IAFF Director to be Nominated to FEMA Post

October 13, 2009 – U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced President Obama’s intent to nominate Elizabeth M. Harman, a former fire fighter and current director of the Hazardous Materials and Weapons of Mass Destruction Training Department at the IAFF, to become an assistant administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

If confirmed, Harman will manage FEMA’s Grant Programs Directorate, the central location for grants management at FEMA. These offices are tasked with the provision of credible leadership of FEMA grants, transparent data and processes, collaborative partnerships with stakeholders, and connection to Homeland Security priorities and outcomes. Over the last three years, GPD programs awarded more than $50 billion in federal financial assistance.

Harman was a fire fighter and paramedic with Fairfax City, VA Local 2702. She began working at the IAFF in 2004. In 2005 she became a director, running the largest HazMat/WMD training program of fire fighters in North America and managing millions in federal funding to support the program.

The Grant Programs Directorate was formally created on April 1, 2007, in accordance with the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act. As the assistant administrator, Harman will be responsible for the oversight of the two divisions within GPD and the management of all programmatic and financial responsibilities for grant programs across FEMA’s eight directorates. These responsibilities include the development, administration, implementation, award and closeout of 52 different disaster and non-disaster grant and financial assistance programs.