The Hon. Richard Serino spent more than forty years in public service. During that time he provided extensive leadership on emergency management, emergency medical and homeland security at local, state, federal and international levels. Mr. Serino is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative. Mr. Serino is also on the Board of Directors at Airbnb.org and a Senior Advisor at MIT’s Urban Risk Lab.

Serino was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 8th Deputy Administrator in October 2009 and served until 2014. In this role, he also served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the agency with more than $25 billion budget. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Administrator, he spent 36 years at Boston EMS where he rose through the ranks to become Chief. He also served as the Assistant Director of the Boston Public Health Commission.

Mr. Serino responded to over 60 national disasters while at FEMA and during Super Storm Sandy, he was the lead federal area commander for New York and New Jersey. Serino was also on scene at the Boston Marathon bombings as the Department of Homeland Security senior official. A sampling of Federally declared disasters Mr. Serino responded to include: flooding in North Dakota, New England, Georgia and Colorado; the wildfires in Colorado and Texas; the tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Joplin, Missouri; tsunami destruction in the American Samoa; and the Hurricane stricken areas from hurricanes Isaac, Irene, and Earl. Serino briefed the President of the United States on a number of disasters and briefed and traveled with Vice President Biden to a number of affected communities to survey the destruction.

As the Agency’s COO, Mr. Serino fundamentally changed how FEMA operates. He helped FEMA reorient its activities and improve its programs to be “Survivor centric,” ensuring that the agency supports the delivery of services focused on easing the recovery experience of survivors – as individuals, neighborhoods, and communities. As Deputy Administrator, he also led administrative improvements that were focused on emphasizing financial accountability, created FEMA Stat, which improved the use of analytics to drive decisions, advanced the workforce training and engagement and fostered a culture of innovation.

Under His leadership, FEMA launched initiatives such as FEMA Corps, a dedicated unit of 1,600 service corps members within AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) solely devoted to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. His leadership took FEMA Corps from idea to implementation in nine months. FEMA Corps is a Presidentially recognized model program of national service that provides eighteen to twenty-four year olds with an opportunity to serve their country during disasters. When the program is at full operational capability, and in an average disaster year, there will be an expected savings of approximately $60 million in a year.

Mr. Serino was also instrumental in developing the FEMA Think Tank, a program that provides a transparent way for citizens to speak directly to government leadership and offer their input and ideas. The monthly calls portion of the Think Tank have not just trended globally on Twitter, but have also given the “Whole of Community” a voice directly to leadership.

During his tenure at Boston EMS he transformed it to one of the best and nationally recognized EMS systems in the country. He bolstered the city’s response plans for major emergencies, including chemical, biological, and radiological attacks. He also led citywide planning for the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years. Mr. Serino served as an Incident Commander for over thirty & five mass casualty incidents and for all of Boston’s major planned events, including the Boston Marathon, Boston’s Fourth of July celebration, First Night, and the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a National Special Security Event.

He has received more than thirty five local, national and international awards for public service and innovation; including Harvard University National Public Leadership Institute’s “Leader of the Year”; nationally recognized as an Innovator in EMS with the “Innovators in EMS Award” and Boston’s highest Public Service award, “Henry L Shattuck Public Service Award”.and was a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Fellow. Mr. Serino published many articles and including: “Emergency Medical Consequence Planning and Management for National Special Security Events After September 11: Boston: 2004,” ; Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, August 2008; and “In a Moment’s Notice: Surge Capacity for Terrorist Bombings” ; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 2007; and a contributing author to “Mass Casualty Medicine” textbook, 2024.

Mr. Serino attended Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government program in 2000, completed the Kennedy School’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative in 2005, and graduated the Executive Leadership Program, Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School.

General Russel Honoré is a decorated 37-year army veteran and a global authority on leadership, disaster management, and climate preparedness. At the request of the Speaker of the House, the General led Task Force 1-6 Capitol Security Review to improve Capitol security following the attacks on January 6, 2021. As the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, he became known as the “Category 5 General” for his leadership in coordinating military relief efforts in post-hurricane New Orleans.

General Honoré knows that the future of our national security depends on protecting our environment, and he’s fighting for a brighter future for us all. A Louisiana native, he founded the GreenARMY, a coalition of environmental experts and advocates, to protect against pollution while fighting climate change and the natural disasters it causes.

During his military career, General Honoré held numerous commands, including Vice Director for Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commander of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters-Homeland Security.

John Conly CM MD DSc is a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Microbiology, Immunology & Infectious Diseases and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, former Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services in Calgary, Canada and the current Medical Director for IPC for the Calgary Health Zone and current Co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on AMR and Appropriate Use of Antimicrobials. He was a former President of the Canadian Infectious Disease Society, a past Chairman of the Board for the Canadian Committee on Antibiotic Resistance, a member of the Canadian Advisory Group on AMR and the previous Chair of the WHO IPC Research & Development Expert Group for COVID-19. He has published over 500 manuscripts, book chapters, technical reports and guidelines and has many career honours including the Order of Canada, the FNG Starr Award from the Canadian Medical Association, the Medal for Distinguished Service from the Alberta Medical Association, the SHEA Senior Scholarship Award, and the CAPM Ronald Christie Award for outstanding contributions to academic medicine in Canada. He holds multiple Fellowships and continues as an active consultant in clinical infectious diseases with current interests which focus on AMR, stewardship, prevention of hospital-acquired infections and novel innovations in healthcare.

Randy Pettipas is the CEO of Global Public Affairs. With decades of experience, he is a trusted advisor to many of Canada’s business leaders. Randy provides expert leadership and guides the overall growth strategy for Global Public Affairs. Since 1997, Global’s reach has extended beyond Ottawa to offices in federal, provincial, and municipal jurisdictions, providing team-based service offerings to clients across Canada and internationally.

Before Global, Randy held senior positions in the federal government, serving as a Minister’s Chief of Staff and a senior advisor on issues in Western Canada, both in the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition and the Prime Minister’s Office. Randy currently serves on the advisory board of the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC.

Randy calls Calgary home and is an active community volunteer. He serves on the boards of Arts Commons and the Calgary Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD). Randy is also the past board chair of Hospice Calgary and a past board member at the Calgary Zoo.

Dr. Suzanne Brown is a clinical therapist, educator, researcher, and program developer with a master’s degree in Disaster Emergency Management and a PhD in psychology.

As a clinical therapist, Suzanne worked extensively with emergency responders -police, firefighters, EMS - as well as with professional athletes, corporate executives, physicians, and post-secondary students.

In her capacity as a course instructor, she designed the curriculum for the Disaster and Emergency Management Undergraduate Program at York University and delivered multiple psychology courses at a range of academic institutions.

As a researcher, Suzanne participated in several projects with the provincial government and other stakeholders. She contributed to help identify and describe the links between “uncertainty determinants” and negative mental health outcomes within vulnerable population groups.