Coordinator's Biography

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Loyola University New Orleans in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

Ms. Willis specializes in all-hazard disaster planning and training, as well as exercise design, conduct and evaluation.

Her extensive background in Emergency Management includes:

• Served as the Statewide Planner for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
• Emergency Management and Business Continuity Consultant for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Provided emergency planning, business continuity consulting and exercise development support to the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia. 
• During her tenure with EG&G Technical Services, Division of Homeland Security, Ms. Willis served as the Program Manager for the Georgia Division of Public Health, Emergency Exercise and Preparedness Program in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Program Manager for the Georgia Division of Public Health, Emergency Exercise and Preparedness Program in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Provided dedicated support to a variety of all-hazard exercise programs in Georgia, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Florida.
• Serves as an Adjunct Professor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Training Center.
• In 2004, she became the first Department of Homeland Security Certified Master Exercise Practitioner in the State of Georgia. 

The Office of Emergency Management, under Ms. Willis’s direction, is hallmarked by her vision, her energy, and her dedication to emergency preparedness.