senior Project Manager Stuart Adams, Stantec, Associate

406 Mitigation Panel Discussion. Room: K302 This panel session will include a discussion of recent initiatives, policy, and doctrine guiding the implementation of 406 Hazard Mitigation (HM) as well as feld implementation issues. The session will introduce 406 HM as a means of mitigating damage to public facilities and will allow for an open conversation between participants with a focus on clarifying policy. Participants will leave with a better sense of what can be done through 406 HM and how it supplements and complements other disaster recovery and mitigation efforts. Participants are also encouraged to share their concerns about how 406 HM is executed in their jurisdiction. The session is intended to further the dialogue for building a better and more consistent 406 HM program throughout the country. Speakers: Brian Willsey, FEMA HQ, Hazard Mitigation Specialist

Sam Capasso, FEMA HQ, Hazard Mitigation Specialist Megan Wallowak, FEMA HQ, Hazard Mitigation Training Administrator Jennifer Goldsmith-Grinspoon, FEMA HQ, Physical Scientist Sarah Mulligan, FEMA HQ, Policy Analyst

Obtaining Community Input into the Flood Hazard Identifcation Process. Room: Auditorium J FEMA, Cooperating Technical Partners, States, and communities work together to achieve one common goal: producing accurate food hazard maps. Because food risk is always best managed at the local level, it is imperative that local community stakeholders are part of the process and that they understand what they can contribute to develop the most precise food hazard information with the resources available. This presentation will describe some new communication tools that seek to enable this kind of community engagement. Speakers: David Ratté, FEMA Region X, Regional Flood Engineer

Michael DePue, Atkins, Vice President

Choices and How They Can Impact the National Flood Insurance Program. Room: S125 This session will touch on numerous aspects of the NFIP and the choices that have been problematic in achieving the overarching goal of food risk reduction. A representative of the Montana Department of Natural Resources will identify areas of concern and explain how to communicate options to elected offcials whose choices impact communities and vulnerable areas. The emphasis will be on enforcement and land use activities before, during, and after an event. Speakers: Traci Sears, Montana State NFIP Coordinator

Nadene Wadsworth, Montana SHMO

Dam-Related Flood Risks: Engaging the Dam Safety Community to Meet New Challenges Room: K308 The National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) is a partnership of States, Federal agencies, and other stakeholders that encourages and promotes the establishment and maintenance of effective Federal and State dam safety programs to reduce the risks to human life, property, and the environment from dam-related hazards. Dam risk information should be communicated and shared to support a community’s efforts in conducting THIRAs, and developing dam hazard mitigation strategies, emergency preparedness and response plans, and recovery plans. This interactive breakout session will address how the dam safety community and the NDSP can meet challenges posed by dam-related food risks. Speakers: James Demby, FEMA HQ, Senior Technical and Policy Advisor

Preston Wilson, FEMA HQ, Planner

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Day 4: Thursday, March 15 CONTINUED



The breakout sessions from 9:00a to 10:00a will repeat.

11:30a – 1:00p Lunch


Ensuring that an HMA Plan is also an Excellent CRS Plan. Room: K302 The NFIP’s CRS provides substantial credit for foodplain management planning efforts within CRS Activity 510 (Floodplain Management Planning). HMA plans can be credited in CRS if they meet the CRS planning step requirements. With a number of considerations at the start of an HMA planning effort and the consideration of a range of mitigation strategies during the HMA planning effort, HMA plans can score very well in the CRS. This session will highlight the CRS plan considerations and review available CRS resources for Regional, State, and local offcials. Speakers: Bill Lesser, FEMA HQ, NFIP Community Rating System National Coordinator

Sherry Harper, Insurance Services Offce, Senior Technical Coordinator

BCA Toolkit Modernization. Room: S125 The current generation of FEMA’s BCA Toolkit—Version 4.0—was launched in 2007. Subsequent updates to the software have brought us to the current Version 5.3, released in early 2017. However, rapidly changing technology and IT security requirements means that it’s time for the next generation of the BCA Toolkit. Unlike previous versions, which were designed as standalone software applications, BCA Toolkit 6.0 is built on a Microsoft Excel platform. This session will discuss the features of the new Toolkit and provide a live demonstration of one or more of the modules. Speakers: Rebecca Carroll, FEMA HQ, BCA Program Lead and Data Analyst

Jody Springer, FEMA HQ, Senior Data Analyst

Maximizing the Benefts of the State Mitigation Program Consultation. Room: Auditorium E At least two rounds of State Mitigation Program Consultations have been completed since the new Consultation requirement was established in the State Mitigation Plan Review Guide. Initial guidance was provided through the Consultation Toolkit; however, considerable fexibility has been given to the Regions and States to customize the Consultations to their needs. In this session, FEMA Region IV will share the different ways that the Consultations have been conducted to gather ideas to increase the value of the Consultation to all participants. The panel discussion will include panelists from the States and FEMA who have participated in the Consultations. Speakers: Lillian Huffman, FEMA Region IV, Mitigation Planning Program Analyst

Jacky Bell, FEMA Region IV, HMA Branch Chief Brett Holt, FEMA Region X, Mitigation Planning Program Manager Laurie Bestgen, FEMA Region VII, Mitigation Planner Tim Cook, Washington SHMO Tom Morey, Kansas State Floodplain Manager Ryan Cox, North Carolina, Risk Mitigation Planning Supervisor

Protecting Infrastructure the “Green” Way. Room: Auditorium J Opportunities abound in a post-disaster environment to repair and replace food-damaged infrastructure in an environmentally friendly manner. Traditional methods of armoring with rock, commonly known as riprap, may not work. Bioengineered bank stabilization has gained traction over the years as an alternative and acceptable method of repair. By mimicking Mother Nature’s design through incorporation of living materials, this method can often provide a stronger, longer-lasting, and less costly repair. This session will address various types of bioengineered bank stabilization used in the Pacifc Northwest, the pros and cons associated with their design and construction, and their applicability to HMA grants. Speakers: Mark Eberlein, FEMA Region X, Environmental Offcer

Ken Sessa, FEMA Region VII, Environmental Offcer





3:30p to 5:30p Poster Session Mixer. Room: Student Center A variety of best practices and success stories will be presented as static poster displays for this networking event. The mixer is an opportunity for meeting attendees to ask questions of people who are familiar with the projects in a casual one-on-one setting.

