Deanne Bennett Criswell[1] is an American emergency management officer who served as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2021 to 2025. Criswell is the first woman to lead FEMA.[2] She was previously the commissioner of the New York City Emergency Management Office.[3][4]
Education
Criswell attended elementary school in Free Soil, Michigan and was graduated in 1984 from Catholic Central High School in Manistee, Michigan. She then earned a Bachelor of Science in technology education from Colorado State University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver, and a Master of Arts in homeland security from the Naval Postgraduate School.[5][6][7]
Career
Criswell served as a member of the Colorado Air National Guard with the 140th Wing and was deployed to Kuwait directly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. She also worked as a firefighter for 21 years. Criswell managed the Office of Emergency Management for the city of Aurora, Colorado.[2] She later worked in the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Barack Obama administration before becoming the commissioner of the New York City Emergency Management department in 2019.[8]
Her nomination to be the next FEMA administrator was submitted to the United States Senate on February 22, 2021.[1] She was confirmed unanimously on April 22, 2021, by voice vote, and was sworn in by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on April 26, 2021.[9][2]
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, Criswell has been accused of abusing her power to deliberately deny relief to disaster victims who were political supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.[10] The attorney general of Florida is suing Criswell and other FEMA employees, some of whom have claimed this discrimination is widespread in the agency. [11]
References
- ^ a b "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). The White House. February 22, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c Beitsch, Rebecca (January 15, 2021). "Biden taps Criswell as first woman to lead FEMA". The Hill. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Biden nominates FEMA veteran Deanne Criswell to lead agency: Here's her background". NOLA.com. Associated Press. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ Hicks, Nolan (January 15, 2021). "Biden picks NYC emergency management chief Deanne Criswell to head FEMA". New York Post. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Northern Michigan native nominated to lead FEMA". UpNorthLive. January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
- ^ Grabowski, Ken, "Biden nominates Manistee Catholic Central grad as next FEMA director". Manistee News Advocate, January 17, 2021, p. A1.
- ^ Fraley, Scott, "Deanne Criswell: From Free Soil to FEMA administrator". Manistee News Advocate, November 22, 2021, p. A4.
- ^ "Meet the Executive Staff - NYCEM". www1.nyc.gov. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ Mayorkas, Alejandro [@SecMayorkas] (April 26, 2021). "Honored to deliver the oath of office to Deanne Criswell today, her first full day as the Administrator of @fema https://t.co/kkRJYF0NUl" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Florida AG sues FEMA for skipping over Trump supporters". November 14, 2024.
- ^ "Florida discrimination lawsuit alleges FEMA discrimination against Trump supporters". NPR. November 14, 2024.
External links
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