The American Public Works Assn. (APWA) announced that member Christine Walsh, director of operations for Beloit, Wis., has been elected one of the tri-chairs of the National Homeland Security Consortium (NHSC) for 2013.
The NHSC provides a forum for the public and private sector to coalesce efforts and perspectives about how best to protect America in the 21st century. It consists of 21 national organizations representing local, state and private professionals, who are first and secondary responders, as well as those who provide the sustained effort necessary to respond to any major emergency, including leadership and direction by elected and appointed officials.
Participating organizations began meeting in 2002 at the invitation of the National Emergency Management Assn. (NEMA), who serves as the administrative arm of the NHSC, and therefore retains a permanent role as one of the three chairs. The NHSC is a recognized entity by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and works in partnership with other federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense and others.
The tri-chairs lead the coordination and facilitation of the NHSC’s semi-annual meetings, and Walsh will serve in the APWA tri-chair position for one year alongside the consortium’s two other chairs. These include the NEMA tri-chair, Captain Tom Sands, deputy state director of the state police/EMHSD, and FEMA’s state administrative agency – Michigan Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division, and the tri-chair representing the Governors’ Homeland Security Advisors Council (GHSAC), Gilbert Orrantia, director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security.
Walsh’s leadership positions within APWA include serving as chair of the Emergency Management Committee, and representing public works on the FEMA Education Task Force and the Homeland Security Task Force. Walsh was also named one of APWA’s Top Ten Public Works Leaders of the Year in 2011. She has represented APWA on the NHSC for four years.
Source: American Public Works Assn.