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Day 5: Friday, March 16 8:00a to 9:30a Regional Meetings

Region I – Room S122 Region IV – Room S127 Region VII – Room S123 Region X – Room K302 Region II – Room K308 Region V – Room S121 Region VIII – Room M202 Region III – Room K318 Region VI – Auditorium E

9:30a – 10:00a – 30 minute break

10:30a to 11:30a Optional Meetings

Mitigation Challenges and Best Practices in Tribal Communities. Room: K302 This will be a roundtable discussion for all those interested in better understanding the challenges facing tribal communities as they engage in mitigation activities. This will include sharing best practices and success stories of tribal communities in mitigation, and identifying where new tools and/or guidance may be needed to ensure all tribal communities have access to the information and skills they need to become more resilient to natural disasters. Speakers: Kaylynn Gresham, Oneida Tribe of Indians, Emergency Management Director

Paula Gutierrez, Santa Clara Pueblo, Disaster Recovery Manager Tracy DePew, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Director of Emergency Management Milo Booth, FEMA HQ, National Tribal Affairs Advisor Tim Zientek, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Emergency Manager and Inter-Tribal Emergency Management Coalition (iTEMC) Executive Director

NFIP Coordinators Meeting. Room: M202 All NFIP Coordinators are encouraged to attend this breakout session. We will discuss changes to the 2018 Community Assistance Program – State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) grant in a 90-minute facilitated meeting. This grant program provides funding to states so they can provide technical assistance to communities who participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), including evaluating a community’s performance in implementing NFIP foodplain management activities. HMA Data Visualization. Room: Auditorium E Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) data is used to drive informed decision making by FEMA leadership, the NRCC/RRCC and responding to inquiries from legislators, media and the public. Over the past year the Grants & Data Analytics team has been leveraging Tableau, ArcGIS, Enterprise Data Warehouse and OpenFEMA to present data in easier to understand visual formats. Come learn about the new application of this technology and discover what we have planned for the future. Share your feedback on these products and participate in the question and answer session. Speakers: Amanda Damptz, FEMA HQ, Data Analyst

Jody Springer, FEMA HQ, Senior Data Analyst Rebecca Carroll, FEMA HQ, Data Analyst and BCA Lead Shawn Servoss, FEMA HQ, MT eGrants Sustainment Lead

FEMA Floodplain Management Meeting. Room: S125 FEMA Floodplain Management Staff from the regions and headquarters are encouraged to attend this discussion session. The session will be used to review ongoing foodplain management projects and initiatives which may include: planning and implementation of programmatic changes to CAP-SSSE, post-disaster compliance efforts, and CRS CAV alternative data collection.

11:30a – 1:00p Lunch

1:00p to 1:30p Plenary: Closing Remarks

There will be closing comments and workshop certifcates will be distributed. Thank you for attending!

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Biographies Stuart Adams Associate, Stantec

Stuart Adams is an Associate at Stantec with expertise in natural hazard mitigation, post-disaster data collection methodologies, forensic assessments, building codes analyses, and climate resilience. He is a technical resource for community resilience to federal, state, and local clients, including FEMA, Housing Authorities, and Transportation Departments. Mr. Adams serves as the Building Science Program Area Manager for STARR II, is the contractor lead for the Puerto Rico Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT), and is an active subject matter expert for the U.S. Virgin Islands MAT.

Ferrin Affeck Project Manager, Atkins

Ferrin Affeck leads teams of engineering and GIS personnel in the execution of Risk MAP projects in Region 10. Much of this work involves handling the transition of responsibility from local, state, and federal agencies to the Production and Technical Services mapping partner. Mr. Affeck has a technical background in riverine hydrology and hydraulics.

Wilmer Andrewvitch Alaska Native Elder and Emergency Management Program Volunteer, Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor

Wilmer Andrewvitch is an Alaska Native Elder and life-long resident of the community of Old Harbor, as well as a survivor of the 1964 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the entire Kodiak Island. He works as a volunteer in the Emergency Management Program and is helping to spread the message of the importance of pre-disaster mitigation and community unity. Wilmer practices traditional cooking and is an avid observer of the big Kodiak brown bears.

J. George Athanasakes Ecosystem Restoration Service Leader, Stantec

George Athanasakes serves as the Ecosystem Restoration Services Leader for Stantec and is responsible for leading Ecosystem Restoration for the frm throughout the United States. He has served as the Principal-in-Charge, Project Manager, and/or Design Engineer on over 100 stream restoration projects incorporating a variety of restoration techniques. Mr. Athanasakes’s services are often retained to consult on stream restoration projects throughout the United States. In addition, he helped to bring innovation to the feld of stream restoration by leading the development of the RIVERMorph software, which is the industry standard for stream restoration software throughout the United States and internationally.

Laura Bachle Offce of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Laura Bachle has over 30 years of experience in planning, public involvement, and mediation at the local, state, and national levels. She currently works in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Nonpoint Source Program on water quality and hazard mitigation. Ms. Bachle was EPA’s frst National Transportation Liaison to the U.S. Department of Transportation and has served as the Assistant Director in the Wetlands Offce in the Offce of Water and in the Offce of Civil Rights Title VI Program.

Kristin Baja Climate Resilience Offcer, Urban Sustainability Directors Network

Kristin Baja is the Climate Resilience Offcer for the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. In this role, she is responsible for helping cities identify strategic ways to advance climate resilience planning and implementation, and build capacity to take action. Ms. Baja directly supports cities by facilitating deeper relationships between local governments and other stakeholders while advancing learning, collaboration, and momentum around climate resilience and equity.

Mary Baker State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Nebraska Emergency Management Agency

As the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Mary Baker co-leads the State’s Silver Jacket Team and the Governor’s Task Force for Disaster Recovery, and she sits on the State’s Climate Assessment Response Committee. Ms. Baker also serves in an Earthquake Program Manager role and is the mitigation lead for the State’s RiskMap efforts. Mary is a member of the Natural Hazards Mitigation Association and Nebraska’s Floodplain and Stormwater Management Association.

Travis Ball Hydraulic Engineer, USACE – Seattle District

Mr. Travis Ball has worked as a hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Seattle District for 11 years and has managed the Washington Silver Jackets, Flood Risk Management, and Floodplain Management Programs. For the last 2 years, he chaired the Washington Post-Wildfre Flood Committee.

Dan Bass Mitigation Assessment Team Program Manager, FEMA – Building Science Branch

Dan Bass works in the Building Science Branch at FEMA Headquarters. He specializes in coastal construction, FEMA 361 safe rooms, and mitigation measures for structures. Dan has worked on numerous FEMA Mitigation Assessment Teams (MATs) and led the team that assessed the building damage following Hurricane Isaac. He is also the current MAT program manager.

Sonny Beauchamp Emergency Management Program Specialist, FEMA Region 2

In 2009, Sonny Beauchamp was appointed Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program Manager, to provide support to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. His duties include coordinating the administrative and fnancial management support operations for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, Repetitive Flood Claims, and Severe Repetitive Losses for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Recently, he was designated as the FEMA Region 2 Caribbean Area Division, Earthquake Program Coordinator. Mr. Beauchamp also provides technical support in the organization and delivery of trainings and exercises, workshops, seminars, and conferences for state and territory senior government offcials and high-ranking military offcials.

Randall Behm Chairman, USACE National Nonstructural Committee

Mr. Behm is the Chair of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Nonstructural Committee and a 32-year employee of the USACE, Omaha District. He leads a team of diverse water resources professionals across the country in advocating for a comprehensive set of physical and nonphysical nonstructural food risk adaptive measures for reducing life loss and property damages. During his career with USACE, Mr. Behm has functioned as a supervisor, the District Flood Risk Manager, a hydraulic design engineer, and a program manager.

