William Austin

Homeland Security Coordinator, Connecticut Capitol Region Council of Governments

William Austin is the homeland security coordinator for the Connecticut Capitol Region Council of Governments. He holds national certifications as a chief fire officer, homeland security expert, and full member of the Institution of Fire Engineers. He also serves on the Connecticut Emergency Management and Homeland Security Advisory Council and is the chairman of the Connecticut Citizen Corps Advisory Committee. He is the former fire chief of West Hartford, Connecticut, and Tampa, Florida. He received a Masters Degree in Security Studies (Defense and Homeland Security) from the United States Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, California.

Marko Bourne

Senior Vice President, ICF International

Marko Bourne is the Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Disaster Management at ICF International. He has more than 34 years of experience in emergency services, emergency management, policy, governmental and legislative affairs, and public affairs. Previously, he was the Principal/Officer in charge of Booz Allen Hamilton’s homeland security and emergency management practice, also director of policy and program analysis for FEMA (2006-2009) and director of business development for homeland security at Earth Tech Inc./Tyco International (2004-2006). He also was acting director of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Incident Management System Integration Center and deputy director of FEMA’s Preparedness Division (2003-2004).

Michael Breslin

Strategic Client Relations Director for LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Michael Breslin is the strategic client relations director for LexisNexis Risk Solutions, government. As strategic client relations director for federal law enforcement, he plays a critical role in further driving the expansion of executive relationships and innovative solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of law enforcement agencies. He has more than 20 years of federal law enforcement experience working with the United States Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security. Before joining LexisNexis Risk Solutions, he served as deputy assistant director for the Office of Investigations for the Secret Service, where he oversaw the planning and coordination. Throughout his career, he has initiated and managed transnational cyber and financial crime investigations of network intrusions and the theft and safeguarding of data and information from corporate, financial, and government institutions. He helped develop security solutions that protected U.S. and foreign dignitaries and facilities including the U.S. president, vice president, and visiting heads of state. As the special agent in charge of the Criminal Investigative Division of the Secret Service, he led a staff of 153 administrative, professional, technical, and special agents working on counterfeiting, financial, electronic, and cyber crimes. He holds a bachelor of arts from St. John’s University, Queens, New York. He also holds a master of science degree in national security strategy and a graduate certificate in business transformation and decision making from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, as well as a master of public administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Megan Clifford

Chief of Staff at Argonne National Laboratory

Megan C. Clifford is Chief of Staff at Argonne National Laboratory. She serves as an advisor to Laboratory Director Paul Kearns to drive forward the laboratory’s vision and stakeholder relationships. Working with leaders across the laboratory, Clifford stewards Argonne’s change initiative to deliver lasting impact through science and technology leadership, research and operations excellence, and people development. Her involvement in the national security mission dates back to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where she helped to create the foremost national preparedness doctrine. Her other clients have included the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S. Department of Defense. She currently serves as the chair of the Data, Metrics, and Tools Committee of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Community Resilience Panel for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems. Before joining Argonne, she worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, most recently as principal director within the Justice and Homeland Security business practice. She received a BA in International Business from The George Washington University. She is a current student and MBA candidate at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She holds the Project Management Institute certification as a Project Management Professional.

John Contestabile

Director, Public Safety Solutions

John Contestabile is the Director for Public Safety Solutions at Skyline Technology Solutions in Baltimore, Maryland.  He joined Skyline after serving as the Program Manager for Emergency Response Systems at the Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Lab where he worked with federal sponsors such as FEMA, DHS Science and Technology, the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA) and FirstNet. He joined APL in July 2009, after retiring from the State of Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), where he was acting assistant secretary for administration responsible for, among others, emergency management and homeland security. In addition, he served as acting deputy homeland security advisor by Governor Robert Ehrlich and later the director of the Maryland State Communications Interoperability Program (MSCIP), reporting to the superintendent of the Maryland State Police, by Governor Martin O’Malley. He later served as a District of Columbia Homeland Security Commissioner from 2011-2013 and presently serves as a Washington Metro Rail Safety Commissioner appointed by Governor Larry Hogan.

David W. Cullin, Ph.D.

Vice President, Research, Development & Programs, FLIR Systems Inc.

David W. Cullin, Ph.D., serves as the vice president of research, development, and programs for FLIR’s CBRNE Detection Division. He previously served as: chief technology officer, FLIR Government Systems; senior vice president for technology transition, ICx Technologies; director of technology, Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense; and program director, Critical Reagents Program, Joint Program Office for Biological Defense. At the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), Dahlgren, Va., he served as a research chemist and NSWCDD project manager of the Air Base/Port Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration Program in support of the Joint Program Office for Biological Defense, later named the Portal Shield ACTD.

