Leah Havens

About Leah Havens

Leah Havens is a disaster recovery and hazard mitigation professional who specializes in…

Experience

1. Manager

   Kb Advising

   Sep 2021 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   At KB Advising (KBA), I lead the development and delivery of complex federal disaster recovery and hazard mitigation grant projects for state and local governments across the U.S. My work focuses on FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) and Public Assistance (PA) programs, where I specialize in developing complete HMGP subapplications, including advanced Benefit-Cost Analyses (BCA), technical scopes of work, and compliance documentation.I support diverse mitigation and resilience efforts involving infrastructure hardening, energy reliability (e.g, microgrids, generators), flood mitigation, and hurricane retrofits. I work closely with subapplicants, engineering teams, and federal/state reviewers to ensure projects meet FEMA’s evolving technical, policy, and cost-effectiveness standards.I also design and automate data workflows that support large-scale grant programs. Using tools like Power BI, Python, and Microsoft Power Platform, I’ve built custom systems for disaster grant tracking, RFI workflows, and performance reporting across multi-billion-dollar programs.Highlights:Lead HMGP subapplication development efforts in multiple states including Hawaii, Florida, Oregon, and Utah, covering DR, BRIC, and 406 mitigation projectsDevelop complex BCA methodologies using FEMA’s Toolkit and professional expected damages models supported by academic research, engineering standards, and empirical loss dataCoordinate with FEMA Regions, state agencies, and local subapplicants to align scopes, budgets, and technical narratives for competitive submissionServe as Deputy PM for a custom FEMA PA grant management system for Massachusetts, supporting over $1B in fundingCreate automation and visualization tools to improve accuracy, transparency, and efficiency in federal grant administration

Skills

• Leadership
• Microsoft Word
• Powerpoint
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office
• Research
• Project Management
• Management
• Strategic Planning
• Public Speaking
• Customer Service
• Social Media
• Autocad