Jacky Bell Chief of the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Branch, FEMA Region 4

Jacky Bell is the Chief of the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Branch for FEMA Region 4. In this capacity, she manages a staff of 21 and provides oversight and direction on three mitigation grant programs, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program. She oversees an overall grant funding portfolio of over $1.7 billion that provides funds for state and local governments that undertake projects to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from future disasters.

Ellen Berggren Deputy Program Manager, USACE – National Silver Jackets

Ellen Berggren is a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Flood Risk Management Program team and is the National Silver Jackets Deputy Program Manager. She joined USACE in 2008, managing food risk management and water supply and ecosystem restoration planning studies, developing interagency partnerships, and supporting Silver Jackets teams in Idaho and the northeastern United States.

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Biographies CONTINUED

Chad Berginnis Association of State Floodplain Managers, Executive Director

Chad Berginnis is a recognized national expert in foodplain management and hazard mitigation with 25 years of experience in various aspects of natural hazard management, food loss reduction, and land use planning/ programs at the state, local, and private-sector levels. He was recently elected to serve on an advisory panel to the Chinese Government on the development of a national foodplain management strategy and he currently serves on a National Academies of Science panel on urban fooding. Mr. Berginnis is also an advisory board member for the Coastal Resilience Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and for the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Jason Bernagros Landscape Architect, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Offce of Research and Development

Jason Bernagros is a landscape architect with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Offce of Research and Development in Washington, DC. His work focuses on developing green infrastructure / stormwater planning tools and facilitating technical assistance programs for communities and municipalities across the United States.

Laurie Bestgen Mitigation Planner, FEMA Region 7

Laurie Bestgen is a mitigation planner with the FEMA Region 7 Risk Analysis Branch. She has 23 years of experience with all aspects of hazard mitigation programs including the development of foodplain acquisition programs, overseeing the management of tornado safe room project subapplications for the State of Kansas, and helping to write 30 multi-jurisdictional local hazard mitigation plans. She has also been heavily involved with emergency management outreach and practice throughout the Midwest.

Patti Blankenship Technical Advisor, FEMA – U.S. Fire Administration

Patti Blankenship is the Technical Advisor to the U.S. Fire Administrator and a member of the U.S. Fire Administration’s senior management team within FEMA. She is one of the developers of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, and implements the Cohesive Strategy at the federal level. Ms. Blankenship chaired the National Strategic Committee and is a member of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council Advisory Board.

Chris Blinzinger Emergency Manager, Provo City, Utah

Chris Blinzinger has been the Emergency Manager for Provo City, UT, since 2010 and has been involved in Emergency Response for over 20 years. He is a member of the FEMA Hazard Mitigation External Stakeholder Work Group, and is a Utah Certifed Emergency Manager. Chris is a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Train the Trainer Instructor, Incident Command System Instructor, and CERT Instructor.

Paul Brewster Senior Planner, Thurston Regional Planning Council

Paul Brewster is a Senior Planner with the Thurston Regional Planning Council in Olympia, WA. His primary planning expertise is metropolitan transportation planning and travel demand management, but he has become increasingly involved with other planning activities, including community sustainability and resilience, public safety services, and emergency management. Mr. Brewster recently led his region’s partners through the third edition of their multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan and led Thurston County, a Class 2 Community Rating System community, through adoption of its third edition Flood Hazard Mitigation Plan.

J. William Brown Flood Science Center Director, Association of State Floodplain Managers

William Brown works to enhance and further develop collaborative relationships with federal, academic, foundation, and non-governmental organization partners with a mission of studying the technical, biologic, social, and economic aspects of food science. During his nearly 30-year career, he has focused on stormwater and foodplain management

programs that reduce food risk while improving the environment. Mr. Brown is currently serving a 4-year appointment to the federal Advisory Committee on Water Information.

Dan Brubaker NFIP Engineer, State of North Carolina

Dan Brubaker has served as the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Engineer for the State of North Carolina since June 2011 and as the NFIP Coordinator since January 2017. He assists North Carolina municipalities with technical questions and reviews engineering reports, reviews engineering information associated with North Carolina map maintenance, and provides training and community assistance visits.

Beth Burgess Chief, Resource Conservation Division Department of Planning and Zoning, Howard County Government

Ms. Burgess oversees a variety of sustainable areas in Historic Preservation, Agricultural Preservation, and the Environment. She is the Executive Secretary to the Howard County Historic Preservation Commission that approves all exterior modifcations to Historic Districts.

Christine Caggiano Senior Mitigation Strategist, Resilience Action Partners

Christine Caggiano is an urban planner and the Senior Mitigation Strategist for Resilience Action Partners, FEMA’s Community Engagement and Risk Communication Provider. As the Senior Mitigation Strategist, she shepherds all mitigation planning and action work on the contract. Ms. Caggiano channels her passion in teaching as the contract lead for all capacity-building efforts. She has helped hundreds of communities build their local mitigation strategies.

Samuel Capasso Hazard Mitigation Specialist, FEMA – HMA Division

Samuel Capasso is a Hazard Mitigation Specialist for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Division, where his primary roles are supporting FEMA Region 8 and managing technical reviews for the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program. Previously, he supervised the Region 2 resiliency initiative and Dam Safety Program and Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program as the Building Science and Safety Team Lead. Mr. Capasso is a subject matter expert in FEMA beneft-cost analysis and was the technical review lead for the $1.44 billion in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program projects at the New York Sandy Recovery Offce. His team was recognized with the 2015 Administrator’s Award for Creating Resilient Communities through Innovative Mitigation Solutions for its work in achieving more than $4.5 billion in 406 Mitigation, approximately 44¢ per dollar of Public Assistance.

Cathleen Carlisle Mitigation Planner, FEMA – Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

Cathleen Carlisle is a Mitigation Planner with the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) at FEMA Headquarters. In this position, she leads project teams to produce policy guidance, training, and other tools to support FEMA’s National Mitigation Planning Program. Ms. Carlisle has also served as Senior Mitigation Planner for FEMA Region 2 in New York City, leading a team of planners providing technical assistance and plan reviews for the States of New York and New Jersey, and as a Hazard Mitigation Project Offcer and Program Manager in FEMA’s Building Science Program in Washington, DC.

Rebecca Carroll Beneft-Cost Analysis Program Lead, FEMA – Grants Data and Analytics Branch

Rebecca is the Beneft-Cost Analysis (BCA) program lead and data analyst at FEMA Headquarters in the Grants Data and Analytics Branch. She has been in this role since 2016, overseeing the effort to modernize the BCA Toolkit.

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Alexandra Cary Manager of the FORTIFIED Coastal Programs, Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety

Alexandra Cary is the Manager of the FORTIFIED Coastal Programs at the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, providing direct support to communities along the Gulf Coast. Ms. Cary serves on the Executive Board of Smart Home America, is the Immediate Past President of Baldwin County Home Builder’s Association, and was appointed to the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research Advisory Board in 2014.

Jim Cedeno Emergency Manager and Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor

Jim Cedeno is currently developing the frst Tribal Emergency Management Program on Kodiak Island under a FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant. He has worked in emergency response at various levels, including civilian and military incidents, and takes pride in his military service and his commitment to helping our tribal nations become resilient and self-reliant. Jim believes that the Creator gave us each a mission and power to succeed.