Michael K. Hamilton

CEO & Managing Partner, MK Hamilton & Associates

Michael Hamilton has nearly 25 years of experience in information security, as a practitioner, consultant, executive, and entrepreneur. As former chief information security officer for the City of Seattle, he managed information security policy, strategy, and operations for 30 government agencies. Previously, he was the managing consultant for VeriSign Global Security Consulting, where he provided expertise for hundreds of organizations, from Fortune 1 to small private colleges, in nearly every sector. He is a subject-matter expert and former vice chair for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council; a member of the Curriculum Advisory Board of Olympic College; and on the Board of Directors of the VanGo Project. His awards include “Member of the Year” with the Association of City and County Information Systems, and Collaboration Award from the Center for Digital Government. Currently, he serves as a policy adviser for the State of Washington Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), and spearheads the Public Regional Information Security Event Monitoring (PRISEM) project, a regional cyberevent-monitoring system that is unique in the nation.

Jack Herrmann

Senior Director, Client Care at American Red Cross

Jack Herrmann currently is the Senior Director, Client Care at the American Red Cross. Prior to that he served at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Office of the Department of Health and Human Services. From November 2014 to August, Jack was Senior Program Officer, Board on Health Sciences Policy, Senior Program Officer at the NASEM Health and Medicine Division. From January 2007 to November 2014 he was the Senior Advisor & Chief, Public Health Preparedness at National Association of County and City Health Officals (NACCHO.

Robert P. Kadlec, M.D.

Advisor

Robert (Bob) Kadlec, M.D., is an American physician and career officer in the United States Air Force who served as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (Preparedness and Response) from August 2017 until January 2021. He graduated with a B.S. from the United States Air Force Academy in 1979, an M.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 1983, and an M.A. from Georgetown University in 1989.[2]

Joseph J. Leonard Jr.

Partner at Emergency Management Solutions

Joseph Leonard, Jr. MEP, MCP, CEM, CGEMC, CHPP, CPE (CDR, USCG, ret.) is a 42-year veteran of the emergency response community with emphasis on emergency management and preparedness. A recognized authority, speaker, and published author on All-Threat/All-Hazard incident management, comprehensive contingency plans, and effective training and exercise programs who serves as the Chair of the Greater Harris County Local Emergency Planning Committee and as Vice President of IAEM Region VI, on the Domestic Preparedness Advisory Board, the Central Texas Coastal Area Committee, and the Houston-Galveston Area Maritime Security Committee. Joe volunteers with the USCG Auxiliary to serve as a Division Commander and District Staff Officer for Emergency Management.

Joseph L. Nimmich

Maritime Awareness and Emergency Management Subject Matter Expert

 Joseph L. Nimmich joined Potomic Ridge LLC as a partner on 1 April 2019.  Prior to joining he worked at Booz Allen Hamilton as a Senior Executive Advisor as part of the Civil and Commercial Group.  Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton he was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in September of 2014 serving until January 2017.  During his tenure, his primary focus is on strengthening and institutionalizing the Agency’s business architecture over the long term to achieve the FEMA mission.  Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Nimmich was the Director of Maritime Surveillance and Security at the Raytheon Corporation, where he directed maritime surveillance and security operations, as well as their emergency response capabilities. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard for more than 33 years, retiring as a Rear Admiral.  His Coast Guard assignments included the First Coast Guard District based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was responsible for all Coast Guard operations across eight states in the northeast and 2,000 miles of coastline from the U.S.-Canadian border to northern New Jersey. Mr. Nimmich earned his Master’s in Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University and holds a Master’s Degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.  He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in History and Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. 

Gerald W Parker, DVM, PhD, MS

Vice President, Public Health Preparedness and Response, Texas A&M Health Science Center

Gerald W. Parker, Jr., D.V.M., Ph.D., M.S., joined Texas A&M Health Science Center in November 2013 as vice president for Public Health Preparedness and Response, and principal investigator for the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing. Before that, he served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Chemical and Biological Defense. He previously served as the principal deputy assistant secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), a position he assumed in 2005. He also served at the Department of Homeland Security (April 2004-July 2005).  He was a 2009 recipient of the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award, and awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service in 2013. Before his selection into the Senior Executive Service, he held a variety of positions during his 26-year (1977-2004) military career in the U.S. Army, including: assistant deputy for research and development; director for the Medical Chemical and Biological Defense Research Program; deputy director for the Combat Casualty Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command; and commander and deputy commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Joseph Trindal

President and Founder, Direct Action Resilience LLC

Joseph Trindal is president and founder of Direct Action Resilience LLC, where he leads the company’s portfolio of public and private sector preparedness and response consulting, training, and exercise services. He also serves as president of the InfraGard National Capital Region Members Alliance. He retired in 2008 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he had served as director for the National Capital Region, Federal Protective Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In that post, he was responsible for the physical security, law enforcement operations, emergency preparedness, and criminal investigations of almost 800 federal facilities throughout the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland. He previously served, for 20 years, with the U.S. Marshals Service, attaining the position of chief deputy U.S. marshal and incident commander of an emergency response team. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, he holds degrees in both police science and criminal justice.

Bert Tussing

Director of Homeland Defense and Security Issues at United States Army War College

Bert Tussing is the Director of Homeland Defense and Security Issues at United States Army War College, with National and International experience in domestic security issues, ranging from education to policy development. Bert's educational focus includes emergency management, homeland defense and civil support strategy and operations, homeland security policy, and domestic and international terrorism.