Nancy Ward
Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
Assumed office
December 31, 2022
GovernorGavin Newsom
Preceded byMark Ghilarducci
Acting Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
In office
January 21, 2009 – May 12, 2009
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byR. David Paulison
Succeeded byCraig Fugate
Personal details
Born1955 or 1956 (age 68–69)[1]
Political partyDemocratic

Nancy L. Ward is the Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and Homeland Security Adviser to the Governor of California.[2][3] Previously, Ward served in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the Regional Administrator for Region IX (which serves AZ, CA, Guam, HI, NV, CNMI, RMI, FSM and American Samoa) from 2006 until 2014.[4] During this time, from January until May of 2009, Ward was selected to serve as FEMA's Acting Administrator by her predecessor, R. David Paulison to serve in his place after he retired on January 21, 2009.[5] She returned to the position of Region IX Administrator in May 2009 after Craig Fugate was appointed as Federal Administrator.[6]

Biography

Before joining FEMA, Ward was Chief of the Disaster Assistance Branch and Deputy State Coordinating Officer for Cal OES. She administered the state's Natural Disaster Assistance Act program assistance provisions, which provide disaster assistance funding to local governments for state-level emergencies and disasters.

Ward began serving as FEMA Response and Recovery Division Director in 2000 until she became the Regional Administrator for FEMA Region IX in October 2006. In this role, she oversaw FEMA's response and recovery operations for Hurricane Katrina. She also served in various senior management positions in more than 20 disasters, including the earthquake in Hawaii, and the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in California in 2006. Ward has received awards for special accomplishments at FEMA, including the 2007 Award for Excellence for her leadership during the California wildfires.

Ward left FEMA to rejoin Cal OES as Chief Deputy Director and Department of Homeland Security Advisor in 2014 and remained in that position until 2017 when she became a Retired Annuitant at Cal OES.

In 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Ward as the Director of Cal OES.

References

  1. ^ Governor Brown Appoints Nancy Ward as Chief Deputy Director at Cal OES
  2. ^ [1] "Governor Newsom Appoints Nancy Ward Cal OES Director". Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. December 31, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  3. ^ [2] "California emergency agency gets first woman director. What Gov. Newsom says about pick". The Sacramento Bee. December 31, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  4. ^ "FEMA: Nancy Ward Named Director Of FEMA's Region IX". www.fema.gov. Archived from the original on 2006-10-13.
  5. ^ staff (2009-01-29). "Nancy Ward Acting Administrator". Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved 2009-05-18. Nancy L. Ward began serving as Acting Administrator for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on January 21, 2009. (Archived by WebCite at https://www.webcitation.org/5gkQJIFIj)
  6. ^ Nancy Ward - biography on FEMA website
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Political offices Preceded byDavid Paulison Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management AgencyActing 2009 Succeeded byCraig Fugate
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