Evolving The Emergency Management Enterprise to Meet a New Operational Reality
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Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
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June 2023
1
CONVERSATIONS
belfercenter.org/homelandsecurity
HOMELAND SECURITY PROJECT | JUNE 2023
Evolving The Emergency
Management Enterprise to Meet
a New Operational Reality:
A Federal Perspective
Pete Gaynor and Rich Serino
This paper is part of a continuing publication series for the Global Crisis & Resilience Forum led by Juliette Kayyem,
Faculty Chair of the Belfer Center’s Homeland Security Program. The forum is supported by McKinsey & Company.
The ideas in these papers are the independent product of the discussants.
Background
In November 2022, the Belfer Center, with support from McKinsey & Company, brought together
a diverse group of leaders from the emergency management community to discuss the evolving
nature of emergency management, the challenges the enterprise faces, and solutions and strategies
to better prepare for the new, poly-crisis climate. Among those leaders were former FEMA
Administrator Pete Gaynor
1
and former Deputy Administrator Rich Serino.
2
They graciously
agreed to participate in a facilitated dialogue with Belfer Center Fellow Nate Bruggeman
3
to further
explore the themes and issues discussed in November 2022.
4
1 Pete Gaynor is a former Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Acting Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security. He currently serves as Senior Vice President and Director of National Resilience, Response
and Recovery Programs at GEI Consultants Inc.
2 Rich Serino was the 8th FEMA Deputy Administrator and served as Chief at Boston EMS where he served for over 36 years.
He was also the Assistant Director of Health for the City of Boston. He is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Harvard’s
T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
3 Nate Bruggeman is a Fellow at the Belfer Center’s Homeland Security Project and the Executive Editor of its Homeland
Security Policy Paper Series.
4 The participants engaged in an initial interview. The facilitator and participants edited the transcript of the interview for
clarity and completeness.