Joe Chandler Senior Community Planner, FEMA Region 7

As the Senior Community Planner for FEMA Region 7, Joe Chandler is responsible for oversight and administration of the Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning program for the four-state region. This includes serving as lead planner for the review, evaluation, and approval of Disaster Mitigation Act multi-hazard mitigation plans; providing training and workshops to state, local, and tribal offcials with an emphasis on local mitigation planning; developing and reviewing guidance on hazard mitigation plans; and providing technical assistance on the mitigation planning process.

Robbie Coates Grant Manager and State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Virginia Department of Emergency Management

Robbie Coates is a Grant Manager for Disaster Programs with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. He is the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer and serves in the Virginia Emergency Support Team as Plans Chief.

Alejandro Contreras Program Analyst, U.S. Small Business Administration – Offce of Disaster Assistance

Alejandro Contreras is a program analyst with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Offce of Disaster Assistance. As a member of the program and policy team, he helps administer the SBA’s Disaster Loan Program, which provides direct, affordable federal disaster loan assistance to homeowners, renters, and businesses following America’s worst disasters. Since 1953, the SBA has approved over $61 billion to over 2.1 million disaster survivors. The SBA Disaster Loan Program helps disaster survivors to rebuild homes, replace contents, and keep businesses running as well as preserve jobs and spur economic recovery.

Tim Cook State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, State of Washington

Tim Cook has spent about 10 years working in emergency management at the state and federal levels. As the current Washington State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, he supervises the Emergency Management Division’s Mitigation section and oversees the Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs for the state.

Ryan Cox Risk Mitigation Planning Supervisor, North Carolina Emergency Management

Ryan Cox is the Risk Mitigation Planning Supervisor at North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM). For several years, he has provided technical assistance to numerous local governments for hazard mitigation planning. Utilizing risk data that NCEM has been collecting over the last few years, he has led a complete re-write of the North Carolina Enhanced Hazard Mitigation Plan and also is providing leadership and technical assistance to the contractors and communities during the post-Hurricane Matthew Resilient Redevelopment Planning process. Mr. Cox is also an

Emergency Management Accreditation Program Accreditation Manager and Assessor for the State of North Carolina.

Quentin Cummings Program Analyst, FEMA – Floodplain Management Division

Quentin E. Cummings is a Program Analyst within the Floodplain Management Division of the Mitigation Directorate, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), FEMA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. He recently piloted a new remote sensing procedure for damage data collection as part of the Hurricane Harvey Disaster Recovery and served as the Substantial Damage Estimation Geo-Analytics Cell Lead. Mr. Cummings is a former FIMA Resilience Fellow, a graduate of the 2014 FEMA Emerging Leaders Program, and has served various roles both within the FEMA National Response Coordination Center and on multiple disaster feld deployments.

Michael DePue Vice President, Atkins

Mr. DePue has managed food mapping projects in every FEMA Region, with a total of over 75 Flood Insurance Rate Map projects and 17,000 Letter of Map Correction reviews. He is the STARR2 Mapping Lead, overseeing levee review, coastal support, quality control, due process, Coordinated Needs Management System updates, and non-regulatory products. In 2017, Mr. DePue developed a Machine-Learning model of wind and food damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria to predict damage to individual structures. This model reduced overall inspection needs from over 130,000 structures to 30,000.

Jennifer Dunn Silver Jackets Program Manager, USACE – Institute for Water Resources

Jennifer Dunn serves as the national Silver Jackets Program Manager at the Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Prior to her current position, Jennifer served as a planner in the Flood Plain Management Services and Planning Assistance to States Program Manager at the San Francisco District, and an Environmental Engineer completing hazardous, toxic, and radiological waste investigations and clean-up at the Sacramento District.

Mark Eberlein Environmental Offcer, FEMA Region 10

Mark Eberlein has served as the FEMA Region 10 Environmental Offcer since 1999. Previously, he served as a National Flood Insurance Program Specialist and a Mitigation Specialist (Disaster Assistance Employee). Throughout his tenure, he has worked many disasters of varying types, sizes, and locations, both in immediate response and long-term recovery, with the primary responsibility of incorporating environmental stewardship into FEMA grants.

Melonie Ellzey Owner/Technical Specialist, Disaster Resilience Specialists

Melonie Ellzey worked for the State of Louisiana with Severe Repetitive Loss properties for 4 years prior to moving to the private sector where she has continued to work in the Disaster Recovery / Hazard Mitigation feld for the past 5 years. She has been involved in the planning, application, implementation, and closeout process of over $110 million in grant funding statewide.

Lori Foley Administrator – Heritage Emergency National Task Force, FEMA Offce of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation

Lori Foley coordinates the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, a public-private partnership cosponsored by FEMA and the Smithsonian Institution. She has been connecting cultural stewards with emergency managers at all levels of government and fostering the resulting cultural heritage emergency networks since 2003.

Lawrence Frank Resilience Program Manager, Atkins

Lawrence Frank is a professional urban planner serving as Atkins North America’s Resilience Program Manager. With 23 years of experience in hazard mitigation, he has an extensive background in assisting state, local, and tribal offcials in increasing resilience and reducing risk to natural hazards.


Jeffrey Giering State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Louisiana Governor’s Offce of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

Jeffrey Giering serves as the Technical Services Section Chief and the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer for Louisiana. The Mitigation Section, under the Disaster Recovery Division of the Governor’s Offce of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, administers all of FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs for Louisiana. Mr. Giering’s section is responsible for providing technical assistance on beneft-cost analysis, hazard mitigation planning, agency coordination, and programmatic issues. Additionally, the Technical Services section is responsible for the maintenance of the State of Louisiana’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Jennifer Goldsmith-Grinspoon Physical Scientist, FEMA – Building Science Branch, Risk Management Directorate

Jennifer Goldsmith-Grinspoon is a physical scientist with the Building Science Branch, Risk Management Directorate of FEMA Headquarters. Her passion for public service has resulted in 10 years in the feld of emergency management. Ms. Goldsmith-Grinspoon has deployed to more than a dozen disaster events, where she has helped communities rebuild their infrastructure with an eye toward life safety and reducing or eliminating damages during future events.

Jie Gong Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University

Dr. Jie Gong’s general research interest is in the feld of community resilience and sustainability. His recent research focuses on two fronts: (1) using geospatial big data and developing data analytics to support disaster response and data collection, damage assessment and modeling, vulnerability assessment and visualization, risk analysis for critical infrastructure, and debris removal and management; and (2) sensing, building data modeling, and analytics for high performance building systems. He has extensive experience in the areas of remote sensing, structural forensics, building information modeling, data fusion and visualization, and pattern recognition.

Michelle Gonzales Director of Floodplain Management and Hazard Mitigation, Jefferson Parish, LA

Michelle Gonzales worked with FEMA as an Individual Assistance Housing Caseworker post-Katrina, and with the State of Louisiana managing Severe Repetitive Loss grants, prior to taking her current role at Jefferson Parish in 2013. She manages the Community Rating System program and her department has been awarded over $100 million in mitigation funds in the past 5 years. Her goal is to incorporate green principles in all areas of local government.

