Leadership

Samantha Royster, North Carolina CERT Coordinator

Position Responsibilities: Leads the NCA and manages overall operations; communicates regularly with the membership via email and quarterly virtual meetings; leads monthly Leadership Team meetings; backs up regional representative when they are acting as conference co-chair.

Al Thomsen

Position Responsibilities: Tracks all calls and meetings, and publishes minutes to website

Position Responsibilities: Manages all business aspects of the NCA including financials, contracts, grant applications, sponsorships, etc.

Carie Chouinard, City of San Diego Fire and Rescue Department

Position Responsibilities: Manages and leads all projects related to Legislative Affairs and Public Policy.

Sean Canoy, North Carolina CERT Deputy Coordinator

Position Responsibilities: Assists members with questions about portal, manages memberships.

Don Sowers, Tennessee CERT Coordinator
Position Responsibilities: Facilitates communications between the NCA and State CERT Coordinators.

Bio: 

Don Sowers has been a professional first responder, emergency manager, and volunteer leader for over forty-years. He currently manages Disaster Volunteer Services for Volunteer Tennessee (the TN Governor’s commission for volunteerism and community service). And he serves as an Emergency Services Liaison to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA). He was a Volunteer Reception Center manager for the Putnam County tornado response and Waverly, TN flooding.

Don is a retired attorney who practiced law in California and was an instructor at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Academy for twenty-eight years. He has held various positions including deputy district attorney, managing partner of a law firm, police detective, CERT program manager, and deputy director of emergency management. He currently teaches emergency management graduate courses at Tennessee Tech University.

He chairs the State CERT Coordinators Forum for the National CERT Association, and is a member of IAEM, EMAT, and TN-VOAD. Don has helped develop over forty local Community Emergency Response Teams and provides administrative support for CERT programs as the Tennessee State CERT Coordinator to FEMA.

Brenda Emrick, Retired Costa Mesa CERT Coordinator

Position Responsibilities: Manages and leads all projects related to CERT Training guidance and best practices, including CERT Basic, CERT Program Manager, CERT Train-the-Trainer, and CERT Master Instructor.

Denise School, City of Chino CERT Coordinator

Position Responsibilities: Manages and leads all projects related to the website and marketing the NCA and NCA projects/events.

VACANT

Position Responsibilities: Builds and maintains a social media presence on the prominent platforms and manages it with regular posts and interactions.

Brenda Emrick, Retired Costa Mesa CERT Coordinator

Position Responsibilities: Acts as Conference co-chair with local representatives when conference is in their region, recruits members from their region, and forges relationships with State Coordinators in their region (FEMA Regions 8, 9, and 10).

• FEMA Region 8: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
• FEMA Region 9: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia
• FEMA Region 10: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington

Scott Huffman, Indiana CERT Coordinator
Position Responsibilities: Acts as Conference co-chair with local representatives when conference is in their region, recruits members from their region, and forges relationships with State Coordinators in their region (FEMA Regions 5, 6, and 7).

• FEMA Region 5: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
• FEMA Region 6: Arkansas, Louisana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
• FEMA Region 7: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

Michael Davis, Connecticut CERT Coordinator
Position Responsibilities: Acts as Conference co-chair with local representatives when conference is in their region, recruits members from their region, and forges relationships with State Coordinators in their region (FEMA Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4).

• FEMA Region 1: Connecticut, Main, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
• FEMA Region 2: New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
• FEMA Region 3: Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, West Virginia
• FEMA Region 4: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee