Jason McNamara

Jason McNamara is the Director for the Center for Emergency Management Operations at CNA, and an established emergency management and homeland security expert with over 30 years of senior management experience in both the federal government and private sectors. He currently manages multiple CNA engagements with FEMA, including CNA’s support to the FEMA Continuous Improvement Program, and has managed CNA support to the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments for the past 10 years. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the FEMA Chief of Staff, where he designed and implemented a new organizational and leadership structure, including realignment of Senior Executive Service (SES) staff and all 15,000 permanent and part-time agency employees. He also directed all FEMA engagement with the White House, Congress, and all senior decision-makers throughout federal, state, and local governments. He has extensive experience developing information and briefing materials for, and providing in-person briefings to, the most senior elected and appointed officials in the US government. Between 1993 and 2001, as a career employee in the Response and Recovery Directorate, he provided response support at FEMA Headquarters and in the field for all Level 1 incidents. He was deployed to support the response to the Northridge Earthquake, US&R Operations at the Oklahoma City bombing, and Hurricane Opal, and he served as Operations Section Chief at FEMA HQ during the September 11 terrorist attacks.