Kaylynn Gresham Emergency Management Director, Oneida Tribe of Indians

Kaylynn Gresham has over 10 years of experience in the emergency management feld. In the Oneida Nation Offce of Emergency Management, she assisted with the development of Oneida’s frst Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Plan and was responsible for the coordination of efforts to update the plan with the assistance of Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission. The Oneida Nation’s current PDM Plan is used as an example in Emergency Management Institute’s (EMI’s) core Tribal Curriculum for Tribal Pre-disaster planning.

Jerry Grosh Director of Field Operations, Mennonite Disaster Service

Jerry Grosh is the Director of Field Operations for the Mennonite Disaster Service. He is responsible for project operations across the United States and its territories. Mr. Grosh spent 17 years doing community development and disaster relief work in East Africa before joining the Mennonite Disaster Service in 2006.

Abby Hall Policy Analyst, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Offce of Sustainable Communities

Abby Hall works for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Offce of Sustainable Communities and is based in San Francisco. Abby

manages the Greening America’s Communities program, which provides green infrastructure design assistance to cities across the country. Abby also works on issues of disaster resilience and manages a partnership between EPA and FEMA to support better disaster recovery and long-term resilience planning.

Sherry Harper Senior Technical Coordinator, Insurance Services Offce

Sherry Harper manages the Community Rating System (CRS) program as a Senior Technical Coordinator, interfacing with FEMA through the CRS Task Force, conducting workshops, and other related activities. She assists communities in attaining CRS participation and maintaining their classifcation, reviewing food and hazard mitigation plans, and coordinating updates to the NFIP repetitive loss database. Ms. Harper is a member of the American Planning Association, the American Institute of Certifed Planners, and the Association of State Floodplain Managers.

Karen Helbrecht Chief, FEMA – Grants Implementation Branch East

Karen Helbrecht is the Chief of the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Grants Implementation Branch East. She was the primary author of the Hazard Mitigation Planning regulations, and has worked on many of the policy issues regarding the development, review, and approval of mitigation plans. Ms. Helbrecht also assisted in the development of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program regulations, and has worked on several disaster recovery operations.

Ken Hendrickson Green Infrastructure Lead, EPA Mid-Atlantic Region (R3)

Ken Hendrickson is the lead for Green Infrastructure at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mid-Atlantic Region (R3) in the Offce of State and Watershed Partnerships, Water Protection Division. He works with states, communities, and other partners to assist them in their efforts to address stormwater challenges using green infrastructure. This includes managing grant programs such as Green Streets, Green Jobs, and the Green Towns (G3) Partnership; facilitating collaboration between partners; organizing technical assistance; and developing tools, guides, and other resources.

Ashley Hilton Crew Lead, FEMA Region 2 – Sandy Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

Ashley Hilton is a Crew Lead for the Sandy Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in New York. Ashley co-manages the day-to-day operations of the Sandy 404 grants by overseeing a team of four project specialists, with specifc emphasis on the coordination of project reviews with internal partners (Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation, Floodplain Management and Insurance, and Planners), as well as with external partners at the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Brett Holt Mitigation Planning Program Manager, FEMA Region 10

Brett Holt is the FEMA Region 10 Mitigation Planning Program Manager. He provides technical assistance, training, and outreach in the development of sound mitigation planning programs. He represents FEMA on the Washington Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network Steering Committee and previously represented FEMA on the Western Regional Wildfre Strategy Committee. Mr. Holt was directly involved in the development of FEMA’s Local Mitigation Planning Handbook, Integrating the Local Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan into a Community’s Comprehensive Plan Guidebook, and Tribal Mitigation Planning Guidance.

Lillian Huffman Mitigation Planning Program Analyst, FEMA Region 4

Lillian Huffman has been a Mitigation Planning Program Analyst at FEMA Region 4 since 2015. In addition to evaluating local mitigation plans and providing technical assistance to Tennessee, she has co-coordinated the State Mitigation Program Consultations for the past 2 years. Her previous experience includes emergency response planning and geographic information system (GIS) at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and site design as a landscape architect.

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Thomas Hughes State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency

Tom Hughes has been with Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) for 26 years. As the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, he has had oversight for over 250 disaster and non-disaster hazard mitigation projects in excess of $100 million. He also functions as principal staff assistant to the Bureau Director and PEMA Director in hazard mitigation matters, supervises hazard mitigation personnel assigned to the Bureau, and provides oversight on all plans and projects. He is the Co-Chair of the chartered Pennsylvania Silver Jackets Program (replaces the State Flood Task Force), which involves federal, state, local, and professional association stakeholders.

Bryan Hummel Sustainability Advisor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 6

Bryan Hummel has incorporated green infrastructure techniques into habitat regeneration projects across private, state, and federal lands. He was recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainability Advisor for the Hurricane Harvey Restoration efforts. His goal for disaster mitigation is to show how good land stewardship can absorb rainwater like a sponge to mitigate food, drought, groundwater decline, and possibly wildfre with a high return on investment (turning rainwater into an agricultural/groundwater asset instead of a downstream fooding liability).

Mark James Planner, Michael Baker International

As a part of the Resilience Action Partners joint venture team, Mr. James provides strategy and tactical insight into hazard mitigation planning, risk assessment, and mitigation action to build state and local capacity for resilience. Specifc tasks include developing and delivering trainings on mitigation planning and project development to ensure communities have the tools to become more resilient to the impacts of disaster so they are able to recover faster.

Manuela Johnson State Disaster Relief Fund Administrator, State of Indiana

Manuela Johnson is the State Disaster Relief Fund Administrator and serves as the State of Indiana Silver Jackets Team State Lead. Previously, she served as the State Hazard Mitigation Section Chief. She also has worked in homeland security grants and was the Sara Title III Local Emergency Planning Committee feld coordinator.

Alex Kaplan Vice President of Global Partnerships, Swiss Re

As Vice President of Global Partnerships for Swiss Re, Alex Kaplan develops and executes innovative risk transfer solutions to help governments, international fnancial institutions, and non-governmental organizations manage their fnancial risks. Kaplan joined Swiss Re in 2008 as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs representing Swiss Re’s commercial interests before governors, state insurance regulators and legislators, Congress and Federal appointees.

Ed Keith County Forester, Deschutes County, Oregon

Ed Keith has been the County Forester for Deschutes County, OR, since 2012. As County Forester, he focuses on wildfre preparedness issues and fuel mitigation projects in communities and on private lands throughout the wildland urban interface in Deschutes County. His number one priority is enabling people to live safer in a natural environment.

Eric Kenney Senior Project Manager, CDM Smith

Eric Kenney is a civil engineer and project manager with over 12 years of experience supporting various federal clients. Over the last 7 years, he has focused on the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants program, supporting HMA program improvement and technical and beneft-cost analysis reviews of HMA grants. For the last 2 years, he has led the contractor support for the National Technical Review of non-disaster grants, supporting the review of approximately 800 applications for the Pre-Disaster Mitigation and Flood Mitigation Assistance programs.

