Dan Stoneking and Sandra Dennis-Essig

Dan is a strategic communicator. He is a writer. His expertise is born from experience, to include his role at the Pentagon upon the attacks of 9/11; as lead spokesperson for the National Guard in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina where he represented 54 states and territories; responding to the earthquake in Haiti where he helped establish the first-ever international joint information center; creating a coalition with the private sector to implement the first-ever National Business Emergency Operation Center; voluntarily deploying to Puerto Rico within hours of Hurricane Maria’s impact as the lead spokesperson, and much more. Presently, Dan is the Owner and Principal at Stoneking Strategic Communications, LLC as well as the Founder and Vice President of the Emergency Management External Affairs Association, and an Adjunct Professor for Public Speaking at West Chester University. Previously, Dan served as the External Affairs Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 3, where he led an award-earning passionate team to improve information sharing and coordination between FEMA and the American public, to include media, private sector, as well as local, state and government officials during disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts. As Director, he led his team through countless disasters, the Papal Visit (2015), the Democratic National Convention (2016), and the response to the Jan 6, 2021, attacks on our Nation’s Capital. That position followed and built upon a career in both the corporate and government arenas focused on strategic and crisis communications, to include roles at FEMA Headquarters as Director, Private Sector and Deputy and Acting Director of Public Affairs. Graduating from the University of New Hampshire, with a Bachelor’s in Interpersonal Communications, he later returned to the same campus and earned a Master of Arts in Teaching (Secondary English). Dan is a retired Army Officer and he taught High School English for two years. He is also the author of Cultivate Your Garden: Crisis Communications from 30,000 Feet to Three Feet, 2024. Dan lives in West Chester, PA with his daughters, Ivy Grace and Chloe Lane and their puppy, Fiji Isabella. || Sandra Dennis-Essig is a dedicated professional with a strong background in emergency management. She is a graduate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Emergency Management Basic Academy, the Emergency Management Project (Class #25), and holds certificates from the FEMA/Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Nuclear Security Administration/Nuclear Forensics Operations, Counterterrorism Operations Support, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Services Infrastructure Disaster Management Certificate Program, and the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center. Sandra serves as a Decontamination Team Member with a Patient Decontamination Team in San Diego, California, and as a Disaster Duty Officer for the American Red Cross in San Diego and Imperial County. She collaborated with the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking as an advocate, speaker, and survivor. Sandra currently serves as a Selective Service Board Member for the State of California and has previously served as a volunteer Selective Services Board Member for the State of New Jersey.