Representative Driscoll Attends FEMA Vanguard Executive Crisis Leadership Program

Monday, October 3, 2022 - Representative Bill Driscoll Jr. (D-Milton) recently participated in and completed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Vanguard Executive Crisis Leadership Program. This Executive Professional Development Program is a new fellowship and unites our Nation’s most senior crisis management leaders.

This is a collaborative effort with FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI), Harvard’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI), the McChrystal Group, and the Rand Corporation.

As part of the program, fellows traveled to Washington, D.C. and met with FEMA leadership at FEMA headquarters, the National Security Council at the White House, senior-level staffers at the United States Capitol, and other public and private entities engaged in U.S. crisis response.

Driscoll was the only elected official to attend the program and was invited due to his previous work in disaster response, as well as his current role as House Chair to the Joint Committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management in the Massachusetts Legislature. Attendees this year served a dual purpose in participating in an executive learning opportunity and functioned as a pilot participant to shape the future of the program.

“Thank you to FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute for selecting me as a Vanguard Fellow and for this incredible opportunity,” says Driscoll. “It was an honor to learn from emergency management and crisis leaders from across the country. As a group we considered what the future of crisis management looks like; an important exercise as emergency management professionals are being tasked with increasing frequency to lead or support complex events. As a lifelong learner I am eager for continued collaboration amongst this group moving forward."

Also in attendance were leaders from federal agencies, state government, academia, and the private sector, including:

Assistant National Cyber Director
Assistant Vice President of Emergency Management and Enterprise Resilience at NYU Langone Health
Chairman of the Global Board of International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM)
Department Head at the Department of Emergency Management, North Dakota State University
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
Deputy Director at the University of Alaska Center for Arctic Security & Resilience
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, Washington, D.C.
Director of Office of National Exercises, FEMA
Director of Oregon Department of Emergency Management
Director of Security at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
Executive Director of San Francisco Emergency Management
Federal Coordinating Officer at FEMA
FEMA Chief Technology Officer
Maryland Secretary of Emergency Management
Regional Administrator of FEMA Region 5