Jennifer Kline Coastal Hazards Specialist, Coastal Resources Division

Jennifer Kline is a Coastal Hazards Specialist for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Resources Division. Her recent projects include serving as the State Team Lead for the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance Disaster Resilient Communities Action and Implementation Plan, project lead on the Georgia Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Plan, and member of the Coastal Team of the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy. Ms. Kline works closely with local governments in relaying information from federal and other state agencies regarding coastal hazards planning.

Angela Kowalzek-Adrians Natural Resource Planner, Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission

Angela Kowalzek-Adrians is a Natural Resources Planner with over 15 years of professional planning experience. She has completed several natural resource and hazard mitigation planning–related studies and projects. Angela has developed six hazard mitigation plans (including a tribal hazard mitigation plan), nine hazard mitigation plan updates (including a tribal hazard mitigation plan update), and numerous successful Pre-Disaster Mitigation grant applications.

Angie Lane State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Oregon Offce of Emergency Management

Angie Lane has been the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer with Offce of Emergency Management (OEM) since August 2016. Prior to working for OEM, she worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry as a National Fire Plan Planning Coordinator where she supported counties in, and facilitated the process for, developing Community Wildfre Protection Plans. She also acquired and administered grant funds for homeowners and landowners for use in minimizing the risk of wildfre hazards through defensible space and fuels reduction projects.

Nicole LaRosa Senior Policy Specialist, FEMA – HMA Grants Policy Branch

Nicole LaRosa is a Senior Policy Specialist in the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Grants Policy Branch. Most recently, she has been embedded in Monroe County, FL, as the Hazard Mitigation liaison for the Place-Based Recovery team supporting the county’s Hurricane Irma mitigation and recovery goals. Ms. LaRosa led the research effort to identify methods to incorporate resilience in HMA projects using green infrastructure and nature-based design. She also led the effort to develop drought and food mitigation project types using green infrastructure methods.

Bill Lesser National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System National Coordinator, FEMA – Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

Bill Lesser works in the FEMA Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, Mitigation Directorate, Floodplain Management Division as the National Coordinator for the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System (CRS). He coordinates overall operation of CRS through the ten FEMA Regional Offces with the support of the Insurance Services Offce, which provides feld delivery of the CRS to communities.

Nicole Lick Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch Chief, FEMA Region 3

Nicole Lick is a Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch Chief for FEMA Region 3. She manages a team of nine Mitigation Planning Specialists and six State National Flood Insurance Program Coordinators to support 3,227 participating communities in the implementation of foodplain management requirements. Ms. Lick oversees compliance visits, foodplain ordinance review, and use of food maps and studies, and advocates for food insurance coverage.

Craig “Julius” Lockhart Floodplain Management and Insurance Specialist, FEMA Region 3

Craig “Julius” Lockhart is a Floodplain Management and Insurance (FPM&I) Specialist for FEMA Region 3. Prior to his arrival to Region 3, he served as a Team Leader with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps – FEMA Corps. Mr. Lockhart and his team responded to numerous federal disaster declarations in 2016 from Texas to West Virginia to North Carolina.


Jen Marcy Project Manager, Atkins

Jen Marcy has 17 years of experience working with state and local foodplain management authorities, citizens, and FEMA on many aspects of the NFIP. She has expertise in the implementation of foodplain development regulations on state and community levels; community enrollment; the encouragement of higher standards adoption by communities via training and the development and dissemination of messaging and outreach materials and programs; and supporting the development of publications, presentations, and other materials on these topics.

Steve Martin National Flood Insurance Program State Coordinator / State Floodplain Manager, State of Florida

Steve Martin is the Florida National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) State Coordinator and State Floodplain Manager. He has over 30 years of experience working at the state and local level in natural resource management, cultural resource management, and foodplain management. Mr. Martin has seen high rates of development throughout the state in food zones during the past 50 years since the inception of the NFIP. He is the architect of the Community Rating System / Community Assistance Visit Pilot Program.

Dan Martinez Tribal Emergency Manager, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

Dan Martinez has been the Tribal Emergency Manager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon since 2014. He has extensive knowledge as an Incident Commander, Logistics, Operations, Public Information Offcer, National Incident Management System instructor, Community Emergency Response Team Instructor, and Wildland Fires prevention offcer.

Christine Meissner Mitigation Planner, FEMA Region 5

Christine Meissner is a Mitigation Planner in FEMA Region 5. In this role, she works with state and tribal governments to implement FEMA’s Mitigation Planning Program, which assists state, local, and tribal governments to develop 5-year hazard mitigation plans that assess community risk to natural hazards and strategize mitigation solutions for risk reduction.

Bryan Mentlik Hazard Mitigation Project Manager, New York City Emergency Management

Bryan is a Hazard Mitigation Project Manager for New York City Emergency Management. In this role, he is responsible for development of the Hazard History & Consequence Tool as well as working with the City’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program portfolio and Interim Flood Protection Measures initiative.

Nicole Meyer-Morse Science and Technology Advisor, California Governor’s Offce of Emergency Services

Nicole Meyer-Morse has been the Science and Technology Advisor for the Governor’s Offce of Emergency Services for the past 2 years. She was previously a California Council on Science and Technology fellow with the agency. Ms. Meyer-Morse has been instrumental in guiding the agency’s efforts in bioterrorism identifcation and response, and health policies and responses for emerging infectious diseases, as well as developing an agency-wide response to climate change. In this capacity, she has identifed a disaster-related funding source to be used for a large-scale managed aquifer recharge project.

Kristen Meyers Hazard Mitigation Assistance Branch Chief, FEMA Region 10

Kristen Meyers is the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Branch Chief in FEMA Region 10. The HMA Branch provides states, tribes, and communities with fnancial resources to assist them in achieving the goals outlined in their hazard mitigation plans. Ms. Meyers has worked with state, local, and tribal communities across Region 10 to help them understand and reduce their risk to natural hazards.

Tom Morey State Floodplain Manager, Kansas Department of Agriculture

Tom Morey is the Kansas State Floodplain Manager and RiskMAP Cooperating Technical Partner at the Kansas Department of Agriculture. He works actively with the Kansas Department of Emergency Management on the development of mitigation strategies and initiatives for the state. As a liaison with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Silver Jackets program, he works to collaborate with state and federal agencies for food risk management.

Gregory Morris Partner, GLM Engineering

Dr. Morris has over 40 years of experience in water resource management in Puerto Rico and more than 30 countries on 5 continents. He has led teams for the design of reservoirs and other water supply infrastructure and has received the American Water Works Association Fuller Award recognizing leadership in the water supply feld. The underlying theme of his work is the thoughtful design and management of engineered infrastructure. The objective is to achieve sustainable solutions that serve community needs while minimizing environmental disruption.

Sarah Mulligan Emergency Management Specialist, FEMA – Public Assistance Division

Sarah Mulligan works for the Regulations and Policy Branch of FEMA’s Public Assistance Division, primarily focusing on foodplain management, hazard mitigation, resilient building codes and standards, and environmental planning and historic preservation.

Craig Nelson District Manager, Okanogan Conservation District

Craig Nelson is the District Manager of the Okanogan Conservation District. He and his staff were pivotal local resources for private residents of Okanogan County in North Central Washington State following record-setting wildfres in 2014 and 2015. Mr. Nelson and his team of natural resource professionals helped coordinate responses of multiple federal, state, tribal, and local agencies and nonprofts to residents affected by fres and signifcant post-wildfre fooding. The District distributed over $2.5 million since 2014 in post-fre cost-share to private landowners and helped secure many millions more in funding for federal and state agencies.

Stephen O’Leary Executive Secretary, USACE National Nonstructural Committee

Mr. O’Leary serves as a Nonstructural Flood Risk Management Subject Matter Expert, Planner, and Architect in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – Huntington District Planning Branch. He is the USACE Silver Jackets Lead for the State of West Virginia. Much of his career has focused on nonstructural food risk management and the mitigation of many food-prone, historically signifcant structures.

Vincent Parisi Regional Preparedness Offcer, FEMA Region 5

Vincent Parisi is the Regional Preparedness Offcer responsible for strengthening and integrating FEMA Region 5 preparedness efforts to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. He is a past President of the Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management and was the FEMA Liaison to International Committee of the International Association of Emergency Managers.

Manny Perotin Senior Project Manager, CDM Smith

Manny Perotin is a Senior Project Manager with CDM Smith. He has more than 15 years of experience in civil engineering, risk and vulnerability assessments, hazard mitigation, beneft-cost analysis, foodplain management, planning, disaster recovery, and project management. He has worked on dozens of natural disasters as a FEMA Technical Assistance Contractor.

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Rich Pfngsten Principal, Senior Restoration Ecologist, Stantec

Rich Pfngsten serves as a Principal, Senior Restoration Ecologist in Stantec’s Baltimore, Maryland offce, and is responsible for providing leadership, managerial and technical guidance, and training to water resources engineers and environmental scientists in the Mid-Atlantic Region. He is a wildlife and fsheries biologist, and a restoration ecologist.

Phetmano Phannavong NFIP Coordinator, District of Columbia

Phetmano Phannavong oversees the District of Columbia’s food risk management program, including coordinating among agencies to reduce all types of fooding. He is a co-leader of the 2016 Team-of-the-Year award-winning DC Silver Jackets, which brings agencies together to reduce food risks and build a resilient DC in a changing climate. Since 2014, he has engaged with World Cities as the DC representative to C40’s Connecting Delta Cities network, which provides a platform to exchange innovative food risk management knowledge and strategies.

Brian Pickard Team Leader, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Brian Pickard is a Team Leader for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he works on drinking water and emergency response-related projects for utilities nationwide. Prior to joining the EPA, he worked for the U.S. Army Medical Command, where he conducted a wide-range of engineering and environmental health projects.

Bronwyn Quinlan Mitigation Planner, FEMA – Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

Bronwyn Quinlan works on the Mitigation Planning Program team where she is responsible for developing, implementing, and revising the program’s training inventory. She also supports communications and outreach functions, among other activities. Ms. Quinlan served as the Regional Engagement Coordinator for the Risk Management Directorate, and before that was a Regional Advocate for the Planning and Safety Branch where she supported Regional engagement, coordination, and served as a conduit between programs.

Kristin Ransom Coastal Management Specialist, NOAA Offce for Coastal Management

Kristin Ransom is a Coastal Management Specialist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Offce for Coastal Management, Gulf of Mexico Region. She is a liaison to the Coastal Zone Management Programs in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Her responsibilities include providing technical assistance, facilitation, training, and capacity-building opportunities to coastal managers.

David Ratté Regional Engineer, FEMA Region 10

David has been with FEMA Region 10 for nearly 10 years and currently covers Idaho and Oregon as a Regional Engineer on RiskMAP projects. He has over 20 years of experience in civil engineering and manages food study updates in the State of Idaho.

Stacy Robarge-Silkiner Hazard Mitigation Assistance Branch Chief, FEMA Region 7

Stacy Robarge-Silkiner is the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Branch Chief for FEMA Region 7. Prior to joining Mitigation, she was the Senior Planner for the Response Planning Branch, and she served as the Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) Planning Section Chief on the Legacy Type II IMAT Team and as a Watch Analyst. Ms. Robarge-Silkiner managed the Strategic National Stockpile Program for the State of Kansas and managed the Planning, Training, and Exercise Programs for the Kansas City Urban Area Security Initiative.

Katherine Rowden Service Hydrologist, National Weather Service

Katherine Rowden is the Service Hydrologist for the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offce in Spokane, WA. She has worked for many years on post-fre food issues to support the NWS food-warning program in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, working closely with residents, local governments, and state and federal partners.

Paul Sclafani Floodplain Manager, USACE – Portland District

Paul Sclafani is the Floodplain Manager for the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and serves as the Oregon Silver Jackets Coordinator. He also serves as a hydraulic engineer and program manager for the Floodplain Management Services at the Portland District. Paul is the Technical Lead for the Long-Term Sediment Management of the Mount St. Helens eruption.

Shawn Servoss FEMA HQ, Emergency Management Specialist – MTeGrants Sustainment Lead

Shawn Servoss is so controversial “eGrants” had to be removed as his middle name. While he can no longer be referred to as Shawn “eGrants” Servoss, his dedication to excellent customer service is still strong. He survived his frst open application period in 2017 and enjoys meeting eGrants users from near and far.

Ken Sessa Environmental Offcer, FEMA Region 7

Ken Sessa has served as the FEMA Region 7 Environmental Offcer since 1997. Mr. Sessa believes in environmental compliance through better decisions and understanding that the natural environment offers lessons for resilience, recovery, and adaptation pathways. He recognizes that Mother Nature is a formidable design engineer that provides elegant solutions that are effcient, long-lived, self-healing, and stronger than some of the best engineering solutions.

Amanda Sharma Mitigation Planner, FEMA – Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

Amanda Sharma is a Mitigation Planner with the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration at FEMA Headquarters and was previously with FEMA Region 5 Mitigation Division’s Floodplain Management and Insurance branch in Chicago. Most recently, she was embedded in Hendry and Lee County, FL, as the Mitigation liaison for the Place-Based Recovery teams in support of DR-4337-FL recovery goals.

Anni Shelton Crew Lead, FEMA Region 2 – Sandy Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

Anni Shelton is a Crew Lead for the Sandy Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in New York. She co-manages the day-to-day operations of the Sandy 404 grants, performs and reviews Beneft-Cost Analyses, and coordinates the technical reviews for the 404 projects.

Julie Shiyou-Woodard President and Chief Executive Offcer, Smart Home America

As the President and Chief Executive Offcer for Smart Home America, Julie Shiyou-Woodward oversees operations, provides organizational direction, and develops partnerships for a national not for proft whose mission is to build resilient and sustainable communities. She has over 20 years of experience in project management, community planning, and hazard mitigation and is now a national leader in implementing the FORTIFIED Program. Ms. Shiyou-Woodward has developed and managed environmental and hazard mitigation funding and projects in collaboration with federal, state, and local agencies throughout her career.

