W craig fugate fema contact

W. Craig Fugate is a Venture Partner in the Public-Private Partnerships Practice of RIDGE-LANE LP.

Mr. Fugate served as Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the Obama administration from May 2009 to January 2017.  He led FEMA through multiple record-breaking disaster years and oversaw the federal government response to major events such as the Joplin and Moore Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew, and the 2016 Louisiana flooding. 

Mr. Fugate fostered a community-oriented approach to emergency management to build sustainable and resilient communities.  On his watch, FEMA awarded more than $19 billion in preparedness grants, supported more than 700 drills and exercises in 47 states, and had more than 40 million participants take part in grassroots community preparedness drills.  FEMA invested more than $7 billion into hazard mitigation assistance during Mr. Fugate’s tenure even as the Agency took steps to require disaster grantees to rebuild using hazard resistant codes and standards in FEMA-funded post-disaster grant projects. 

Mr. Fugate is a tireless advocate for technology and innovation in emergency management.  Under his leadership, FEMA led the federal government in freeing its data and allowing the general public to make use of it.  He oversaw a dramatic increase in online registration for federal disaster assistance through a streamlined, single front-door portal. He also directed the creation of a FEMA App that enables FEMA response efforts through public reporting functionality, supports individuals and families with preparedness tips and hazard alerts, and helps survivors access FEMA assistance when disaster strikes. 

Prior to his service at FEMA, Mr. Fugate served as Florida’s Emergency Management Director. As the State Coordinating Officer for 11 Presidentially-declared disasters, he managed more than $4 billion in Federal disaster assistance. In response to Hurrican

William Craig Fugate

W. Craig Fugate was appointed administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency by former President Barack Obama. He served as the FEMA administrator from May 2009 to January 2017.

Fugate led FEMA through multiple record-breaking disaster years and oversaw the Federal Government’s response to major events such as the Joplin and Moore Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew and the 2016 Louisiana flooding. All total, Fugate led FEMA through more than 500 Presidentially declared major disasters and emergencies. Fugate set a clear and compelling vision, mission and priorities for FEMA and relentlessly drove the Agency to achieve better outcomes for survivors.

Previously, Fugate served as Florida’s Emergency Management Director under former Gov. Jeb Bush (2001–2007) and former Gov. Charlie Crist (2007–2009). Fugate was widely praised for his management of the devastating effects of the 2004 and 2005 Florida hurricane seasons.

Fugate currently provides senior-level advice and consultation in disaster management and resiliency policy through Craig Fugate Consulting LLC. He also serves as the chief emergency management officer at One Concern.

W. Craig Fugate was appointed by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 13, 2009 to serve as the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Administrator Fugate reported to FEMA on May 18, 2009, bringing with him a wealth of leadership experience to the emergency management community.

Prior to coming to FEMA, Mr. Fugate served as Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). In that role since 2001, he managed 138 full-time staff and a budget of $745 million. His agency coordinated disaster response, recovery, preparedness and mitigation efforts with each of the state's 67 counties and local governments.

Mr. Fugate began his emergency management career as a volunteer firefighter, Emergency Paramedic, and finally as a Lieutenant with the Alachua County Fire Rescue. Eventually, he moved from exclusive fire rescue operations to serving as the Emergency Manager for Alachua County in Gainesville, Florida. He spent a decade in that role until May 1997 when he was appointed Bureau Chief for Preparedness and Response for FDEM.

Within FDEM, Mr. Fugate's role as Chief of the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) kept him busy during 1998. That year, the SERT team was active for more than 200 days as a result of numerous floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and Hurricane Georges.

In September 2003, again under Mr. Fugate's stewardship, the Florida Emergency Management Program became the first statewide emergency management program in the nation to receive full accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP).

During his years at FDEM, Mr. Fugate served as the State Coordinating Officer in Florida for 11 Presidentially-declared disasters and the management of $4.5 billion in federal disaster assistance.

In 2004, Mr. Fugate managed the largest federal disaster response in Florida history as four major hurricanes impacted the state in quick succession (C

W. Craig Fugate served as President Barack Obama’s FEMA administrator from May 2009 to January 2017. Previously, he served as Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s emergency management director from 2001-2009. Fugate led FEMA through multiple record-breaking disaster years and oversaw the federal government’s response to major events such as the Joplin and Moore Tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Matthew and the 2016 Louisiana flooding. Fugate set a clear and compelling vision, mission and priorities for FEMA, and relentlessly drove the agency to achieve better outcomes for survivors. FEMA’s effectiveness in dealing with more than 500 presidentially-declared major disasters and emergencies under Fugate’s leadership restored the faith of the American people in the federal government’s ability to respond to disasters. Prior to his tenure at FEMA, Fugate was widely praised for his management, under Governor Jeb Bush, of the devastating effects of the 2004 and 2005 Florida hurricane seasons (Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Dennis, Katrina and Wilma).

Fugate’s strategy of setting ambitious goals, establishing clear expectations and pushing people out of their comfort zones drove FEMA to achieve more in a shorter period of time than many believed possible. Fugate established a leadership culture within FEMA in which taking risks and leaning forward to meet the needs of survivors became a baseline expectation. He established a sweeping policy requiring all FEMA employees to have a disaster role in addition to their day job. Fugate instituted a comprehensive academic and experiential qualification system for the agency’s disaster workforce and created 13 national and regional Incident Management Assistance Teams to deploy early in support of state, local, tribal and territorial partners.

During his tenure, Fugate focused not only on restoring FEMA’s response capabilities but on promoting emergency management as a commu