Daniela Heppard

About Daniela Heppard

I love my job and my profession! Good emergency managers have certain characteristics and trades needed to excel and keep up with the constant demands of improvement due to changes in (mostly federal) policies, procedures, guidelines, expectations…whatever the reason, just when you think you understand, something else comes along that needs to get done or changed to make sure the job don’t get too boring.An emergency manager has to have a passion for planning; the capability to think outside the box; a vision of goals and the skill to see them through with time-lined objectives; the ability to speak in public, and train a diverse group of people; a mediator, a coordinator, a collaborator, and sometimes even a peace keeper. An emergency manager needs to have the patience to let bureaucracy take its course no matter how urgent the matter; keep up with hundreds of acronyms and learn to speak the ‘language’. Our imagination can be scary, especially while developing an exercise, but our sense of humor keeps us going. An emergency manager has the ability to stay calm during a disaster and run an operation with challenges often too complex and difficult for many. I fit right in!I have dedicated myself over the last 13 years to this public service and enjoy the continued challenges. My expertise by now has a far range, while I started off with planning and preparedness on the environmental side working for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources I quickly excelerated to response, recovery, and long-term recovery. Working for FEMA now has offered me the opportunity to see a disaster cycle in full circle and increased my capabilities to truly understand the challenges of every government. The importance of collaboration and communication between all involved is the key and the only way the make the response, recovery, and long-term recovery a success after devastation.I feel blessed to have the ability to serve othes.Daniela

Experience

1. Infrastructure Branch Director

   Fema

   Dec 2020 — Present · Albany, NY, US

Education

• Uhland Schule, Kornwestheim, Germany

  Highschool

  1971 — 1981

• Colorado Technical University

  Bachelor's degree, Science of Criminal Justice; Homeland Security and Emergency Management

  2011 — 2013

Skills

• Emergency Planning
• Hazardous Materials
• Criminal Investigations
• Government
• Military
• Firefighting
• Policy Analysis
• Training
• Public Safety
• Environmental Awareness
• Supervisory Skills
• Exercises
• Homeland Security
• Fire Safety
• Criminal Justice
• Cpr Certified
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Project Planning
• First Aid
• Enforcement
• Analysis
• Police
• Preparedness
• Community Outreach
• Emergency Management
• Surveillance
• Leadership
• Law Enforcement Operations
• Security Clearance
• Firearms
• Criminal Law
• Disaster Response
• Incident Command
• Public Administration
• Disaster Recovery
• Fire Suppression Systems
• Private Investigations
• Risk Assessment
• First Responder
• Emergency Services