Amanda Siok Mitigation Planner, FEMA Region 10

Amanda Siok has been with FEMA since November 2010. She currently serves as a mitigation planner, working with state, local, and tribal governments to plan for and reduce their risk to natural hazards. Ms. Siok has several years of experience working with the RiskMAP program, managing the Cooperating Technical Partner program and the Dam Safety Program, and utilizing Hazus and geographic information system (GIS) data for risk assessments.


Kate Skaggs Natural Hazard Mitigation Planner, Michael Baker International

Kate Skaggs is a Natural Hazard Mitigation Planner for Michael Baker International’s Seattle, WA, offce, focusing on the challenges of regional foodplain management and community planning. She supports the FEMA Region 10 Risk Analysis Branch through the Community Engagement and Risk Communication contract. Ms. Skaggs specializes in helping federal, state, and local partners identify existing planning processes that could be leveraged as opportunities for larger regional and local discussions around identity, priorities, and how to preserve what means the most to a community going into the future.

Katie Sommers State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, State of Wisconsin

After completing a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning at the University of Washington in Seattle, Katie Sommers began working in hazard mitigation at Wisconsin Emergency Management. She has been in the feld for seven years and currently serves as the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer for Wisconsin. She lives in Madison with her boyfriend, two wonderful children, two dogs, a cat, a frog, and about 100,000 bees. In her free time she enjoys gardening, beekeeping, reading, biking, and cross-country skiing.

Thomas Song Outreach Consultant, FEMA Region 2

Thomas Song supports FEMA Region II on the Community Engagement and Risk Communication contract as the Resilience Action Partners Mitigation Champion. He previously served as the Region’s mapping and planning outreach lead. Mr. Song applies sales techniques he learned during his 16 years on Wall Street to his FEMA programmatic knowledge to communicate food risk mitigation–related information. This approach has proven successful when engaging indifferent audiences and opposition groups.

Jody Springer Senior Data Analyst, FEMA – Grants Data and Analytics Branch

Jody Springer leads the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) data analytics team within the Grants Data and Analytics Branch. The analytics team is responsible for the development and maintenance of FEMA’s Beneft-Cost Analysis tools, training, and helplines. His team also provides analytic services for HMA staff at headquarters, maintains Mitigation’s Enterprise Data Warehouse, and is responsible for the delivery and updates of the HMA courses.

Dennis Staley Research Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey – Landslide Hazards Program

Dennis Staley is a research scientist in the U.S. Geological Survey Landslide Hazards Program. He focuses on post-fre debris fows, including hazard assessment, landslide and debris-fow early warning, and applied research into the physical processes and meteorological conditions that contribute to debris-fow initiation and runout.

Mike Stewart Hazard Mitigation Manager, Bryant Hammett and Associates

Mike Stewart works for Bryant Hammett and Associates, supervising a team of professionals providing construction oversight and administration of home elevation and reconstruction grants for Jefferson Parish and the State of Louisiana. He has worked on Repetitive Flood Claims, Severe Repetitive Loss, Flood Mitigation Assistance, and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program grants.

Ashok Samuel “Sam” Sunderraj Program Manager, FEMA Region 7

Sam Sunderraj serves as the 404/406 General Engineer in the HMA Branch in FEMA Region 7. Before joining FEMA, he worked in structural design of wood, steel, and concrete structures and in permitting of dams, stream obstructions, foodplain flls, and solid waste landflls.

Leslie Tomic Mitigation Planning Specialist, FEMA

Leslie Tomic is a Mitigation Planning Specialist with FEMA. She has worked in FEMA’s Offce of Response and Recovery, the Recovery and Field Operations Directorates, and in FEMA Region 2. Following

Hurricane Sandy, Ms. Tomic was assigned as the Hazard Mitigation Advisor to the Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator in New York.

Oz Turan Program Manager, FEMA – Grants Management Modernization Program

Oz Turan is the Program Manager for the Grants Management Modernization Program, which is chartered to modernize FEMA’s 40+ grant programs and consolidate nine legacy grants systems into one IT platform. Previously, he served as the Program Manager for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Transportation Program.

Tom Vencuss Conference Coordinator, United Methodist Committee on Relief

Rev. Tom Vencuss is the New York Annual Conference (United Methodist) Coordinator of Mission and Disaster Response Ministries. He spent 3 years as the coordinator for the Haiti Response Plan, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) / United Methodist Volunteers in Mission earthquake recovery program. Mr. Vencuss returned from Haiti to oversee the New York Conference Sandy response effort. He now serves as a volunteer consultant for UMCOR’s collaborative Maria response effort in Puerto Rico.

Megan Wallowak Training Administrator, FEMA – Insurance and Mitigation Readiness Division of the Mitigation Directorate

Megan Wallowak works for the Cadre Management Branch of the Insurance and Mitigation Readiness Division and is responsible for administering, developing, and organizing all training related to the Hazard Mitigation Cadre. She began her FEMA career as a Reservist in 2010 and worked in the Recovery Directorate for several years before joining Mitigation in 2016.

Elizabeth Weyrauch State Hazard Mitigation Offcer, Missouri State Emergency Management Agency

Elizabeth Weyrauch is the State Hazard Mitigation Offcer for Missouri at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and was previously the lead mitigation planner for SEMA. Prior to her mitigation work at SEMA, she worked for the Department of Health and Senior Services (including the State Public Health Laboratory) as well as the Offce of Administration for 10 years working for the State of Missouri.

Jennifer Whytlaw GIS Manager, Environmental Analysis and Communications Group at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy (Rutgers University)

Jennifer Whytlaw is a PhD candidate within the Geography Department at Rutgers University. Her work is focused on the development and use of geospatial tools and applications as components to planning projects. She is interested in hazards research, including climate impacts on vulnerable populations and preparedness activities in communities to help mitigate impacts on critical infrastructure.

Brian Willsey Hazard Mitigation Specialist, FEMA/FIMA/Hazard Mitigation Assistance

Brian Willsey is a Hazard Mitigation Specialist in the Grants Implementation Branch, Risk Reduction Division, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration of FEMA. He has been involved in various aspects of grants implementation with FEMA since 2006. Prior to joining FEMA, his work included technical stormwater management design review, foodplain mapping, local National Flood Insurance Program / Community Rating System coordinator, foodplain management, grant writing / administration, and general environmental regulatory review.

Stacy Wright Senior Technical Manager, Atkins

Stacy Wright is a Senior Technical Manager at Atkins. Ms. Wright has 20 years of experience in hazard mitigation, mitigation project development and implementation, resilience, vulnerability/risk assessment, mitigation planning, and policy consultation. She has been involved in the post-disaster response, recovery, and/or redevelopment process for over 50 federally declared disaster events resulting from various hazards.

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Save the Date – 2019 Annual Hazard Mitigation Stakeholder Workshop

When: April 1-5, 2019

Where: NETC in Emmittsburg, Maryland

Who: Hazard mitigation stakeholders from States, Territories, and Tribes and FEMA

LET’S TAKE

Registration for the 2019 HM workshop will be open from Monday, November 26, 2018 through Wednesday, January 23, 2019.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to network with other hazard mitigation professionals and learn what is going on in the world of HMA.

2018 hazard mitigation stakeholder workshop...facilities map auditorium j j s121, s122, s123, s125,...

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