IEM has appointed Chris Smith as the new Director of Individual Assistance and Disaster Housing. Smith brings his expertise in individual assistance focusing on disaster survivors, housing programs and financial assistance following a disaster.
As IEM’s Director of Individual Assistance and Disaster Housing, Smith will lead the company’s strategic and tactical disaster recovery to include individual assistance and housing deliveries.
He has over 15 years of experience serving as a federal, state, and local emergency manager. He most recently served as a member of the senior leadership team at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington, D.C., leading the Office of Response and Recovery’s Individual Assistance Division which provides a multitude of programs to support disaster survivors. In this position, he directed the largest workforce in the agency through 175 federally declared disasters and oversaw the delivery of more than $52 billion in federal assistance to disaster survivors.
Upon Congress’s passage of COVID-19 funding for funeral assistance, Smith led his team to expeditiously develop the guidance to deliver more than $2 billion in financial aid to those who lost loved ones.
“I am excited to join IEM in this new role,” said Smith. “IEM has always been a leader in disaster assistance and housing, and I look forward to utilizing my FEMA and state-level experience in disaster recovery and emergency management to spearhead IEM’s expanding capabilities across the country.”
Prior to working at FEMA, he served as the Chief of Emergency Management and the Homeland Security Advisor to the Governor of the State of Nevada and Emergency Management Director for the Washoe County School District. In these roles, Smith advocated for emergency management initiatives before the Nevada Legislature and local county and city leadership helping to support response and recovery efforts in emergencies and disasters throughout the State.
Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science and a Master of Education Leadership, both from the University of Nevada.
