Brock Long and Chas Eby

Brock Long is the former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and an Editorial Board member at HSToday. As the FEMA Administrator, Brock led major initiatives that will have long-lasting impacts on the emergency management community. He rapidly transformed the agency’s business enterprise by implementing innovative Community Lifeline and FEMA Integration Team concepts to strengthen public-private partnerships and permanently embed full-time staff within the offices of state and tribal governments to better meet constituent needs. Further, as the result of his effective advocacy and eight influential congressional testimonies, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) became law in October 2018, making pre-disaster mitigation a national priority with the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. From 2008-2011, Brock served as Director of Alabama’s Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) under Governor Bob Riley. As Director, he served as the State Coordinating Officer for 14 disasters, including eight presidentially declared events. Brock also served as an on-scene State Incident Commander for the Alabama Unified Command during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Chas Eby is Deputy Executive Director at Maryland Department of Emergency Management. He is an Adjunct Professor in Integrated Homeland Security Management at Towson University and a former Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative Fellow at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. Eby formerly served as Chief Planner for Emergency Preparedness and Pandemic Influenza Program Coordinator at the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.