Justin Kates sworn in as president of emergency managers group
The USA Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers announced Justin Kates, CEM, recently took office as the group’s 2023-24 president.
A Lewes native, Kates said, “The most important role of a professional association is to advocate for its members and provide them with a strong, unified voice to address the issues, challenges and opportunities impacting their profession. I’m committed to ensuring IAEM-USA is at the table during conversations impacting emergency management and empowering emergency managers to tell their stories to secure the resources required for the important and necessary work they carry out daily within their communities.”
Kates currently serves as the senior business continuity advisor for Wawa Inc. In this role, he is responsible for architecting a new business continuity program for Wawa’s expanding footprint of over 1,000 stores with more than 45,000 associates across Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
Before Wawa, Kates served 17 years in government positions, most recently in the City of Somerville, Mass., as its emergency management director. In Somerville, he was responsible for implementing the city’s inaugural comprehensive emergency management program and initiating the integration of its citywide 911 and dispatch operations.
Kates served over a decade as director of emergency management for two mayoral senior leadership teams in the City of Nashua, N.H., and as a homeland security consultant for the State of Delaware. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree concentrating in emergency management and public administration from the University of Delaware and a master of arts degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security. He also serves as treasurer of the National Association for Public Safety GIS Foundation and is a FEMA National Advisory Council member.
