NEW ORLEANS (April 5, 2024)—A senior executive from SBP, the national disaster recovery and resilience nonprofit based in New Orleans, was selected for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Vanguard Executive Crisis Leaders Fellowship.
SBP’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Reese May, was one of only 26 senior crisis leaders chosen for FEMA’s executive leadership cohort focused on disruptive changes in emergency management and crisis leadership. Developed by FEMA in partnership with the RAND Corporation and McChrystal Group, the program is designed to establish the relationships needed to innovate, prepare, and respond to future crises more effectively.
FEMA Vanguard’s cohort represents some of the most influential and experienced minds in crisis leadership, including state, local, tribal and territorial emergency management directors; corporate executives; philanthropic leaders; elected officials; academics and policymakers.
As SBP’s Chief Strategy and Innovations Officer, May leads advocacy and strategic operations across the United States. He is responsible for consulting with government leaders at the local, state, and federal levels to help develop—and implement—prompt, efficient and equitable disaster recovery programs. May has more than 12 years of experience in emergency management that include leading SBP’s regional and national disaster recovery operations in Missouri, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas.
May holds a distinguished service record in the U.S. Marine Corps, including two deployments to Iraq. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in political science and is a Truman National Security Fellow.
From April 1 through April 5, 2024, the FEMA Vanguard cohort convened in Washington, D.C. for a series of high-level engagements with the White House National Security Council, Congressional staff, elected officials, and FEMA leadership. Their focus was to explore ways to move the needle on disruptive changes in emergency management and disaster preparedness.