Michael Byrne, MPS

Mr. Michael Byrne’s career covers a broad spectrum - from hands on firefighting to senior leadership and policy development. Highlights of his career include 20 years with Fire Department New York where he held the rank of Captain but was detailed first to help create the Office of Emergency Management in NYC and second to support the Office of the Fire Commissioner heading up the office of Strategic Planning at FDNY. Following his work at FDNY he spent the next 20 years in a variety of disaster response and recovery leadership positions at FEMA and the American Red Cross. A sampling of these response and recovery operations he led includes operations chief the federal response to attack on 9/11 in New York, Federal Coordinating Officer for Hurricanes Sandy in New York, and Maria in Puerto Rico, wildfires in Colorado, California and Oregon and support to USAID for the Haiti earthquake. 

He has held numerous leadership roles in the creation and transformation of organizations to include the New York City Office of Emergency Management as 1st Deputy Director, and the Office of Homeland Security in the White House after 9/11, as Senior Director for Preparedness, Response and Recovery. He has also held leadership roles outside of government in both the private and non-profit sectors while working at The American Red Cross, Microsoft and ICF. In May 2019, he joined a multinational consulting firm as a Specialist Executive where he continues supporting efforts to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against the consequences of disaster events. 

A lifelong learner, Michael recently graduated from Georgetown University with a Master’s in Disaster and Emergency Management. Finally, Michael is on the Board of the American Red Cross National Capital Area and the Scholarship Committee of the International Association of Emergency Managers.